PINTEREST ANYONE?

Ok, so I went to church yesterday and someone said, "I know what you were doing last night at midnight."  Really!?

Come to find out, she really did.

Pinterest.  More fun than sticky notes, and what a way to waste massive hours planning to make something that will be 'oh so cute', and never have time to do it.  Can anyone identify?  Maybe I need to unplug and just get busy crafting a few of the cutesy things I have pinned. 


RETHINKING THE SHACK
Speaking of Pinterest, this past weekend Ginger and I went searching for something old and completely useless to re-purpose.  Off to the old shack we went.  I love that old thing, but it is very quickly deteriorating.  We needed to look in it again for old treasures. 

Hammers in hand, we took off down the driveway with Baker on his little John Deere tractor and Sidney swinging on me.

As you can see, Baker thought he would try to take a piece of the old rotten flooring home to build something out of.  He loves nothing better than working with his Christmas tools, one of his very favorite gifts.  He's going to be a construction worker when he grows up, you know. Thanks for the real tools, Bop.

In spite to her ability to spot a spider web 4 miles away and make sure I wipe every hint of it away, Sidney finally warmed up to the old shack but could only envision it as a photo backdrop.  Not a tool fell into those little dainty hands.  She is such a little priss.

Mommy only had eyes for the windows.  Visions of Pinterest posts were dancing in our heads.  On the way home we spotted an old shelf that all but fell off the wall.  Under the old shelf paper was some great looking old wood.  We could hardly contain our enthusiasm as we cradled our treasures .

Bop couldn't wait to put some legs on the little table top and in just a few minutes she had a table to cart home and figure out whether the old grunge, distressed or painted look would be best for it.  As for the window - oh, the possibilities. 

Below are two of the windows we removed from the other old shack which was on the site we built our house on about 15 years ago.  Back then it was really no big thing to recycle or repurpose old materials.  It makes me almost cry to think of the big bonfire we had when it was destroyed.  About all we thought worth saving was a few windows and a piece of trim from the mantel.  Bugs, bees and birds had been using it for their home for probably 40 plus years.  Huge vultures would fly out of it every time we came near the shack when we were looking at property to buy.  I almost blazed a new trail through the woods the first time they flew out toward us.  

Maybe I will do something crafty with this window.  For now, I kind of like it on top of the china cabinet. 

This one only had 3 panes in it so I painted them with faux lead glass paint and here you have it.  Not great, but I like it leaning against the roasted pepper red living room wall.  

 

Wonderful Easter Weekend

Today we sang about the blood that Jesus shed for each of us, and the wonderful grace that covers this pitiful sinner that I am.  Praise the Lord!  What a wonderful Easter!  I wish I knew I would think on this not only today, but every day for the rest of my life....  Help me to remember, Lord.


Fun With Bop and the Digger!

Wow, did two of our grands have a great time on the digger with Bop this weekend!!!  There was a HUGE old pine tree that had been damaged by lightning many, many years ago and was hollow in the middle.  The more pressing problem was that it was located right smack in Tonya's front yard.  Seeing the problem and the need to use guy tools, Tonya's boyfriend decided to cut it down about two weeks ago. That posed a problem.  What in the world do you do with an old pine tree the size of that one?

Finally, Bop decided that he would dig a gigantic hole and bury said tree.  Because of the size and weight of said tree, the hole would have to be close to the tree and so would have to be in Tonya's back yard.  Because it was Easter weekend Baker and Sidney just had to come to our house and hunt eggs.  When those kids saw the digger sitting there, it almost ended the possibility of an egg hunt.  For the next few hours they "helped" Bop dig a humungus hole and put the tree in it.

Finally it was time to hunt eggs - lots and lots of eggs!  110 eggs in all and 2 kids.  The best part was that every egg was filled with a fun surprise.  They were not sure which was more fun, driving the digger or finding eggs filled with toys, chocolate candy and money.  They had to go home and visit with the other grandparents before Bop made the big bonfire in the hole.  I must say it was a real sight to see, and didn't take very long to burn up.

Mommy helping check each egg for a surprise.



Sidney is hiding her eggs behind her so the tiny little turtle cannot get them.  You can barely see it quickly crawling off the bricks in front of her.  This was her first turtle sighting and she was totally consumed by it. 

GREAT MOVING SALE LAST WEEKEND!

As you are aware I have not been "in the blogging mood lately."  But Saturday gave me a boost - a moving sale in the cold driving rain in a garage.  I was amazed when we drove up and there they were, brave souls with all their trash and treasures lovingly spread out in the nice, dry garage.  The elderly lady told me they were moving near their son and into a much smaller place.  This was the third weekend it had rained and they had two more weeks before they had to be out of this house.  Soooooooo, I found some great treasures at great prices!

The best part was that my hubby was with me and they had free firewood to give to my husband.  Boy was he thrilled.  We got enough to at least finish out this winter.  We almost exclusively use a Buck wood burning stove to heat our whole house.  So, he was more than agreeable to pay for a few treasures that I found. 

Check out the cool old wooden mechanic's creeper I got for just $5.00.  I just loved it when I saw it and think it is perfect under my old white trunk, bringing it up to just the right height for an end table between the couch and chair.  I saw a creeper for sale on Etsy for $60.00.  Happy me!

It has the interesting, weird angled metal wheels.

 A little hard to see, but it just fits perfectly up under the old trunk. 

The other interesting stuff I got -

Johnny pointed out that the pitch fork has a slightly bent tine.  I assure you it only gives it more character along with the rust on the tines, great for turning my compost pile.  The old blue stool is just perfect all dinged and stained up.  The tools should help me when working on my birdhouse projects once I fix the little problem of no battery.  Hopefully not really expensive.

WHERE TO PUT THESE GERMAN THINGS?

My daughter Paige sent some of the most interesting things from Germany which I have been trying to decide what to do with.  The little painting was done on wood in 1936.  The info on the back about the artist is written in German and we have no idea what it says.  I just love the scene - pasture with cows, sheep, mountains, and shepherd.  I also have five of the little German red deer mounted antlers.  Can't quite decide what to do with them, maybe something really unexpected to a couple of them, like paint the antlers and skull a weird color or maybe paint the mounting boards.  I am still pondering the possibilities.  My house is kind-of shabby chic, traditional, uninteresting.  It has nothing totally unusual, unexpected.  Maybe it needs something strange???  I just have great pause when it comes to potentially rendering something unusable when a fad goes out of date. 

 Since I brought home about ten new items this week, I am going to try to find about ten items to throw away or give away.  Happy thrifting, y'all!

THE WINDSOR RUINS

This weekend was our 45th wedding anniversary, and yes I would elope  with this man all over again.  So, we thought it would be fun to go on a road trip to celebrate.  Friday we headed down south toward Port Gibson and Natchez.
 

We drove down the Natchez Trace and visited the Windsor Ruins near Port Gibson.  In 1860 local architect David Shroder was commissioned by wealthy plantation owner Smith Coffee Daniell, II to build the beautiful Windsor mansion.  Even way back then it cost some $140,000 to build.  The house contained 23 rooms and was built in the Greek Revival style.  You could see the Mississippi River from the cupola on top of the house.  Mr. Daniell died one week after the mansion was finished in 1861.  His wife and children continued to live in the house after his death.  It makes me sad even now to tell the story.  I can hardly get my arms around having to tend to such a huge house, 21,000 acres of cotton and care for the eight kids alone, but I have never had so much as a maid, much less a slave.  I think I am the maid.  She must have been some woman.  And there was the war going on right there in her own back yard.  Oh man!!!!

During the Civil War battle of Port Gibson the house was claimed by Union troops for a hospital.  Windsor mansion survived the war only to burn to the ground when someone was smoking carelessly in the house in 1890.  The 23 massive, ornate columns are all that was left.  It is truly a beautiful ruin and even more amazing are the columns which still stand perfectly straight after all this time. 

The columns are solid bricks which were made and fired there at the house site.  I can't even imagine how many slaves it took to make all the bricks in this whole structure.  Looks about like a million bricks in just the remaining columns. 

When Johnny and I found a local bed and breakfast to spend the night in, little did we know that it would have a connection to the Windsor mansion.  It was also built by architect David Shroder and is the only structure besides the Windsor ruins still in existence that he designed and built.  Rosswood Plantation is just beautiful and has a few similarities to Windsor.

ROSSWOOD PLANTATION

The bed and breakfast where we stayed this past Friday stands majestically back off the road among the Spanish moss covered oaks.  It was obvious a lot of history is hidden in that beautiful estate, and we were about to hear the story.  Mrs. Jean and Mr. Walter Hylander are in their twilight years and we could just see the love they have for every inch of the plantation - Rosswood Plantation - located just south of Port Gibson in the countryside near Lorman, Mississippi. 

The same architect that built the Windsor mansion I talked about in my last post built Rosswood Plantation three years earlier.  Rosswood is not nearly as grand in scale as Windsor, but is still a beauty in its own right.  I did not know any of the history of either place, but when we first drove up to Rosswood I made the statement that the columns reminded me a lot of the columns we had just seen at Windsor. 

Mr. Walter, the eighth and current owner of Rosswood, is a retired WWII Army Colonel who has dedicated 37 years of his life to uncovering the history of  this beautiful house.  We heard intriguing tidbits of history and lore about the Civil War years and how the Hylanders rescued the structure from a state of disrepair some 37 years ago and restored it to its former glory.  The original detached kitchen building was destroyed by a cannon ball during the Civil War.   I could almost hear the pop of the rifles and cannon reports as I visualize Widow Wade and her eight children down in the slaves' quarters in the basement of the house wishing husband and father Dr. Walter Ross Wade was there to protect them.  Dr. Wade, the original owner of Rosswood, had just died from cancer leaving Maybella Wade to raise her three children, his three children and their two children, as well as tend the plantation and oversee hundreds of slaves during the war years.  Eventually she freed all her slaves because she thought it was the right thing to do.  Much to her surprise they all refused to leave and stayed with her and continued to work the cotton plantation. 

The stories of these two houses, Windsor and Rosswood, have lots of similarities and real life tragedies.  We complain so much these days about the tough times and horrors of war, but in lots of ways there is just no comparison when you look at the struggles the families had, as well as the non-existence of support services and medical help for those soldiers.  Lots of young widows were left to survive and support families as best they could. 

This rope bed is a replica of what the slaves would have slept on down in the basement.  You can see a concrete floor, but originally the floors were brick laid in dirt.  The wooden pegs you see under the ropes made the bed "springs" tighter and more comfy and the mattress was a pieced feed sack full of hanging moss from the trees, bugs and all.  Thus the saying "Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite."  Makes sense now, huh?

The upper front porch.  I could have swung and enjoyed the view all day.

This is Mr. Hylander down in the old slaves' quarters showing Johnny some of the old artifacts they have found on the grounds over the years - from guns to pieces of the cannon ball that destroyed the kitchen 150 years ago.

This is a picture of the Mount Locust Plantation where the original lady of the house, Dr. Wade's wife, Maybella and her family lived.  Mount Locust Plantation is some 30 miles from Rosswood Plantation and is located on the Natchez Trace not far from the Mississippi River.  Obviously they lived a very different life, but they also were a highly successful plantation.  Mount Locust was the place where Natchez Trace travelers would find overnight accommodations while on the way back up north after selling their goods and crops down the Mississippi River at Natchez or New Orleans. 

Mount Locust Plantation is a cypress house with five moderate sized rooms which housed two parents and nine children.  Eight little boys slept in one bedroom less than 10'x10' in size.  Bedtime in that room must have been like a barrel full of monkeys.  Maybella grew up as the only girl and had a bedroom to herself.  Lucky little girl.  The kicker was that there was no heat in her room.  Every other room had a fireplace.

What a beautiful, fun history lesson for us.

BEAUTIFUL WATERFALL

The register was open and the lady wrote "beautiful waterfall, Who knew in Mississippi.  Well worth the walk!"  ***** from somewhere in England.  Johnny and I also signed the book and drove up the narrow "old trace" to the long abandoned Civil War town of Rocky Springs.  The old church still stands on the bluff, and the mossy head stones attest to history long forgotten.  We discussed the beauty of the deep woods and gently rolling hills and decided to follow the trail marker to Owens Creek to see the beautiful waterfall someone wrote about.  The weather was nippy with a strong, biting breeze.  Our coats were welcomed in the deep shade of the tree canopy.

2.5 miles round trip, right?

The path was deep in winter leaves and almost non-existent in places.  We stomped along at a fast clip, trying to burn those calories and enjoy the search at the same time.  Deeper and deeper into the woods; still following the almost dry creek bed. 

We started to make jokes about the girl from England enjoying her joke about the waterfall - what waterfall?  We had walked for what seemed like hours over stumps, rocks, roots, fallen trees, mud, coming out of the woods at the trace twice and looping back into the woods as we finally found little direction markers.  We giggled but it wasn't so funny now.  We decided we had been snookered.  So reluctantly we turned around.  No waterfall, hungry and tired.  Good grief! 

As we came upon the trace again we walked a mile along it (much easier walking the pavement than the woody path) before veering back into the woods to pick up the path again.  Coats were shed and no notice was given to pretty trees, flowers and birds.  We were in search of our chariot waiting with a picnic lunch in it.  I was sprinting toward the vehicle while visions of ham sandwiches danced in my head.

Sitting in the warm car and munching on sandwiches and cold drinks we giggled and giggled at our gullible spirit - waterfall - really?  The elusive waterfall was never even mentioned in the literature we had picked up at the Natchez Trace info center.  Besides, the most water we saw wouldn't even fill a wash tub.

As we got back on the Trace we soon saw a road marker that said "Owens Creek Waterfalls."  REALLY?

We must have been within spitting distance from the falls when we turned around and walked back.  Five miles and here we could have driven to it.  And there was not one, but two waterfalls right there along the highway.  The washed out shape of the first waterfall makes it echo very loudly and is quite nice.  The second was only about 100 feet up the trail.  Nice surprise, funny adventure, great exercise.
   

AH, EARLY SPRING

Only the beginning of March and spring is bursting out all over.  The birds are just flirting and flitting and chirping all through the trees.  Mrs. Robin sits low on the branch looking for Mr. Right or a new country home.  Maybe I should help her out with the new home.  So I set about making a couple of new single family dwellings.  A great chance to use my newly acquired garage sale power tools.  Hopefully a lady bluebird will find this one worthy of habitation this year.

The pieces of old cedar fence Johnny salvaged last week were perfect.  I liked the chippy grey paint.  The tree limb made a good landing and the circle drilled out for the front door made a nice handle to open the clean out door on the side.  The roof is slats Johnny cut for me from an old piece of firewood.  The wood was pretty and very close grained so it should last a number of years.  It just looked like something that was better than firewood.  The hinge was salvaged from my kitchen cabinets we replaced last year.  I guess this makes it a "green" blue birdhouse. 

Then the idea hit me as I threw away the half gallon milk carton - could that become a birdhouse?  By golly I think it would make a cute one if covered with duct tape.  Zebra print with pink, colored beaded wire to hang it from and a door that can open for cleaning and viewing the babies, yep that sounds like a plan to me.  Here is the little house I hung yesterday afternoon.  I used industrial strength/indoor/outdoor velcro for closing the clean out door.  I hope the duct tape and velcro hold up to the elements.  We shall see.  Since we live in a pine thicket, the pine tree pollen lightly dusts every possible surface this time of year; if only it were gold dust.  The pink on the birdhouse will look really disgusting in just a few days.  I guess the rain will eventually wash the house clean again.   

I like the industrial look of the machine bolt perch.  Johnny's contribution.

The beautiful yellow jasmine winding and swaying from so many of the pines, leaving a blanket of beautiful sunshine yellow petals on the pine straw carpet loudly heralds the coming early spring. 

   
Every day brings us closer to the scorching heat and humidity of garden time.  Each season in Mississippi is a wonderful blessing.