Anyway - see me in the following places until further notice.

http://kendrabentle.blogspot.com

http://southernconstitutional.blogspot.com

Indiana is stupidly beautiful this time of year, though I’m not sure we’ll be making it up there within the most spectacular, leaf-drenched time period. But, the air will be crisp and there will be fires in the fireplace and warm beverages and that particular comfortable feeling my parents house just has, and it’ll be wonderful.

Thinking about indiana and about planning my garden for next spring has gotten me in a very earth-centric mood. I’ve been reading Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and I am officially in love with the woman and her words. It’s brilliant - as much commentary on what it’s like to live off the earth as it is a rail against the worst parts of the American way of life, against blatant wasting of energy and resources, and, as I read today, against intellectual blindness with regard to the ways of nature.

“Many bright people are in the dark about vegetable life…The same disconnection from natural processes may be at the heart of our country’s shift away from believing in evolution. In the past, principles of natural selection and change over time made sense to kids who’d watched it all unfold…For modern kids who intuitively believe in the spontaneous generation of fruits and vegetables in the produce section, trying to get their minds around the slow speciation of the plant kingdom may be a stretch.”

I’d say “Amen, Sister,” but that would be utterly beside the point.

Every Friday, I begin considering the weekend’s house-project, which spurns a bit of surfing around design blogs and other sites, gathering inspiration. Starting today, I’m going to post what I find lovely, beautiful, awe-inspiring, and crazy-wonderful each Friday. And then maybe on monday…a resulting photo from my little house? Maybe.

Today’s collage: The best woolen skirt from Mina Perhonen; perfect soup/latte/tea bowls from Flavour Design (via ReForm School); and two amazing, softly degraded, slightly rural interior shots from Blake Dollahite.

From top:  Trafalgar square fountain; chess set, british museum; blake, close-like; rotunda, british museum; lion, trafalgar square; supsicious grafitti, pub, Islington; capturing the tower bridge.

Photo by Justin Sonfield. Probably my favorite of the whole crop he took that night.

Blake wants to avoid calling the renewal of the Young Antiques a comeback, but I don’t have issues with that terminology. Maybe it’s more of a revival–because it’s certainly got him awake and enlivened and incredibly excited to go on the road.

This weekend, Knoxville. Next month, NC, SC, and other parts southern. Go see them if you can. I’m biased, of course, but they’re truly great fun.