The Emerald Woods

05/27/2026

05/21/2026

The goal is to have new campsites open by Memorial Day weekend! More rock was added to the back area fire pit and to get a feeling for the scale of this fire pit. It measures 6 x 6 feet across. The diameter of the giant oak tree is probably about 40 inches at the base. The new boulder/stone seating is beautiful and most of those stones are big enough to accommodate two people per stone.

05/09/2026

The babies are here and eating and drinking like teenagers💕

05/01/2026

It is the perfect most beautiful temperate day for a wedding. We’ll post other pictures later once the bride reviews them💕

04/29/2026

I decided that we cannot be without birds here at the Emerald Woods. I just ordered several little girls — four chocolate Indian runner ducklings and three French Toulouse goslings💕. Stay tuned for pictures of the babies when they arrive and pictures as they grow and they will grow quickly!

www.theemeraldwoods.com

04/29/2026

Looking forward to the wedding ceremony here, Friday. We are busy preparing the gardens and cleaning and need to shop for the sparkling wine and bread and fruit and cheese💕. What a relief that we got rain and everything is so much more green!

02/25/2026

When we get back from Mexico, these bags will be going up in my shop. . .

01/27/2026

In San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. . .

Dog and cat collars made by the Tzotziles women who live in the mountains of Chiapas, Mexico:

This isn’t everything I have and I still have another giant bundle to unpack, and I’ll post those tomorrow and start working out prices for anyone who is interest

01/27/2026

We walked over 10,000 steps on cobblestones and going uphill and downhill today and I am crippled 😩. Tomorrow is a take it easy day for me and Wednesday, Alex is going on a cave exploring tour that was only $15. We do have our accommodations now through March 11 so that’s a weight off my shoulders. It is so much nicer here than Playa Del Carmen. Playa is kind of a tourist saturated money grab place filled with people going to the beach and getting drunk and spending everywhere. There are tourists here for sure, but it feels like people are here more to explore the culture. You can see lots of women that are probably of Mayan descent carrying their babies in beautiful woven blankets. Chiapas is the poorest state in Mexico but has so much natural beauty. I don’t know why it is the poorest, but I hope to find out.  It is so much more affordable than Playa. I don’t know how long we’ll be down here, but I’m sort of letting go of the idea that it has to be for any particular amount of time. I did find a place for us to stay and it isn’t nearly as nice as my home in North Carolina, but it has a pretty terrace on the upper floor and it is walking distance to the Historic District. I’m going to fly home and pick up tango🐩💕. One side trip I want to do when I get tango here is to visit a couple markets in Guatemala. The flight is super cheap and there is a market there that is considered the biggest in Central America. I really want to see all of the beautiful weavings that the indigenous women make. If you can see any of the prices in the video they’re in pesos and 100 pesos equals about $5.75. So 1000 pesos is $57. 2000 pesos is about 114.

01/24/2026

I don’t think I posted these yet which is pretty shocking, but I guess I was getting ready to move out of the country, but my friend, Meghan Thomson, is the most amazing photographer. I have never had anyone take such beautiful pictures of my home. I’ve had Meghan take pictures of my home and items that I brought back from Bali. She is amazing.💕😊