White Wednesday

Aunt Maggie's Room

Previously, I had shown you Aunt Sarah's room. I thought you might like a visit to Aunt Maggie's room.

The view from the door.

Flowers on the mantle

The window from the east

The wash stand.

Sweet flowers say welcome!

The dresser

The bed has a sweet Battenburg lace coverlet and pillow shams.

My grandaughter Chelsie has adopted this room as her own.

She calls it her "apartment".

I did the painting on the walls.

The wooden strips are actually wood.

Years ago, instead of plaster to cover the sheet rock seams they used wood strips.

Since the wood strips were real, I thought I would paint them to look like a garden trellis.

My dad made the pie safe.  I use it to store my garden books.

He also made this piece.  I am so blessed to have things he made to remember him by.

This piece was made years ago for my great aunts.  They used it to display the  handmade quilts, dolls, baskets and tatting that they made. My great aunts were very industrious and hard working.

This is one of the dolls that Aunt Maggie made.  They have hand sewn faces and hair and jointed legs and arms. They wore red, pink, yellow and turquoise checked dresses.  Aunt Maggie never married, never had any children of her own.  She probably made hundreds of these.  I guess they were her babies.

Here is a collection of some of my family pictures.

They picture lying down on the chest was my Aunt Flossie.

She had placed a caption at the top of the picture.  It reads,  "Do you ever get the feeling no one really loves and misses you?"

My great aunts, Flossie, Sarah and Maggie  when they were young.

Here they are when they were older.

From left to right.  Flossie, Sarah, my great grandmother Buena and Aunt Maggie.

Aunt Maggie was the dearest, sweetest, little lady.

My great grandmother was blind when this picture was taken.

My only memory of her is of her touching my face to "see" what I looked like.

This was my grandfather, H. T.  The H stood for Hiram, I not sure what the T stood for, but every body called him "Tot".  He was a very handsome man wasn't he?

The high chair was mine when I was a baby.

My dad also made the little wooden cabinet.

All the rooms have these wonderful shutters on the doors for privacy.

I hope you have enjoyed the tour.  I apologize for the quality of the pictures.  I have a new computer and I have not figured out how to edit my pictures.  Everything I know about computers I have learned from one of my three children.  Guess I need to call one!

See you soon,

Tommye

A Spring birthday!

My daughter Angie celebrated a birthday recently!

In years past we always went out to eat, but we decided that since we have this wonderful old home we should make some new memories here.

When I asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she said buttercups, forsythia, tulips and pansies.

She and her husband have recently bought a new home and it is lacking all the plants that shout spring.

She received numerous bunches of buttercups, two flats of pansies, two flats of tulips, several hyacinths and two forsythia bushes.  Angie is making a birthday bed.  Each year when spring comes she will be reminded of this birthday.

Everybody gets two desserts.  I made Angie a birthday cake that is white cake inside and a chocolate ganache cake.

We had the party on our back porch.  It is a transition area between shop and house.

There is Plexiglas over the screen so that we can enjoy the porch even on cool days.

But as luck would have it, we had a beautiful day.

I used some of the plants I gave her to decorate the tables.  You could smell the daffodils all through the room.  It was wonderful and we had a perfect day!

We had chicken salad on croissants, potato soup, pasta salad, fruit salad, an assortment of sandwiches for those who didn't like chicken salad and a wonderful strawberry fruit drink.

My grandson Scottie and my granddaughter Chelsie are getting ready to dig in!

It was a wonderful party!!!!!

Strawberry fruit drink

7 cups white grape juice

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup of strawberry puree

4 cups sliced strawberries

Combine first three ingredients and chill.  Add fresh sliced strawberries one hour or so before serving.

There was a little white grape juice left from the half gallon that I had purchased. 

I made ice cubes from grape juice and additional strawberry puree.  I placed a strawberry half in each section.  I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of this.  It really made the drink.  So very pretty!

It's always fun to celebrate!  Happy birthday "Ruby Jean"!!!

(Her name is Angie Marisa, but for some reason I have nicknamed her Ruby Jean.  Why?  You got me.)

See you soon,

Tommye

Take time for family.  They are really what life is all about!

Sweet, Sweet Spring!

More new wreaths and arrangements.

Here is a sweet wreath made with white dogwood and a handmade pillow by my mom.  She makes her pillows entirely by hand.  Mom can never be still for long.  She always wants to be doing something.  She first started making these a few years ago when dad was in the hospital.  Now she does them at night when she's resting or during bad weather.

Peach poppies and blue lilacs in a grey planter resting on a precious green child's chair.

Pink tulips and blue larkspur with white lily of the valley.

Blue  pansies in white milk glass.

A sweet small wreath with forsythia and a birds nest.

Pink and white tulips in a basket.

One of two chocolate bunnies that I "HAD".  There is now only one.  It's twin met it's accidental death at the hands of my husband.



Oh well, it is what it is.

Husbands, what would we do without them?

I know my life would surely be dull!

Well, I've got to get back outside.  This is our last day in the 70's for a while.

See you soon,

Tommye

"Nothing is so beautiful as Spring." - Gerard Manley Hopkins

I know, I  have been absent far too long!

I've been busy working on new Spring items for the shop.

Just trying to "fluff" the place up and make it look like Spring.

What's more spring-like than apple blossoms, dogwood blossoms and roses I ask you?

I've also been very busy outside trying to rid the yard of last year's "faded glory".

I promise to post more regularly.

Really, I promise.

See you soon,

Tommye

White Wednesday

Winter in the mountains

Here are some shots from our front door.

Our neighbor the potter lives just beyond the trees.

We have 7 to 8 inches of snow, with drifts even higher.

The woods next door.

A view of our house from a distance.

There are three steps leading up to the porch.

Our holly, a flower bed, and a chestnut tree.

Yes, I do still have Christmas up.

Our home from the road.

My very own snowman.

The love of my life.  (He didn't know I was taking this.)

Our front yard.

Our back yard and the woods beyond.

Wish you were here.

Check back tomorrow for some really great shots of our neighborhood.

Talk to you soon,

Tommye

White Wednesdays

Aunt Sarah's Bedroom

During the 1940's and 1950's our house was known as Argo's Guest Home.

My three great-aunts and my great grand monther lived in the back of he house that was servants quarters many years ago. They rented the front of the house as a boarding home.  There were five bedrooms then.  You could come and spend the night, the day, the week or the month.

When my three great-aunts no longer ran the guest home, they moved into the front part of the house. 
Each sister claimed a room as their own.  This room was Aunt Sarah's.

Aunt Sarah's room seems to be everyone's favorite room.  My daughter Angie dressed for her wedding here.

My mom likes to sleep here when she comes to spend the night.  My granddaughter Chelsie claims it as hers when she is here.

But right now it's Marilyn's room.  Marilyn is our beautiful 11 year old cat.

I can hardly remember a time without her.  Christmas is her favorite time of year.  She loves the Christmas lights.

 But Marilyn is very sick right now.  Marilyn has feline leukemia.  They tell me it is not curable.

They tell me that the leukemia usually does not take a cat, but a secondary infection that they can just not fight.  We are doing everything we can for her.  The doctor tells us that if she can just whip this infection we might be able to keep her sheltered and protected and she might make it two or three more years.  If you don't feel it's wrong to pray for an animal, please pray for Marilyn.  If you cannot pray for her, then  please pray for me that  I can have the courage to let her go if and when that time might come.

Hopefully, Marilyn and I will talk to you soon.

Tommye

Post Script:  One month later I am happy to report that Marilyn is doing great.  She seems like her old self again.  Her temp is gone, she has gained one and one half pounds and the vision that we thought was gone in her right eye is remarkably in tact.  Of course we know there is no cure for leukemia,  but she and I are looking forward to more days to come.  For now, she is well.

Thank you for any kind thoughts that came our way.

She is my Christmas miracle.

Talk to you soon,

Tommye

Dining on the Mountain

I wanted to show you a little of my dining room.

I still have quite a bit left that I would like to do.

The large flower arrangements are from my daughter's wedding.  I hope to add some red berries or flowers. 

I am using my snowman dishes that I have had for several years.  I actually found them at Dollar General. 

Don't you think they look great on these red chargers?

A little red ribbon goes a long way.

Embroiderd organza table cloths (from  my daughter's wedding).

  This is the mirror in one corner of the dining room.

I decorated it with pine garland and red grosgrain ribbon.

Tapers dipped in melted parafin and cinnamon with a vintage rocking horse music box.

The man in the center is my great-grandfather Elijah Sparkman.

The other four are his brothers.

Actually, one of the brothers is hidden by the tree.

They would be my great-uncles.

It is wonderful to be surrounded by history and heritage.

I hope you have enjoyed some of the dining room.

Talk to you soon!

Tommye