Saturday, March 28, 2015

Easter Collections and Vignettes

Hello everyone, one more week until Easter! If you have been following my blog for long, you know that I have a thing for eggs, so Easter is the perfect time to show them off along with some other antique and collectible pieces for some fun vignettes.

Below I have used some of my antique blown glass eggs along with some crystal, silver, cranberry glass and lace.


I bought the pink hyacinth some time ago in the bulb vase so I could watch it bloom 


and have that wonderful fragrant smell lingering in the dining room and through out the halls.


Their beauty inspired me to get out this postcard and make this pretty vignette.


In the parlor I had fun creating some themed vignettes on the pier table using a glass cake stand.


The eggs on the tree are paper mache and some are real eggs that were blown out and painted.


I went with purples and yellow for this vignette to match the antique chocolate pot, which you have seen before, but I wanted to show you my new cup and saucer that I recently bought at an auction. I thought it was so cute and when I got it home I saw that it went with the pot! I don't know if you can see it real clear or not but the little purple and yellow flowers match perfectly!
Also, I wanted to point out the embossed chick on the smaller blown glass egg, isn't it sweet?


Also, at the same auction I bought this cutie pie orphaned demi cup.


It was all alone in this world until this sweet little chick came along to keep it company.


The cup inspired me to create this vignette using blues and daisies.



To lead you up to my next themed vignette I'll throw in some antique ephemera of the brown bunny,


and the white bunny


and another little vignette on the cake stand inspired by the white bunny and daffodils on the postcard.


I took away mama bunny and her baby and added a daffodil from the garden


and added a postcard of baby chicks and a basket of brightly colored marble eggs to match the eggs on the postcard.


And here it is as one vignette.


Eggs, bunnies, daffodils, colored eggs, chicks AND MORE CHICKS. A chick Easter greeting, a tealight candle holder and a chick in the egg riding in a sleigh all on a pretty embroidered yellow linen towel


and more pretty vintage linens and hankies to match the marble eggs.


And eggs with wonderful miniature scenes. Some signs of new life.


And the surest sign of new life. Jesus, the Lamb of God. 
Have a blessed Easter!


FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONE AND ONLY SON, THAT WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM SHALL NOT PARISH BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.
                                                                                                                                       John 3:16





I am joining the following parties for this post...
AMAZE ME MONDAY with Cindy
TUESDAY CUPPA TEA with Ruth
A RETURN TO LOVELINESS with Kathy
TEATIME TUESDAY with Sandi
TUESDAYS AT OUR HOME with Maria Elena
INSPIRE ME TUESDAY with Marty
LET'S TALK VINTAGE with Jillian
VINTAGE INSPIRATION with Betsy and gals
WHAT'S IT WEDNESDAY with Paula
SHARE YOUR CUP THURSDAY with Jann
HOME AND GARDEN THURSDAY with Kathy
HOME SWEET HOME with Sherry
SHOW AND TELL FRIDAY with Cindy


Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Blogger Friends Luncheon and Day Out

Hello everyone! Today my blogger friend, Janice from Curtains in My Tree, and I took a trip to Clarksville to visit another blogger friend, Richard from My Old Historic Home.


He planned and prepared a wonderful lunch for us which consisted of quiche, salad, strawberries and cinnamon rolls, and boy was it good! I did not get photos of the table to show you but Richard did, so please check his blog to see that. Below is his beautiful parlor where he sat up our little table for three, you can see part of it in the lower right hand corner of the below photo.


After a wonderful lunch we decided to try to take some selfies. Do you know how hard it is to take a selfie with a camera?! Oh my! This is the only one that turned out on my camera.


After the selfie taking attempt we went about the house admiring Richard's gorgeous furnishings and collections and had fun taking more photos!
This is the room you walk into upon entering his home, GORGEOUS!!


A view of the other side of the room. Can you tell I have a thing for etegeres?! And just look at all of those lovelies on the parlor table!


And here we are, Janice and I.


Of course, we must not forget Buddy, who couldn't keep his thoughts off of the sausage quiche!


And then we moved on to the dining room... 


where we caught Janice touching the silver! :)


After Richard pried the silver out of her hand we headed into the kitchen...


where the Staffordshire Spaniels stood on guard...


but it was the chicken and rooster that guarded Richard himself. :)


We then headed up the stairs, even though the picture is taken going down the stairs...


where we hung out in the Library for a while. Janice had fun looking at all of the home decorator books...


as I went around drooling over the bird domes!


And the dollhouse!


A few shots of Richard's bedroom...


and his latest project, adding shelves to this space for his beautiful bowls. Doesn't it look wonderful?


Richard has so many bowls and plates and such that he even dispays them in his bathroom...


Isn't it beautiful? He even has a pink chandelier hanging in there!


From there we moved on into the front bedroom


admired all the pretties in there. LOVE the mirror!


Took a few pictures...


And more wonderful domes! These are bridal domes. 


And then it was time to play dress up...


Richard arranging the snood on Janice...


doesn't she make a gorgeous Southern Belle?


Thank you for coming along on our visit, we hope we put a smile on your face by sharing all of our fun with you!
Have a wonderful rest of your week.

I am joining the following parties...
HOME SWEET HOME with Sherry
AMAZE ME MONDAY with Cindy
INSPIRE ME TUESDAY  with Marty
TUESDAY'S AT OUR HOME with Maria Elena

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Historic Ravenswood Mansion Tour

Hello everyone! Boy do I have a tour for you today! This is Ravenswood, this beautiful mansion is about 45 minutes away from where I live in a small town called Bunceton, population 352.

It sits proudly on 2,000 acres. What makes this home amazing is the fact that it has been in the SAME family since it was built in 1880!


This stately residence was  built by Nathaniel Leonard and was not completed at his death in 1876 so his son  Captain Charles E. Leonard finished the mansion and he and his wife Nadine Nelson Leonard lived here.  The house has 30 furnished rooms.  Few changes have been made in the house and today the furnishings, decorations, and the home itself is much the same as it was when it was built.  The farm of 2000 acres, much of which was purchased from the government, was established in 1825 and seven generations of Leonard's have lived here.  The present owner is the sixth generation and his son is the seventh.  The previous house on this property was destroyed by fire.  Successive generations living in one place for over 100 years have accumulated a household of china, glass, paintings, and antique furnishings.



The main part of the house is Italianate and was designed by an architect. 


Through the years the mansion was added on to several times, additions include the front porch with the columns, a cupola, a portico and a large addition at the rear of the house which included a conservatory and an in ground pool, pictured below. 


The family occupies 5 rooms in this back section while all the rooms in the front part of the mansion are for tours.


As you can imagine, there are several barns and outbuildings on this 2000 acre farm.


One of them being this carriage barn...



And 2 of the original carriages are housed here...


And this livestock barn. See the cow sign, I guess they didn't have cows crossing the road anymore and took it down?


And here is one of their tour signs. Speaking of tours...
ARE YOU READY FOR A TOUR OF THE INSIDE OF THIS MANSION?


Well, let's go!! This is the front door where you come through to start the tour, the hall here is just massive! Over to the right where you see the suit of armor is where the stair case is. The suit of armor is sixteenth century Italian.


Before you see this next picture of me, you need to know that I do not look that young anymore, these photos were taken in 2005, oh my! The young man standing next to me is the seventh generation Leonard to live here and he is our tour guide, his  name is Jamey. And let me tell you, if I had been a little younger and not married at that time, I could have been the Mrs. Leonard of this mansion today! And happily blogging about it! lol


The first room we entered was the Library. Here is a view of the left side...


and a view of the right side. Notice the sofa, you can tell that our tour guide had been laying there reading the paper waiting for us to arrive. Can you imagine just lounging around in this mansion like it's no big deal?! Oh, if only!


Here is the parlor, I'm not sure why I don't have more pictures of this room. Since it was so long ago  I don't even remember the details of each room. I think I need to go back.


Now we are going into the part of the mansion that was built on later, it looks like it was once a porch that was enclosed and made into a room but I don't remember.


Going through that room you come to this room which seems to be a dining room. He still has his eye on me! :) lol


and a butler's pantry,


and on to the right is this bedroom with this gorgeous high back bed and pretty marble top chest.



Back over across the hall is the "real" dining room! And Jamey was telling me how he would like for me to join him for dinner that evening! jk


A closer look at the dishes and the array of silverware and serving pieces.


I don't remember who this guy is even though I would venture to say he was a Leonard but he kind of looks like Harry S. Truman but wrong era.



The front plate of this old grandfather clock states has the date of 1790 and was made in Paris, Kentucky. To the left of the clock you see a fireside fold up chair with original upholstery.


Okay, in the below picture Jamey has just told me how charming he thought I was and wants me to be his wife! I couldn't believe what I was hearing! jk, just go along with the story okay and let's hope he doesn't read this. :)


The photo below is looking down on the main floor where we just toured,


and looking up to the second floor,


and the third floor


We are now on the second floor, notice the beautiful davenport desk there by the stairs.


We went up to the third floor but I don't think I took pictures up there, I don't even remember what was up there besides the attic space.


So we're back down on the second floor and the davenport desk again.
Note the music box on the stand in the hall, The box worked by placing a metal disc on a turntable, the box was wound up, the disc would go around and the music would play. Nadine loved this music box very much, over the years the music box has been heard playing, but the gears are frozen in place and it hasn't worked for a very long time, so word is that Nadine is haunting her beautiful mansion and this is one of the ways she does it.


An area that shows off a few baby buggies and a few pieces of furniture.


and a display case with some of Nadine's belongings


a closer look at the baby buggies


and into a bedroom where many of Nadine's dresses are displayed. Her clothing came from the great design houses of Paris.



This next dress was worn at the inauguration of Grover Cleveland.


Below is Nadine's wedding dress and slippers on the dresser, and above it is a framed photo of her wearing it.


another bedroom with twin beds


and a different angle of that same room


and a little alcove in another bedroom, don't know why I didn't get more pictures of that room,


The below bedroom faces out to the front lawn, the room was once wallpapered all over but over time the paper has fallen down so what you see over the bed are the remains of the original paper.


and another view of the same room


And now we're getting to the good part, but first we cut through this bathroom to get to it


a peek of this side of the bedroom with the beautiful red satin glass gone with the wind lamp on the lovely parlor table. Nice chair, needs a little work and the side table...


we'll skip over my very favorite piece of furniture in the whole house, I'm saving it for last, and take a look at this gorgeous, gorgeous epergne on this magnificent marble mantle, and NO PEEKING THROUGH THE MIRROR because if you do you'll see my favorite piece!


Oh, there it is!! That beautiful full tester bed!! Oh, it just takes my breath away!!


Just look at the pleats and all that silk! Just beautiful!


Are you ready for another Nadine ghost story? One of these last two rooms that I showed you was Nadine's bedroom. She died at the age of 90 here at the mansion in her bedroom, her body was taken to the nearby small town of  Boonville for the funeral. Later that day the family needed to get some items out of her bedroom and to their surprise her door wouldn't open, it was locked from the inside. And you had to have a key to do this. After a while, the son ordered a servant to call for a locksmith to come and take the door off which would have resulted in damage to the woodwork. Before this could be done, the servant reported to the son that the door had opened by itself. There was no reasonable explanation for this except that Nadine had not wanted to leave her home or have her beautiful Ravenswood torn up in any way.
Family members and visitors to the mansion continue to report ghostly happenings throughout the mansion and on the grounds. I did not though during my visit but maybe next time.

On another note, I am happy to report that the mansion is in the process of being restored, while keeping it in as much of the original state as possible.

Thank you so much for your visit and I think I'll go back next month and refresh my memory on some things and who knows maybe even take  more pictures!
Have a wonderful week!

I am joining the following parties for this week, please come and join in the fun.

AMAZE ME MONDAY with Cindy
A RETURN TO LOVELINESS with Kathy
TUESDAYS AT OUR HOME with Maria Elena
INSPIRE ME TUESDAY with Marty
LET'S TALK VINTAGE with Jillian
VINTAGE INSPIRATION PARTY with Betsy and gals
WHAT'S IT WEDNESDAY with Patti
SHARE YOUR CUP THURSDAY with Jann
HOME SWEET HOME with Sherry