Snow makes ordinary life a big adventure

I'm starting to figure out the camera. At last. Shooting objects in the snow tends to make the subject too dark as the camera tries to adjust for the exposure of bright white. By turning up the ISO- the backgrounds faded away entirely and I was able to get the right amount of light to photograph the chickens.

The dogs had been too dark in all their shots as well. I am happy with the photos I took of them yesterday but I still have too many blurry ones and that bothers me. The dogs and I went on a very long hike through the woods yesterday. It was breathtakingly beautiful. The sun wasnt out yet so it was still gray and very cold. Today is even colder. It is about 26 right now at 12 noon.

Photographing chickens is not easy they have erratic movements and are never still. Part of the picture is almost always blurred. Putting them in the snow put them in a kind of shock. They were as still as I have ever seen them. They've been cooped up too long. I leave the pen open for them but they wont leave. Today I took them and put them under my studio where they can scratch around and move some. Poor little things.

Trout is such a great dog. What a champion she is; she is game for anything. We have been all over creation. Every other day, I take her up to Big Sky for a hike where she can go off on her own and meet back with me as I make my way. This can't happen with Koby so she doesnt get to go. Trout has been much better about staying home and when Koby leaves our property she barks a certain bark to rat her out. I love this development!

Sweet little Wren. I have a soft spot for this hen because she is the bottom of the pecking order. In a group feeding situation she is always pecked out and away from the treats. So you know I arrange it where she gets her own private stash.

This is Boxer's favorite chicken. She is a damn good hen. She is the only one not laying through this cold weather -but that has more to do with age then temperature.

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I left the truck up at the top of my driveway. I went up there yesterday to see if I could get out. The snow plow had been by and buried it. So i spent about 45 minutes digging it out. I felt like a pioneer woman! A few guys with trucks and chains came by but I refused to be pulled out.

"I like shoveling. It's a fitness thing" I told one fella. His lady gave me the universal look of "whatever dumb ass" and they drove on. Eventually I did get out..scraping out a path where the tires could get some traction. And I drove to town to find it all but shut down. But i felt like a BAD ASS. Oh yeah, Im out and I'm driving.

Wish me luck cause I am about to go pick up Fishbone Betty and its much icier today as the low temps made everything freeze. But I know how desperate she is to get out of that cabin. And...Koby ate another bed. So I need dog toys and bird seed and I have to GO.

Its a big adventure. All of the hardships, the mega bulk of clothing, dealing with frozen things. I LOVE this. I really do.

Foodie Field Trip: Flip and Star Provisions

2:30 on Thursday - thinking i would go ahead and pack in some calories before my Jan. 1st fast

decor is cross between Clockwork Orange milk bar and Dukes of Hazzard garage

MMMMM what to do, what to do? I ordered the special: burger with fries and choice of shake

A pair of Krispy Kreme shakes await the Nitro treatment (yes real doughnuts are in this shake)

Here ya go

This one is the "burnt marshmellow Nutella" shake

I chose the Pistachio White Truffle shake. 

I give it an A+. Full of flavor and not too sweet; lots of pistachio pieces all the way down

the special. very nice -especially however they dressed the lettuce -nice and tangy

at 3 pm it was still packed

Bid Jason good-bye and headed for another foodie destination:

star provisions: a great shop for food and crafty home decor

if you can't make your own biscuits, then i don't know what. 

visual haiku

buenos noches from
a lonely parking lot
apologies Dwight.

Field Trip: The Martyn House

Today Betty and I travelled south to Ellijay to assist our friend JoAnn Antonelli in an art project at her bed and breakfast the Martyn House. It's way more than a B and B though; its a farm, a nature sanctuary, an art and event space and a mountain paradise. The 130 year old farmhouse anchors a property with seemingly endless vistas of varied landscapes rich in design.


The property sings with spring. Flowering fruit trees, ample beds of violets and daffodils, emerging lily of the valley, hyacinth, and hellebores dot the landscape which rolls in and out of open space and into wooded areas where her indian gypsy faire tents await guests.

There are three smaller tents that serve as guest rooms nestled in the woods overlooking the main field, and there is one very large tent for events like the wonderful farm to table dinners they have. The little guest tents sleep two, and each have their own distinctive personality.

JoAnn has outfitted the tents with vintage linens and restored and refinished bathroom fixtures that she designed. The ceilings of the tents sparkle with tiny mirrors inside of golden stars. The tents have screened windows and ceiling fans as well as heaters making them a comfortable respite in all seasons.


A beautiful blossoming fruit tree beyond the porch was breathtaking against the sky.


A chair pair wait to be filled....maybe after the art project is completed.


The art project was to decorate 2 very orange porta-pottys brought in for the Martyn House's big tent events. We used Krylon Fusion paint which is for plastic. I was pleasantly surprised to discover how well and quickly it covered. We each did our own designs and they integrated nicely.


The wise owl advised me to take a break inside the big event tent when the spray paint started to get to me. ( Note to self: next time, bring a filter mask.)


Maya (pictured here) and Grace were relaxing inside the big tent.


JoAnn's john had a tie dye effect and was a great blend with the original orange color. Her designs reminded me of a hawaiian shirt, or maybe an island bar.


Naturally, my design had a bird and sky above foliage theme. We used various branches of leaves as stencils to create the patterns. Layering lots of colors gave the paintings depth and richness.


Betty used an ornate stencil and incorporated her signature pottery designs into the final.


Cheerful daffodils waved in approval.


When we finished we took a golf cart ride to the pond, looked at the new fish and tadpoles and watched the dogs swim and rough house. JoAnn pointed out clusters of jelly like blobs containing frog eggs. We took a tour into the forest to see a stick arch JoAnn made for couples to be married under and immediately Betty and I wanted to make one too....which we will in the next week or so. JoAnn bid us good-bye from her garden and we headed north in the old grey truck.

It was a perfect way to spend the afternoon, good friends, sweet fresh spring beauty and inspired and dreaming of ways to develop Chickory over the next years. Loved it.

Weekend in the City

V called and said i should come home; all the trees are blooming in the city. I packed up 5 hens and one giant puppy into a smallish car and headed out around 5 pm. The mountains were blue and shrouded in mist. I watched them fade in the rear view mirror. The weekend people are coming in; the traffic thickened northbound a little more every twenty miles i travelled south. Some of them were packed to the gills with bikes and jet skis and the dreaded forest destroying 4 wheelers. Im glad i live on the rural side of the county, not the tourist side where the lake and all the rental cabins are. Lots of boats are headed north too. Theres a big bass tournament this weekend just over the border in North Carolina. And then there is the big news:


The Georgia Legislature passed HR 1773 this week, naming Blue Ridge as the trout capital of jawja. why?

...."According to the resolution, Fannin County is home to 13 bodies of water that have been designated by the Georgia DNR as trout waters -- actually over 550 miles of pristine streams, including The Toccoa River's diverse tailwater, which can be fished all year. Fannin County is also home to the federal trout hatchery in the Chattahoochee National Forest....."


30 minutes away from Chickory my ears pop with altitude change and the landscape opens up to a sunnier sky. Somebody flashed their headlights and i slowed to 65 just in time to innocently glide by a county mounty. A wreck in the next half hour turns the northbound into a parking lot for miles backing all the way to the super slab I-75. I switch to an urban station for the big bass and prepare for a hell for leather street gauntlet. I like this. I enjoy traffic and frenzied lane changing and driving nuttiness now because i know it will only be for a few days and then i can return to the chill life for restoration.

Atlanta is in full spring flower and its beauty is the counterpoint to the country. The city is a beauty of manicured lawns, landscaping and hardscapes of brick and wrought iron and rock; spring bulbs and pretty people walking their pretty dogs through glittering canyons of high rise condos. The parking lot at Saks and Nordstrom are filled; and the Tavern at Phipps is overflowing with a see and be scene. When i reach my destination - home -i find the pear and cherry in full flower and the lilac and clematis ready to bud out. Eastern Redbuds and Tulip Poplars are vibrant in color too as are the camellias. The one in our front yard is heavy with flowers and looks like it might fall over from the weight of them.

Here i have a sample of flowering pear, quince and white cherry blossoms; violets ; and what everyone calls a tulip tree, but i don't know for sure.






Tonight V and I are going to a concert at the Fabulous Fox Theatre to see the "Jimi Hendrix Experience Tour: Celebrating the Music and Legacy of Jimi Hendrix". The venue is like an incredibly ornate Egyptian ballroom with a dash of moroccan architecture and the acoustics are pretty good as it isnt too large. I love going there and we can take the MARTA train with only a few blocks of walking from the station. I hate parking downtown. Ive had my car wrecked twice by valets.

It will be a fun people watching crowd there will be a lot of rock in rollers and their mols (like me and V) and the line up of players sounds promising too: Eric Johnson, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Living Color, Johnny Lang, Joe Satriani, Robert Randolph, Los Lobos, Ernie Isley and Billy Cox who played woodstock with Jimi. Im pretty excited, not just about the show, but about having a date with V. Now that we spend so much time apart, our times together are more eventful and much more fun. I will try and get some photos of the "scene" for Moi's fashion blog. The theme? I dont know, maybe aging hippy chicks?