Our Hanoverian Horses

On our farm, we breed and raise beautiful Hanoverian sport horses. My daughter, Erin, shares in my love of horses. She also has an amazing talent in riding, dressage and training of horses. Visit our website below to see our horses and to see the video of me riding one of our most loved horses, Fiora.
Susan

Visit the Farm

Riding Fiora

The Winget Bird Sanctuary

With the lovely addition of our new bird feeder, we now have the beginnings of what I like to call a bird sanctuary in our yard. I love watching the birds as they flutter around and land for a nibble or as they play and splash in the water collected in our birdbath. I have a wonderful view every morning as I prepare for the coming day. The birds are very peaceful and seem so light-hearted… it really is a wonderful way to start the day!

Susan

The Atlanta Gift Show

I just returned from an incredible four days at the Atlanta Gift and Home Furnishings Market. The market is filled with hundreds of company showrooms, displaying their latest product designs for retailers from across the country. It is always an exciting show as we get a sneak peek at the upcoming trends and designs for the year! This year our latest sketchbook style excelled which features our new birds and butterflies artwork. We were thrilled to see our designs with this program in several showrooms. I was fortunate to have a signing and giveaway of Certified dinnerware, Keller Charles melamine dinnerware and Ne'qwa ornaments. I saw many friends that were equally excited about our new designs. I feel blessed to have made so many dear friends in this industry and for the continued success of our studio's creative designs.
Be on the lookout for our birds and butterflies designs coming soon!

Susan

Pie, Pie... Me, oh, my!

Today at the studio we were asked by one of our clients to design a pie dish that included a recipe for a cherry pie. Not wanting to send out a recipe we created without first trying and approving its success ourselves, Beckie decided she would make the pie in the studio's upstairs kitchen. It was so delicious… I wanted to go ahead and share the recipe with you all!

Cherry Pie:
Ingredients:
3/4 c. sugar, 5 Tbsp. cornstarch, 2 c. pitted cherries, 1/2 tsp. almond extract, 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon, 2 nine inch pie shells
Directions:
Mix sugar and cornstarch. Add cherries, extract and cinnamon. Place one pastry into 9 inch pie pan. Pour cherry mixture into the pie shell. Place next pastry over fruit and fold under at rim. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes.

Enjoy!
Susan

A Weekend Retreat

Bray's Island has become one of my family's favorite places for weekend getaways. It is a beautiful island plantation outside of Savannah where we can relax and enjoy the peaceful essence of this seemingly untouched nature preserve. This past weekend Al and I visited Bray's with our son, Mac, and his wife, Megan. We had a wonderful time together riding horses and taking in the scenery. We also went on a guided walk of the land with Bruce Lampright. Bruce is the naturalist that lives on the island and we have learned so many things about the habitat of the low country from him – everything from how to identify a gator slide to how bluebirds nest and many other interesting facts about the natural vegetation there. It truly is a special place that has inspired much of my recent nature's sketchbook artwork and I look forward to spending many more peaceful days there with family and friends.

Susan

Happy New Year!

Today Al and I celebrated the coming of 2008! His culinary specialty is breakfast so he made pancakes for us this morning… it was a comforting way to start the New Year! For dinner we had the feast of Hoppin' John, a traditional meal acclaimed by some as beginning in the streets of Charleston, SC as it was hawked by a man known as Hoppin' John. Miss Sarah Rutledge of Charleston is also known for serving this meal that everyone "came a-hoppin' for" and first published the recipe in her 1842 cookbook, The Carolina Housewife. Each part of the meal is said to bring a specific favor in the coming year. It is surely to be a good one for me as I ate plenty of black eyed peas for luck and pork for good health! ...pork for good health?? Not superstitious ourselves, we still always have a good time toasting the New Year with this traditional southern meal.

Happy New Year!
Susan