for the love of crape myrtles

Here we are heading south on highway 168, the access road to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. From southern Delaware and south, the coastal areas have such lovely crape myrtles in bloom this time of year.

I have fond memories of spotting the trees on the way to the beach as a child. It seems every house along the road whether abandoned or lived in, grand or dilapidated, has at least one crape myrtle out front.

Just about every gas station has one too.

Some consider them a shrub because of their multi-trunk, vase-shaped habit. They get as big as trees, though, especially if they've been there 50 years. They are popular because they are tough, thrive in the heat, and come in a pretty array of colors from bright scarlet to soft lavender.

When I see a big one in front of a tumble-down shack, I can imagine the home in a time when someone had hope enough to put something pretty in the yard. I think I'm partial to the lavender...

Excuse the glare- these photos were all taken out the car window as we sped along trying to make good time getting to the resort area. Shame on the hubs for refusing to stop at the roadside nursery!

antiquing in lucketts, va

Mom & Brenda

This weekend was spent visiting with family back in Virginia, where I am from. My brother & his wife were in from Chicago and in the mood to see sights. Mom & I decided it was time to take Brenda antiquing in the town of Lucketts, VA since she is a Luckett now. (Yes, that's my maiden name). We like to think ancestors of ours founded the town, but we haven't researched it enough to be sure if we are related. My Dad's family is out of Kentucky, so who knows...

stately home in Leesburg

Lucketts is located 6 miles north of Leesburg on Rt 15. Leesburg is a gem of a town in itself. It has retained it's colonial flavor with its brick sidewalks and historic row houses and homes lining King Street & Market Street, the main drags. It's become fashionable with the younger crowd and nicely curated antique shops, cafes, and restaurants have sprung up lately.

click to enlarge map

The store we like to go to in our namesake town is The Old Lucketts Store. It's a one-stop-shop for antiques, vintage, and architectural salvage with a few new items thrown in. It's a mall set-up with many different vendors inhabiting what was once the general store and post office run by the Lucketts, who have since left the area.

The family lived upstairs in the rambling building.

There are so many vendors now, that they've spilled out into the yard into free-standing sheds, each with it's own personality.

Some salvage.

So me I can hardly stand it!

On the porch.

New upholstery.

New accessories, nicely displayed.

A vintage cast iron soap dish that I bought for holding business cards at craft shows.

Salvaged knobs.

Lots of great light fixtures...

More salvage.

Can't ignore the linens of course!

There are other antique stores nearby, but we were experiencing sensory overload and opted to head back to Leesburg for lunch. We found parking on King Street directly in front of a charming cafe called  Shoes Cup and Cork Club which inhabits a former shoe repair shop.

Inside, it's chalkboard menus, rustic finishes, & mismatched tables & chairs reminded me of a cozy cafe tucked away in the West Village of New York City.

It'll definitely be worth a trip back to check out all the antique stores we skipped and have more chai tea lattes.

marie claire idées: more eye candy

More from the November- December of the French magazine Marie Claire Idées...

It's basically a craft magazine, but in addition to how to's they also have travel features for inspiration. This one is to the town of Suzdal in the Vladimir region of Russia, northeast of Moscow.

Such pretty gingerbread!

Love the blues & greens with white.

Suzdal is famous for its many churches.

Picturesque but cold!

autumn morning in the brandywine valley

Went for an early drive this morning to take in the beauty of the Brandywine at its peaceful best.

frosted field

barn in the mist

my favorite abandoned farm house

hay bales

the "belties" of Centreville

We are very fortunate to have so much open space and preserved land so close to the city of Wilmington. Have a great weekend!

west ocean city and assateague island

Just got back from another vacation to Ocean City, Maryland. This visit was completely different from the kid-oriented trip we took earlier in the season. We stayed in a condo in a wooded area west of ocean city, a 30 minute drive to the National Seashore on Assateague Island.

I took a sightseeing jaunt by myself early one morning because I was so intrigued with all the tumble-down old houses in the area. They look extra mysterious in the morning mist.

This is what it looks like 10 minutes west of all the hubbub on the main drag of Ocean City.

Country charm.

Spooky graveyard.

Not so successful business.

A stones throw from large, newly constructed homes are these modest 1930's & 40's homes. There is a certain beauty in the simplicity of them, mixed with decay. I like to imagine them in their heyday with fresh paint, gingham curtains, roses by the porch, and a well-tended vegetable garden out back. Most look unoccupied, then a sign of life... a face at the screen...

Oh, to be able to fix up one of these! The owners of this one gave up and put up a vinyl-sided modular home right next to it. The farms are limping along, gradually being bought up by developers.

The marshy bay side of Assateague Island. A world away from Ocean City proper.

Nothing more kid-friendly than a day collecting shells on the beach.

Fawns along the access road. The wildlife is used to cars and tourists. The kids were going berserk in the back seat at being so close to the deer and the famous wild ponies of Assateague.

Many times, we've seen the the ponies come down to the beach here, oblivious to the beach-goers, but this week they stayed hidden until we were driving out on the last day. My daughter & I have been working our way though Marguerite Henry's books about the ponies of Chincoteague and Assateague and it would have been quite the disappointment not to catch a glimpse. I recommend the books, by the way, for a 9 year-old audience. Written in the 1940's, they are somewhat dated now, but I get to do a rural Maryland accent.

Now back to work in the studio...