ETSY PLUG - Summersville

When I was in South Carolina recently, my mom and I worked together on a quilt, all in greens.  I had chosen all the fabric earlier in the year, and had it shipped to her house so it would all be ready the next time I was there.  My favorite fabric came from an Etsy shop called Summersville.  Here the very talented Lucie Summers hand screenprints her fun designs on a delightfully textured oatmeal cotton with natural slubs and flecks of cotton seed. 

Her designs are all hand-drawn.  In the age of computers, that is a rarity.  I feel Lucie's personality must come through in these designs, and they make me think she's likely a warm, delightful person.

At Summersville, you can find a lot more than fabric.  My favorite product (that I've yet to try) is this gift wrap.  It is printed using vegetable based inks on 80% recycled paper and you'll get two sheets, printed on both sides. 

There are also cute fabric-covered magnets...

and beautiful fabric-covered notebooks, with either lined or blank pages.

Perhaps the most unique thing I saw at Summersville was this color-it-yourself poster, in a selection of her designs.  What a fun gift this would be!

IMAGES: SUMMERSVILLE

Winter Sun

Isn't it strange how a week can seem to have passed both slowly and quickly all at the same time?  I can't believe it is already Friday, but earlier this week things were dragging along until my husband returned from his business trip.  I think we've got a very lowkey weekend before us, and I'm looking forward to it.  Enjoy yours!

Orchid

I don't own any orchids, but my father did at one time.  Here's why I should own an orchid - they can bloom any time of the year.  It would be really nice to have a splash of color in the house right about now.

I Want To Come With You

I think I have a new favorite horse photo.  I took this photo while driving on the dirt roads that run through the mountains west of my home. They frequently cross private ranches, and sometimes the horses linger near the road, grazing and perhaps waiting for their owners to come home.

I just added this photo to my Wyoming collection, and to Etsy shop.

Deer

We only saw one deer while snowshoeing, as it's not the quietest activity, but driving in and out on the back roads, we always see a lot.

Snowshoeing

The day before I left to visit South Carolina, Brian and I headed west an hour to the mountains and the national forest, to try out our new snowshoes.  We decided to venture out over a side road that was covered in a few feet of snow, since clearly no one had been out and about recently.  It was lined with little pine trees, and led into a wooded cleft between two hills, so we were out of the wind but still in the sun, which made it very pleasant.  These images are of where we popped out of the woods, at the trailhead we had initially considered taking.  As you can see, there had been some fire damage, and it left the landscape quite bare. The wind was seriously kicking up there with nothing to buffer it, so we turned back, though in total we did 3 or 4 miles which seemed about right for our first trek.  It was a really fun way to get outside and explore, despite the depth of the snow, and we both enjoyed it quite a bit, so we'll be doing this often.

ETSY PLUG - Happy Family

Since this is the first Etsy Plug of the new year, I thought I'd share one of the favorite things I gave as a present this Christmas.  I saw this great T-Rex shirt at Happy Family and thought it would be perfect for my friends' toddler.  I love to buy him gifts, but really, they are always REALLY for his mom and dad to enjoy.

Happy Family has such a huge selection of shirts, a lot of which are for children, like this bicycle shirt and, one of my favorites, the red beans and rice shirt.

Happy Family likes a lot of what I like, specifically dinosaurs and robots.

In what is perhaps their finest design, they put the two together.  Yes, that robot is riding that triceratops.

I also can't resist a good koi design.

You can also find tote bags and messenger bags at Happy Family.

IMAGES: HAPPY FAMILY

Vultures

One of the park rangers told us that when the alligators hibernate, the other animals come out to play.  All the flower beds had been dug up by wild pigs, and the deer become bolder in their foraging, too.  While on our walk around Cypress Gardens, grandpa and I happened upon a flock of vultures sunning themselves on the path.  They were so large, and when they spread their wings to soak up the sun, it was quite a sight.  As we approached, they took to the trees nearby where we got a better view.  I'm not sure if they were turkey vultures or black vultures or both, as I read they sometimes roost together.

Kittredge Gravesite

I had been looking forward to visiting Cypress Gardens in the winter, when the alligators hibernate.  Every other time I had been there, I wanted to walk the trails, but every time I tried, I'd see an alligator not too far from the bank, and decide it wasn't really safe.  Everyone says that they are more afraid of you than you are of them, but I've also been taught that wild animals are unpredictable from time to time. 

So grandpa and I walked the beautiful trails in January, and happened upon the gravesite of the Kittredge family, who had purchased the land, planted it into beautiful gardens, and deeded it to local government as a park upon their deaths.  I had no idea the site would be so grand.  That cross is huge - maybe twelve feet tall - and surrounded by a beautiful low brick wall.  The way the light filtered through the trees and onto the grass made it seem like such a lovely and peaceful place to spend eternity.

"Leaves on Red" available only at Craft Hope

If you haven't been to the Craft Hope shop on Etsy, you should.    Sellers have been donating items for sale, with all profits to benefit Doctors Without Borders in Haiti.  Just in the days since the quake, the lovely ladies who have been running the shop have raised nearly $10,000.  Isn't that amazing?!

I wanted to help, too, so I donated my only print of "Leaves on Red."  I had been thinking about taking it out of the shop, since it's a little softer  than my other photographs and I didn't think it fit my current asthetic.  So, if you have ever wanted to own this print, now is the time, and you'll be helping out those in Haiti to get much-needed medical care.

Cypress Gardens in Winter

Every year in January, when I arrive in South Carolina, my grandpa is always at the tail-end of his visit.  We have made it a tradition to take a day and go out together to photograph some pretty location nearby.  This year I wanted to show him somewhere new, so we headed over to Cypress Gardens, one of Berkeley County's true treasures.  Grandpa is always after "a pretty scene" and I think the blackwater swamp, full of lily pads and cypress trees that seem endless in their reflections, work pretty well.

You may remember I visited here last summer, but grandpa had never been.  We didn't see any other visitors the whole day, as the temperature was uncharacteristically in the low 30s which is pretty cold for this area.  Even the local weatherman was telling folks to stay indoors, which made me giggle.

Cedar Berries

Hello everyone!  It's good to be back.  I hope the holidays were as wonderful for you all as they were for me.  I spent the weeks after Christmas in South Carolina with my folks, and I just returned this weekend.  It was not as warm a respite as I usually am fortunate enough to experience, but compared to Wyoming, it wasn't bad.  Actually, Wyoming was downright pleasant when I returned - it was up to 60 yesterday and positively lovely!  I think we are in for some snow later in the week, however.  That will be good for snowshoeing, at least.

These photos are of the berries on a cedar tree in my parents' yard in South Carolina.  They happen to live in a beautiful little spot called Cedar Island, and yes, the cedar trees abound.  It's so funny to move away from where you have spent most your life, and find yourself rediscovering the little things when you return.  For example, I didn't remember there being berries on cedar trees.  Especially pretty little dusky blue ones.