Belle Maison Art

Art is such a personal purchase, and it's one you will live with everyday. Sometimes I struggle with balancing different types of art in my house. I get excited about one medium, just to realize it might be dominating the other pieces. I currently have four illustrations of fish in my living room, and now I am drawn to these gorgeous prints by Belle Maison Art. 

Antique Crab Plate 1903

Vintage British Seaweed Series 1839

Antique Seashells 1800's

I've been looking for some office art and these pieces are just right. I especially love the crab print. The Rainbow Swimming Crab is a much sassier version of the Lowcountry Blue Crab I know and love. I can't imagine catching a mess of those little rainbows. It would certainly add some color to the next crab boil! I've also been on the hunt for a good oyster illustration… but that's obviously an entirely different obsession.

Jack Leigh

Jack Leigh is one of my all time favorite photographers. His body of work captures the coastal waters of South Carolina and Georgia better than any photographer I have seen. Pat Conroy's words are a perfect match for his photographs. 

Leigh has so many great books, it's hard to choose a favorite. If I had to narrow it down I would pick Oystering: A Way of Life, Nets and Doors: Shrimping in Southern Waters, and his retrospective, The Land I'm Bound To.

I am lucky enough to own this piece and look at it everyday! 

Several years ago M bought a couple prints for me and I could not be more grateful.

This photo reminds me of the my hometown and the oystermen who help maintain our waters. 

His books are full of glorious images but his most notable piece is on the cover of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. If you haven't been to Bonaventure Cemetery you should definitely make the trip. The cemetery is in Savannah on the Wilmington River and is incredibly peaceful. The great songwriter Johnny Mercer was laid to rest here.

Jack Leigh passed away in 2004 after a battle with colon cancer. He left the world a better place as he documented the South in a way that will preserve our salt marshes and barrier islands long after they're gone. 

Found 'em

Look who I saw hanging around on ebay. Remember these guys from my rainy days footwear post. For $30 these coral duck boots became mine. Thanks for voting on the last post but these were just too good of a deal. There's more where these came from in yellow, cream or dark green. This misty morning is begging for me to go four wheelin' or firewood hunting. Maybe an oyster roast later?

Duck Boots

A. 

B.

Please choose... because I always make you pick my favorite. Oh, and last time I bought these.  

Do you have weather boots? I would totally rock these at an oyster roast or a tailgate. I love them!

A handbag the color of oysters...

Cobble Hill Leslie by Kate Spade

Marceau Hobo by J. Crew

Grey is clearly my new favorite color. This shade reminds me of oysters. I could use a good ole country oyster roast right now! If I had to choose one of these pretty handbags I would pick the one on top... it just looks a little more polished. Usually my favorite fall color is mustard yellow. Do you have a go to color this season?

Oysters and Hurricanes

Oyster Shell Candle Holder

We have candles ready, but don't think we'll need them after all. Hopefully you and your families are safe! Not sure how I missed it yesterday, but this one takes the cake. I love it! I bet I could make one of these myself. I have a couple oyster projects going that I may post on here one day soon. Clearly I have an obsession with oysters, but I'm okay with that.

Another good thing that comes from hurricanes? Good music. I absolutely love bluegrass. Like most music, it comes from the heart and really has a way of showing the emotion of the songwriter. Sarah Jarosz wrote Broussard's Lament after Hurricane Katrina. At the time she was only 14. I had the privilege of seeing her perform at the Cistern Yard as part of this year's Spoleto Festival. That's a night I'd like to do all over again. Great spring weather and a perfect backdrop!

Hurricane Lanterns

I have lived on the Carolina coast my whole life and our family only had to evacuated a couple times. With all the chatter about Irene I've been trying to think about the bright side of Hurricanes. Although these wouldn't stand a chance in the face of a category 3 storm, those storms aren't around that much anyway. Of course I love the lantern with the oyster shells, but I think the driftwood one is my favorite. Which one would you choose to have with you to weather the storm?

1. Driftwood Hurricane 2. Outdoor Lantern 3. Cement Paper Hurricane 

4. Mercado Square Metal Lantern 5. Oyster Shell Lantern 6. Hurricane in Basketware Cage

Savannah Red Rice

This is recipe that my family has been making for years. We eat it on weeknights and my sister and I

always make it as a side dish on Thanksgiving. It's the perfect dish to take to an oyster roast.

Chop two bell peppers. I used one orange one thinking it would be nice for color, turns out green

 really shows up better anyway. Traditionally this dish is made with green bell peppers. 

                                          Chop one Vidalia onion. Vidalia is kind of important because they hail from
                                          Georgia, as does this recipe. If you can't get one, a large yellow onion will do.

                                                                         Saute the peppers and onions in olive oil.

                                                  While the vegetables are sauteing chop two cups of smoked sausage.

                                                                       Add the sausage to the mixture on the stove.

                                                                                 Add 4 cups of crushed tomatoes

                                                                           And two cups of uncooked white rice.

                                                             Stir the mixture together while cooking at medium.
          

                                                                           Add 1 Tablespoon of creole seasoning.

                                                                                    Add 1 Tablespoon of Texas Pete.

     Put the mixture in a greased casserole dish.  

  Seal tightly with aluminum foil. 

       Bake at 350 for 1.5 hours or until rice is tender. 

                                                                                                      Enjoy!

Noteworthy

With ads like this, Kate Spade makes her stationery hard to resist. Apparently she doesn't know that oysters are only in season on the South Carolina coast in months ending in R. Somehow she still got me.

Rainy Days

                                         kate spade boots, sperry duck boots, hunter rain boots

We are lucky to finally have some rain around here! Somehow rainy days always make me lust after cute rain shoes. I have a pair that I wear often, but I love the ones above. The yellow ones would be great at an oyster roast. Which ones would you pick? Do you have a pair rain boots?