Charm of the Carolines

Favorite Things - October 2011

Pumpkins

Painting

Puppies in the rear view mirror

Puppies in Goofy Halloween costumes. No matter how many times we've seen 'em, they always make me smile.

Pigskin

Pages, and pages, and pages, and pages

Especially this one 

(Looking forward to seeing you again, Lisa, at the Maury County Library Thursday evening!)

Panaramic Fall Foliage in the Great Smokey Mountains

Peeping Deer beside the road

Petite Fall blooming crocus in my backyard

 
Painting at Rippavilla with friends en plein air

Pulling out parkas and pashminas, scarves and mittens, preparing for chilly days ahead...

 
Pie Wagons

Pounding the hardwood, Julianne Hough and Footloose

Vintage Planes and Air Shows

Precious 1940s Canisters Sets and cookie cutters

Peddling down a country road on a sunny, Saturday afternoon

Pea green with envy!

Feeling immensely Loved even when no one is around

Fondue Vintage

Last weekend I drove alone to west Tennessee to visit with my aunt and attend a family reunion/cemetary decoration day with a branch of the family I do not know. Geneology Geeks like me actually enjoy these things, as hard as it is to fathom among hipper folks with more interesting lives.

I could post the pictures and everything I learned from the Decoration Day and may still do that, but for now wanted to share a sidebar.

On the way home I took a shortcut from interstate I-40 to my home and went through the town of Centerville, TN. I haven't been there in ages. When I was much, much younger I spent a couple of weeks every summer in Centerville at Camp Meribah, a church camp where all the kids went to do crafts and compete in field events, put on plays, sing camp songs, and have devotional at the "chapel in the woods." But I really didn't know what else Centerville had to offer.

This is one thing I discovered... Fondue Vintage.

Just the word "vintage" makes my heart skip a beat. (It's a common birth defect among Geneology Geeks.) So the name Fondue Vintage caught my attention.

Mark and Nicole Lewis handcraft Fondue Vintage's wares from their home studio in Centerville, Tennessee. After covering a few switch plates in their home with some 1950's wallpaper found at a barn sale, they couldn't believe what an impact such a small detail could make. The couple agreed that everyone with boring, plastic wallplates needed to experience the same rejuvenation to the walls in their homes.

Several years later they now have hundreds of rolls of antique and vintage wallpapers and cover a lot more than just switch plates. Their passion for vintage pattern grows as their collection of papers does, and they love giving new life to mundane household decor by covering it in kitschy pink poodles, glamorous magnolias and atomic starbursts. 

I found several designs I'd love to give a new home to inside my vintage artist's cottage or carriage house studio. Just look...

 

 

 
 
  
 
 
  

 

 
 
 


They are so adorable, so vintage, so creative, so simple, so affordable. Why couldn't I have thought of it???   I love them all!!!

Chestnut Group Art Sale benefits Battle of Franklin Trust

 
This past weekend I participated in the Chestnut Group's art sale to benefit the Battle of Franklin Trust. This organization is responsible for the Carnton Plantation, the Carter House, Lotz House, and the McGavock Cemetary. The owners of Harrison House and Homestead Manor graciously allowed us to paint on their properties, as well.

We sold 55 paintings in 4 days, but as of yet I haven't heard the final tally in dollars. Needless to say, many beautiful paintings have new, loving homes and additional funds are now available to preserve the 19th century history in Franklin, Tennessee.

 

For months now, members of the Chestnut Group have been painting studies from several vantage points all over historic properties of the Battle of Franklin trust.

 

The Carnton Plantation hosted a Patron's Party Thursday evening.

 

The art exhibit and sale was open Friday through Sunday.

Here is a small sample of the beautiful pieces that were for sale...

 
 

Painting above is by Nancy Rhodes Harper. Painting below is by Chris Ousley.
 
 
Painting above and below are by Lisa Wallace.

 

Skipwith Hall

Everyone is invited to join the Maury County Historical Society's July meeting on July 17 to be held at historic Skipwith Hall. This beautiful home was built in 1810 for Revolutionary War hero Nathaniel Green's daughter and her husband, Sir Peyton and Lady Cornelia Greene Skipwith, on 1100 acres of his 25,000 acre land grant.

In the late 1830's Skipwith Hall was acquired by Maj. Gen. Ben F. Harlan who built a successful horse and mule breeding plantation. Harlan employeed Maury County master builder Nathan Vaught to add six pillars and a sweeping veranda to the house, making Skipwith Hall a distinctive monument to the Planter Age in Middle Tennessee.

The home remained in the Harlan family as a Century Farm until this year, when David and Debra Hill purchased it to restore to its former glory. David will tell us about the restoration plans, and we'll get to tour the house (including the "Coffin Room" where the Skipwith's stored their coffins they brought with them from Virginia!).

Skipwith Hall is located at 2366 Williamsport Pike outside of Columbia, TN, and the public is invited to join us at 2pm on Sunday, July 17, 2011, for a chance-of-a-lifetime tour of this private home.

My Favorite Things ~ June

 
Working in the garden and getting really hot, sweaty, and dirty....

 
While the puppies supervise...

 
And painting outside, even if the temps are dangerously close to triple digits...

 
 
Then taking a shower with homemade soap, either olive oil or goat's milk. (And though I would love to learn to make homemade soap, my soap comes from a sweet lady at the local farmer's market.)

 
Using a deep conditioner on my hair, and leaving it in for hours...

 
Slipping into a pair of super soft jammies, even if it's only 5 in the afternoon.

 

 
Splashing on one of my favorite perfumes (yes, it's a vintage fragrance from the 1920s. What else would you expect??)

 
Brewing a cup of camamile tea with lemon and local honey.

 
Picking out an instant download movie from NetFlix... best invention since air conditioning!!!

 
Like the film Young Victoria.... how had I missed this one??

 
Or Lady Jane...

 
 
I love and appreciate hand fans, electric fans, ceiling fans and air conditioners.

Summer started EARLY in middle Tennesee.

 
Vintage lawn furniture is a passion of mine. I love it, yet don't own any.

But I'm always on the lookout at yard sales and flea markets.

I love treasure hunting as much, if not more, than the treasure.

 

Sitting in a porch swing and daydreaming of someplace cooler is a favorite pastime...

 
Like my brother and sister-in-law's recent Alaskan cruise and whale-watching tour. (That's on my bucket list)

 
I love spotting the first lightning bug of the season and watching kids catch them.

 
 
I love fresh, local produce and other products

 
Like Watermelon!!!

 
And saying Goodbye to the cicadas for another 13 years!!!

 
And going to bed because I'm tired from a day well spent, a bed freshly made with clean sheets.

(Painting by Robin Cheers, artist)

 

Ecclesiastes 3:1

"There is a time for everything,
   and a season for every activity under the heavens."