right now our pepper plants are covered in bright red peppers. i love to dry them so i can eat them throughout the year. my favorite way is to make a garland and hang them in the kitchen. all you need to do is take an embroidery needle and some twine or yarn and strand them through the green part of the pepper. you instantly have a sweet little garland and in a few weeks......some dried peppers!
peeled paint. mimosa
a simple stitch
i get inspiration from little things like this. when i was taking photos at maureen's house i saw this detail on her back porch. when we live in an age where we go out and buy something new every time something breaks, it is refreshing to see some simple DIY patch working.
peeled paint. fennel blooms
drawing flowers
my dreams of flower abundance are finally coming true, so now it's time to get drawing! mainly, it's a lot of looking and studying and making mental notes about each kind of flower; how are the petals shaped? what kind of veins do the leaves have? how do the leaves come off the stem? lots of studying, and then some drawing. flower portraits on paper, then watercolors, then plates... from studying beauty comes creating beauty - everyday.
rust. hibiscus
shotgun beauty
i visited my friend maureen the other day and took some pics of her little shotgun, which sits between two other shotgun-style houses in normaltown. the house, built in the 1920s, is part of only two native shotgun clusters in athens, and has gone through several different incarnations over the decades. maureen rented it for a couple of years before taking ownership in 2005, when she added on a big bedroom/sitting room and a cozy screened back porch. in 2007 she painted the house to match the beautyberries, and i can’t imagine it any other color.
maureen’s home has a little bit of everything tucked away in its own special place. everywhere you turn there's a new vignette, featuring a different local artist and another treasure. every square inch of her home is filled with beautiful objects and patterns, all reflected in the many vintage mirrors placed around the house to catch the light.
there are some homes that i visit that are so expressive of Athens and the south. this one in particular does just that: it feels like it belongs here. in creating this place, in provided delight for all who pass and all who enter, maureen has joined the ranks of the local artists whose work she so values. the little shotgun that houses all those creations is itself a work of art, an athens treasure. enjoy!
this is a painting of maureen's front porch by mary porter. she has done 2 paintings of maureen's back porch and 3 of her front.
a vintage r.wood piece is home to some lily pads
the beautyberry shotgun is reflected in the mirrors that hang from the trees.
chicken wire. maypop
summer zinnia
peeled plaster walls. pods
canning in the city
right now our garden is bursting with vegetables- always seems to come all at once. this past weekend I did some canning so i can enjoy some of this bounty all year round. i made some pickled fennel with grapefruit zest, cherry tomato and chili chutney, pickled beets, pickled carrots with carraway, spicy pickled carrots, and pickled chard stems. pickling is so easy and quick and you can pickle just one jar at a time. people oftentimes think that you have to grow loads of vegetables to can. i oftentimes just pickle a jar or two and can items from my farmers market.
i don’t know what it is about canning but it always makes me feel so good. it always brings some country vibes into my city home.
on a similar note….athenians:
and
have a book about canning coming out called "
". They are having a book signing and tasting at
this Thursday at 6:30 pm. Come by for a pickle or two, some wine, and get inspired to can.
scalloped tin. red blooms
garden and gun....does athens
a few years ago rebecca and i were in the charlotte airport, catching a plane to new york to do the gift show for r.wood studio. we were quickly grabbing a magazine to get us through the flight. rebecca came back with a garden and gun and said "now this is my type of mag". ever since then we have been big fans. the july issue has a big article on athens and gives a big shout out to rebecca. be sure to check it out!
you can read the story
patched tin. magnolia
farm stand heaven
i discovered the cutest farm stand right down the road. every morning they pick what's ripe and put it out, so it's really farm fresh. in case i don't have enough, now i know where to get more!
peeled paint. white bloom
an old wheat mill
i love to go on spontaneous country adventures. it is so fun to grab my camera, co-pilots, gazetteer, and choose a direction. the south has not let me down yet- i always run into something beautiful. this past weekend we headed towards braselton and hoschton. i love the moments when you see something and hit the breaks. when we saw this old wheat mill in braselton, we hit the breaks, turned around, and enjoyed its beauty.
