Rocky Hill School House and more

Cheryl and I have been busy getting ready for art lessons the next 10 days, so not much posting going on for me. I will get back, promise.

Cheryl's paintings can now be seen and puurchased at the gift shop in the Rocky Hill school complex, 5 miles east of Fredericksburg on Hwy 290.  The shop is called the Rocky Hill Collection.

This is a beautiful new venue owned by Fredericksburg Mayor Jeryl Hoover. Rebecca Rather is opening a restaurant or tea room there, called the Pink Pig.  It is really going to be special!  Those of us who enjoyed Rather Sweet in Fredericksburg will want to taste the foods in Rebecca' new place.  There are 6 outstanding B and B's there as well.    

Something different,  a friend showed me the way she and her daughter are lighting some of their garden paths. Buy an old metal chandelier that has little upturned glass shades or cups on the arms. In each of these little bowls place a solar garden light. Hang the chandelier high up in a pretty spot where light is wanted. This requires some sunlight each day on the piece to charge the lights. It can be really pretty!   Edyth

Our New little Kitchen

I am very happy with this room!
A Galley kitchen is our favorite kind, with everything right within reach.  Unseen are great pullout shelves in the lower cabinets.   At the far end of the kitchen is the breakfast area, with a little atrium outside which holds mostly kitchen herbs right now. The rusty red cupboard in the breakfast area was once part of the red cape that was lost. How fortunate I feel to still have this piece. A lot of our early fireplace iron is used in this room purely for decor.  My chalk deer rug hangs over Jack's black settle.
Jack has made a hanging shelf to go over the sink, it holds redware pottery which is very nice with the grey green paint. I have his pattern for the shelf ends and will try to make a downloadable pdf for those who want to make one like it.

 

 

The ship weathervane showing through from the living room ledge is a nice touch Jack thought up.
The Langhorne Tavern sign rug is in honor of one in my family history.  I know the name was Langhorne's Tavern, and belonged to Maurice Langhorne in Virginia during the 18th century. I have no idea what the real taven sign may have looked like.  The Langhorne family home from that time is still standing and lived in, I received a cd of photos taken in and ourside of the house, wonderful!   A nice gift from an internet genealogist friend.   The colors in the new kitchen are all in the rug. The rug was hooked years and years ago, but my color choices seem stay the same.
 This kitchen really knows how to cook, if only I could remember how to do my part!

Friends in high places!

I have pared down a lot of Christmas decor, even sold some of the feather trees, This nice one has been sitting out in my bedroom all the hot summer long feeling very much out of it's element.  We finally got around to storing it tonight, Jack contrived a place to hang it from a ceiling in my closet that is over 10 feet high at that point. By means of two suspended hooks, it can safely stay there till wanted again. 
Antique Feather trees were mostly intended to fold up for storage when they were new a hundred years back. (And they were still made into the 1950's don't forget) . But time and age make that a poor option now.  Nor can they be stored in areas like our attic where extremes of temperature could cause the wire to rust and the feathers to drop away.  

Jack laughed when I took his picture up on the ladder, but I told him lots of people have problems like this and wil be glad to see what we have done with it. It is an entirely different solution from the one we used in our last house, where we hung the tree and two more beside it straight down from their bases attached to the closet ceiling.  Write us in comments if you have an interesting way to store yours!  edyth

Selling some things to fit into our smaller new home.

If you have not looked at the O'Neill's Antiques blog lately, click on it when you have a minute to see newer items offered there. Just click on the little banner that says O"Neill's Antiques at the top of  the Right hand column.   Thank you, Edyth

Our Stoneridge home is for sale now.

Jack listed it in the local paper today, and I have made a simple blog for it at  http://lightstonehome.blogspot.com/   I will add a lot more photos over time as I find more and take more.  I will miss the yard.   This is mealy blue sage last summer. 

We will see if we can sell it without a broker for a little while. We have several broker friends we like and can work with if that is needed.  Right now we are still cleaning and freshening it.  Wish us luck!  Edyth