Grandma's Silver

In this episode of Grandma's Silver, Allie Kochinsky sits down with Peggy Cornett, longtime Curator of Plants at Monticello, former director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants, and author of Thomas Jefferson's Flowers, to explore gardens as living records of history.

Together, they discuss how historic landscapes preserve stories of daily life, seasonal rhythms, beauty, labor, and cultural exchange. Drawing on more than four decades of preserving Thomas Jefferson's botanical legacy, Peggy shares what the flowers cultivated at Monticello reveal about Jefferson's botanical interests, his international network of plant exchanges, and the many people, including enslaved gardeners and laborers, whose knowledge and work shaped the landscape.

The detective work behind restoring historic gardens is also explored, along with how historians reconstruct landscapes from letters, archaeological evidence, and plant records, and why heirloom plants can serve as a form of living inheritance.

In this episode, they discuss:
The inspiration behind Thomas Jefferson's Flowers
How gardens function as living historical documents
Jefferson's passion for flowers and botanical exchange
The people whose labor sustained Monticello's gardens
Restoring historic landscapes
Heirloom plants
Seasonal rhythms in early America
What gardens reveal about identity and place
RESOURCES
Visit Monticello's website here.
Purchase the book on Monticello's site, or on Amazon.

If you enjoy Grandma’s Silver, follow the podcast and share this episode with a friend who loves heritage, design, and timeless living.

This week, Allie Kochinsky virtually travels to Summerville, South Carolina, a historic Lowcountry town that proudly calls itself the "Birthplace of Sweet Tea." At the center of the conversation is the town's Sweet Tea Trail, a self-guided experience connecting local businesses, history, food, and community through one of the South's most iconic traditions.

But this episode isn't simply about a beverage; it's about hospitality as identity. About preserving small-town character in a changing South. About tourism rooted in storytelling rather than spectacle. And about why certain traditions, even simple ones, continue to hold emotional power.

Allie, joined by Cassie Ford, Director of Tourism, explores the history of Summerville, the cultural mythology surrounding sweet tea, and what local traditions reveal about the places we call home.

RESOURCES: 
Take a visit to the Summerville website here.
Follow along on Facebook and/or Instagram.
Learn more about the Sweet Tea Trail!

If you enjoy Grandma’s Silver, follow the podcast and share this episode with a friend who loves heritage, design, and timeless living.

In this episode of Grandma's Silver, Allie Kochinsky is joined by Jessica Chaney, founder of Lycette Designs, for a conversation on needlepoint as more than just a pastime, but a practice rooted in patience, memory, and home.

Together, they explore why this traditional craft is finding new relevance today, and what it offers in a culture that often prioritizes speed and convenience. From heirloom pillows to hand-stitched canvases, needlepoint occupies a unique space, both decorative and personal, shaped as much by the process as the finished piece.

Jessica discusses the quiet discipline of making something by hand, how these objects evolve over time, and why they so often become part of a home's story. 

RESOURCES
Shop Lycette Designs online.
Plan a trip to the store(s).
Follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and/or Pinterest.

If you enjoy Grandma’s Silver, follow the podcast and share this episode with a friend who loves heritage, design, and timeless living.

In this episode of Grandma's Silver, Allie Kochinsky sits down with lifestyle creator and new author Chassity Evans to discuss her debut novel Pink Sand Summer, and the relationship between place, memory, creativity, and storytelling.

Known for her thoughtfully curated lifestyle content and love of coastal living, Chassity has spent years creating visual narratives inspired by the places she loves. With Pink Sand Summer, she takes that storytelling a step further, transforming the atmosphere and emotional pull of Harbour Island into a work of fiction.

Together, the women explore how places shapes narrative, why summer stories continue to resonate with readers, and how nostalgia functions as both a feeling and a creative tool. Chassity also shares what surprised her most about writing a novel, the challenges of moving from visual storytelling to long-form fiction, and the role memory plays in building characters and emotional depth.

In this episode, they discuss:
The journey from creator to novelist
The inspiration behind the book
Harbour Island as a creative influence
Place, memory, and storytelling
Why readers are drawn to summer fiction
Building characters through emotional detail
The emotional power of coastal settings
For readers who love summer novels, coastal fiction, place-based storytelling, and romance, this episode offers a thoughtful look at how the places we love become part of the stories we tell.

RESOURCES:
Follow Chassity on Instagram here.
Buy the book on Amazon!

If you enjoy Grandma’s Silver, follow the podcast and share this episode with a friend who loves heritage, design, and timeless living.

In this episode, Allie Kochinsky is joined by Brittany Shepard, founder of The Sentimental Decorator and co-host of The Sentimental Twist, for a conversation on what she calls storykeeping, the practice of weaving memory, meaning, and personal history into the everyday rhythms of home.

Together, the two explore the quiet power of ordinary rituals: setting the table without occasion, using heirlooms instead of saving them, and gathering in ways that feel lived-in rather than performed. Brittany shares how her perspective on home was shaped by the women who raised her, and how continuing their traditions through objects and simple acts of hospitality has become a way of carrying their presence forward.

Brittany and Allie also talk about the difference between hosting and hospitality, the emotional weight objects can hold, and why repetition rather than reinvention is often what creates a true sense of home. 

RESOURCES:
Visit The Sentimental Decorator website here.
Follow Brittany on Instagram. 
Follow Brittany's podcast!

If you enjoy Grandma’s Silver, follow the podcast and share this episode with a friend who loves heritage, design, and timeless living.