THOSE THAT INSPIRE.......Nashville

 

The Nashville Garden and Antique Show 

Part two..........'The People of Nashville.'

Sorry for the silence, have been away on business, a landscape conference in California

(wait until you see those pictures)

As promised I wanted to share with you the individuals that made the trip so worthwhile. Those that inspire both creativity and generosity. 

First presentation;

ALNWICK CASTLE. (pronounced ANN-ICK)
Construction began in 1096, was purchased by the current family, the Percy's in 1309 and later honored as the Duke and Duchesses' of Northumberland, it's region.
Many films including the Harry Potter series have filmed here.
                     

Her Grace, the Duchess of Northumberland and family moved to the castle upon the unexpected death of her husband's brother. The once proud gardens were long since abandoned and derelict. This one-woman force possessed a dream; revive and re-create the gardens beyond all expectations.  Within 13 years the Duchess has displayed a steel reserve, rebounded a suffering local economy, her design collaborations included unimaginable forethought for children, the elderly, handicapped and the "down-trodden".............all typically excluded from garden visiting, a national past time in England.

Notice children and the elderly interacting.
All funding was from private and public fund raising efforts plus a nice stipend from her reluctant but supportive husband. The Duchess does not earn a penny from this legacy.

Visual beauty is an equal component

Her "safely dangerous" poison garden. A collection of plants that kill and cure. Carefully monitored and guarded, children in particular learn about the dangers of drug abuse and the miracle of drugs.

This extraordinary woman could merit several posts, her story is amazing. for additional information go here.



Presenter number 2

Renown Interior Designer Michael S. Smith. of Southern California

You may recall his recent commission, The White House and found your interest peaked.

An approachable demeanor with a self-deprecating sense of humor brought him down to earth despite being the designer "to the stars".

Bedroom with hand painted mural in the tradition of Msr. Zuber.
I was stunned to learn that his first commission was from the first female head of a film studio and he was twenty three years old!
How does that happen?!

Some of his shared thoughts;

-Prefers his rooms to develop a "layered" look; mirrors on tapestry, sea grass over orientals...
-Disdains wall to wall carpeting
-Bigger is NOT better in regards to home building (YES!!)
-Major influence is Albert Hadley
-Define the architecture and spirit of the house, let that be your guideline


Presenter number 3

 

Slightly eccentric garden designer extraordinare  Ryan Gainey of Atlanta

Designs landscapes with great depth and in the English tradition of "rooms" versus expansive lawns. His mentor was the late Rosemary Verey.

Structure is a key design component; stone, wood and boxwood are his primary components.

A glimpse of his rear garden in Decatur, Georgia. Notice the neatly clipped climbing ivy framing the greenhouse windows. Seemingly strong willed he admits that his clients must..........
"understand the force of HIS nature."  Visit him here.

The lovely Lizzy, a friend and amazing jewelry craftswoman. Displaying at the venue, Lizzy's jewelry transports me to a time of elegance but with a contemporary edge. Visit her here.

All pieces are utilizing "found" objects but it's the assemblage that takes her art to an inspiring level.

The favorites in my personal collection are from Lizzy and they are the bits that spark liveliest conversation

 

Joyce Scruggs, one of my blog subscribers, former home builder......over 60 homes! (I happen to think more homes should be designed and built by women), hostess extraordinaire, tremendously fun and energetic.

 

Joyce, originally hailing from Illinois read that we were coming to Nashville for the show. This darling woman called her sister Shirley, one of our clients, in Illinois, Joan a sister from Colorado and Trish, a local friend of Joyce's in Nashville to gather and welcome us.

They wanted to invite my group to her home and demonstrate true southern hospitality.I am still amazed!

 

Never have I been more welcomed into someone's home. Check this out....a pastry covered baked brie. See what I mean about welcoming....my company's initials in puff pastry! 

 

 

The perfectly set desert table with individual banana puddings in the handled basket.

 

 

                                             Our hostesses and tour attendees

Having lost 6 camera's in 2009, yes...6....i was down to a low level point n' shoot which is a shame as the details of this gorgeous home are lost...and half were too blurry for use.

 

L to R;  Shirley (sister), Sally, Joyce (our hostess), Susan (Sally's sister), Ardie and Carole

 

At the door upon saying our "good-bye's" was a platter with these parting gifts!

 

Back home with a better camera...........glassine containers filled with three mini muffins. Friend Trish, made the charming wrapping with a die-cutting craft machine.

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Finally it’s Friday!

Good morning all my blogging buddies I hope your week went well.
Mine did but it was rather busy with my wholesale order and other orders in between…gotta keep everyone happy so it’s a fine line…but I love the challenge.

Yesterday was a running around day looking for fabric to cover the backs of my Ivory Penny Runners…I’m very particular what I use and last week I found this wonderful fabric at JoAnn’s that works PERFECTLY with my Ivory Wool Felt and I purchased all they had and wouldn’t you know I loved it! So yesterday we were on a mission to find more.

THREE JOANN’S later and no fabric. NOW WHAT!

The fabric is a QUILTER’S FLANNEL and the name on my sales slip says: Tan Scrolls and the number next to it is 400015394444.
The girls all said to me if I had that number they could have helped me further to find it but I didn’t have last weeks sales slip with me.  On the salvage edge it says it is designed for JoAnn Fabrics.

Here’s a picture of it – this is a Cream and Tanish Gold swirl design. So if anyone sees this in their JoAnn’s please let me know and I’ll send you money to buy it…I’M SERIOUS!
E-mail me at kmprimitives@yahoo.com
 

Now, onto the business at hand…I have a few pictures of my stoneware/jugs and some more Salt Glaze Pottery to show you.
I will save the rest of my Salt Glaze for a future post…still haven’t unpacked the rest to take pictures.

The following pictures you might have seen before…our son uncovered these old beer bottles and ink bottles and jugs at a landfill. They date back to the early 1800’s.

SALT GLAZE BEER BOTTLES FROM A MILWAUKEE BREWERY

 

SALT GLAZE AND GLAZED INK BOTTLES AND JUGS FROM A MILWAUKEE PRINTING COMPANY OF THE 1800’S

When our first Grandson, Jesse, was born we bought him this bank which measures 9 inches across and 13 inches tall – he’s now 20 years old
.

Now just more of my treasures

 

The next two are the only two antiques crocks I own

Today is grocery shopping and cleaning plus getting more of my wholesale order finished and mailed.

Tomorrow Darren and Dan and their families are coming over for the day and evening to help get Darren and MaryAnn’s grill assembled.
We gave it to them as a Christmas gift but it’s still in our garage…WAY TOO HEAVY FOR THEM TO GET THE BOX HOME…especially with Darren not being able to lift….so we’re making a party out of it! All the guys will be working on getting it put together which will make it easier to get it to Darren’s house in Dan’s truck.

What’s going on with all of you out there??? Keeping warm, busy and happy I hope. I’ll be checking in on all of you soon.

OMGosh I just saw I’m one away from having 400 followers! Wowzer!!!

Hmmmm, wonder what that will bring here…Keep watching…you never know!

Hugs, Karen

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Little Is In ~ Tiny Beach Homes are Selling Fast!

Little Is In!
It’s no secret that 2009 was a horrible year for home builders. In fact, 2009 was the worst year that builder’s have seen in Ocean Shores since 2004 with only 44 new spec homes sold, according to the NWMLS. That number it seems is already on an upswing in 2010. One major sign that changes are coming is with the number of “presales,” which is the sale of a new spec home before construction has even begun. As of February 17th, three new presales have gone pending on the NWMLS website. That’s more presales already in the first month and a half of 2010 than we saw in all of 2009!
What’s most exciting about these new sales is the size of these new homes. They are tiny! The average number of square feet in these little beach cabins is 768 square feet. The average size of a home sold in Ocean Shores last year was 1415 square feet. The average price per square foot for this new construction is $143.43.
Most buyers of a brand new little beach cabin are second home buyers looking to own their cute getaway at the beach. We’re actually seeing some people buy them to live in fulltime now too!
Prices are definitely more affordable now for getaway buyers looking for a little cabin at the beach and there’s a wide variety of makes and models from 672 square feet on up. The entry level model starts at $105,900 and is offered by Pacific Coast Construction Group Inc.
Small houses (and particular, small houses at the beach!) are attracting many homebuyers seeking a great location, the convenience of having their own place without the hassle of a hotel room, the value of new construction and the affordability these homes offer. These are great short term and long term real estate investments as well.
Buyers don’t have time wait!
If you factor in the looming deadlines to get those federal tax credits, buyers must be UNDER CONTRACT BY APRIL 30th and CLOSE BY JUNE 30th. Throw in the impending interest rate hikes, which should hit early this summer and there are plenty of incentives for buyers to act now.
Here are 10 reasons why Little Beach Cabins might be better than big ones...
1. Less Expensive to Purchase: Smaller houses are generally cheaper to buy than larger ones of similar construction and location unless something is really wrong...
2. Lower Property Taxes.
3. Cheaper to Heat in the wintertime: I guess I could say spring and fall around here too..
4. Less Expensive to Maintain: Replacing a roof on a little cabin is going to be a lot cheaper than a big house.
5. Easier to Clean: Again, less square footage to clean.
6. Less Space for Clutter.
7. Cheaper to Furnish.
8. Smaller Environmental Footprint: Less materials used in the process means lower energy consumption...
9. I’ve sold over 22% of all the brand new little beach cabins in Ocean Shores since 2008 and I work with more little cabin builders than anyone out here... So if you’re going to buy one, there’s a good chance you’ll end up working with me!
10. Because they’re cute and little is in.

If you want more information regarding these little cute little beach cabins, give me a call or send me an email. Thanks!

Jeff Daniel
New Homes Specialist
Residential Construction Certified
Vacation Home Specialist
Associate Broker/Coldwell Banker Ocean Beach Properties
360.581.9020
jeffgdaniel@hotmail.com

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A ‘Just Because’ Gift and Soup Supper

A couple days ago there was a package stuffed in my mailbox and I knew I didn’t order anything so I was very anxious to open it so in the house I hurried and inside were some wonderful gifts from a very sweet blog friend and she said she did it just because…ISN’T THAT SWEET?

Thank you Dale Elizabeth of A COUNTRY SHOP BLOG http://acountryshop.blogspot.com/ 
Here’s what she sent me!
Just look at the detail on the Candle Paddle – it’s a rusty tin candle holder tacked onto the wood…I love it!

So in the package was the Candle Paddle, Battery Candle, Wooden Egg with a Star painted on it and an adorable Pip Berry Candle Ring…that is supposed to go on the Candle Paddle but I didn’t want to cover up the detail…and the colors in the ring match the star!

        

We woke up this morning to more of that good ole white stuff – got about 2 inches and it’s supposed to snow again tonight.
Doug had a run to Indiana today so it was kind of a free day for me so I did some grocery shopping and then back home to make some homemade Chicken Noodle Soup – a good day for it too I might say…because it snowed off and on all day…felt like a snuggly day.
So the soup was our dinner this evening and oh did it hit the spot.

Yesterday we invited Darren, MaryAnn and Aidan to lunch in Lake Geneva at this darling restaurant called Egg Harbor. We figured with Darren still off work (yep…still no use of the right arm!) we would do this now and then with him off and little Aidan was such a sweetie – I don’t think I’ve seen such a good baby in ages…not a peep out of him the whole time and he sat and ate his lunch – by himself- quietly…but those little eyes never missed a girl! Whenever a waitress or a girl customer came by he watched her the whole way and then would grin! We all had to chuckle over that. I guess even at a year and a half he has an eye for a pretty girl! LOL

I will put the 2nd part of my Pottery and Crocks on a bit later. I need to go unpack some of the pieces that are in the basement and some are high up in my cabinets – so be patient!

        

I put a few NEW items on my website today
One of these days I hope to get
a couple new designs on as well

And…until March 20th
EASTER LILY CANDLE HUGGERS
ON SALE FOR $7.00 reg. $10.00.

Karen

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