beauty is where you find it
brick wall. golden leaves
loading the wood kilns
i spent yesterday loading the last shelves of the wood kiln at geoff pickett’s. it was a beautiful fall day out in the country. steady working, figuring out what to put where, making sure the shelves are clean before we put them in the kiln, and wadding the bottoms of the pots. wadding is a mixture of stuff that you roll into a ball and stick on the bottom of the pot with some glue. it keeps the pot up off the shelf so it (hopefully) doesn't get stuck from all the salt and drippy glaze. here’s geoff putting wads on a pot and placing it carefully in the kiln. today the doors will be bricked up, then we’ll light the fires![gallery]
peeled paint. fall canopy
leatherhead in louisville
on our recent trip to louisville my sister and i stumbled across this great little leather shop called
it didn't look like much from the outside, which oftentimes is an indicator that it is pretty amazing on the inside.
we stepped in and immediately took in a dose of the sweet leather scent. the owner, Nick Boone gave us free range of the place so we took full advantage and wandered through the rooms looking at everything.
the first room is filled floor to ceiling with western boots and attire and then there is 2 rooms of workspace that is packed with treasures from his 34 years in business. take a peek and what we saw!
[gallery]
handprints.dahlia
from bud to bloom: dahlias
dahlias are one of my favorite flowers and they amaze me at every stage. i love their symmetry, vibrant colors, and size. any day now the dahlia farm could see their first frost which means we have a long wait for fresh dahlias... hope i can get another visit in!
GA soil. fall tree
an everlasting meal...
so, we have had some great athens-related food/book news as of late...
in addition to
, former athenian
also released her first book, an everlasting meal, last week.
{tamar was the founding head chef at
...}
yesterday, on a perfect fall day, a group of us gathered in the country and ate good food and listened to tamar read from her book, under huge oak trees.
some of us played on tractors, too.
'twas a great day on the farm.
brickwall. dahlia
in trees
vines. dogwood buds
woodfire time!
i’m making a batch of vases for the wood fire. i made some really fancy ones i’m super excited about. lots of birds and flowers. i still have to glaze them. we start loading the kilns today. it’ll take about 9 days to load two wood kilns, then on to the firing! more pics of that soon. it’s so much fun to do a six hour shift of stoking the fire, and listening for the crinkling sound that tells you it’s time to put more wood on the fire.
rust. changing leaves
a sweet animal farm
our friends kat and susan have the sweetest little farm. they have lived there only a year now but have created this amazing little oasis. they have transformed the field in front of their home into a peaceful place for thier many rescued animals to wander. we had a great day, feeding the animals, walking around with the animals, and hearing all of the farm sounds. we also got to see the baby alpaca that was just one day old! ahhh simple life in the country.
[gallery]
pressed tin. fall berries
outside my studio door
here is a sampler of the colors and textures in my garden today:
rust. holly berries
plaster wall. quince berries
A New Turn in the South
our friend
's cookbook came out on tuesday:
introduces hugh & his food through his writing, his sketches and, most importantly, his recipes.
those who know hugh know that the community of athens is as important to him as it is to us ladies here at beauty everyday.
so, the book feels like an introduction to athens, as well.
, from
, if you love food, the south, or just enjoy a good book!
(and i must add, that i had the great fortune to help by taking photographs for it and helping with it's design, as well...)
helped too:
