Let me tell ya ’bout my dawgs

I am talking Brown Boy, George, She She. These are my dogs, I’m supposed to be taking care of them, but I think they are taking care of me. Here’s the line up.

Brown Boy. One day in 1987,. I was working at the pawn shop on Peters St. in Atlanta and I found this little black dog out front, I brought her in the shop and feed her. She was a small puppy and I knew right where she came from. The auto parts place across the street. It was basically an in-town junk yard. So I took this little black dog home and took care of her for the next 18 years. Brown Boy is her grandson, her name was Black Girl.

Brown Boy or Brownie or Brown or Mr. Brown Boy actually has a brindle coat. He has long, thick hair. He is a lover, as all my dogs are.

George, if you have met George I don’t have to tell ya. If you haven’t, the first thing your gonna do when ya see George is smile. He has that affect on everyone when they first meet him. He is a well dressed, kinda well behaved mix of Basset Hound and Black Lab. He is like a big black and white Basset. I found George roaming the streets and have been taking care of him for about 3 years now. Right now he has a bum foot he can’t walk on unless he needs to get upstairs to eat! Then he seems alright.

She She is a coyote. No shit, I went to the mountains and found and wrestled She She away form her full grown coyote mother. I really found her in my front yard, but my vet said she looks just like a coyote. I did some research and she does. She is also a murderer! I swear, she kills all kinds of small animals. She even eats the rabbits she catches. But really she is a lover also. She She thinks she runs the show, but Geo and Brown will let her know who the new comer is when ever necessary.

Dogs are good to have, if you don’t have any get yourself a few. It’s easy, they are everywhere and you can always go to the humane society and save ones life.

Transplants

No, not bone marrow, not again thank you very much. I’m thinking about people, friends and clients who live here in Atlanta, but are not southerners by birth.

This morning I met with Krista, she and Jake are the owners of Tajmahound. They make dog treats and other goodies for your pet. They are about to open a new store in the Kirkwood neighborhood, in the city of Decatur. These guys have been at it for 5 years or so and growing their business at a nice, steady pace. I have worked with them before, helping build-out their first retail space. They are both from the New York/New Jersey area, but now they are living here in the south. They are two of the nicest folks you could ever meet. Doing business with them is easy and I always look forward the next time we get together for drinks, business or whatever. They truly have the heart and soul of a Southerner.

Now I just hung up the phone after speaking my friend Ute, she is on her way down to my place to talk about something she wants built. So I’m gonna get a couple po boys for us. She read about them on this blog and told me she wanted to try one.

I have known Ute for 7 or 8 years or so. I have built furniture for her and we have become friends. Her dogs name is Rusty and paid a visit today as well. I have also traded some custom work for a weeks stay at her home in the Basque region of France. She is from Germany. Her husband is from Spain. They seem to have homes all over the place. Their latest is in Figueras, Spain. That is where Salvador Dali is from. They are currently renovating this place.

The place in France is in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains, very near Saint Jean de Luz and not to far from San Sebastian, Spain. That is one of my favorite cities in the world. If you ever have the chance to go - by all means do it. It is a beautiful, rugged town on the Atlantic coast. It is full of tapas bars and friendly, beautiful people. I want to live there and repair the old wooden boats to make my living.

Ute is a really cool person. She is also a very kind person. I think she does a lot of volunteer work here in Atlanta. And anyone who would share their home with you has to have some kind southern blood running through them.

St. Simons Island.

My friend John and my other friend Rhonda, yea they are married, have a restaurant there, Black Water Grill. That’s really all you need to know. Go every chance you get. Everything they serve is always the best in the world. It is as simple as that, no matter what, at Black Water it will be very good. Always.

The great chef Mario Batali once said “If you go to a restaurant and the foods good and you go back and it is different, then that place sucks”. I agree, consistency is the most important thing.

John has worked in the most wicked restaurant conditions in the world and made it work, hell, he more then likely made it fun. So Black Water Grill has probably been a walk in the park. Other than the long hours.

I have never had anything but a great time and good food at Black Water. Any time someone mentions St. Simons, I ask if they know Black Water and the answer is always yes, we love it.

When Rhonda say’s “Hey ya’ll”, well, you know your right at home. These guys are old friends. So are Keith and Mikey, the folks we were gonna try and meet at Black Water Grill last weekend for a birthday dinner for Mikey. We could get there but getting home Sunday was gonna be a problem. No seats on the plane, so we couldn’t make it. But we will get over that way soon, cause I’m jonesing for an andouille corn-dog and some shrimp and grits.

Almost went to St. Simons Island!

That’s another story for another day.

This is the Monday Report, thank you very much! Here are some photos of the stuff I talked about last week - jobs I was working on.

The bench/coffee table made from slabs of wood with raw edge is something I have been doing lately. This table has no nails or screws. It is held together by joints and glue.

The light bulb picture is a commissioned piece for a guy who writes books about Idea Spotting. Sam is a good friend and a client. Doing this painting for him was a pleasure.

The Angel painting sold this weekend at the organic farmers market in Midtown Atlanta. I have been selling my wares at this market for about 10 years. I have made a career in this parking lot. The folks that bought the Angel painting were in town for a Emory University reunion. I wanted to tell them of my history with Emory but didn’t get the chance. Another brilliant couple.

Every chance you get listen to “This American Life” on NPR. You can listen to it anytime on their website. Also, always watch the television show “No Reservations” with Anthony Bourdain. Good stuff, all of it.

Kingsized

Now I could be talking about the band, or rather the orchestra, but I’m not I’m talking about the bed the brilliant couple is having built. It’s big and white and old looking.

So, the couple known here as “Julie and Chris” had me build a table for their beach house and then we got together and planned a bed. Like I said it’s big. The foot and headboard have 6″ square, antique pine post on each corner. The headboard is almost 6′ tall. They both have slats, 7″ wide, used for the panels, the panels are 70″ wide, so there are ten slats in each the head and footboard. The slats are pine that was used as decking on a Mardi Gras float in Mobile. The rails are made from antique pine, they are 2″ x 5″, 80″ long.

Each piece of lumber was planed with a hand held electric planer. Then it was all sanded with 50 grit paper on a 4″ hand held belt sander. Then all the lumber was sanded with 80 grit paper on a 5″ disc sander and then with 12o grit on same sander. After all that sanding I painted the whole bed white with flat latex paint and once it dried I sanded it for the last time using 120 grit paper and giving it a distressed finish.

Julie brought to my workshop eight antique tin ceiling tiles which are about 8″ square each. They are gonna look great mounted in the headboard. Each has a different design and each has a different distressed finish. Together, in two rows of four they will really make the bed.

I have just about finished this bed. I got a few other fun things I am working on and would like to finish a coffee table for the market this Saturday. I just finished a painting a fellow ordered. I will post a photo of the bed and this painting soon.

I also met with a lady today and she ordered a painting of her dogs. Two dogs in the same painting which is gonna be 3′ tall and 4′ across. That size should work well for what she has in mind I will try and remember to post a photo of that painting when I finish it.

Hotel Talisi

The Hotel Talisi is in beautiful downtown Tallessee, Alabama. It has been there since 1928. Stacey and I have been there many times as it is on the way to Mobile, not to far off the Interstate and the traffic or crowds are never a problem. Except once we stopped on Mothers Day, it was so crowded we got it to go ($4.25 per pound) and we found a nice spot by the mighty Tallapoosa River to sit and enjoy. Oh yea, there’s food at the Talisi Hotel and John T. Edge mentions it in Southern Belly.

The food is good, real good. They have the same menu everyday with some specials a few days a week. Like on Fridays, you can get the regular menu along with fried catfish and fried shrimp. We haven’t been on a Friday but I bet the catfish is really fresh.

Anyway, after that Brunch we had Sunday at Mom and Dads we hit the road back to Atlanta. By the time we got through Montgomery and came upon the Tallassee exit sign, we decided we could eat again. So we made a left hand turn towards the Hotel Talisi.

The place was right where it was last time we were there. The Hotel Talisi is a 19 room inn with antiques everywhere and in every room. The front desk is awesome. It reminds me of something from a movie. I love the mail and key slots on the large hutch behind the desk. Every time I walk through the lobby, I want to get a room and stay a few days.

Like I said, we’ve been here before and the menu is the same: Fried Chicken, Baked Chicken, Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans, Blackeyed Peas, Cornbread Dressing, Cornbread Muffins, Rolls, Salad Bar and Desserts.

The Cornbread Dressing is my favorite on the menu, that and the Fried Chicken. They are both a true testament to Southern Cooking. The dressing is always the same. Perfect in texture and never dry. The chicken is crisp and a little greasy, like I said a true testament to Southern Cooking.

Sunday Brunch

So after the wedding Saturday night I was in need of a really good meal to soak up some of that leftover alcohol still coursing through my veins. Good thing Dad was cooking, I knew it would be a lot of food and I knew it would be good. Dad didn’t let us down.

Mom and Dad have a really large dinning room table, I would say it’s 20 feet long or there about. And it needed to be for the crowd we had there for brunch Sunday, down there in Mobile. Everyone was there. Pam and her two children were in from Little Rock and Kim, Bob and Scottie Mike came in from Birmingham. Sister and Cecil were there, as well as Cheryl and her three little ones. Lisa was in from NYC. Man I haven’t seen her in a coons age and she looked great. Of course Jeff, Jacob and Taylor were there, as they are most Sunday mornings. Al, from across the street joined us, he is like one of the family. Mike and Holly came by for a bite before leaving on their honeymoon. Big Daddy came back from the boats just in time to sit down with us. And Sam, as in “Lil Sis” was there. What a beautiful bunch of people!

So check out this menu. Can you say Osso Bucco, everybody all at once, OSSO BUCCO! Very good, thank you very much. There was also 25 gallons of grits, 60 biscuits, 6 dozen scrambled eggs with cheese, 10 pounds each of bacon, Conecuh County sausage, and andouille sausage. Homemade fig, strawberry, and peach jellies. 5 gallons of Bloody Marys and 5 gallons of fresh orange juice. I almost forgot the sliced fresh tomato’s.

We had the time of our lives. They don’t call us the “Loud Family” for nothing. The Mimosa’s kinda got us going, Pam mixed about 15 gallons of those and they were gone before we sat at the table. It was kind of like the wedding, we laughed, we cried and some of us threw up and started all over again. Mom was really proud. Dad was really tried, after all that cooking. Good thing they got 2 dishwashers in their kitchen.

I tell ya, it’s times like this I live for. Ain’t nothing like having good friends and family around a table like that. We must have spent 3 or 4 hours just eating, and talking, laughing and being real loud. It was a hoot and I can’t wait to do it again.

We all then went out front and played a long game of touch football. That kind of helped us work up our appetite and then it was back to the table for a third and fourth helping. Marion, thanks for all that great food, and please start planning your next menu!