Family Vacation at Seabrook Island 2010

I am on Seabook Island in South Carolina this week.   Seabrook is a small barrier island twenty miles south of Charleston, SC.  Seabrook boasts wide, uncrowded beaches and pristine dunes and it is true.   I walked the three and one-half miles of beach yesterday and encountered less than fifty people.  Of course, the area is still in the "off" season and I am sure crowds will increase after the Memorial Day Holiday, but for now, the area feels private and secluded.   Exactly what I love!!!!  My family rented a small three-bedroom beach cottage for the week through Vacation Rental By Owner (VRBO).  If you've never used VRBO, this is a great way to find rental property for vacations all over the world.   We've had good experiences renting this way, and this experience was no exception.  In fact, this has been one of the most professional renters I have ever encountered.   Jim and Terri Edmiston from Charlotte, NC, own this little home and have been a joy to work with through the rental process.   Check out their site here and I highly recommend doing business with them.  Honestly, the site doesn't do this charming home or the area justice!

I am a bit under the weather.  I left home Saturday with a sore throat and it is still troubling me.  It is an overcast day and since I was on the beach most of the day yesterday, I opted to stay in to lounge and rest while the guys rode bikes to the pool this afternoon.  I am hoping to feel better quickly so that I can explore the island and get into Charleston this week.  Either way, it is beautiful here and I am enjoying the scenery, the call of the gull, the lapping of the waves and the enthusiasm of my boys.   I want to take some photos of the sun setting over the Low Country marshland and the horses at the Equestrian Center.  Plus, I want to try my hand at crabbing from a nearby dock.   And did I mention stuffing myself full of shrimp and crab legs????

I always find this area to be the epitome of Southern hospitality and graceful beauty.  I really think I could see myself owning a small shabby chic beach cottage in the future.   For now, I'll just gaze out my window and dream.

Thanks for reading, Rosie.

Mother's Day - Giveaway Winner and Iris Slide Show

Happy Mother's Day!

Congratulations Colorado Lady! 

You are the lucky winner of the

Very Cherry Berry Apron!

The Iris is the Official State Flower of Tennessee

and they are in their full glorious bloom in our fair State.  Here are a few shots of my favorite,

feminine flower from my own small flower bed. 

Enjoy!

"Picnik Show"

Create a free slideshow with Picnik!

Vintage Thingies - Caned Chairs

Wow!  It's Thursday already and once again time for Vintage Thingies with Colorado Lady which is a meme I enjoy participating in when I can.  I have a few chairs I want to share this week.  Nothing spectacular, but something I love.   

This sewing rocker was given to me many years ago.  The caned seat was worn out.  My Father-in-Law, who knows how to cane, redid the seat for me.  I wish I had a mileage meter attached to this little rocker when my oldest son, Carter, was a baby.  I rocked many a mile with him in his early months on colicky evenings, and then as he grew older and could communicate with me, he would always want me to rock in the squeaky chair.  The noise seemed to comfort him, so we did a lot of rocking and reading. 

Beautiful cane work!

This chair is from Tunnel Hill Baptist Church (a little church in a local valley) and is quite old.  I image this was in a Sunday School classroom for many years.  Churches are so "comfortable" now.  Can you image sitting in this chair for hours.

 

You can see that the caning in this chair is much older and the wear more obvious.

I have a couple of these ladder back chairs salvaged from local places that have been refinished and recaned.  I love the simplicity of the lines in these chairs.   They remind me of Quaker furniture.  Again, my Father-in-Law did the refinishing and recaning. 

 

Oscar likes it too.

The table came from a flea market several years ago. 

It is little and somewhat impratical but I love it.

I am having a giveaway this week for Mother's Day!  

A Very Cherry Berry Apron.  

If you would like to enter, link here.

 
Thanks for reading, Rosie.

Mother's Day Apron Giveaway

Giveaway!  Giveaway!  Giveaway!

Didn't think I would do it, did you?

Well, done and done!

(Much to my own surprise!)

What started as this -

Finally turned into this -

Along with this -

(Pardon the mannequin booty)

A Berry Cherry Apron for Mother's Day

(Shirt, jewelry, mannequin not included)

You can enter to win this apron two ways - 

Leave a comment on this post - 1 entry

Follow my Blog - 1 entry

(if you're already following, I'll count that.)

You can use both methods.

 

I also need to be able to contact you so

LEAVE CONTACT EMAIL ADDRESS!

Enter until Saturday, May 8th,

9:00 PM PST

Winner will be announced

Sunday, May 9th, 2010,

Mother's Day!

Love, Rosie.

Vintage Things - An Old Spinning Wheel

Yesterday I wrote about my recent visit with friends to the Jubilee Gallery.  I saved "the rest of the story" for today so that I could link it with Vintage Thingies Thursday at Colorado Lady.  You will want to visit her site and see all the great vintage things she has posted.

Part of Tennessee's history preservation includes historical markers located throughout the state.  Below is a photo of TN Historical Marker 1B19.  What this marker does not say is that Hezekiah Hamblen was also a furniture maker.  Five pieces that he hand made still exist and one of my friends with whom I had lunch is his descendant.  She is in possession of one of those pieces.

I do not know if a spinning wheel is considered furniture, but a spinning wheel was a necessity used throughout the southern Appalachian mountains during the 19th century to spin wool and cotton.  This particular spinner is in beautiful shape with all original parts intact and sets proudly in my friends mountain top home.

The Old Spinning Wheel by Billy Hill

Covered with dust and forgotten,

Like the face upon the wall;

The one souvenir of the days gone by,

I treasure most of all.

There's an old spinning wheel in the parlor,

Spinning dreams of the long, long ago.

Spinning dreams of an old fashioned garden,

And a maid with her old fashioned beau.

Turn back the years of my childhood

As you turn, old spinning wheel.

Just show me a lane with a barefoot boy,

As shadows softly steal.

________________________________

 

I have no history of this picture that adorns my friends bedroom wall.  It came from her aunts home but it is old and BEAUTIFUL and still in its original hand-hewn frame. 

Italian maybe?

Follow-up regarding this picture:  Viridian's Blog put this picture in context for me.  It is a copy of  "Madonna della seggiola" by Italian renaissance artist Raphael.

This mother is gorgeous!

I hope you enjoyed these vintages pieces. 

Thanks for reading, Rosie.