every year, our friend lamar has a bonfire.  he burns all of the accumulated brush from the past year and invites friends and family over to enjoy it.  i love to see the house glow at night against the dark sky.  it was a fun evening!

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• sweet potato chili
• daffys in december
• collards!

this time of year you see collards everywhere. the frost has sweetened them up, and out in the country, you might see a whole truck load of collards.  if a crowd is coming for new years, you may see people cooking up a black cast iron pot full over a fire. some people still do it that way, but most cook a big pot full in the house.  we picked a pile of leaves and simply chopped them up, and cooked them down.  we ate them seasoned up with a little soy sauce and apple cider vinegar.  we had enough to eat for 4 days, just keeping them in the pot on the back porch at night.  good eatin’!

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• persimmons
• from the garden
• summer supper at the idea shack

as we all know, the holidays can be so busy!  this sunday we needed to get out to the country.  my friends kat and susan invited us out to their farm to meet their new baby alpaca.  we had fun frolicking around with them.  it really doesn’t get much better than that!

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• winter bonfire at the brickhouse
• dahlia farm
• barn piglets

well, my sea of gold in the backyard has largely turned to brown or blown away,but yesterday there was a lovely fog to take its place.  ever changing beauty in the country.

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• fall neutrals
• through fall’s beauty
• fall splendor

this weekend’s  weather was about as perfect as weather gets.  i crammed in so much into one day including breakfast out,  junk store hopping, rwood sale, dahlia farm, and we ended our day at the elberton fair.  not too bad for a lovely fall day.

my highlight of the day was the dahlia farm.  with the dry summer and fall that we have had i wasn’t expecting the dahlias to be too impressive but boy was i wrong!  i didn’t realize it but i was really in need of some floral therapy.  thanks mimi for letting us enjoy your beautiful gardens,  year after year

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• cotton wreath making
• fall neutrals
• through fall’s beauty

being an artist, i love to pay with color contrasts in the garden.  whether it’s flower or foliage color i’m working with, i love to pit warm colors against cool, red against green, silver against purple.  these days there are so many great foliage plants that come in a rainbow of colors.  i love coleus in red and almost black, silver grey salvia and black elephant ears.put warm next to cool and mix it all together for inspiration all summer long.

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• collards!
• leaves are falling
• flower study

we all know sunflowers are awesome and inspiring, but here’s some pics to show they’re just as beautiful in every  stage as they are in full flower.  let’s all be like that.

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• summer supper at the idea shack
• winter stems
• fall splendor

the other day we were on a country drive and stopped at one of my favorite farm stands.  we were pleasantly surprised to see these two little piglets, apparently there are 21 more.  i really could have stayed all day long to watch them play.

their caretaker, millie made a little mud bath for them to lay in- they were in hog heaven.

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• rebecca’s kitchen
• you just never know…
• brown parcell press…. a gift idea

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• winter stems
• fall neutrals
• fall splendor