I have a lot of time on my hands while I work on a project in Rockdale, Texas. Some of you may ask the question, where is Rockdale? I did too. Rockdale is about 60 miles east of Austin, Texas. It is a small town with about 5500 people that live here. Some have asked, Why Rockdale? Rockdale is the home to the Sandow Switch which is one of the largest electrical transmission interconnections points. This happens to be directly across the street from our project that we are building. Ok, back to story.
On Saturdays, I am waiting on different contractors to make deliveries, finish things up, or just little tasks that need completing. The property that we are working on is 100 acres. What else can you do with a property of this size? Do ask a guy that spent 30 years in the landscape industry because I can do wonders with a skid steer loader. See, I spent a lot of time over the years when I owned Oasis Horticultural Service and The Garden Gates working on large scale landscape projects. I worked on parks, golf courses, industrial sites, and residential homes the Southern Louisiana.
These days, I use my years of experience to help push project development at record paces and the unwillingness to allow anything less. This also means I have to be onsite basically around the clock leaving me with a lot of ” waiting time.” So, I starting building an offload Ford Raptor Adventure Course and I have been documenting it using my drone.
I left New Orleans 4 weeks ago with 3 pairs of pants, 3 shirts and a laptop to move to Rockdale, Texas to work on a project building the largest high speed data center in the world. I have enjoyed the adventure and the people of Rockdale have made my experience incredible. I did give up a lot of my normal daily life. My wonderful dog, Shadow had to stay behind and then there is a lot of alone time here. My Whinstone Squad sent me care package on my 50th birthday and than meant a lot. Love New Orleans but I Love Rockdale Just As Much.
I made this video as to show everyone back in New Orleans that I truly appreciated the effort they took to make my birthday special. One of the things I have enjoyed so much about relocating from New Orleans to Rockdale is I have a lot of time to make videos. I am not great but like anything, practice improves skills.
Over the last few days, I have been seeing how far and safe you can actually jump a Ford Raptor. It’s always exciting to test a YouTube Video on what happens in reality when you try to reinvent it. Well, I will be the first one to tell you that it’s not a great idea. Besides the fact that you can destroy a Ford Raptor, consider the alternative of destroying the truck.
This weekend, we took two Ford Raptors out and put them to the test. One was a custom SCA Ford Raptor and the other was an off the floor 802A model. The short story, we broke the custom SCA Raptor….
Beth Kendall Harris is all about the style. She travels the world in search of something unique and has a purpose. Create the home of your dreams with affordable home furnishing and home decor accessories. Beth Harris explores the world searching for the unique home decor that meets the Lifestyle of Relish New Orleans customers. Each year, she travels throughout Europe looking for inspiration to bring into their personal home. These travels bring the uniqueness of the products carried in our home decor department for sale. We invite you to take this exploration with them each year as you create a home of ever lasting style.
Discover great home furnishing and home decor for every room in the home. Create living rooms, bedrooms, dining rooms or more from our large selection of home decor and furnishing goods. Order everything for the home online from www.relishneworleans.com form a collection of beautiful consoles, side tables, chest of drawers and more in classic styles and contemporary looks. Adding new lighting, chandeliers and wall sconces have never been easier with the light department. Search from large chandeliers as well as small table lamps to complete all the decorating needs for you and your interior designer. Relish’s home decorations and quality furniture are at your fingertips to create the room of your dreams or to compliment a well-designed look.
Urns were (and still are) used as a means to contain the ashes of a loved one once they are cremated. Nowadays, cast stone urns have taken on additional functions. Their exceptional ornamentation and fluted bodies have similar features of planter pots that are used in gardens all over the world. Urns, however, typically also feature handles, garland accents, and sit on plinth platforms, making them much more ostentatious than the usual planter. If you have a sense of flair that you like to show off when picking out decor, an urn can be a valuable addition in your garden. The ornamental features of the garden urn can liven up any environment. Often times, its exceptional accents help to transform a garden into a more traditional setting.
The Garden Gates specializes in working with customers to present a versatile mix of styles of garden urns. Campania International and Kansas City Statuary are two of the most well-respected artisans in the nation, and their speciality in cast-stone artistry results in a quality, cosmetic garden urns that you can use to adorn your outdoor living area. These pieces come in a selection of color washes. Campania International features Aged Limestone, Alpine Stone, Brownstone, Natural, Copper Bronze, English Moss, Ferro Rustico, Greystone, Pietra Vecchia, Terra Nera, Travertine, and Verde. Kansas City Statuary, on the other hand, features Rustic Midori, Sepia, River Stone, Rustic Amber, Slate, Weathered Copper, White Wash, Sunset, Vintage, Aztec Jade, Copper, Age, Ancient Verde, Earth, Moss, Natural, English Terracotta, and Khaki Ash. Artisanal designers like Campania and Kansas City Statuary understand beauty and functionality, making their urn creations the most unique and sought-after in the market.
A dramatic urn was often representative of how beloved a person was when they were alive. In a garden scenario, this can be replicated without the need to mourn the passing of a loved one. When guests stroll through your property, it could be assumed that the more embellished an urn is, the more you love tending to your garden. The nurturing care you give to your plants and flowers will naturally lead to an elaborate and meticulously designed outside area, but the extra ornamentation will help to emphasize it ten-fold. The fluted bodies, the curved lips, and embossed decorative details will easily compliment the similar organic shapes and impressions of your garden. I addition to this, each of the color washes offered from the Garden Gates will fade naturally over the years, creating an organic, one-of-a-kind patina finish that will blend even more perfectly with your garden over time.
The shape of an urn can dictate the way in which you choose to express yourself. An elongated body with a greater height can reach above the garden foliage and present itself more prominently. The Williamsburg Jefferson urn, the Morgan Iron Scroll urn, and the Smithsonian Goblet urnare all examples of the vertically pronounced garden pieces from the Garden Gates which you can place on a pedestal for even more height. Opposite of these steep urns, you may choose to move your decor lower to the ground. These types of urns look best when placed on flat, open ground. Many homeowners choose to create a bed of colored gravel as a liner to a walkway or an open space within the garden. By placing a wider, shorter urn in the center, you can draw onlookers’ eyes toward one singular piece. The Garden Gates offers a generous selection of horizontally prominent urns such as the Rustic Palazzo urn, the Vintage St. Charles urn, and the Brio urn.
You can find the perfect selection of large planter urns from the Garden Gates in a variety of finishes and sizes to make a statement that is both stately and timeless. Each cast-stone urn is intended to last a lifetime. Urns, much like planter pots, can be used to accent your deck or patio. Part of the fun of decorating your patio area is setting up a table and chair or a couch and feeling relaxed in the environment that facilities a cohabitation between your indoor living area and the surrounding outdoors. Urns can be filled with beautiful plant arrangements. This can gradually introduce guests from the comfort of a sterile indoor setting to the organic, unkempt outdoors. By blending the features of both locations, you can create an environment that everyone will enjoy visually and feel comfortable with emotionally. The origin of urns comes from a situation of great emotional depth, so it is fitting that they continue to evoke so much within us, even today.
Beth Kendall Harris, Chad Everett Harris’ wife, has a retail store in Metairie, Louisiana called Relish, or Relish Metairie Road. Relish has a selection of Women’s fashion, home accents, gifts, and children’s clothing from Europe. Beth Harris spends months traveling the global in search of the perfect outfit for her clients.
Relish Metairie is located at 600 Metairie Road near the railroad tracks on the Southside of the Metairie Road. Relish is open 6 days per week, from 10 am to 6 pm, closed Sundays. Relish can also be found online by visiting RelishNewOrleans.com.
In 2013, The Garden Gates has some amazing writers. They were talented, witty, and fast. What Chad Everett Harris learned ( yup, 3rd person nonsense) was the without the correct guidance, those keyboard wizard can get carried away.
” A dining table can be the perfect piece for a fully decorated outdoor furniture set. Not only do outdoor dining tables create a perfect center for serving up food and beverages to your guests, but the style you choose can be easily matched with other outdoor decor such as planter pots, window boxes, chairs, benches, console tables, or even birdbaths. You can use your outdoor dining table to serve up a full-course meal for guests, have a peaceful Sunday brunch, or simply sit outside and rest while you sip coffee and read your favorite book. These pieces are made to be durable so that they sustain the wear and tear from outside elements that tend to create corrosion over time. The Garden Gates offers outdoor dining tables from popular statuary companies such as Campania International and Kansas City Statuary. Our dining tables are hand created from cast-stone in a variety of styles and color finishes which you can choose from to properly match your personal decor. With our diverse selection of styles and colors to choose from, you’re guaranteed to find a comprehensive, long-lasting feature for your garden, backyard, or patio area. Choose the matching fountain, planter group, and benches to really tie in the whole set-up for a perfect arrangement that speaks to you and your guests.
Although outdoor dining tables are made for durability, it is always advised to purchase a cover to fully protect it from weather elements and animals that may create extreme permanent damage. The color finish you choose will naturally evolve over time to create a more organic antiqued look, but in order to preserve this process, it is important to prevent additional harsh damage to the surface of your dining table. Choosing the correct color finish is essential to having the right outdoor furniture. Campania International offers a selection of colors such as Aged Limestone, Alpine Stone, Brownstone, Natural, Copper Bronze, English Moss, Ferro Rustico, Greystone, Pietra Vecchia, Terra Nera, Travertine, and Verde. Although these are wonderful choices, Kansas City Statuary offers a different selection with options such as Rustic Midori, Sepia, River Stone, Rustic Amber, Slate, Weathered Copper, White Wash, Sunset, Vintage, Aztec Jade, Copper, Age, Ancient Verde, Earth, Moss, Natural, English Terracotta, and Khaki Ash. For an additional feature on your outdoor dining table, you can also add an umbrella which locks into the centerpiece. Not only can you choose between various color options to match your furniture, but you can relax in shade away from the sun. If it begins to unexpectedly rain, during your family picnic, the umbrella can be a great tool to protect your meal.
Chad sat at the Palladio garden table, in his backyard. He thumbed at the spread of bread, cheeses, grapes, and olives that was splayed out on the wooden serving slabs. How did he agree to allow his own private back yard to be the host of annual White Glove Ladies luncheon? Ahh, yes, he nodded to himself. It all began with a conversation about an outdoor dining table.
Just three weeks before, he stood, amusing himself at the incredulousness of the elderly women who gathered around him; their pristine white gloves pawing the air like cats vying for his attention. They clamored him with questions about when they could redesign their backyards, the right furniture that would truly open up their outdoor foyer, and how to choose the perfect outdoor dining table (for lighter social gatherings of course).
He spun around, his eyes glazing over with a half smile on his face while he placated them with sensational statements about all the products and services he could offer them. “And we’ll do the best job in the city, for the best deal!” “This one is made of cast-stone! It’ll last forever!”
“Oh, my word!” They gasped, and placed their bleached gloves over their mouths in excitement.
Gladys, the eldest of the elderly bunch, firmly placed her pearled hand onto Chad’s arm as he pulled away to escape. “I simply must have that Palladio garden table, but I never purchase anything without inspecting it up close.”
Chad tried to loosen his arm from her grip, but she held on tight with the same clench that she would grip her last will and testament just 18 months later when death would dive in to kidnap her away. Even in the end, she held on for what she deemed to be the most important occasions and, in this instance, that Palladio dining table was of the utmost urgency. “Your website says that the table is on backorder! I’m hosting a dinner next month, I must have it by then! Can you pull some strings?”
‘Damn,’ he thought. ‘Who taught the elderly how to use the internet?!’
“I’m sorry,” he said, “I can’t control when that item arrives. It’s out of my hands! What about another table…”
“Only the Palladio will do!”
Chad’s eyes widened. ‘Jeez, this lady is crazy!’ he thought. “I don’t know what to tell you. The only Palladio table that even exists in this city is in my own backyard, and I love it too much to sell it!”
“Well then, what are we going to do?!”
Chad grinned a sly grin. He had finally won! The old woman couldn’t argue with that kind of statement! Gotcha!
“I don’t know, ma’am. I guess you’ll have to order another table from The Garden Gates and be satisfied.”
“As I said before, young man, only, the Palladio dining table will do! I have a gathering next month and everyone must sit at that glorious round table! Since you’re the only one in the city who owns it, then I’ll be paying you to host my event at your home. I assume your house is big enough…”
“Yeah, its a big house with lots of room. Look, you can’t just come to my house and serve up wine and cheese! I mean…it’s my house!”
“Young man, do you know who I am?”
“Yeah, I guess. You’re one of the White Glove Ladies of New Orleans, but – “
“I’m the White Glove Lady of the World. Now, give me a price. I’ll look up your address on the internet.”
Argh! The internet! Chad clenched his teeth and came up with the highest amount he could fathom. She’ll outright reject him with an offensive amount such as that!
“How much;” Gladys replied. “Oh you’re so sweet to give me a discount deal!” She clasped her hands together in glee.
“Lady, you’re crazy!” Chad wheezed, finally pulling his arm away from her firm, venerable grip.
She cackled loudly, “I’m not crazy, young man! I’m rich!”
Chad ran out of the luncheon, tearing the stuffy herringbone blazer from his body and tossing it into the nearby bushes. “Unbelievable,” he muttered to himself. “Just unbelievable.”
It is important to create a balance of witty versus insane creative writing about garden decor, this writer took things a little too far.
To learn more about Creative Marketing Ideas from Chad Everett Harris, message him at @chadeverettharris.
