"Haunted House" Wanna Be

You all know how me and my house are Victorian Wanna Be's, right? Well, this time of year we are Victorian "Haunted House" Wanna Be's! Just in looks, by the decorations, not really wanting to be haunted and all, like from spirits and such. Just kind of cutesy haunted I suppose. So which way shall we go first?

Shall we visit the graveyard first? It is rather small so it won't take too awful long to pay our respects.

Okay, now that we have done that, let's head back in the direction of the Haunted House.

The Jack-O-Lanterns are so thrilled to see you, they have been waiting all day for a visitor. So please make your way inside. Lucky for you that you arrived before nightfall, the place is quite a fright late at night!

Floating around  in the foyer, waiting to meet you, are a couple of family ghosts. The Skeleton Maid is seated and will receive you now, and your calling card.

But please don't place your card in the holder...

hand it to her, she would like to inspect it first to make sure you are not one of them. After inspecting it she will tell the lady of the house that you have come calling.

But before you go into the parlor, she wants to show you something that makes her smile. Her very existence came to be from these little maid and butler tassels. The tassels were purchased at Michael's and a good friend of mine made the clothing to fit her 
(the large skeleton). I do not hang the tassels together though, I hang one on each side of the doorway portiere.

The lady of the house accepts your call and says to please join her in the parlor. She does not get around well so you will need to show yourself around the place. But please don't be frightened of her she is just in mourning over the loss of her beloved husbands. They are the 3 buried in the graveyard out front and you DON'T want to know what happened to them!

She wants you to notice the mantle that her Skeleton Maid has decorated for your viewing pleasure. I know spider webs would make it look a little bit more spooky but Skeleton Maid is kind of a neat freak.

She and the Skeleton Maid are very fond, and very protective, of the kids living here and want you to admire them (and the decorations) up close.

In fact they are so fond of the kids that they try and parent them. They don't seem to realize that I am the mother around here. Oh well, they have allowed us to stay here so I just go along with it. I don't want to make them too mad!

Mr. Ghost wants to know if you would accompany him to the Masquerade Ball later this evening. If so, you may borrow this lovely hand held mask.
No, you say, you have other plans? I can't imagine what you would have going on that would be more exciting then a date with a ghost!

Before leaving the parlor, the Skeleton Maid wants to show you  two of her favorite Hallowe'en postcards.

The candles are lit but the Skeleton Maid regrets not having dinner ready for you, she simply ran out of time.(because she was trying to mother my kids!) BUT...if you would stay longer, she may be able to have something prepared a little after nightfall.

No, you have to go now?! Really? Awww. Well if you must. 

The maid will bid you farewell now and see you out.

But not until Mrs.Ghost tries to bribe you to stay. She says if you stay she will give you her beautiful spider web necklace. It was a family heirloom and very special.

So won't you please stay? Nightfall is descending upon us quickly and it's about to get a little weird around here!

Back out front the Jack-o-Lanterns are all a-glow, the crow has left, (he doesn't much like what happens around here after nightfall)

and this "haunted house" is waiting for its next visitor. 

Or shall I say "victim"?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Antique Oil Painting

Okay blogger friends, I need your advice on something here! I went to an auction this weekend and bought this oil painting.

I like the details in the painting that help tell the story. It's a country setting, and I think this because of the lady's clothing, the path winding back to the little cottage and the hen/ducklings. Most likely the older looking lady is this little gal's Grandma and they have been paying close attention to the hen that Grandma has, at one time, put duck eggs in her nest to be cared for. Well it worked because they have taken the baby ducklings in a straw filled basket to the water hole with Mother Hen watching very closely as her babies are introduced to the water. Isn't that sweet? 
And look at the little girl, she is standing barefoot on her Grandma's skirt and is hanging on to the ruffle on her shirt. I think she is from the city and doesn't want to get dirty and isn't so sure about those new ducklings or that mother hen. How cute is that?
The below picture has a glare on it but you can see the hen, basket and ducklings better. Isn't it wonderful?

BUT it has this light attached to it. The painting looks good with light on it because without it, it looks a little dark. So I am trying to decide...do I remove the light or leave it attached? I do not like the look of the white cord going down the wall to the outlet. 

Then I wondered if the painting was actually even old because of the light and the newer looking paper backing so I took the backing off and... yes! It it old! It is painted on canvas and it has had some restoration done to it. I don't care for the newer frame either but for $12.50, who cares right?!

I hung it here in my bedroom. Looking at the picture below you can see the look of it with the light and cord. 

So what do you think, leave the light or take it off?

And if you have any info or thoughts on the age or value of this piece I would love to hear it. Thanks for visiting and have a great week!

Clarksville Applefest and House Tour

This weekend my friends and I took a trip to Clarksville, Missouri for their annual Applefest. It was a perfect Fall weekend for a scenic drive, the trees were just radiant!
Clarksville is a quaint little town right along the Mississippi River, population 443. To see and learn more about this wonderful little town please visit their website here.

You all know how I love old historic homes. So here are a few that caught my eye.
This one caught my eye because of the great porch and pretty Fall decorations.

I like the color combination on this house.

The size of this one.

Loved the windows and the porch on this one. It kind of sits up on a hill too.

This one caught my eye because of the porch, the turret with its second story walk out balcony, the picket fence and the arbor.

This one is not historic, but it caught my eye because it's PURPLE! And look at the purple trees!

And this one caught my eye because it had a sign in the yard that said "HOUSE TOUR TODAY"!

AND because a very special person lives in this house! Many of you already know him but let me introduce you to the King of Victoriana...Richard Cottrell!!

This photo of us is taken inside his wonderful Antique Mall. Lots of pretty antiques in there. But let me tell you, if you want to see some drop dead gorgeous antiques then follow me because we are going to go inside of Richard's beautifully decorated historic home.

(My friend's daughter is the lovely young lady posing in front of Richard's home)

And THIS is the inside...

I LOVE IT ALL!

Those are just a few photos of his beautiful home. If you are interested in seeing more please visit his blog at http://myoldhistorichouse.blogspot.com
We had a wonderful visit to Clarksville's Applefest, but amidst the excitement of the Antique shops and Richard's house we totally forgot to visit the Apple Shed to get some apple treats! Can you believe that?!
Oh well...maybe next time. 
Thank you so much for your visit and have a great week!

Autumn is a time to...

be in awe of God's glorious creation...
(This tree is right across the street from my house. Isn't it gorgeous!)

a time to take a trip to the pumpkin patch...
(source)

a time to gather autumn leaves for preserving... 
(Preserving leaves was a favorite Victorian pastime. Photo from Victorian Family Celebrations by Sarah Ban Breathnach.)

a time to harvest the crops in the light of the harvest moon...
(photo from en.wikipedia.org)

a time to send an Autumn greeting or two...
(a few postcards from my collection)

a time to hitch up the wagon for a hayride... 
but add those sideboards!
(photo from dailyencouragement.wordpress.com)

a time to be married...
This is me 18 years ago this month. It was a perfect Fall day for a wedding.

And a time to have tea with the scarecrow!

Can you believe it? I finally staged a blog scene off the front porch! For this one, I moved around to the backyard, I wanted it to look a tad bit rustic. The quilt was made long ago by my grandmother and I believe it is called a bear claw quilt. If you know differently please let me know. The caned bottom chair is one of my dining room chairs.

Mr. Scarecrow said he would love to join me for tea but that he would prefer to stand. We did engage in some good conversation but nothing to crow about. We sipped on green tea in my Johnson Bros. "Staffordshire Bouquet" teacups while enjoying some tasty maple leaf cookies, candy corn and Craisins. The crows tried to fight us for those Craisins so we ended up giving in and letting them have them.

Have you ever wondered why a scarecrow is called a scarecrow? Do they REALLY keep the crows away?  By the look of things, I don't believe they do.

In Victorian days, it was considered customary that if a traveling man came across a handsomely dressed scarecrow, he could feel free to exchange his own worn garments for the scarecrow's finery, which is how scarecrows always came to be seen wearing ragged hand-me-down clothing.
I like the traditional looking scarecrow clothing on the little guy below. It kind of reminds me of the scarecrow on the Wizard of Oz. 

Thank you for joining me for my Autumn post and I do hope you will go out this weekend and make some Autumn memories for yourself, something worth "crowing" about. Have fun!