here is our garden at four weeks.

we planted our cute little garden on the 15th of april, here’s what we are growing:

here is our garden at six weeks.

we ended up losing our one artichoke plant early on and replaced it with another much younger tomato plant to try and stagger the tomato harvest a bit.

here is our garden at seven weeks.

everything is thriving pretty well, although something pesky keeps biting off our squash blossoms. they aren’t even eating them, just leaving them on the ground. which is even more annoying. we are working on fencing in the garden and bought some organic insecticide as well, so hopefully we’ll get that under control soon.

– ryan & gub

i visited barnsley gardens over the weekend while doing a film project with the yacht rock revue. it’s located about an hour and a half north of atlanta in adairsville, ga at the base of the blue ridge mountains. these days, barnsley gardens functions as a resort where you can stay, play golf, quail hunt, or have your wedding. there is also a historic district on the grounds where godfrey barnsley originally built his mansion and gardens featuring flowers from around the world. here you can visit the beautiful 160-year-old heirloom gardens, a museum, and the mansion ruins.

the ruins were really amazing! it felt like you were walking around in what’s left of an old european castle. there were these great vines growing all over the walls, adding to its mystique. i was envious of the event going on while i took photos, having a party in the ruins of an 1840s mansion seemed like the best thing ever. the museum had photos of the estate before it fell to ruins and if you are lucky enough to catch the curator, an oral history of the barnsley family and gardens as well.

barnsley gardens is very beautiful and has a rich history. even if you’re not looking to stay at the resort, the heirloom gardens, ruins, and museum are open to the public and definitely worth the drive for a short getaway from atlanta.

– ryan

barnsley gardens

597 barnsley gardens road
adairsville, ga 30103
770-773-7480

we just discovered a great bbq restaurant called garden produce & country store! on the front page of their website they say “welcome to your neighborhood barbeque.” we wish they were doing business in our neighborhood!

we woke up this morning and decided to go on a ‘bbq adventure!’ the only rule was we had to try a place neither of us had been to before. after doing a bit of research and reading some reviews, we decided to venture out to a tiny place in stone mountain, mostly because of the words in this review. we were not let down!

we are big fans of ‘side of the road’ and ‘hole in the wall’ style restaurants that have great food. this quaint bbq joint totally fit the bill! it can be found on an unassuming canopy road near stone mountain. you’ll know you’re there when you see a couple of red gas pumps and a few cars parked on the side of a house. garden produce was quite small, with only a few tables for seating, but featured a comfortable rustic atmosphere. diners on the patio greeted us with a cheerful, “hello,” as we approached the restaurant.

we both really enjoyed the bbq; it was well worth the drive! ryan got ribs with field peas and baked beans and i got pulled pork with squash casserole and fried okra. the meals came with a delicious slice of corn bread, a pickle and a pineapple wedge. we are pretty picky about our bbq and often don’t like the same style, but we both really loved our meals! the ribs were great, not too smoky but still flavorful, and the pulled pork was excellent as well. plus the prices were very reasonable.

there were plenty of sides to choose from and they all looked great. some of the veggies came from their huge garden, including the field peas and squash. they also offer a homemade pastrami sandwich that sounded amazing! the country store sold seasonal produce and various jarred products, including pickles, jams and relishes.

we’ll definitely be going back again soon!

– ryan & gub

garden produce & country store

567 stephenson road
stone mountain, ga 30087
770-413-0338
gardenproduce@bellsouth.net

i’ve never been shy about my affection for three’s company or john ritter. in fact, losing both john ritter and johnny cash on the same day was a huge loss for me. my brother, who is also a big fan of ‘the rit,’ has a copy of the life magazine poster seen hanging in jack’s apartment. i’ve always been envious of his poster and on the lookout for one of my own.

well much to my surprise, i recently found the poster for sale here! i am very excited! now i’m off to the regal beagle for celebratory drinks.

ryan

we had a really great time being part of the kirkwood tour of homes! we met a lot of nice neighbors and got to show off our cute little house. it turns out one of our neighbors becky writes for various blogs and wrote about our house here and here!

we’ve spent the last couple of months working on house projects and doing the most thorough spring cleaning we’ve done in ages. our friend and neighbor miguel martinez took photos of our house in all its de-cluttered glory. he is a really amazing photographer who works for the mundo hispánico. he took so many great photos we decided to spread them out over a few posts.

this first post covers our front porch, family room, media room, backyard and garden.

– ryan & gub

the second part of our tour of home series features our office, bedrooms, and bathroom, which includes our vintage snow globe collection.

again, all of the photos were taken by our friend miguel martinez!

– ryan & gub

the third and final part of our tour of homes series covers our kitchen and back deck. we’ve done a lot of work on our kitchen over the last year. we tiled our kitchen floor, added a backsplash, repainted, recovered our kitchen chairs, and added new roman shades to the windows. we plan on doing posts on our renovations, so we won’t get into too many details on the upgrades right now.

again, all of the photos were taken by our friend miguel martinez!

– ryan & gub

we are very excited to be a part of the kirkwood tour of homes! our home is one of only eight houses on the tour, so we feel honored to be asked to participate. the tour is part of the 8th annual kirkwood spring fling, which is going on this weekend in historic kirkwood. the festival also features a 5k race on saturday morning and an open air artist market with a ton of vendors, good eats, and live bands. admission to the festival is free from 10am-7pm on saturday at bessie branham park. tickets for the kirkwood tour of homes can be purchased at the festival or at local kirkwood businesses.

after the festival we hope post regularly again, we’ve spent all of our free time fixing up the house.

– ryan & gub

kirkwood spring fling
2051 delano drive ne
atlanta, georgia 30317

tour of homes
saturday, may 15th, 2010
sunday, may 16th, 2010
from 12pm until 6pm

5k race
saturday, may 15th, 2010
starts at 9am

artist market
saturday, May 15th, 2010
from 10am until 7pm

with the kentucky derby on the television and a mint julep in hand, i found myself wondering what exactly defines a bourbon? in general, american whiskeys are classified by the type of grain being distilled. rye whiskey is distilled from rye grain, while bourbon whiskey is distilled from corn. woodford, wild turkey, maker’s mark, bulleit, and jim beam are some of the more popular bourbons.

a common misnomer is that bourbon has to come from bourbon county, kentucky. although most bourbons do come from kentucky, it is not a requirement for classification. if you feel like going on a bourbon adventure, there is a kentucky bourbon festival held every year in bardstown, ky and the kentucky bourbon trail where you can tour 6 distilleries.

tennessee whiskey, aka jack daniels and george dickel, have the distinction of being filtered through a thick layer of maple charcoal before aging.

canadian whisky, aka crown royal, as well as scotch whisky and irish whiskey are generally blended whiskeys. this means they use multiple grains in distilling, often with a large percentage of rye, resulting in a lighter, smoother flavor.

another interesting fact is that whiskey gets its color and flavor from being aged in charred oak barrels. without this, the liquor is clear and known as moonshine.

– ryan

we have been going to a family friend’s beach cottage at holden beach, nc since 1997. it is definitely one of our favorite places to visit! the cottage has belonged to our friend’s family for several generations. it still has a lot of the rustic antiques from when it was originally furnished. it is such a cozy, quiet little place. we love it; especially in off season.

ry and I were lucky enough to celebrate mom and jim’s 25th wedding anniversary at the cottage the first week of april. we enjoyed an amazing week of lounging, reading, cooking, eating seafood & goofing off at the beach. ryan even got a kite and some new sunglasses. yay!

holden beach is located midway between wilmington, nc and myrtle beach, sc — about 40 minutes from each. the town is situated on an atlantic coastal barrier island, facing south onto the long bay region of brunswick county.

holden beach also has an amazing turtle watch program. the site has a story about conjoined twin loggerheads hatching there in 2009!

check out the holden beach town hall web site!

– ryan & gub