Live from Galax, Va.

I’m sitting under a tent on the main street of Galax, Va. listening to old-timey bluegrass music. Galax is blessed with a wonderful independent bookstore called Chapters, and did I mention they have antiques? What a charming, quaint little town. I did some junking this morning and scored a chenille bedspread and a granitewear pan. Could have bought a lot more stuff–except I have to fly home in the morning, and Delta doesn’t like it when you try to haul too much stuff on board. I’m staying at a delightful bed and breakfast called The Doctor’s Inn. Owner Brenda Stamey is a live-wire and wonderful hostess. For breakfast this morning she fixed praline french toast, which is a Paula Deen recipe–so you know it was buttery and sweet–and delish. Tonight I’m doing an “author talk.” In the meantime, I’m enjoying the cool, green mountains of Virginia. When I get home I’ll post my photos of the goings-on here. Gotta love a festival that includes a pony ride, deep-fried candybars, and of course, music, music, music. Oh yeah. I got to hug on Clifford the Big Red Dog!

I’m a shooting star…

Paula Deen’s Magazine staffers Sarah and May came to visit on Thursday, to interview and “shoot” me for an upcoming issue of the magazine. Which meant I had to take myself over to see Doug at Douglas & Co., my long-time hairdresser. Doug fixed my hair so I did not look like the back-end of a poodle, and Katie fixed my makeup. I did manage to dress myself. They’re going to include a recipe with the story about me, so Katie, who is taking a cake-decorating class with her two best friends from parochial school, baked the tomato soup chocolate cake from DEEP DISH. The cake looked gorgeous with a fluted border of cream-cheese frosting, and a sprig of deep blue hydrangea from my neighbor Susie’s backyard. Me? I just looked like a fixed-up version of me. Sarah, the photographer, spent hours painstakingly shooting the cake, styled just-so on our dining room table, me pretending to eat the cake, me in the sunroom and me on the front porch. That’s Sarah and me above, on the front porch. I used to go on photo shoots years ago when I was a newspaper reporter, but I’d forgotten how long a magazine shoot can take–which in our case, was close to five hours. But the girls, who’d driven over from Birmingham, where the magazine is published, were very sweet and lots of fun. There they are, above, viewing the shots Sarah had just taken on their laptop. Lawwd, technology has changed so much from my newspaper days–which ended 17 years ago. In the old day, when we went on an out-of-town assignment, my photographer and I would drive to the nearest Greyhound bus station, or airport, and ship the film back to the newspaper office in Atlanta, where the film would be processed and the pictures printed. It was just barely a step up from scratching pictures on a stone tablet! Paula’s magazine, the girls were telling me, is now the highest-circulating food magazine in the business, even surpassing BON APPETIT. You should be able to see the photos and story sometime next spring/summer.

Too darn hot!

My home office is in a converted sunporch on the upstairs back of our 1926 Craftsman bungalow. All those windows mean I have a great view of my back-door neighbor Susie’s glorious garden, which is currently a riot of blue hydrangeas. I can also check on Wyatt, Weezie, and my grand-dog Tybee, who is currently staying with us. The bad news is that the office has a Southern exposure, and no insulation, which means it’s broiling hot in summer and cold in winter. So I’ve mostly been writing on my laptop downstairs. Trying to keep cool and save gas money, I’m trying to have at least one or two no-drive days a week, and also trying not to use the oven. Making lots of tuna salad and devilled eggs. After our weekend trip down to Tybee, we brought back a mess of gorgeous wild Georgia shrimp. For dinner, I improvised a shrimp louis salad–and all modesty aside, it was pretty darned yummy. After boiling shrimp with Old Bay seasoning, quartered lemons and half a can of beer, I made a bed of shredded lettuce, and topped it with chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, red peppers and hard-boiled eggs. I mounded roughly chopped shrimp on top of this, and added a dressing made from 1/4 cup low-fat mayo (Duke’s, natch!) 2 Tbsp. bottled chili sauce, 1 Tbsp. dijon mustard, 1 Tbsp. lemon juice and some lemon zest. Ladled the dressing over the shrimp and then sprinkled chopped green onions over all. I wish I’d had an avocado to add, and I’ll definitely do this next time. My favorite book find of the summer is MARY EMMERLING’S BEACH COTTAGES. I’ve always loved Mary’s work in various shelter magazines, including COUNTRY HOME, and also her books. This new book is full of wonderful beach cottages–from humble shacks to glorious Hamptons mini-manses. And guess what? As I was drooling over the photos, there, on page 179, I find a listing of Beach Reads. The list includes books by Carl Hiassen, James Patterson, Sebastian Junger, Nicholas Sparks, Anita Shreve, and….Mary Kay Andrews! SAVANNAH BREEZE! I let out a happy screech that startled Mr. Mary Kay almost (not quite) out of his sound sleep. Check it out!

Y’all Come!

I’m really, really supposed to be staying at home and writing this summer. One of the very few appearances I’m making will be this Saturday, June 14, at the Galax, Virginia Leaf and String Festival. I’ll be signing books at their book tent during the day Saturday, and then speaking at a dinner that night. Here’s the press release about the event:
The 7th Annual Leaf and String Festival in Galax, VA will be held June 13-14 this year. The festival celebrates music, art & literature. The city of Galax is well known for its old-time and bluegrass music, but is also recognized for its crafts, art and literature of the area. This year, the Galax Public LIbrary and Chapters Bookshop have invited over 30 authors coming to share their works readers of the Twin County area. Local and regional authors include Joe Tennis (Beach to Bluegrass), Al Jennings (Saturday – My Day to Wear the Underwear), Scottie Pritchard (Under the Blue Bowl), and Alan Coleman (Railroads of North Carolina). Also coming is Gloria Houston, Appalachian children’s author, whose works include The Perfect Christmas Tree and My Great-Aunt Arizona. She will be talking with children at the library on Friday, and with the public at large on Saturday. Mary Kay Andrews will be here on Saturday, signing her newest book, Deep Dish, and will be the featured speaker at a dinner engagement at Warrick Hall Saturday night at 6:30. Other titles of hers include Savannah Blues, Savannah Breeze, and Little Bitty Lies. The festival will additionally host the Blue Ridge Music Makers Guild. They have a library of instruments that the public can try out during the two days. Steve Kilby can teach you how to flat-pick a guitar, if you already have a bit of experience with the instrument. Listen to some great music at the Rex Theater on Friday night, and then out at the Blue Ridge Music Center on Saturday evening, or catch some picking right on the street corner. Learn to carve a Gee Haw Whimmy Diddle at Chestnut Creek School of the Arts, beginner guitar lessons, or do a pastel drawing of Galax Leaves, for which the town is named. Learn the art of story-telling, a true Appalachian heritage craft. P. Buckley Moss, a frequent visitor of Galax, has created a poster and print which features Mary Guynn’s cabin and the Bogtrotters Band just for this year’s festival. She will be here to sign them both, along with some of her books, which include Reuben and the Blizzard and Reuben and the Quilt. There is so much going on during the Leaf and String Festival that it makes your head spin. Come and celebrate your Appalachian heritage at Galax, VA June 13 and 14.
For more information, google Galax Leaf and String Festival.

Simmertime…and the livin’ is steamy

I don’t care what the calendar says–it’s June here in Atlanta and it’s officially hot. How do I deal with heat? Junkin’! Last weekend was extremely junk-central. We started off Thursday with the Decatur First Baptist Gi-Normous Yard Sale. Katie and I–and her best friend Carolyn, got up at 5:30 a.m.–or what we call buttcrack of dawn, to get in line for the sale by 6 a.m. for the 7 a.m. start-time. Now that’s some serious junking. This is a yearly sale held to fund the church’s youth mission trips. Of course, we’d done a drive-by the night before to scope out the merch, and I’d spotted what looked like a queen-size headboard and footboard. Not really antique, but decent repro. We cruised by the bed again in the morning, just to make sure it looked good up close, which it did, and made a list of stuff we wanted to find: beds for my future beach house, maybe a dresser or two, and for Katie, two kitchen chairs to replace two of hers that had bit the dust. By the time the sale started, we were 9th or 10th in line, with close to a hundred people behind us. You gotta love a yard sale that starts with the church pastor giving a megaphone benediction. Once we’d been blessed, we were off! Our strategy was divide and conquer. Katie raced for the bed area, while I made a beeline for what looked like a decent sofa. The sofa was a no-go, (smelled like it had substituted for a catbox), so I sprinted over to the three metal spring-back motel chairs I’d been eyeballing. Just as I got there, another woman was placing a “sold” sticker on them. And they were only $15 apiece! They are just like the ones that were on the cover of SAVANNAH BLUES. I had to cuss under my breath (it being a Baptist church-sanctioned sale and all). I headed for the kitchen chair area, where I grabbed up two painted oak kitchen chairs (for Katie) for $30. Five minutes had passed by the time I made my way over to Katie, who’d scored the queen-bed, plus a retro-sixties white and yellow beachy headboard–for the grand total of $35. We trolled the rest of the aisles and came up with two more great finds: a queen-sized sleeper sofa from Storehouse–complete with slipcover–for $175–for my future beach house, plus a scarred and battered mahogany dresser for $40, which will be painted shabby-chic style for aforesaid beach house. And here’s a valuable tip we learned that day. Contrary to popular opinion, a queen-sized sleeper sofa will fit all the way into my husband’s Yukon! That was the good news. The bad news was that the same sofa would NOT fit through my basement doorway, despite the valiant efforts of my good neighbor Joel and son. So I had to cover the sofa with two bright blue plastic drop cloths until my husband and a friend could load it up and take it over to be stored at Boomerang Boy’s garage. Friday morning, when I went outside to make sure our dogs hadn’t decided to breakfast on the sofa, I discovered Wyatt lounging atop the tarp-draped sofa, looking quite pleased with himself. Of course, there was more junking to be done on Friday. With Katie and Jinxie along, we hit three excellent estate sales. I love an estate sale–dead people’s stuff is just way more exciting than the run-of-the-mill suburban homeowner’s assortment of cast-off clothing, plastic toys and hideous ’80s herculon Lazy-Boys. I bought an adorable ’50s chenille crib spread to take to Maisy’s Daisy, plus a bunch of other stuff for the booth. Saturday, I junked solo, scoring a great armchair and ottoman for the future beach house for $35, plus a pair of great-looking faux bamboo Chinese Chippendale armchairs. And to cap off the long weekend, I found a pair of vintage mahogany four-poster twin beds on Craig’s List–$50 for the pair. My basement is full, my fantasy beach house is nearly furnished, I’m a happy camper. Now, it’s back to THE FIXER UPPER. I actually wrote five pages yesterday, to atone for all that outta control junking.

In honor of summer

Here’s a funny sent to me by my friend Tacky Jacky. Enjoy!

BBQ RULES We are about to enter the summer and BBQ season. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking activity, as it’s the only type of cooking a ‘real’ man will do, probably because there is an element of danger involved. When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion: Routine… (1) The woman buys the food. (2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes dessert. (3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill – beer in hand. Here comes the important part: (4) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL. More routine…. (5) The woman goes inside to organize the plates and cutlery. (6) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is burning. He thanks her and asks if she will bring another beer while he deals with the situation. Important again: (7) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN. More routine…. (8) The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauces, and brings them to the table. (9) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes. And most important of all: (10) Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts. (11) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed ‘her night off.’ And, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there’s just no pleasing some women….

Brimfield goodies

For those of you who asked (and those of you who didn’t) here’s a photo of Maisy’s Daisy at Seaside Sisters, decked out with all the Brimfield treasures I carted all the way from Massachusetts. If you look carefully you can see the reverse painted mirror with flamingos on the back wall, the large yellow McCoy flower pot, the amazing plant stand with original turquoise art pottery flowerpots on the far left, and the sweet painting of roses on the far right. My daughter Katie and friend Susan Kelleher (she’s the Seaside Sisters madam) helped load it all in and make it look artistic. So now, it’s all ready for you junkers to take home. Have a happy, safe, Memorial Day weekend. I myself have some more junking to do in the morning. And over the long weekend, I plan to do mostly nothing, except cook some ribs on Sunday, for family and friends. And after Monday? I SWEAR BY ALL THAT’S HOLY THAT I WILL RETURN TO WRITING THE FIXER UPPER. Really.

Six Flags Over Brimfield

I have a new happy place–and it’s called Brimfield. Last week my friend Beth and I set out upon the great American junking journey, driving from Raleigh, NC, all the way to Brimfield, Mass. in a rented white cargo van, which we quickly nicknamed Chester, for reasons that are too politically incorrect to go into. On the New York portion of the trip, Brunhilda, Beth’s GPS unit, routed us through the George Washington Bridge and Manhattan, which was unbelievably scary. But we made it–with Beth driving the whole way. Monday night we checked into our motel room in Auburn, Mass, and Tuesday, we got up at the butt-crack of dawn–4:30 a.m. to drive the 20 minutes to Brimfield, where we were delighted to survey a full five miles of farm fields full of antiques. The Brimfield Antiques Market is the largest outdoor market in the U.S. We started Tuesday at the daylight opening fields–Crystal Brook, Shelton’s, Quaker Acres. Beth’s first score was the most charming oil portrait of a little blonde girl in a pink dress. We named her Clarissa, and she was really a head-turner. I can’t even remember now what my first purchase was, but I quickly purchased a collapsible rolling cart to hold all my treasures as I trolled the fields for goodies for me–and for Maisie’s Daisy, my antique booth down at Seaside Sisters on Tybee Island. The Brimfield publicists claim that 5,000 dealers sell at this market, and I can believe it–along with about 10,000 shoppers who come from all over the world. We saw great antiques from New England, the Southwest, Europe, everywhere really, and lots of stuff we don’t normally see on our junking forays around the South. As I told a friend, Brimfield is my Disneyworld, my Six Flags, my Coney Island. My favorite purchase was the hot pink screen door that I hope to someday use for my virtual beach house. I also bought five pairs of shutters with great blue-green paint and crescent moon cut-outs also destined for my someday beach house. I bought two great blue chenille bedspreads, a wonderful yellow grandmother’s flower patch quilt in a sunny yellow, a sweet little pine dresser with mirror, a forties mirror that has a reverse-painted flamingo, a pair of blue-green lamps, a folk-art children’s toy Noah’s ark with hand-painted animals, an Ohio Art child’s tin litho sand shovel (I collect these tin litho sandpails and watering cans), a yellow McCoy flowerpot, a cool barkcloth dust-ruffle that’s destined to become cushions for a rattan armchair, a sweet child’s chair in beachy turquoise, and yes, to Beth’s chagrin, a six-foot wooden folk-art Uncle Sam whose moveable arms once held an American flag at the entrance to a Maine hunting camp. We slowed down our assault only for potty breaks–yes, I actually used a porta-potty–and lunch. Brimfield has a wonderful food court, which is situated in the courtyard of a 50s-era motel, called, fittingly, New England Motel.

Beth opted for lobster rolls the first two days, and a full 2-lb. lobster on our last day. I sampled sausage and peppers, and a fantastic sandwich called a Pilgrim Roll–fresh roasted turkey breast with cranberry sauce on a yeast roll. We also tried out the apple crisp with ice cream and hand-cut french fries. Excellent junking food. At the end of our first full day we were just barely able to drag ourselves back to the motel, hit a chain restaurant for dinner, shower, and then to bed by 9 pm. Wednesday we were back in line for the 6 am opening of the New England Motel field, followed by Heart-of-The-Mart at 9am, and Hertan’s at noon. I think New England Motel was my favorite field, but really, I think I found treasures in each field I shopped. One of the best things about Brimfield is the people. The dealers were unfailingly nice, willing to bargain, and just plain cool. We chatted with strangers over lunch and in lines, and everybody was really lovely. The weather was unbelievable most of the time, morning temps were in the low ’50s, so we bundled up in jackets and shawls, but by the afternoon, it had gotten sunny and warm–in the low ’80s. We did have a little rain on our last morning, Thursday, but that lasted for only about 20 minutes. My final tally of purchases numbered around 46, and I spent just about what I’d budgeted for the visit. On Thursday, after a final lunch at New England Motel, we reluctantly headed Chester South for the trip home. and yes, we’re already planning our next Brimfield excursion. Shows are also held in July, but we’ve decided that will be too hot. Maybe September, if I finish my new book on time.

May means Mothers Day and Grads

It was a very special weekend for our family. Thursday, I flew to Phoenix with Mr. Mary Kay and the Boomerang Boy to attend our daughter Katie’s graduation from Arizona State University. We were met here by my son-in-law Mark’s family, who were also here for this great occasion. This is an event that has been eight years in the making. Katie started school at the University of Missouri, which is where she met Mark, who is a Missouri boy. She dropped out of Mizzou in the middle of her junior year, eventually moved back to Atlanta, where she worked at various jobs before returning to school at a local community college. After the kids got married and moved to Phoenix, Katie attended a community college here before moving on to Arizona State. Thursday night we had a big family dinner out, and the kids gave Jane and I our mother’s day gifts–a spa day! Friday we lolled around the Lamar Day Spa here in Phoenix, where we were treated to facials, massages, pedicures, and for me, a haircut and color. What a relaxing experience. This morning, we loaded up the rental car and motored over to Wells Fargo Arena, where we were thrilled to cheer for our girl. Katie graduated with a B.A. in interdisciplinary studies, with concentrations in communications and journalism. Next stop–Atlanta–where Mark has accepted a job, and where Katie is job hunting. Now, if anybody reading this would like to buy an ADORABLE home in Chandler, AZ. you should definitely email me care of this blog. Did I mention the house is ADORABLE? And that, said buyer would be entitled, by buying said house, not only to an ADORABLE house, but also, a lifetime of free Mary Kay Andrews books? I mention this because, until said house is sold, Katie and Mark, and their dog Tybee, will be residing at Chez Mary Kay, in the room recently vacated by Boomerang Boy, who has decamped to a rental house nearby. This would bring the dog population at Chez Mary Kay up to THREE, which may or may not be in violation of county ordinances. In the meantime, tomorrow, I start the great American junk roadtrip with my friend Beth. We are motoring up to the Brimfield Antique Market in Mass., where I hope to score lots of primo junk, and where I also hope to send back dispatches and photos. Happy Mom’s Day to All!

Home again, home again

So. Five days on the Georgia coast. Not bad work, if you can get it. Last Friday I loaded up Mr. Mary Kay’s biiiggg car, and headed down to Savannah and Tybee Island. But first, I stopped at a couple estate sales. Excellent finds there. The first sale of the day was an estate sale in Brookhaven, run by Vicki Taratoot. Vicki’s sales are mostly in the Buckhead area, and this one was a goodie. I bought a small wicker coffee table (which I later painted sky blue), a big wicker lidded basket which is going to replace the ugly white plastic trashcan in my kitchen, a great quilt that looks like it’s never been used, two blue and white quilt tops, and a white matelasse bedspread. I thought I’d put the quilts in my booth, but I can’t quite part with them…so far. Stay tuned for pix of my current house project, which is summerizing my living, dining and sunrooms. The next sale was only a few miles away in Brookhaven, run by some gals who have a shopping problem that seems to rival mine. I bought a pair of great antique Jenny Lind twin beds, which I then painted a soft jadeite green, to put in the booth at SEASIDE SISTERS. Also a pair of lovely lamp bases, which are glass, decoupaged with vintage prints of seashells. They are also a part of the summerization scheme. I’ve already topped them with the lamp shades from my red lamps–which have been sent down to the basement annex for the summer. I finally got on the road by noon last Friday. Friday night I checked into my adorable cottage, which was the former mess hall at the old Ft. Screven at Tybee. As always, this Mermaid Cottage was the perfect place to bunk for the weekend. Saturday I went to an art in the yard party with Diane Kaufman of Mermaid Cottages, and two other friends. The sale was at the home of artist Pam Martin, who paints fun, kitschy folk art. Of course, we were forced to junk on the way down there, and I bought four great retro rattan swivel barstools and a vintage tin breadbox, which was lined with a 1960s-era copy of The Savannah Morning News, which was the first newspaper I worked at after college. Sunday, I hung out at our tent sale at SEASIDE SISTERS. Didn’t sell as much as I’d hoped, altho it was fun hanging out with my friend Polly. Monday, I cruised on down to St. Simon’s Island. I met friends Keith and Chrys for lunch at Christy’s, a fairly new restaurant in downtown Brunswick. I was a bad, bad girl, and ordered mac and cheese with ham and artichokes. Lawwwwd. It was some kind of good. Chrys and I then proceeded to junk our way around Brunswick, which has four excellent antique malls. I picked up a cute Lloyd Loom wicker endtable for my booth, and a great vintage cadet blue shower curtain with chenille anchor detailing. Spent Monday night with old friends, the Johnsons, who have a wonderful house in the village at St. Simon’s, near the village. On Monday, I finally got around to the real reason for my coastal visit, which was a talk and booksigning at The Sea Island Golf Club. What a gorgeous setting! I could get used to living like that. Later in the day, I had another signing at GJ Ford Booksellers, where owner Mary Jane Reed always makes me feel like a rockstar. Dinner last night was with friends Jimmy and Miriam, and Pam and Charles. Pam was my roommate at UGA, so you know we go waaaaaay back. The setting, at the Cloister, was beyond beautiful. And speaking of rockstars, when you check into the Cloister, that is how you are treated. I’ve spent time at lots of lovely hotels over the years (courtesy of HarperCollins), but now I know I was only slumming. I spit on the Ritz-Carlton. Ptttooey! I had my own BUTLER at The Cloister. I lolled in a bath of luxurious seasalt and watched television. I had personalized stationary waiting on my desk in my riverfront suite. I was totally out of my league. I kept waiting for somebody to tap me discreetly on the shoulder and quietly escort me off the premises. Fortunately, I made it out of there before they discovered my trashy background. And now…back to reality.