flowering almond

photograph by rinne allen

a little lamb named fleecy

last week a new lamb, fleecy was born over at sweet olive farm and i knew i had to rush over to meet her.   fleecy is sweeter than words and i could watch her prance all day long.   a sweet spring babe. 

photos and words  by kristen bach

keria

photograph by rinne allen

Perla Anne

last week we popped over to charleston SC for a book signing.  on our way out of town we stopped by our friend stacey bradley's printing studio, perla anne.  she was getting ready for the big saturday farmers market but kindly let me peek around and take some photos. 

her studio, covered in vines was tucked away in the woods behind their house.  inside it was filled with hundreds and hundreds of carved wood and linoleum blocks and collections of prints from over the years.  i have always had a soft spot for her work.   many of her prints are sweet reminders of family and the simpler things in life.   

thanks stacey for the fun and inspiring visit!  if you want to read more about perla and anne you can visit her etsy shop here!

ferns

photograph by rinne allen

spring flowers by moonflower design

we will be sharing a few arrangements over the next few weeks that mandy from moonflower design has made recently...all of the flowers are grown on her & her husband's farm, or foraged from nearby.

enjoy!

arrangements & photographs by mandy o'shea of moonflower design

wild rue

photograph by rinne allen

grapefruit and mint spring cocktail

i have a huge plot of mint growing wildly at the entrance of our house.  the other day we were having dinner with friends and whipped up this light and springy cocktail. 

ingredients

1 part freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

1 part sparkling water

2 Tbsp mint simple syrup*, see directions below

2 shots of your favorite vodka

mint to garnish

ice

*making the simple syrup

-boil 2 cups of water and 1 bunch of mint, washed

-when it comes to a boil, add 1/2 cup honey and remove from heat

-let the mixture cool and then remove mint from the mixture

****this drink is best enjoyed on the front porch alongside good company!

buckeye

photograph by rinne allen

broad 9A: a new co-working space, & more

the folks behind the popular athens-centric website, the broad collective, are unveiling their new physical space this weekend.

after working on the space for months, husband and wife josh & alex brown will open Broad 9A on saturday, may 2 at 7 p.m. with an open house & party. meant to be both a co-working space as well as a venue for workshops & events, the space is a physical manifestation of what they have been trying to do online over the last year: bring together the creative community of athens. we think their idea has hit at just the right time and look forward to seeing it grow!

for more info, visit their website, or head over to the space to check it out for yourself!

plus, we happened to visit on the day that they were painting their new mural with artist bryn rouse...bryn was drawing the design while alex painted...

words & photographs by rinne allen

spring shadows

photo by kristen bach

Little Green Shack

i passed this one the other day. it's wrapped in wisteria starting to bud,so i may have to go back and take a pic when it's covered in lilac blooms!

photos and words by rebecca wood

lightning

photograph by rinne allen

inside fort pickens

a few weeks ago i shared some exterior shots of our explorations at fort pickens.  today i wanted to share some more views of the interior.  i loved the different patinas, shapes, arches, and tunnels throughout.  enjoy! 

photos and words by kristen bach

market carrots

photograph by rinne allen

farmer's market bouquets

i walked up to the athens farmer's market this week, mainly to get some flowers. 3 porch farm is really rocking it out with flowers this year, and it isn't even may yet!

i wanted to see if i could make a pretty arrangement with a bundle or two of their flowers, just to show how easy it can be to have fresh flowers in your home. once i was at the market though, a few other things called my name...flowering chives, but also carrots & radishes because they shared the palette of mandy & steve's ranunculus.

here is what i brought home:
2 bunches of ranunculus, one snapdragon, one bunch of flowering chives, + carrots and radishes.

i started *really* simple. i cut a few flowerheads short and tucked them into some vintage apothecary jars.
so simple!

then, i did one of beauty everyday's famous old-medicine-bottle-arrangements. these bottles are one of our favorite things to pick up at junk stores. they are so beautiful...

then, i moved to something more advanced...tips follow the next few photos...

i used a brass thrift store vase from mandy, that already had a ball of chicken wire crunched up in it. chicken wire is a great alternative to using flower arranging oasis, which is not good for the environment. you may also tape off a grid across the top of your vase, to support your flower stems, if you do not have chicken wire.

next, i took some of my ingredients and placed them in for shape. you will notice that i tucked in some of the carrots and radishes too, some with tops out, or some with the tops tucked in...the flowers are so beautiful that you hardly need to do anything to them.

this was such a fun exercise...t
his weekend, go visit your market or corner store and see what ingredients you can find...!

arrangements and photographs by rinne allen

lady fern fiddleheads

photograph by rinne allen

homemade butter, and a delicious loaf of bread

i spent time with our friend amanda in her kitchen a few weeks ago...we have been trickling out recipes from our day together these last few weeks, and today i wanted to share a simple recipe we nibbled on while we worked: homemade butter. amanda found this recipe on sparkle stories' blog, fyi...

homemade butter
makes about 8 ounces

- 2 cups heavy cream

- 4 tablespoons yogurt or buttermilk

- 1 tablespoon salt

- In a clean bowl or large measuring cup, mix the cream and yogurt.
- Cover with a tea towel and allow to sit at room temperature for about 12 hours. At the end of that time, the cream should be thickened and possibly a little golden. (If it’s bubbling or gassy looking, you’ve accidentally introduced some bad bacteria and you’ll need to throw that cream away and start over.)
- Next, pour the thickened cream into a large mixing bowl and whisk with a stand or hand-held mixer for several minutes. The cream will thicken first, but it will eventually “break” into two separate parts—curdles of butter and buttermilk. When that happens, stop the mixer and pour off as much of the buttermilk as you can. This is essentially the same buttermilk you would buy at the store, so save it and use it in another recipe.
- Then, using a spatula or fork, work the butter back and forth at the bottom of the bowl. You’ll notice that even more buttermilk will start to come out. When that happens, add a little ice water and keep working. Every few minutes, pour off the old water and add new—continuing to work the butter all the while. This is called “washing” the butter. The butter is completely washed, and you’re finished, when any new water that you add stays clear.
- If you’d like salted butter, pour the butter out onto a cutting board and sprinkle the salt over the top. Mix the salt in well.
- Finally, pack the butter into small lidded containers and store in the fridge or freezer. Enjoy!

and,
this butter goes so well with this divine bread from my new roots...click here to see the recipe...enojy!

photographs by rinne allen, recipes from sparkle stories & my new roots, via amanda kapousouz

azalea native

photograph by rinne allen

looking up at the stars

while we were camping in Florida, my daughter wanted to take a picture of the stars with her camera.  it brought on a lesson of slow shutter speed.....  here are some shots of us looking up...and slowly capturing the moment.

photos and words by kristen bach