Best of 2019

I dedicate this collage to the last year of a decade. I hope you had a great 2019. Here are a few top images from my year. This year brought many, many changes. I welcomed all of them with open arms. One can't survive in this world without accepting change. I hope you enjoy a look back. ENJOY!

Fall at David Arms Gallery in Leiper's Fork

A few images from my annual pilgrimage to my favorite art gallery, David Arms, in Leiper's Fork, Tennessee.

This gorgeous urn was filled with wheat strands sitting on an old metal table on the porch at the gallery. I had to photograph it.

Pumpkin palooza on the porch.

I surely will miss the pumpkins until next year.

I always snap an image as I leave David Arms Gallery. Who wouldn't want to snap a shot of this old plank building with its rusty metal roof and adorable reindeer adorning the facade. Hope you enjoyed these images as much as I did snapping them. ENJOY!

Hello Fall . . . Come On In

Yes, I have been absent for a few weeks waiting out the week after week of rainfall the past few weeks. So over rain right now. While Summer continues to linger, Fall is creeping in. Pumpkins are popping up everywhere. As I walked into the David Arms Gallery in Leiper's Fork Sunday, this beautiful foliage stopped me in my tracks. So irresistible, I had to grab my camera after I shopped and capture a few pics.

As I was heading back to my car after shopping, I passed the David Arms Gallery and couldn't resist a pic of the outside of the shop. Look at that tin roof and the barn wood siding. If that wasn't enough to entice you in, they added a deer with antlers at the pitch in the roof. Can't you just imagine sitting on that bench with the fire warming you up in late Fall.

Next stop, The Copper Fox, right next door with its cool arts and crafts. Last Fall the back porch had ornamental cabbage taking center stage. The purple really pops with the orange pumpkin.

Jump ahead to this year and the back porch of The Copper Fox has mums and pumpkins sitting pretty. I discreetly unlocked the back door and stole a few pics.

As I circled back around to the front of the shop, the front porch caught my eye. Mums and pumpkins paired. My favorite Fall combo. It makes me smile.

Look at this photo of the front of The Copper Fox. It just screams come in and shop! Don't you just love that yellow door.

This gorgeous blue planter caught my eye as I entered The Copper Fox through the side door. I wasn't going to put it in this post, but it kept calling out to me.

Oh Fall, how I love thee. I can't wait for cooler days and crisp nights. I know the next stop is Winter, but Fall's colors are just so mesmerizing to me, so I welcome it with open arms. ENJOY!

Horsing Around

Get outdoors! It has finally warmed up and the clouds have parted. There's rain scheduled this week, but in between the clouds. Thank goodness, we are seeing sun more than rain, finally. ENJOY!

Barns of Tennessee

Oh, but for the beauty of those old, abandoned and vintage barns that we all love to photograph as we travel, off the beaten path, and drive, the scenic byways, throughout our countryside.

Visiting my archives, I encountered numerous images that I began to collect in a separate folder titled simply Barns. Before long I had assembled quite a collection of barn images from across quite a few states. Each time I opened the folder the barns seemed to scream, 'please put up a post and feature me." I finally surrendered and now what you have before you is a collection of images from the Volunteer State of Tennessee.

Are you ready? Here we go with a few of those beautiful icons that dot our landscape.

Historic Barn at a Homestead, Cade's Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

Barn and Horse, Winter's Snowfall, Hendersonville, Tennessee

Old Barn, Summer, Leiper's Fork, Tennessee

Vintage Barn and Conveyor, Spring, Portland, Tennessee

Red Barn in Spring, Portland, Tennessee

Barn and Pond, Evin's Mill, Smithville, Tennessee

I hope you enjoyed my look back at some of the barns I have encountered in my travels across the state of Tennessee. I would love to know your favorite if you have one. I'll be back to post another collection of barn images I've captured across the beautiful state of Kentucky very soon. I hope your week is off to a wonderful start. ENJOY!

Linking to The Barn Collective

Fall Gives Way to Winter

It is time to embrace this new season. Winter brings with it the holidays with Christmas and New Year's and more. We spend some time adorning the halls with the season's colors of reds, greens and golds, and in some settings even silvers and blues.

Goodbye Fall.

The forests lay bare from Fall's bounty with many leaves strewn across its floor.

Only firs and pines are left to dot the landscape and brave winter's gales.

Where snow has fallen, there is sleighing and sledding and skiing.

Blankets of white cover the mountaintops, the valleys and beyond.

Icicles hang from aside the cliffs with sheets of ice covering the creek beds.

Tracks from deer, fox and rabbits are encountered along paths to and from.

Winter's colder clime has taken hold, with rain, fog and snow.

Welcome Winter.

I hope you will take some time during these Winter months to venture out of doors with your camera to capture Winter's beauty. ENJOY!

Happy Thanksgiving America!

Be safe and have a Happy Thanksgiving all. ENJOY!

Fall's Bounty

The holidays are almost upon us and with Thanksgiving comes roast turkey and dressing, sweet potatoes and green bean casserole, and that ever present pumpkin pie with heaping spoonfuls of whipped cream. Next Thursday marks our Thanksgiving holiday celebration. The meaning of which oftentimes gets lost in the height of the day's festivities around the table. And yet I tend to think we all remember at least once throughout the day the burdens our forefathers weathered in those bygone days. As I ventured throughout the small historical town of Leiper's Fork last weekend, I noticed the remnants of Fall's bounty all around me from the beautiful purple hues of the large ornamental cabbages to the deep oranges of the leftover pumpkins. ENJOY!

Vintage America

Leiper's Fork is a very tiny little town that is situated east of the Natchez Trace Parkway southwest of Nashville. I drove the Trace south of Nashville and exited onto the road going into Leiper's Fork this past weekend. This small town is made up of farmers, artists and musicians hence the art galleries and restaurant featuring live country music.

I can never pass up an opportunity to snap a few images of the remnants of by gone days, one being what looked like an old Model T, and the other an old tricycle. While walking the tiny town, I ventured into a couple of the shops and had a quick bite at one of the few restaurants in town. There was a band playing, but unfortunately they took a break just as I sat down outside.

A large number of country musicians have settled in and around Williamson County which is south of Nashville just east of Leiper's Fork. When Williamson County began encroaching on the small towns nearby, Leiper's Fork decided to protect its heritage and is now on the National Register of Historic Places. America doesn't have enough thriving small towns in my opinion so seeing Leiper's Fork thriving was heartwarming. It made for a nice afternoon. Just to show you how welcoming these folks are, several of the shops even have fire pits and rockers out front for visitors to gather and sit a spell in the cooler months. Truly Americana. Back soon with more images. ENJOY!