This incredibly beautiful photo arrived via email today from Bob Myers of Kankakee, IL. Bob was an early admirer of the barn quilts there and kept me regularly updated with photos as the trail got underway. He piqued my interest, so when I heard from the folks involved with the quilt trail there that they had something special in the works, I was ready to visit. And sure enough they were right! You can read about my visit to Kankakee if you go ALL of the way back to October of 2009. WOW--it's been that long! Those of you who have been following me a while may have noticed that Kankakee barn quilts have been featured here regularly. Nothing better than good friends met along the quilt trail who stay in touch. I'd start listing names, but for fear of leaving someone out, I'll just say that these are some pretty incredible folks. Isn't this photo breathtaking? I can't help it; I am a Southern gal, and I love me some snow!! There's a reason that Bob chose this particular barn to capture (I almost said "on film" oops--my age is showing!) and send along to me today. If the farm doesn't look familiar to you--have a look: The Larson farm is beautiful in any season; I am so pleased to have this wonderful Corn and Beans barn quilt to represent the quilt trail on the cover of my book! Speaking of Kankakee, I will be speaking and signing books at the library there on April 14. Stay tuned for details. I have about a dozen other sppearances coming up and will have them posted in the next couple of days. If you'd like to have me speak to your organization or quilt guild, please get in touch! I think I'll go bundle up under a quilt. No snow in Georgia tonight, but it's in the 20s, so it's snuggling weather for sure.
If you don't know this about me already, I could photograph sheep in barns all day.
This simple Fun Jelly Bean Structure Activity will encourage children's creative and critical thinking skills as they come up with their own original Jelly Bean shapes and structures.
Explore Michael James Imagery's 281 photos on Flickr!
This is available in print and on canvas Sunset At An Old Barn And Soy Beans Ready For Harvest in Blue Mountain Mississippi. Nowadays barns are painted red because of tradition, but hundreds of years ago farmers were simply trying to preserve the wood. ferric oxide actually has some practical advantages. It is a highly effective wood preservative, because it kills various fungi and mosses that could start rotting the building. Your art will print on Archival Matte Paper, which is a smooth, clean-white, matte paper for high-quality fine art and will arrive rolled in a tube with a 1" border on each side - so a total of 2" in additional width (and length) for future framing and matting, if desired. For Canvas, the image gets printed onto one of our premium canvases and then stretched on a wooden frame of 1.5" x 1.5" stretcher bars (gallery wrap) or 5/8" x 5/8" stretcher bars (museum wrap). Your canvas print will be delivered to you "ready to hang" with pre-attached hanging wire, mounting hooks, and nails. Thanks for visiting, if you have any questions let me know Jordan Hill Photography
Cornell University's barn innovation makes cow (and humans) happy
Connecticut. For the past two days I have been researching this tiny-but-perfectly-designed US state. A garden-loving friend told me we should visit the Trade Secrets Garden Fair held there in May (considered the Chelsea Flower Show of the USA), and so I've been trying to work out how. A 14-hour international flight, a 5-hour domestic one, a 4-hour 'rest' stop in NY, a 5am start and finally a 2-hour drive... I'm thinking we could quite possibly make it? The reason for this crazy excursion? Trade Secrets and the state of Connecticut, particularly the Litchfield Hills, are considered a gardening 'Mecca' for horticultural lovers. My friend told me Ms Martha Stewart (pictured below at the fair) loves it so much she and her assistants go there at 8am on a Saturday with two empty SUVs to fill up. We hadn't planned on seeing Connecticut on our forthcoming US trip (we hadn't even planned to be in the US at this time), but now it seems to be first priority on the list! {Image of garden path above via Design New England. Image of gardening girls below via www.stephaniestanton photography.com. Image at very top via christinedarnelldesignstudio. wordpress.com} The fair was co-founded by the inimitable interior designer Bunny Williams (above, with Ms Martha), who bought a farmhouse in the area and then wrote a bestselling book (also above) about its renovation and decoration. She now opens her extraordinary home to visitors on the same weekend. Vanity Fair's Graydon Carter has a weekender in the neighbourhood too. So does Annie Leibovitz, Michael J Fox, Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Christine Baranski, writer Annie Kelly and photographer hubby Tim Street-Porter, and a thousand other low-key celebs. Bill Blass also owned a house in the region and retired there to design out his days. What do they all do up there? Dig, apparently. "''Gardening is our sport,'' one local explained, dishing the dirt on the social activity. ''People garden here like other people play tennis.'' Indeed, Connecticut's VIP residents love gardening so much, many of them mob the stands at Trade Secrets for the antique cloches, artful topiaries, vintage wares and rare specimens. The people watching is meant to be more amazing than the plants. (And the fashion more amazing than the people!) Regulars include Oscar de la Renta and Carolyne Roehm. I promise to take some photos, if I can sneak the Leica between the hydrangea leaves. But in the meantime, I was so inspired by this fair I thought I'd post a small selection of some of my favourite images of garden loveliness. Have you noticed how more and more designers are introducing botanical prints and horticultural images into their collections? I predict we'll be seeing a lot of flowers and leaves on frocks and sofas later this year. It's not surprising. Gardens are so wonderful, it's difficult not to resist. A prediction of things to come? A page from British Homes & Gardens magazine's Feb 2012 issue. Vintage botanical prints from the fantastic website Vintage Printables (www.vintageprintable.com), which lets you download vintage prints (including these lovely leaf ones) for free. An old but much-treasured postcard from the Chelsea Flower Show one year. French poet and art critic Dominigue Fourcade's Provence garden. One of the loveliest outdoor entertaining areas I've seen this year. Trust a poet to create an inspiring garden. A house on Shelter Island that I had the good fortune to photograph last year. Designed by that talented duo Schappacher White, this was the guest cottage. It was as sweet as a pea. My favourite gardening poster, a vintage Brussels print from the fabulous Izzi & Popo store in Melbourne, in our downstairs 'Gumboot Hall'. I can't understand a thing in it, but it always makes me smile. A collection of treasured gardening books in our Gumboot Hall. These always make me realise I need to strive to be a better gardener! The two little peached lime trees and the miniature Metro entrance and lamp post were bought in a little store off the Palais Royal in Paris. If you haven't read any of Adam Nicolson's books, then do – he's one of the best garden writers around. Then again, it's not surprising. His grandmother was Vita Sackville-West. Gumboots as art. I love everything about this. The simplicity of the scene, the double shelves with mismatching prints, the old wellies lined up like a leathery still life on the floor... even the leaf-green runner. So creative. {Via Homes & Garden Feb 2012} The great Arts and Crafts garden at Hidcote Manor, which, along with Sissinghurst, has inspired Andy Sturgeon's design for the eagerly anticipated M&G Garden at Chelsea Flower Show this year. All three gardens encapsulate the ‘New English’ style of informal cottage-style planting schemes set within a strong, formal framework (often box hedges), although Sturgeon's will feature a modern mix of plants ranging from Aquilegia 'Chocolate Soldier' and Black Form iris chrysographes to clipped holly and domed umbels of hog’s fennel. (On a little aside, we sold our house this week, just 3 weeks after we listed it. Apparently it was the Arts & Crafts-style garden that endeared it to the two sisters who bought it. I was so thrilled, as I spent most of my renovation budget on the garden rather than the kitchen, which is apparently where the money should have gone.) Bunny Williams' glorious conservatory-inspired dining room, impressive alfresco pool house, and whimsical, folly-inspired bathroom at her Connecticut weekender, all of them inspired by her gorgeous garden. Bunny calls her bathroom 'Bath in a Garden Folly'. She says she was inspired by the grand garden rooms of 18th century Europe. Imagine washing the exhaustion off here at the end of a gardening day? {Images via Design New England} Bunny's out buildings, which are just as elegant as her 'in' ones. {Mislaid credit: please notify me if you know} A garden-inspired dining room at a Virginia home, also designed by Bunny Williams. The hand-painted trellis wallpaper is by Gracie.The topiary at left is planted in an antique urn from Treillage, Williams' New York garden store. {Via Architectural Digest} An incredible trompe l'oeil in a grand American conservatory. Look at the roof. Just beautiful. {Via Vanity Fair} Windsor Smith's deliciously verdant hall, which has been featured repeatedly in the blogosphere but is still worth a little gaze. {Via House Beautiful} An enchanting green house set up for afternoon tea. So simple and yet so sweet. {Via Millie's Laurel Hedge and Tove Anderson} And lastly, it's a terrible photo, but this was my Valentine's Day gift to The Man this year. It's supposed to be a 'wisteria heart', created from entwined wisteria vines. Yes, I know. Rather wonky up top. It was difficult to train. (Or maybe it's the gardener whose skills are dubious?) I had to point it out to him on Valentine's Day. (I didn't need to cover it up because he would have never guessed what it was before then.) It was my little horticultural gesture of love. With that, the blog is now taking a break for a little while. It's been a delight to see you here, and even more lovely to read your kind and thoughtful notes. I apologise for the brief halt in posts, but hope to see you back here again very soon!
Create colorful mosaics of all your favorite characters from the new movie Dolittle!
Bean and seed mosaics are a staple craft in our household and there are so many different variations that can be made for each season and holiday. This is a great low-waste craft since you can recycle any cardboard that you already have as well as any dried beans, seeds or grains in your pantry.
Hello and Happy Earth Day everyone! A special hello if you’ve just joined us. I had the opportunity last week to share garden advice with yoyomama readers and many new folks are joining us on…
If your kids love crafting and creating things out of anything, then beans must be on their list! Today we have some super awesome bean craft ideas that are perfect for your little ones! Check
The Coffee Bean Barn (by Larry Lieber from Amazing Spider-Man Annual #4, 1967) Frank Frazetta’s Buck Rogers Portfolio The Sandman, by Bryan Talbot, from the Glasgow Comics Art Convention 1993 booklet Sgt. Rock commission by Joe Kubert, 1976 Two original illustrations by Gary Panter By R. Kikuo…
The original goat tower, the one that started it all.
Harvest festival at Stone Barns.
One couple takes the chance to nurture an enriched lifestyle connected to the land.
How to Color Beans for Play and Art
When Monkey Boy and The Girl Who Thinks She’s a Bird were young, I would build them a bean teepee every summer. Back then, we lived on a .25 acre lot and because there was not an abundance of trees, I would purchase 6 foot bamboo poles at the Home Depot. These days, we live in Read More >>
Some of you may be wondering; What on Earth is a Shucky Bean? Well, here in Eastern Kentucky they are a delicacy. But, if you aren't from E...
Create colorful mosaics of all your favorite characters from the new movie Dolittle!
Grade I-listed Harmondsworth Barn, west London, joins the likes of Stonehenge, Osborne House and parts of Hadrian's Wall in the national collection of historic sites and monuments under the guardianship of English Heritage.
Photographe de Mariage et Mariage à l'étranger de la région Ottawa-Gatineau / Ottawa-Gatineau base wedding & destination wedding photographer
