Bunny@Ballard

Bunny Williams has, for many years, been one of my arbiters of great taste. I’ve been lucky enough to meet her on a number of occasions, and she’s proven to be more than warm and gracious every time. While many people are jacks of all trades, she’s a master of all! And what-ever she puts her hand to, and her name on, is always of high quality and great beauty. Such is the case with her collaboration with Ballard Designs. Most of the collection is tabletop and features china, cutlery and glassware, as well as accessories. Let’s take a look.

The Campbell Collection, a 16 piece set of china

Tortoise-handled cutlery, made in Italy

Silver-wire cachepot, perfect for holding a pint of ice-cream!

Clear spiral glass and cobalt goblets

Tortoise hurricane

Melange dinner-wareMercury glass votives, which also come in silver and amber

Beaded pagoda candle cover

Charging station. I could totally use one of these! It also comes in chocolate.

Kitchen hearth table cloth

Straight out of Beatrix Potter, watering can place card holders

Banded dinner napkins which also come in natural and white

Horn salt & pepper set

Although the collection won’t be shipped until September 25, it is available for order now. The price points on this collection are very reasonable. To see more of the collection, please click here.

A Country Garden at the End of August

I had a chance to see Jonathan’s garden over the weekend after a day of light but steady rain. I was there a little the “golden hour”, that time an hour or so before the sun sets, when the light is clear and golden, but it was stunning nevertheless. It’s fun to look back at the garden over the past few months and see how much it has flourished. June. July. It is set up for the washed out dinner party.

One of the things I like most about this garden is all of the “rooms” with something at the end of the vista that draws your eye. This old iron bench is the perfect example, and it’s just one of a number scattered through the gardens.

The cutting garden, which is anchored by an iron armillary, is a riot of colours, shapes and scents.

There are plants as varied as globe amaranth, dahlias, zinnias, cockscomb, and even some lowly marigolds.

The garden then opens up into one of several more rooms, this one with white cast iron benches around the perimeter, just waiting for a game of combat croquet on the beautiful and flat lawn. Funnily enough, before this garden was built, I remember a cut-throat game of softball between the staffs at the Baltimore Museum of Art, where I worked, and the Maryland Historical Society where my friend worked.

Looking at one of the center urns, you see another variety of plants, including this wavy datura, or the poisonous jimsonweed. It’s only when you look closely at the plant that you see the incredible seed pods.

The plants in the urn have really flourished, and the sweet-potato vine is spilling over the edges and the coleus around the base carries on the green and deep purple theme.

Moving through the arches of hyacynth beans,

you come to the big cutting and vegetable garden and it is a RIOT of colour!

The tomatoes at the top, and pumpkins at the bottom, are both going crazy,

the espaliered apples are looking like they will provide a good crop,

and somehow, even the figs managed to survive the winter and fruit (which we ate with prosciutto around them).

As we headed back towards the house, we stopped to look at the spent clematis,

and gather the dogs.

By this time, it really was the golden hour and I managed to get a couple of shots of the lawn set up for the washed out dinner.

After dinner, as I was leaving, I remarked that I could smell gardenias blooming, and Jonathan gave me one, which put mine to shame! This had to be at least four inches across! Mine might be two inches.

Thanks to Jonathan for a tour of the garden and for a great Sunday supper of Saturday’s leftovers… and some other dishes!

The Portrait, The Limes, and Some Other Things

Months and months ago, we’d planned a small dinner party for our friends Reggie Darling and Boy Fenwick, who were going to be in Baltimore for the Summer Antiques Show. A casual picnic was planned, with tables on our friends’ beautiful green lawn. However, plans don’t always go as intended, as Reggie and Boy were unable to travel to Baltimore, and for the first weekend of the summer, it rained heavily on Saturday. Nevertheless, we carried on, first with a tour of the gardens (photos coming on Wednesday) and then an amazing dinner of traditional Maryland foods, including Maryland fried chicken, two types of crabcakes, Southern fried corn, Capresi salad, and peach cobbler. To drink, we had the usual summer Southsides!

After dinner, surrounded by good and dear friends, including fellow blogger, Loi Thai of Tone on Tone, Stiles, the host of the party, made the most beautiful speech about friends, which had me and everyone else in tears. At the end, he presented me with the painting that we had done of Connor earlier this summer. The painting is called My Favorite Blanket after the old patchwork quilt that Connor sits on in the back seat of my car.

To say that I will treasure this painting always, is an understatement. It will always remind me of dear Connor and of the wonderful people whom I am lucky enough to call friends. I have hung it on the wall by my staircase, so I can see it when I come in the front door.

Sam Robinson, a friend and the artist, did a terrific job of capturing Connor’s spirit and the light in his eyes, as well as the shading on his fur, from the white face to the pale orange on his back. We are planning an exhibition of Sam’s canine portraits, including Connor’s picture, at Halcyon House Antiques in the fall. Stay tuned. And if you’re interested, Sam is accepting commissions.

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Earlier this week, friends had given me some produce and I asked you what I should do with limes, mangoes, garlic and more. Someone suggested a lime and mango chutney and that’s what I made. The good thing about chutneys and relishes is that you can be free-wheeling with some of the ingredients. I found a recipe here but made some substitutions. I used molasses instead of honey and cutting the amount of hot pepper to about a half a jalapeño. I also cheated and used pre-made pickling spices because it was mainly the same spices as the recipe called for and I wouldn’t have to buy individual jars of the different spices. I put them in in a tea-ball since I didn’t want whole all-spice or chips of cinnamon stick in the chutney. I also threw in a handful of golden raisins. 

One of the steps is to chop a whole lime and add it, peel and all, to the mixture. I did that, but ended fishing out the slices of lime at the end of the cooking process. The chutney had just the right amount of heat, and was sweet and sour at the same time. It will be a great addition to chicken salad, or on pork. I used my Weck jars and it made three 12 oz. jars. One for me, one for my dinner hosts and one for the friend who gave me the produce!

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Here’s a small preview of the garden pictures that I will post on Wednesday, and a reminder of what the gardens looked like in early June here, and mid-July, here.

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In the coming weeks, I will be telling you about all of the exciting things happening in Baltimore in conjunction with the 200th anniversary of the writing of the Star-Spangled Banner, our National Anthem. It’s going to be the biggest celebration Baltimore has ever hosted and we’re not likely to see anything like it again in our lifetimes. I remember being on the Friends of Fort McHenry board 15+ years ago, and starting on the planning work for this huge celebration, and now, it’s just weeks away.