Fox Hunting?



A Cake is Worth a Thousand Words

Had a big birthday this past weekend and my hubby, who has a knack for these things, had the cutest cake you've ever seen made for me.  It has a striking resemblence to Sega.



We had a nice quiet weekend in the country.  Spent a few days last week visiting my parents in North Carolina, so I have not had much time for blogging for much of last week.  Christmas is my favorite time of year.  Let's try and celebrate the rest of this week.

Equestrian Extraordinaire - Edwina Alexander

Her name may not be a household world in the U.S., yet, but likely one day it will be.  An Australian, by birth, now with a clothing line sponsored by Gucci, this woman is the real thing.

Gucci has taken up the reins to sponsor two world-class equestrians, Charlotte Casiraghi (grand-daughter of Grace Kelly) and Edwina, who is currently the number one female show jumper in the world.  She is also the first Australian to make the finals in individual jumping at the World Equestrian Games. 



She was born in 1974 in Sydney and won the Australian young rider championship in 1995.  In 1998 she came to Europe to compete and hasn't looked back (or missed a beat).  She finished 4th in Aachen in the World Championships in 2006 and has since won the Grand Prix in Brussels, Valkenswaard, London, Zurich and Cannes.  She rode in the Beijing Olympics, finishing 9th overall individually and 7th with her team. 



I suspect we will see much more of this rising young star in the years to come, and not just in the Gucci catalog!



Betsy Morgan, Shenandoah Artist

This is my second blog post on Betsy Morgan.  She lives in Richmond, attended Sweet Briat College (just over the mountain near Amherst, south of Charlottesville) but has an affinity for the area around Brownsburg and just the Shenandoah Valley in general.

She has wonderful new work on display in Roanoke, Va that I thought I'd share. I see her work mostly at Old South Antiques here in Brownsburg.  Art is a personal thing and I must say that I have enjoyed the art that we have bought through the years as much as anything I own.  I don't own anything Betsy has produced, yet, but am certain that one of her cow paintings is in my future.  So enjoy a bit of Shenandoah Valley-influenced art this Monday morning. And happy Monday!



L.V. Harkness - Shop Til You Drop

If you're still searching for that perfect gift, go no further than your Mac or PC and log on to http://www.lvharkness.com/.  If you have not discovered this emporium of lovely (read expensive) gifts, that no one else has, pull out your Visa card.  Based in Lexington, KY, this place is wonderful. Wish I lived near-by so I could have attended the cocktails with Carlton (Varney, that is) they hosted a few months back. 



Where do you begin?  The china?  Linens?  Stationary? Art?  Jewelry?  Needless to say, I am adding an extra day to my spring trip to Lexington, KY.   Here are few more gift ideas for Santa.

These sculptures are limited editions of 1000 by Daum, a French glassworks which began in 1878.  Very art nouveau.  I have not seen these before.  Lovely!



Need something a little less expensive?  Try this cookbook (which is not available on Amazon by the way).  This is great book if you love horse racing, tailgate parties, it is much more than a cookbook!



How about this pewter mint julep cup?  This would look great on your holiday dinner table with red placemats and Christmas china.

These laquer trays come in all kinds of horse disciplines.  Check the rest out on the web site.



And I have been looking at these handbags forever.  They come in many different styles, ribbon colors and of course I picked the one with the horse.  But there many different "logos" like frogs, crabs, etc.  Summery yes, timeless, yes.  Needed in my closet?  Yes!



These enameled boxes are always  safe bet. 



And as someone who still believes in writing hand-written notes, you can never have enough fine stationary.  This is from The Printery.  Yes, Santa, I will take a few boxes of these!





And the needlepoint pillow is a good back-up.  You can't have too many of these.  But I prefer to stitch my own!

Hope I have given you a few more ideas as we inch closer to December 25th!  Happy shopping!  Enjoy your Friday and hope it is spent in the country!

Horses Never Forget Us!

 

 

Horses Never Forget Human Friends

Horses not only remember people who have treated them well, they also understand words better than expected, research shows.

Read this really interesting article on Discovery.com.  Who knew?

http://news.discovery.com/animals/horse-friends-memory-trainers.html?fb_ref=fb2&fb_source=home_oneline

Glad to know our furry friends do indeed know us and remember us!

Deux Chevaux Hermes Look Bracelets

Still stumped on what to buy the favorite equestrian in your life? What about one of these beautiful hand-painted bracelets?

You may remember the feature a few months ago about this company's candles (which are to die for, and would also make a lovely gift for a bit less). 

I am loving the Hermes orange one.  These are not inexpensive, though,  at $150 each.  And it does look nice to wear more than one as pictured below. 

https://www.deuxchevauxproducts.com/Products/Bracelets/Bangles/