A VIRTUAL TOUR
Sunday night, as Linda and I were having our drinkiepoo, we started talking about topics I could use for my blog. I usually like to highlight an activity that we had, but this week had been pretty inactive for me. So Linda made the suggestion that I take pictures around the house and kind of give a virtual tour. I thought this was an excellent idea, so here we go.
I will start with the living room and work my way around from there. The first picture below shows a teapot and some teacups and saucers on a shelf that is above our front porch window. These are special to us because the teapot in the middle belonged to Linda's mother. She brought it back from one of her visits to her homeland, England. I just love this little teapot that is shaped like a cottage. The outer four teacups belonged to Linda's mom as well, and the two teacups right beside the teapot are ones that Linda and I bought when we were in Lumberton. Sadly, I did not save any teacups that belonged to my mother, but it's good that we have some that belonged to Linda's mom.
The other window in our living room also has a shelf above it. This one is very special because it has all of the items that pertain to the British Royal Family. Some of these items are quite old, and several of them belonged to Linda's mother. Linda found a lot of these items at thrift stores and antique shops both here in the US and in England. It is nice to have both of these shelves in our living room so we can look at our treasures whenever we want.
Our fireplace has a pretty picture above the mantel, one that we got at an antique mall in Lumberton. It is a print of a painting by Paul DeLongpre, a French painter who lived from 1855-1911. He painted the original of this particular print in 1905. In case you are wondering, the handsome couple in the lower left-hand corner is my mother and father.
Moving on to a different wall in our living room, we have another print that we picked up at an antique mall in Raleigh, NC. This one is an older print because you can tell the colors have faded a bit. The title of this work is
Black Billed Cuckoo by John James Audubon.
In another room, our den, we have a second Audubon print. This one was given to us by Emily on Mother's Day a few years ago. This print is new, and you can probably tell that it is more colorful than the old print above. The title of this print is
Painted Bunting.
Now we go from art that is made by professional artists to art that is homemade. One of our most treasured items that we have on display is this quilt swatch made by Linda's grandmother. It hangs in one of the bedrooms. Linda had it framed along with a picture of her grandparents in the bottom corner.
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| Made by Deller Ballard |
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Linda's grandparents (left)
and her grandma's signature |
My mother wasn't the most artistic person in the world, but she did try a few times in her life to bring out her creative side. One of my most cherished items is this paint-by-number painting that she did when I was little. I don't know the exact date, but it had to be sometime in the mid to late 1950's. I believe paint-by-number kits were big during that time. Even back then, she was a lover of birds. She did some other paintings but this is the only one I have, and I am so pleased that it has survived over the years, still in its original frame.
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| Painted by Mary Ivey, 1950's |
Later on, my mother tried her hand at ceramics. I remember her going to classes back when I was in high school. Although it certainly can't be considered "fine art," I do remember that she loved taking those classes and I am so happy that I have a few things that she made. This one, pictured below, is a powder box and was made in 1969.
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| Made by Mary Ivey, 1969 |
I only have one of these bookends, but it is cute and colorful and I do use it on my bookcase. It was made in 1970.
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| Made by Mary Ivey, 1970 |
It's a good idea to save everyday things from your loved ones. You can't imagine now how many memories everyday things will evoke once your loved one is gone. When that happens, any reminder of them will be a comfort. None of these items would bring much money if they were valued on
Antiques Roadshow, but the value in memories is priceless.
ANOTHER SNOW DAY
It snowed again last night! Still only an inch or two, but we will take it. It does make for some beautiful pictures, and it is already melting so it won't be a huge mess. I am hoping that this trend continues until Christmas day, at the very least.
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| The birds have been giving the feeders a fit! |
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| A snowy dried-up rose |
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| Snow on the Birds Nest Spruce bush |
PARTING SHOT
I asked Summer Girl this morning if she wanted to go outside and play in the snow. Here was her response.
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| Asleep on the quilt that Linda's grandma made |
That's all for this week, my friends. There may or may not be a blog next week, I haven't decided yet. I do have quite a bit of baking and cooking lined up for the days prior to our company arriving on Monday, Dec. 23rd. We will see how things progress. Enjoy the holidays!
