Ghosts, Miners, and Mandolins

…and the beautiful family homestead that encompasses them all…

From Amber

Last Friday me, Sasha, Graham, Mycie, and a couple other friends headed out to the home of local musician Mariee Sioux and family for a night of homemade pizza, catching up with friends, and snapping gorgeous photographs of their haunted land and of some lovely haunted threads:

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Okay I don't exactly know if the land is haunted, but there is a palpable history to the place. The building in the above photographs, for example, was built by a miner in the 1850s. The mandolin hanging there is symbolic of Mariee's father's love of the instrument. A love that you can actually hear come through on the tracks he contributed to on her album Faces In The Rocks .

There is literally no end to the amazing backgrounds we found to take photographs in front of around their place, and we didn't even get around to all of it! Here are some shots of the new pieces that will be listed in the shop this week:

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These jeans (and the three shirts above) will be listed on Etsy Tuesday or Wednesday (we have had a couple inquiries since posting this blog this morning! I am out of town for the night, but FYI they are XS/S…):

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Mycie had tons of fun out there. There was so much to explore and such a magical feeling permeating the whole place. She spent a good amount of time out there the summer she was just about to turn one when we tended a garden plot in their large hillside garden, but she was much more capable of interacting with her lovely surroundings this time! Here she is with Sasha and Tanner on an old Native American grinding rock (See? I told you there was history to this place!):

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The grinding rock, of course, wasn't nearly as captivating to her as the trampoline:

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Same goes for Sasha :-)

Here they are again. We have devised a number of clever tricks for getting Mycie out of our Etsy shots! Luckily the nearby trampoline was all we needed this time.

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This photo was the day's fave. After dinner we all sat down to review the pictures and this one just struck us as so funny:

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And dude, check out the name brand of these shoes! Yes, Sioux:

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Here is the front of the miner's cabin. This is probably my favorite picture ever of Mycie:

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Beer, high-heeled boots, and lovely dress I will be blogging about someday:

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Some random spots of beauty:

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Miss Mariee herself chose to keep her precious face in the kitchen and out of these photographs, but her mama Felicia (yes, the vein braider thousand year bone burner), who has recently gone through a process of inner and outer transformation, was thrilled to have us take some pictures of her!

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She is such a beautiful woman and taking pictures of her was fun for everyone, especially when she started really showing herself with these poses. We all loved how the lines of her body played against the lines of the trellis behind:

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I just love how Felicia seems like not only Mariee (and Paul)'s mama in these pictures but also like divine mother and tender of this very special piece of land. I mean, if you've ever listened to Mariee's music you can understand how the land she grew up on influenced the sounds she produces.

These haunted hills, with thousands of years of Native American habitation, a short but intense period of gold mining frenzy, and now generations of artistically prolific folks settling in and sending their creations out into the world, continue to touch and inspire us as much as they have all those who went before…

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16 Responses to “Ghosts, Miners, and Mandolins”

  1. verhext

    holy cow, her mama is so lovely!! and young looking!!!
    I see that the 2 things I want, the top dress and the jeans, are not up. :( sold, or not? and find some size 9 gunnes please!! eeeee.
    i really need to get a car before summer and have river adventures.

  2. verhext

    Yes, please reserve the jeans! I think we are close in size but I am chubbier. So we shall see! Thank you!!

  3. pomegranates

    i think this is my favorite post…again, so envious!!! i love everything about this place. so much history, so magical and beautiful. you don’t get those kinds of things here in the suburbs. i have to find little pieces of beauty and magic in small, tiny places. inches of a place instead of the vast amount you have with the earth here. you girls know i am such a huge fan of you all…and mariee too! so lucky and her momma is absolutely radiant. yes, i can see all the inspiration and though i can’t be there, i am not there, some of that can still drift away and be caught by me all the way over here…

  4. Katie from ZombieLace

    Wow, this is a gorgeous post. Beautiful place, beautiful clothes, beautiful ladies, how could it not be? Thank you for sharing your breathtaking surroundings with those of us not lucky enough to experience them in person. Can’t wait to peruse your etsy shop for these dresses!

  5. Heather

    What a beautiful place!! Great Blog. As usual. ;o)
    Smiles
    Heather

  6. Ruth

    omg those high waisted flare jeans r amazing! but some1 else has got there b4 me . . .
    all lovely fotos!

  7. Jessica

    What a lovely post! Mariee’s house & land are amazing, and you all look adorable… You gave me some serious Nevada City/Grass Valley envy. Again. We’ll have to come visit again soon…

  8. Violet Folklore

    The jeans haven’t been listed yet- will be up by Tuesday evening! (I am out of town…)

  9. tamera

    Did you put my jeans up yet? ;D I have 1st dibs!
    Just saw Mariee is playing May 11th in SF – can you guys come down??

  10. _nina_malvada_

    your dresses are so beautiful…

  11. Chris

    I love the pic with the giant shoes & Mycie on the trampoline!

  12. jess

    TOo cute! all you lovely ladies! makes me want to bounce on a trampoline!
    Great pieces too!
    jess s//

  13. Missa

    Is there anything sweeter than being surrounded by beautiful clothes and beautiful land? I don’t think so… except maybe little Mycie in her mismatched socks, SO CUTE!

  14. chloe

    hi! your blog is beautiful, it makes me miss california. i LOVE this post, what a magical place and what magical outfits :). may i borrow pictures of the prairie dress for a laura ingalls wilder post i’m writing? i can’t wait to browse your etsy shop, everything looks so lovely. cheers!

  15. The Past, The Present, and The Future | violet folklore

    [...] Ghosts, Miners, and Mandolins [...]

  16. Backlinks

    Cant get enough of this blog. Your opinion and facts truly let people know what its all about.