A Visit to Atlanta, Part 2

Today I'm taking you inside Swan House, a gorgeous mansion from the 1930s, which is on the grounds of the Atlanta History Center.

When it was built and furnished, I am sure it was quite modern and with all the luxuries that were available. We started our tour on the second floor in the master bedroom. I didn't realize it then, but I bet the wallpaper was hand-painted. You'll see another example of that further down.

More fascinating than the bedroom was the adjoining beautiful bathroom. I loved how it was designed and painted!

 Behind me were extensive closets.

 A little detail featuring a swan.

And just look at this toilet, so cleverly disguised...

Next was the children's room, which was huge! Big enough for sleeping and extensive play.

And the view wasn't shabby either - although I'm not sure how interested kids would have been in that!

On the third and fourth floor were the servants quarters - complete with an ironing room, which I forgot to get a picture of.

Being the knitter that I am, I was immediately drawn to the rocking chair with the basket of yarn.

Daniel liked the round window!

And we both liked the old cookbook that was open on the dresser. I might just have to try out one of those recipes.

On the first floor, everything was very elegant again! The living room was quite stunning.

On the way to the study, they had a small telephone room. It reminded Daniel and me that the house we lived in in Michigan, which was built in the 1920s, had a similar little telephone alcove, which we had completely forgotten about.

The study was definitely a man's room.

Now the dining room - again very elegant!

Our favorite feature of that room was the hand-painted wallpaper. It was stunning!

And now to my favorite room - the kitchen! Actually, it was two rooms and I wanted to adopt both of them! I loved everything about them - the wall color, the appliances, the cupboards, the recipe books and all the cook and bakeware.

 I almost stuck this waffle iron into my purse, but it was just too large... Isn't it pretty?

This is a serious pressure cooker, that almost looks dangerous...

In the basement there was an exhibit of some very interesting porcelain. It seems that the architect of the house also ran a porcelain trading company, so there was a huge collection. My favorite pieces were these serving dishes!

In my next post, I'll show you a little bit of the outside gardens and paths around the house. So much was blooming... 

I hope you enjoyed this little trip to life of the affluent in the 1930s. Personally, I feel much more of an affinity to the farmhouse in my previous post than to this example of luxury and opulence. My favorite part of this mansion was the kitchen, which I am sure the lady of the house didn't set foot in much at all...

Wishing you a beautiful Wednesday! 

❧ Silke

A Visit to Atlanta, Part 1

Last weekend we took a trip to Atlanta. Last year we subscribed to three performances of the Atlanta Opera so that we'd have an excuse to explore Atlanta a little more. Even though we've lived here for over 10 years, we don't make that trip very often because it's a long and boring drive.

But this time, we got off the highway in Macon and drove to Atlanta on the back roads. It was so beautiful we couldn't believe it: very rural, green, hilly with lakes and rivers, and virtually no traffic. We will never drive to Atlanta any other way again!

Our first stop on Friday was the Krog Street Market, which we had heard about not too long ago. It's an indoor food market with all the food you might want! It did not disappoint! We ate delicious bao (they are like asian bbq sandwiches), a first for me, from Suzy Siu's Bao with a local IPA. Delicious.

After that we got a coffee and little pastry from The Little Tart Bakeshop and got out our books to read until rush hour was over and we could drive to our hotel. It was perfect!

On Saturday, we decided to go visit the Atlanta History Center, which was not far from our hotel. We had no expectations and were we ever surprised! We spent nearly five hours there and weren't able to see everything. At the end we applied our entry fee to a year membership so we can come back there every time we are in Atlanta!

The first stop we made at the center was to the Smith Family Farm, which are the photos I will share with you today! The buildings were so beautiful to me in their simplicity!

We did get to see all the animals, except the cat Dodger. We even saw one of the red-shouldered hawks that had a nest nearby. It flew right past us. Such a beautiful bird!

I was completely enamored by the angora goats. This was Maria and she allowed us a little close-up time. Such beautiful animals and I'm sure Maria will make her way into one of my paintings!

 The farm house was beautifully kept and simply furnished.

But first I had to ooooh and aaaah over this lady banks rose in full bloom. We had one in our garden in New Mexico and I still miss it!

Whenever I see places like this, I feel like I was born in the wrong century. Although...I sure am happy my life isn't as hard as theirs was and I do like some of my creature comforts. Still, there's something said for a simple life and sometimes I yearn for the times before computers and cell phones and instant everything.

 Of course I loved the kitchen, which was in a separate building.

 Do you see those huge stoneware crocks? I wanted to take them all home!

 Can you believe how far along the garden was already?

Everywhere I found the seed pods from the sweet gum trees. Aren't they beautiful (sorry about the slightly blurry photo).

And of course spring was in full bloom and I couldn't get enough of all the flowers.

In my next post I'll show you the photos of Swan House, an impressive and gorgeous mansion from the 1930's.

Happy Monday, everyone!

❧ Silke

So much is happening...

I haven't posted in a while, not because I have nothing to show, but because there is too much going on. Just the thought about writing it all down, finding the photos, getting it all organized seems overwhelming. But here I am!

I've been painting a lot. These are just some of the paintings of the last month. I'm finishing a medium-sized commissioned painting, which is looking really fun. I can't wait to be able to share it with you.

These are all small paintings, which I love to do. I'm also working on three larger ones and I'm sure I'll get more in the works. The ideas just keep coming!

I've also been reading a lot, taking a bunch of online classes, knitting, crocheting, cooking and baking. My life is so full at the moment that I don't find the peace of mind to write it all down. I hope that'll change soon...

I will need to do a separate post for the crocheting and knitting projects I'm working on and have finished lately. They are so much fun!

I want to show you what's growing in our yard - spring has sprung in a big way in Savannah. I want to tell you about some books I've been reading and classes I've been taking.

I need to do a post about a beautiful charcoal drawing I did. As an aside - as much as I love color (and you can tell I do), my other serious love is charcoal. In a big way!  

I'm also always experimenting. Here with high-flow acrylics on watercolor paper.

And here I was playing with watercolor. It's so much softer than the acrylics. I'm not very good at it yet, but I love it!

Lately, I've also felt the nudge to try my hand at oils again. It's been a few years and I had such a good time with them!

In other words I feel so inspired at the moment! Everything seems to open up a new world for me, weather it's looking at a flower in the garden, crocheting a blanket one stitch at a time, reading a great book, baking bread, getting my hands black with charcoal or allowing color to permeate everything.

Life is so good! And I sincerely hope for you as well!!

With love and gratitude,

❧ Silke