via The Selvedge Yard

It’s her pants that make the picture…

If my weekend looks even remotely like this I’ll be a happy camper!

and more…

Cacti Garden

I especially like the photos that take objects found in nature and organize them to create something more linear and predictable.  An idea I hope to explore a bit more in this blog.

Hemlock 82 by Bryan Nash Gill

Locust by Bryan Nash Gill

Photos via Ashes & Milk

Bryan Nash Gill lives next to an old mill where he procures the beautiful tree parts featured in his relief prints.  After prepping the tree, Gill rolls ink over the cross-section and then carefully presses washi paper, with his fingertips, onto the natural texture.  His prints can be purchased over at Ashes & Milk.

We traveled to Idyllwild expecting to find a small community of mountain hippies and tourists, and it delivered!  Our cabin was huge and gorgeous, built in the 1930s and complete with an unidentified animal living in the crawl space.

I found Mountain Mike’s leather goods store while exploring the “downtown” area.  The storefront and  signage drew me into a cave of handmade moccasins, Native American bracelets and Indiana Jones-like hats.  Mike was in the back hammering away on some weathered piece of leather.

Aside from Mountain Mike’s, Idyllwild has thee cutest classic candy store, that I regret not photographing, and a small independent movie theater.  But do not expect to find any hard alcohol.  We figured it is probably banned in the town since Idyllwild is right smack in the middle of Mount San Jacinto State Park.

During the Great Depression the Federal Government offered portions of land around Bucks Lake for rent, and a lucky few began building small cabins without electricity or running water.  My great grandfather was one of those people.  He built our A-frame cabin in 1936 for $600. My grandmother and her sister spent summers there chopping wood, fishing and swimming in Bucks Lake.

Today the cabin is only slightly modernized, with actual running water and electricity.  The kitchen stove is still the original, wood burning type and there is no phone line or cell phone coverage.   A couple summers ago my friend Andrea visited with me and so eloquently described the experience in a piece on cabining featured within Kinfolk Magazine’s first issue.  She also snapped the photos featured in this post.

Bucks General Store is a dedication to the American pioneering spirit and the vintage designs it has inspired; not to mention an ode to the ladies who embraced this spirit and weren’t afraid to get their hands dirty and make-up smeared in the process.