Going To A Book Signing!

 

Lonnie and Twyla Money. If you were a customer, at my retail shop, you will remember that I had all these carved and painted critters! Since 2004 Steve and I would make the trip to Kentucky to buy these one of a kind pieces. 

Cans full of dots and squiggles! Twyla's paint station.

Amazing what Lonnie will come up with in his barn!

They live in the hills of Corbin Kentucky where the roads meander out and around homes and rivers.

One day a lady came out and said that she wanted to publish a book with their painted creations!

May thirteen at the Oak Hill Gardens in London Ky.

Twyla gave us a quick preview of the book!

If you type Money or critters in my search bar, on the blog, pictures of the critters that I brought home, over the years, will pop up.

Why didn't I buy this whirly gig? I was being careful not to take their inventory because they are going to need it!! 

They will be at the Kentucky Crafted Market, in Lexington Ky, March eleven and twelve. Selling the book and taking orders for the painted animals. 

They just finished stocking the Kentucky Artisan Center in Berea, where Steve and I first discovered their work.

They are going to be famous!!  

I will keep you posted with more information on the book. If you are a collector and want to buy a book, let me know and I can bring some back with me from the book signing party!

Still Thinking About The Antiques & Garden Show!

French Bleu is responsible for this booth. This image has stayed in my mind all week. Mixing "vintage modern", if there is such a thing, with traditional gold urns in front of a contemporary painting framed in carved gilt over a marble table top and next to the sculptured lamp. 

"Karl" on the walls and the chair. Kim Faison Antiques featured the blue, white and coral combination in her space.

Flying swan with the blue floral chair, she had a pair, against the wallpaper. I came back to see her wares, several times, during the show. Holland MacRea. 
 

All the way from Harbor Springs Michigan, Elliott & Elliott Art and Antiques! 

Elliott also had these fish andirons. The two pieces are a hundred miles away, in style, and yet they belong at the same generational home in this area. The mirror with the shovel and the hay rake over top of a blazing fire with the fish at your feet says you are in the north country.

I had heard of Tucker Payne Antiques. He didn't disappoint! This chair was covered in a soft, plaid wool. Such the gentleman's perch.

In the same booth he had an African cloth wing chair covered in old old textile. 

Where would I be if not thinking of Jackie the decorator? She asked for the color, amethyst, in her transitional, French décor. What did I find? This valance in a true French vignette. Laval Antiques had the best scraps of fabric, toiles and Aubusson filled with Lavender.

This is an eagle mirror! Darn if I didn't write down the name of the shop. It was one of the last pictures I took. 

This is a novel idea. 

We finished up and walked out the back door of the Music City Center. There she was! The iconic AT&T building also referred to as the "Batman Building"! The tallest building in Tennessee, you see it from all the angles going in, out and around the city.

Caught this tabletop going out the door. Mrs. Alice Tablescapes all the way from the UK. The candlestick in the background is a Carolina Irving piece. My son, Timothy, sent a pair of these as a Christmas gift two years ago! He has a great eye.

You think I could wrap this up but I haven't even mentioned the delicious dinner at the Southern Steak and Oyster, the great conversation and Christopher's performance, with John Stone, at Kid Rock's bar!

This post is dedicated to my husband. Without him it wouldn't have been as fun. Happy V Day babe!! Love you. 

 

The Concrete Side Of Garden Ornaments

This concrete sphere from Atlanta Planters, LLC. Roll a few of these across your yard. Love the sizes. Love the way they roll.

Not my cup of tea, then, wedding perfect, so easy and elegant. The Antiques & Garden Show looked outside the box, so to say. 

So much concrete. Benches, planters, table bases. No lattices, gates, trellis pieces in the show. 

Quite a few, cement critters for your yard. I loved them all. Distressed and pre-mossed, as far as I can tell.  

Iron ducks from Charleston Garden Works. Stepping around the water feature at your townhouse!

I may have to go back and pick this concrete Sand Hill Crane up and bring it home. Artifacts/Randy Farmer. 

We have all seen these chairs in the forest! Especially after logging. What do you think Mr. Scott? Provenance Antiques.

Look at the tag! How in the heck can I use these chairs outside! I would really sit in them in the garden. They look like a very comfortable perch. We will see if my lumberjack can carve one out!!

The focus of the show was to sell fantastic collections of Southern style. I saw quite a few carts, full of pieces, already sold, heading out the back doors! I didn't go back on Sunday, as I couldn't buy anything because I didn't have anyway of bringing it home.

There is still more "show and tell"!

 

What Didn't Come Home From The Antiques & Garden Show In Nashville...

 

A-List Antiques from Cashiers, North Carolina, had this French, recovered daybed in her booth. She had it recovered in cotton, zip off cushion covers, so you can wash them. It would fit Steve and I for an afternoon nap. Steve is waiting for the cap for the back of his truck and so we didn't have a safe ride home for her! That's ok, we drive through Cashiers area, on our way to Florida, so we will stop and see Ann Miller Hopkins!

This hurt to walk away from! A full size, Sandhill Crane in concrete. "Artifacts/Randy Farmer". Too special for being outside in Michigan winters. Needs a three season porch or an attached green house to stand in. Don't they mate for life?

While I was down in Nashville my son, Christopher Griffiths, was playing in Kid Rock's club. So when they finished playing and went back to tally up at the end of the show they got to talking about Kid Rock building his new house in Charlevoix. Christopher immediately piped up and told them his mom is a decorator up in the area and gave them my e-mail. So, while I was at the show, I saw this small black bear with boxing gloves on and wanted it for Kid's décor! Went back to buy it, in case he called, and it was sold!! Don Fields Craig Ringstad Antiques.

I am getting a new barn in April and I need a sign for over the door. This was in Tucker Payne Antiques. He may get a call from me.

She had the dusters and I didn't take the time to try one on. Regrets B. Viz Design. 

Almost missed these frogs!! They were in Mrs. Alice/Schumacher pop up shop. I couldn't afford them. 

My son, the musician, has a Sunday show at the Red Neck Riviera on Broadway. His band is called "High Horse". So he was busy taking pictures of interesting horse profiles to use to introduce his show every Sunday on social media.

 This show was inspirational for all our creative visions!  

About That Chicken Coop!

The Antiques & Garden Show, in Nashville, was a huge hit. I wanted to bid on this chicken coop thinking I wouldn't even come close to what it sold for. But as I was standing there I remarked to my husband, teasingly, that I wanted it for my child day care! A lady behind me overheard my remark and exclaimed, "I would bring my child there if you had this!" I didn't have the heart to tell her I was just joking!

Sorry I couldn't get a good, clear shot of the coop. But by looking at all the people you can get an idea of the size! Perfect for Peacocks!!

My son and his wife had a chicken living in their back yard for a few weeks, this winter. They had no idea where it came from. So Christopher came down to take a look to see if he could build a coop, only a smaller one. I met him at the door with a large Bloody Mary and led the way. He loved it! Only on a smaller scale. 

This chicken coop shows, on what scale, how top end this show was!

 

Where In The Hell Have I Been?

If someone suggested that you step inside a walk in freezer and stay there for five months, would you do it?

In essence, that is what we are committing to, living in a frozen tundra, for almost half the year!

Dressed in layers, to go outside and get some fresh air, we waddle around like stuffed sausages.

Once every twelve days the sun shines for a brief period of time. We head out for some relief of the winter monotony. 

Looking for the light reflected off the ice.

Frozen in time. Color has stood still. Stones in the water, a blend of cement hues.

Icey coating on the stones.

Even the air bubbles are in a frozen state of being.

Thank the Sumac for making a brave stand of color in this winter wasteland of coldness.

Sorry to have been off blog for this long. I feel that no one wants to look at the cold pictures and that there is nothing else to post in the county. Not even a McDonalds with it's golden arches!

But, we are heading to the Nashville Antiques & Garden show. I will keep you posted on all the sights. Martha Stewart designed a chicken coop for a fund raiser at the show. Can't wait to see it!