James Farmer at ADAC

CUTENESS ALERT:

I have seen James T. Farmer III several times and each time I am charmed and inspired.  And greatly awed by him.  James is the quintessential Southern gentleman with a smile that will melt you and a wit that will keep you laughing the next day.  He is an Auburn University grad, majoring in horticulture and art history.  He's also an interior decorator, landscape designer, writer, cook, and event planner.  And currently an editor at large for Southern Living.

Here's an image from his blog, "All Things Farmer".  This post gives us behind the scenes looks at his latest Southern Living article.  Isn't this beautiful?

Here's another photo from his blog.  I love this tablescape featuring a stuffed fox on a Thanksgiving table.  I'm ok with taxidermy on a dining table, how about you?

This image of his landscaping ability makes my mouth water.  I just love this!!!!

Last week, he presented at Janus et Cie at the Atlanta Decorative Arts Company, and I took a dear friend who promptly fell under his spell, as well.  

He began with a quick demonstration of a wonderful fall floral arrangement. 

He started with sweet gum in a long, ceramic pot,

added Free Spirit roses and hydrangeas,

and highlighted  it all with some bright blue and purple. 

Beautiful!

The second part of his presentation was several recipes from his several cookbooks.

His newest is this really great one, published by Smith, Gibbs.  The photography is lovely and you will be so taken with his stories describing the recipes and the events.  It is dedicated to his grandmother, whom he speaks about lovingly and often.  She was clearly a huge influence in his love of entertaining.

Here's the platter of autumn chicken salad he prepared for us.  Note how the addition of the apple and sweet gum leaf makes the platter look so appealing.  

And here's my favorite souvenir of the day!  A hug from the sweet guy himself! 

The Sporting Life - Equestrian Style

Doesn't this look like fun?  When Rebecca Smith, owner of Rebecca Ray Designs invited me to come to her house and play with dishes, I couldn't wait to start.  My last post was the first table we collaborated on, titled "The Sporting Life - Canine Style".  You can see it here.  Then, we quickly put those dishes and accessories away and pulled this breakfast table together.  We switched to equestrian style with these beautiful pieces.

Again, we just set up one end of the table with three placesettings.

My first choice was these vintage hunt scene napkins and placemats.  They went directly on the old Baker table.

Next she offered these old Fitz and Floyd plates.  How perfect!

But wait!  It gets better!  Then she remembered these dessert size plates that were perfect on top.  They are Wedgewood and the pattern is "Hunting Scene".

Then she threw open this closet full of glass and crystal and said, "just pick some glasses".  Well......I think I did pretty well.  Rebecca doesn't know anything about these beauties, as they came from an estate sale.  I grabbed the water goblets ......

and the compotes.  Score!

After that, I was on a roll.  Rebecca got some unexpected company, so I just wandered around the house filling up the table.  There were so many beautiful things to pick from.

Like these sterling silver and cobalt glass salt cellars.  Do you see what is on top????  A fox!!!

And I found more foxes to use as knife rests.

Then, in the silver drawer, I found these engraved silver dishes.  I'm not sure what they were intended to be used for, but I'm showing them here as butter plates, and I've added these silver plate individual butter spreaders.  These were all Rebecca's grandmother's.

One has to have a teapot for breakfast, right?  I first thought that this was a fox on top, but it really is a cat.  Still, it's perfect.  I only used one of a pair of these.

Now, I'm on to the centerpiece.  Out in the kitchen, I found a basket of white peaches, just picked that morning from their orchard, and a single dahlia that "matched" the peaches.  Onto a green bordered plate they went, and they were perfect to soften the table.

Rebecca suggested this cement horse for the center of the table.  It is one of a pair and very special.  It is signed and dated "Hughette Wheeler, 1930".  I did a little research and found that the sculptor is often called "Tex" Wheeler and did the life sized statue of Seabiscuit that stands in Santa Anita Park.  

Naturally, we added these old stirrup cups for some extra color.

And there you have it!  It only represents a tiny fraction of the beautiful decorative accessories Rebecca and Derek had available to me.  And they were still unpacking!!!

Yep!  You'd never guess from this angle that they had JUST moved and that much of their stuff was still in boxes.  This house is undergoing some major changes and I can't wait to see what they do.  

For now, I'll just give them a huge thank you for inviting me to do this photo shoot and hope that it won't be too long before they can actually take the time to sit down and enjoy a meal at a table like this.

Talley Ho!

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