Lois Brummitt: One Creative Woman
/Let me introduce you to Lois Brummitt. We've been close, good friends for twenty-three years. We met in a mutual friend's garden (Diane Button) during a North Carolina Unit of Herb Society of America meeting in May, 1992. And today when we are out together we're often asked if we're sisters. People even call us by the other's name. (And we answer!!)
I've always watched in amazement at how creative Lois is in every area of her life. She's a decorator extraordinaire, a gourmet cook, a fashionista, a person who walks to her own drummer's beat. She's a great plant woman to boot. Lois is a person who enjoys her gardens more than anyone I know. These spaces are more a botanical wonder than landscape designed gardens. In them you can find strange and rare plants along with old favorites from her mother and friends' gardens. Here are some examples for you to drool over:
That last photo is the garden inside the carport! Now who else has a garden inside their carport? Yep; told you. Lois is one creative woman. On top of all this, you can ask her about any plant and most often she can give you the botanical name of it and where she acquired it. To me this is just astounding!
Lois is also creative in the kitchen. I just love to be invited for any meal... and have never, ever had anything but wonderful, tasty treats, whether the meal is breakfast, lunch or dinner. You never know ahead of time where you might be seated for a meal in her home. There are tables in every room and she likes to move her guests around her house. Even when they aren't entertaining guests, she and her husband Charlie move around for meals as they do not have any one spot where they share a meal every day. It's always changing, depending on their mood and/or the weather that day. Most often there's candlelight for the meal - day or night - which is such a fun reminder that each meal is special.
Her decorating style is eclectic and her home is a fun place to visit. There are family heirlooms, found objects from walks she and Charlie take each morning, and estate sales and things she had found throughout her many moves over the years. (Before he retired, Charlie's work required relocation on more than one occasion.) They've lived in Raleigh, Columbia, SC, Charlotte and Dallas, TX before moving to Greensboro in 1992, so you can imagine all the things she acquired along the way. Lois is so inventive with her decorating and you can see a sampling of that as well. Note in the third photo how cleverly she has hidden the thermostat under that basket, which looks perfect in this arrangement. I want you to know these rooms: the first two are of the den, the third is the living room and the last three shots were taken in "my personal favorite room" in her home. This one is called "the morning room" which is where the early mornings start with coffee, checking emails and reading the morning papers. When looking through the shots below, keep an eye out for all the rabbits in these photographs! She has been collecting and receiving rabbits as gifts for years. And yes, even Fancee (my dog) and I have given her a rabbit or two.
Lois was a kindergarten teacher by profession and would take a little dwarf bunny to class with her. The kids loved the rabbit and the parents started giving her 'rabbit things' as gifts. Hence, the beginning of a collection. In these six photos I've counted thirty rabbits. All so cleverly displayed.
Lois has been a great friend to me over the years. She cared for my sweet Fancee (recently deceased) from the time I got off the plane with her in 2001 until she became too old to play with Lois's new puppy, Henry. Speaking of her dogs, before Henry (Mancini), there were Ella (Fitzgerald) and Carly (Simon). Even with naming her dogs she has such a creative spirit. The creativity just doesn't get limited to any one aspect of her life!
There's so much that I love about Lois, I hope you have the opportunity to meet her, or already know her, and can learn what an "over the top" creative and intriguing person she is. This kind of creativity can't help but spark inspired ideas in others around her.
Thank you for reading my blog... until the next time when there's yet another creative friend to meet. Ciao.
