"It seems no wonder if our ancestors regarded Friendship as something that raised us almost above humanity. This love, free from instinct, free from all duties but those which love has freely assumed, almost wholly free from jealousy, and free without qualification from the need to be needed, is eminently spiritual. It is the sort of love one can imagine between angels." C.S. Lewis, from, The Four Loves.
Arriving at the Barn Dance Friday, below. Is it obvious Pecan Orchard & I designed the meadow & gravel drive? No? Excellent, fabulous, wonderful!
Wildwood cleared, figs rescued, below, a new roof, fresh paint, broken glass replaced &
the old Dairy Barn, inside below, is alive again.
Almost a century old, its terra cotta block construction, with original paint, below, has more centuries to serve.
Couldn't resist showing you the desert table, below.
Tea Table too, below.
Heirloom chickens in their new home, below, next to the Dairy Barn.
17 piece orchestra (3 members from the Atlanta Symphony), below, setting up in the tractor barn.
Tractors were gone, below, for the wine/canapes.
Pecan Orchard bought the land and derelict home with dependencies about a year ago. Her mission statement to live a gardening lifestyle AND be of service. A lifestyle witnessed living abroad for decades. Horses, sheep, heirloom chickens, potager, gardens, goats, ponds, meadows, woodland, barns & etc. A lifestyle including church, master gardeners, beekeepers, tennis, horse shows, family & Friendships.
Meeting new people at the Barn Dance & hearing stories of grace bestowed via friendship with Pecan Orchard is a rich cord connecting us.
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Pecan Orchard's choices ripple far beyond her community. Without the intention of leaving a footprint Pecan Orchard is already leaving something larger-deeper-richer, wing beats.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Pics taken Friday nite. Hope it's obvious Pecan Orchard has brought copious amounts of grace into my life.
Will add 'shot' pea gravel. 
(Notice stone edged gravel, decrepit terra cotta, leaf litter mulch? Melts my heart.)
Same bench, same path, from opposite direction.
At the end of the day this wonderful man, above, earned his beer.
"It's what we do with what we have.", my mentor Mary Kistner said. I first saw pots as edging decades ago in Ryan Gainey's Decatur, GA garden.
Susanne & I have broken pots & fallen limbs. 
A rooster was found, & placed, almost 2 months ago, above. Love it.
I had just designed this EXACT garden. Less than 2 hours earlier. 
(Pic, above, Ann Wintour's garden room in World Of Interiors)
(Pic, above, Christopher Baker)
Butterflies adore fresh poop. Again, gathering moisture & minerals.
An easy fix, below?
An ornate black iron gate.
Stone at doorway, below.
Concrete blocks/gravel for parking, below.
Cubed stone/gravel, below, for roads.
And, below,
they look great together.
Switch plate to the chandelier, below. A necessity, but look at it? Not.
Old ironstone, below, with a lovely pattern named, Summertime.
Oh my, another book idea. Before/after pics of hiding necessities around home/garden. 
At the terrace level by her back porch she sited a little garden & pond. White washed cinder blocks & the gravel? Yep, that's Chandelier Chick's touch, dancing in the Poverty Cycle with keen intellect.
pond, birds, plants, meadow, & views fill the spiritual well. 
She lined a garden path DRAMATICALLY with wine bottles. (Poppets, she did it herself, no hired labor. Unwittingly, she copied curves from a table in her foyer, above.)
Adoring genius, I copied her lead. Concept plan, above, new curving paths will be Wine Bottle Edged & capped with her signature curve. 
Her home is historic, the garden revitalized. Curving flourishes with the Wine Bottle Edging are subtle up close, DRAMATIC when viewed from the house.
Page has arrived. ATONEMENT. 
They are harder to find good/cheap/free. 
Some Ace Hardware have a line of excellent terra cotta in spring. Once they sell-out it's another year before the shipment arrives again.
Arriving at the Barn Dance Friday, below. Is it obvious Pecan Orchard & I designed the meadow & gravel drive? No? Excellent, fabulous, wonderful!
Wildwood cleared, figs rescued, below, a new roof, fresh paint, broken glass replaced &
the old Dairy Barn, inside below, is alive again.
Almost a century old, its terra cotta block construction, with original paint, below, has more centuries to serve.
Couldn't resist showing you the desert table, below.
Tea Table too, below.
Heirloom chickens in their new home, below, next to the Dairy Barn.
17 piece orchestra (3 members from the Atlanta Symphony), below, setting up in the tractor barn.
Tractors were gone, below, for the wine/canapes.
Pecan Orchard bought the land and derelict home with dependencies about a year ago. Her mission statement to live a gardening lifestyle AND be of service. A lifestyle witnessed living abroad for decades. Horses, sheep, heirloom chickens, potager, gardens, goats, ponds, meadows, woodland, barns & etc. A lifestyle including church, master gardeners, beekeepers, tennis, horse shows, family & Friendships. 
Meeting new people at the Barn Dance & hearing stories of grace bestowed via friendship with Pecan Orchard is a rich cord connecting us.
10 acres amongst other farms, many Mennonite, hills & streams. They retired here recently. The work is hard but the joy is greater.
Already their home a refuge for children/grandchildren, friends, & animals. Blossom, above.
Clearing land, above/below, 1st cleared over a century ago. 
Discovering original gravel drives & ponds.
Felled wood stored in the circa 1940's cedar barn. Trucks & tractors bought (too) reasonably during this economy. Trading Atlanta for Kentucky. 
