The Grandest Canyon

Summer always getting me thinking about our grand National Parks, and unfortunately, this year visiting the parks, at least the western ones, is not part of my agenda. Of course, that doesn't mean that I won't enjoy the beauty of one of the more eastern or midwest parks. Maybe Boundary Waters or Great Smokies...who knows. I will always love the Grand Canyon for it's sheer awesomeness...it is the most amazing place; magical, mysterious and utterly mystifying in it's scale. Someday I am going to do the raft trip and also do the hike to Angel Falls.

Fabulous Felines

As some of you know, I am a cat person. Or cat lady. Or cat woman. You know, one of "those" people. I have toned down my menagerie over the years, and "only" have five fabulous felines now. They are probably why my house isn't sold yet...lol.  Yes, with five cats in the house, I've had cat accidents. Along with mysterious infestations with fleas. And strange looking hair ball upheavals on the floor. And scratched up linen sofas.

But, I love them. I love Pearl's big jiggly blue eyes and precious squeak. I love Penelope's loyalty and alpha femaleness. I love Fattie's, well, rotondness and in-your-face, rubbing-your-leg loveness. And Grizzly's eat-everybody's food-as- fast-as-I canness. And Crazy's strange, rather autistic playfulness, as well as his frightened psyche. Their all good and their my cat family. Now I have to figure out how they will live downtown :).

Black Lace

I have two Victorian lace shawls in my Etsy shop and just sold one yesterday. It was a handmade lace with cattails and primroses and quite a bit damage, but incredible non-the-less. I posted the remaining shawl and think this was is even more incredible. The black lace has such a feel of the true Victorian era and is a textile that can be cherished and worn with care.

An Old Spring

My family and all my ancestors got their drinking water and actually all their water from an ancient spring located below the Old House. Long ago, the men placed large flat rocks on the base and sides of the spring, creating an enclosure and then build up rocks around the structure, finally building a door with a tiny air screen to secure the purity of the source. Stone steps and stone retaining walls lead down to the spring from the Old House and snakes lived in the crevasses between the rocks. Craydads built their little mud houses in the marsh beside the  spring where yellow irises and sedges grow. There is lots of jewelweed and I remember a large weeping willow which we used to climb. There is always a tin drinking ladle on the door and you can always be assured of a wonderful cool drink of water, even on the hottest day.

A Broken Pane of Glass

While digging in the mortar-sanded soil around the Old House last week, I found the shards of the broken attic window. This is one of the panes from the original window from 1818, I'm sure. As a child, in the gloaming, perhaps after being in the Old House by myself, I would walk backwards away from the House, my eyes focused on the attic window. I am sure I saw  eyes staring back at me. Surely, there was someone up there. A ghost of a long-ago ancestor. I felt the spirit, the soul of this person that I am linked to, but never knew. Perhaps we will meet in another world.

Treasure Hunting

As a child, I wanted to be an archaeologist, a student of past civilization. I look down alot when walking through plowed fields, love to dig in the garden in hopes I'll find a clay marble or coin, and revel in tales of golden riches in the depth of desolate, arid

lands. My Mom has a knack for finding tiny arrowheads and wee china dishes. I'm always looking and at the Farm, spent some time digging in the mortar-sanded soil around the Old House. It's a connection to the past...when was the last time this dirt felt hands sifting through it's being? Did a child ancestor lose this little metal duck a hundred years ago? What is the purpose of this odd piece of iron?

The Old Lawton House

This will probably be the first of many posts I write about the Old House. Our family home was built in 1818 in Barlow, Ohio on the original 360 acre tract of land deeded to the Lawton's before Ohio became a state in 1803. My ancestors moved to  Ohio from Newport, Rhode Island, having emigrated from Chester, England. The move from Rhode Island to Ohio must have been a trying and difficult journey and when the Lawtons arrived in Ohio, they had to susquester in a fort in Marietta, seeing that Indians were living on their land (yes, it was the Indian's home rightfully and wrongs were done with the taking of their homeland) and couldn't move to the land for several years. When they finally were able to travel to the land, it took 3 days to make the 12 mile trip. A log cabin was  first built, as well as a large barn with massive beams. I will blog about the barn later. These photos show the lower arch which frames a cellar window. The bricks were handmade from a nearby clay deposit. When I shot these photos, it was 90 degrees and very humid, but the  air flowing from the cellar window was wonderfully cool.

The Falls

I just got back from a couple of days on my farm in Barlow, Ohio. Whenever I go back, I take a hike to the Falls. The Falls is a beautiful formation in the creek that meanders through my farm. It's about a four foot high drop of water from a stone-lined stream into a round pool, carved out by millions of years of swirling waters. During the hot summer Sundays of my childhood, my Grandpa would load all my cousins into an old green wagon hitched to his old grey Ford tractor and we would be pulled along the old stagecoach road back to the Falls. We always took along our cane fishing poles and fat worms dug up in the rich compost around the barn. The fish we caught were pretty small...we called them suckers and maybe some sunfish. Taking a swim in the Falls was always refreshing, but a little frightening because of the crawdads...some of them were around four or five inches long.

Country Birthday

Well, I''m spending my birthday on my Farm. The butterfly bush is really tall this year and the yellow and black swallowtails are just going crazy.  Yesterday I walked back to the Falls with Jesse and took shots of all the Queen Anne's lace in the fields. I love Queen Anne's. It's one of my favorite wildflowers and I just want to gathering bunches up and stuff into my silver wine cooler, but have been warned about the bugs that seem to love it too. I remember my Grandma Lawton's walnut dining room table with the beautiful bouquets of Queen's Anne and cosmos that she would put in the center in one of her vases.

Beat the Heat

I went to an estate sale in Price Hill and found a wonderful 1930's swimming dress with bloomers. I can't wait to put it on and hit the swimming hole.

White on White

Going to Australia

Red woven fabrics. Just say country. This is one of my favs and it will soon take a long, long journey around the world. I hate saying goodbye but it's on it's way to Australia, and if I can't go, my beautiful red tablecloth

Dumpster Diving

For the sheer joy. For the thril of discovery. Recently I had an opportunity to "dd" up the street, at the
1875 railroad inn at the corner of Werk and Ferguson. It was a broiling hot evening and let me tell you, being in an iron dumpster in the Cincinnati heat, well, it was really hot. But treasures I did find. Arrowheads, a little walnut drawer, a box full of really neat buttons, old curtains, a portable sewing machine, an orange wicker headboard, very hippie-ish, a neat old balloon woman. Lots of these finds are on my Etsy site. Today I went back and salvaged about 20 old shutters.

Mammoth Cave

An incredible treasure...Mammoth Cave. Mysterious halls of stalagtites.
Inscriptions from long ago explorers. Strange washed out albino creatures.

Glass Love

I love glass. Wavy old glass. Glass cloches. Glass vases with one special flower. I found this cone-shaped cloche yesterday at Goodwill and was ready to sell it at mamavintage, but just fell in love. It's on my kitchen window sill right beside a clear squatty vase with one white coneflower. I
might have to keep it.

Retro Summer