Today I am @.....

.....my wits end!!!!!

Most of my readers are probably experiencing cabin fever like I am.  Due to this rain my chickens are cooped up, my dog is being forced to stay calm and my husband is asleep on the opposite end of the sofa from me.  I know we need the rain but this family doesn't do well indoors all day.  This is the perfect Pinterest day!!!!

I have certainly been pinning and have come across some really great articles I can use for my many jobs and clients so I would say this has been mostly productive!

I have found a lot of great articles to post for Bellwether Landscape Architects tomorrow on their Facebook page.  Last week we changed their profile images and posted some articles of interest and all of a sudden they have a ton of new activity and followers.  It is pretty amazing what social media can do and who it can reach.

One thing that has captured my interest today is what people collect; glass bottles, old wooden cutting boards, masks, dishes, ceramic vessels.  You wonder what interests people about their certain collections. Did they study these artifacts in college, are they attracted to the colors of certain things, are they collections where the pieces are actually in use?

Here are some of the interesting collections I came across today on Pinterest and Remodelista.com:

Jennifer Bates Pottery would look great displayed in a collection like the one above.

I love old cutting boards, even if they are made to look old, I still love them.

Old glass bottles make for an interesting collection, these cool colors remind me of the ocean and the sky.

Hand mirrors and sculptures of heads, these look like they are carved in wood.  It makes me wonder if this person is a wood worker and appreciates the craftsmanship of these pieces.

My all time favorite!!!!  I, unfortunately, can't collect antlers and skulls because my German Shorthair heads straight for them.... maybe I should try a ceramic or papier mache.

These skulls made me think of a photograph I took in the home of Interior Designer, Carolyn Malone.  She has these mounted antlers displayed beautifully.

Small Straw Brooms

Small Statuary

White serving pieces and dishes.

I collect crosses and rosaries because I love the differences in their design all over the world.  Here are a few in my collection.

A cross I bought in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

A cross from Italy,

France,

rosaries from Ecuador, Guatemala and France.

I would love for you to share your collections with me.  Send me some pictures!!!

A quick congrats to Clark and Zook Architects for their recent award.  Their project at 143 Vidal Boulevard has been honored by the City of Decatur and has earned a Decatur Design Award for 2012.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend and that Monday is the start of a great week!

Today I am @.......

.....San Marco USA.

I am not there yet but will be later this morning, wanted to throw out a quick reminder first.  Don't forget that tomorrow night is Renaissance Tile and Bath Event launching their new product.  See below for details.....

I will be there and hope to see you there as well!!

I discovered a new magazine this weekend, "Whole Living", www.wholeliving.com, wouldn't you know it is a Martha Stewart publication.  But, it doesn't feel like Martha.  Anyhow I read it cover to cover and it had a lot of really great info.  I am sharing a few things below.

This is an article about Atlanta and features some interesting places I haven't been.  One thing I was unaware of is a bicycle tasting tour.  Who is interested?

There was also some interesting info about how to choose your Olive Oil.  This tidbit is written by Tom Mueller, author of a book about the olive oil industry called "Extra Virginity: the sublime and scandalous world of olive oil".  I downloaded a sample of this a while back and remember enjoying it but never actually read the whole book.  I am adding it to my summer reading list.  Mueller's blog info is in the article also in case you want to learn more.

Here are a few pics from my weekend with our niece and nephew.

Cutest boy ever, Charlie

Evie and Shorty played lots of ball!

Evie got to pet Splash, the chicken.  Splash is a patient bird but we compensate her well!

I have a few really exciting blogs coming up about a few people that most of you know so stay tuned!!!!

Today I was @....

.....Bellwether Landscape Architects.

After a really great day at Bellwether with Missy and Todd, what could be better than ending the day with Chicken Happy Hour.  Fortunately for me, and probably unfortunately for you, I have discovered Instagram.  One of the really lovely ladies I follow on Pinterest, Mrs. French, peaked my interest with her Instagram photos and now I am hooked.

Take a look at some of my photos from my relaxing evening with my husband, my dog and, of course, my chickens.

I would be selfish if I didn't share that!

Make sure to read my posts for San Marco, some great photos!  sanmarcousa.wordpress.com.  Most importantly, don't forget to come to happy hour tomorrow evening at Ormsby's, 6-8.  I hope it will be a great crowd like last time!

This weekend I was @.......

......my house.

What a fabulous weekend it has been.  Duncan and I had a wonderful dinner with friends to celebrate a birthday, not mine, on Friday night.  We went to Cucina Asellina and everything was great.  I had Pistachio Garganelli which had hand made sausage and wild mushrooms, delish!!  The great thing about it is they didn't bring you a heaping bowl of food so we didn't leave feeling stuffed.  I say go check it out yourselves.

The most exciting part of the weekend was that our chicks have started hatching!!!!!  The cutest and coolest thing ever.  We have 5 chicks at the moment and 5 more eggs to go, Runt (named so bc she was the runt of the litter and has ended up being the healthiest of them all) is such a great mom too!  Our adorable nephew came for a sleepover which made it that much more fun.

Charlie, our nephew, loving some pop corn.

Video of the first chick being born, now we have 5.

She has been keeping them tucked underneath her, and they are quite adventurous, so they keep popping out, exploring the brood box.

And my peonies are blooming, my favorite time of spring.  And these aren't even my pretty ones so stay tuned!!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

This week I was @......

......  I can't believe I haven't posted anything in so long.  Our new chicks should be hatching any day now so stay tuned.  I have been working hard on my new website and hope to have it up and running May 1, not far away. 

Don't forget next week's happy hour at Ormsby's, Thursday night 6-8, bring a friend!

Here are some new jewelry pieces I have been working on for Spring.

Have a great Thursday!

Saturday I was @..........

...........our backyard bee party.

Saturday was a big hit!!!  Duncan and I started early with a trip to Athens, GA to pick up the 2 new nucleus hives.  Two of our hives made it through the winter with no problem but one did not so we wanted to make sure we had plenty of bees in order to cultivate a lot of honey this summer.  This will be our fifth year keeping bees, low maintenance and very educational.

Here is the bee farm where we picked up our new hives.  The weather could not have been better, it felt like we were in the mountains with all of the surrounding forrest and crisp, cool air.

This is the property of Jennifer A. Berry, who is the Apicultural Research Coordinator and Lab Manager at the University of Georgia, and this is only a fraction of her hives.  You might not be able to tell from the picture but the hives were all painted pastel colors, so appropriate for Easter weekend and I am definitely going to steel that idea.

And here we have two new hives of angry bees, close the trunk and don't stop until you get home!

We were joined by Ozzie Sabina, one of Duncan's friend and fellow bee keepers, and a friend and co-worker of Duncan's who might be interested in this hobby.  Here they are inspecting the existing hives.

A close up of their findings.

Some of our guests observing.

Some of my dearest friends who just came for the wine.  Just kidding.

I am sure they are discussing colony collapse syndrome.

Brad and Emma Jayne.

Duncan post hive inspection.  Those outfits get warm!

The integration of hives did not go off without a hitch.  We had a swarm right out of the gate, I couldn't get a picture of the bees clumped in the trees because they were so high up.  Luckily, for our party, they decided to go back to their hives instead of finding a new home elsewhere. 

Once the new frames were integrated into our existing hives, and the Queen Bee was situated in her new home, the rest followed, literally making a "bee line" into the new hive.

The bees weren't the only entertainment, 

The Twins thought this was a party for them.

Jackson found one of the eggs hidden by one of the hens after being laid, so I can honestly say we had an easter egg hunt.  Clearly the other kids were envious, even big sis in the background.

Last but not least, 

a tired Shorty.  I am pretty sure she has never been this exhausted.

Thanks to our fabulous friends for making Bee Saturday the highlight of our Easter weekend.