Happy Birthday, America!

Hope you and yours had a wonderful Fourth!

Our backyard space...and my little bunny

We had a beautiful Easter weekend!  It was our precious boy's first birthday, so it was doubly special for us this year!  The yard was so green and so full of life, and I took what must have been hundreds of pictures.  We also enjoyed our back porch for the first time this spring. It's in desperate need of a coat of paint, but we love lounging out there looking at all the greenery and flowers. Thought I'd share a few of our pictures here.  Isn't my sweet baby boy just darling?



The Easter Bunny had been very busy hiding Easter eggs in our yard!

 

And they were placed ever so cleverly...just so little hands could pick them up and add them to Easter baskets.

 

Friends and family enjoying the back porch.

 

We have plenty of places to lounge.  Molly is enjoying her favorite place at the edge of the porch near the steps.

 

My personal favorite place to sit with a good book.

 

Love having this little place outside my kitchen door - a great place to enjoy coffee or a cup of tea.

 

My gorgeous clematis vine is outdoing itself this year!

 

These blooms are huge...breathtaking!





Our sweet boy enjoying his time in the yard. He hasn't decided yet if he likes the prickly grass.

 

Our baby, with the help of Daddy, found so many Easter eggs!

 

"I like the orange ones best, Mama!"

 

A smile that melts his Mama's heart.

 

My beatiful baby boy - my joy!

 

They look as if they may be discussing where that Clever Easter Bunny hid more eggs....such a serious discussion.



The side of our house with a view of the old well and our precious boy's new firetruck.  Ah, such sweet yard decor that is!

 Hope you're enjoying your spring days soaking up the sunshine in your own yard.  We are anxiously awaiting the peonies' bloom! So, stay tuned for more photos!

Happy spring!

In Your Easter Bonnet

Judy Garland and Fred Astaire in Easter Parade

In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it,
You'll be the grandest lady in the Easter Parade.
I'll be all in clover and when they look you over,
I'll be the proudest fellow in the Easter Parade.
On the avenue, Fifth Avenue, the photographers will snap us,
And you'll find that you're in the rotogravure.
Oh, I could write a sonnet about your Easter bonnet,
And of the girl I'm taking to the Easter Parade.
        ~Irving Berlin



Easter ushers in the season of rebirth and renewal...a celebration of the resurrection of nature and, most importantly, our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Growing up in a wonderful, Christian home, the Easter Sundays of my childhood are some of my fondest memories.  As a young child, I may not have fully understood the significance of the day, but I knew enough to understand it was a celebration of Jesus and His sacrifice for us.  It was also a day to be with family, to feast on wonderful, traditional food, to get dressed up in new, spring colored clothing, to wear my white shoes for the first time since the end of the previous summer, and to marvel at the brightly colored Easter eggs and all the wonderful chocolate treats and special gifts my mother and grandmother would place in my Easter basket.  My beloved "Granddaddy" would always bring me a beautiful corsage to wear to church, and I could not wait to put it on with my pretty spring dress.

But one of my favorite things about Easter Sunday (call it the girl in me) was seeing all the beautiful hats the ladies of the church would wear on that special day!  My grandmother always had beautiful hats and gloves to wear to church, but on Easter Sunday, she would always wear something extra special.  This may have been the origin of my fascination with hats and, especially, Easter Bonnets.

As long as I can remember, I have loved hats - so much so, that I have a collection of beautiful, vintage hats displayed on a coat stand in my home.  I have many others in boxes in closets or displayed in the top of a Victorian trunk in one of my guest rooms.  I adore them.  If I could get by with it, I would enjoy wearing a hat every day! 

Easter bonnets are top of the list for me as far as hats go...right up there with the beautiful hats women still wear to the Kentucky Derby...but those are for another post.  In celebration of the upcoming Easter holiday, here are a few photographs of a few gorgeous Easter Bonnets.  Enjoy!

Have a beautiful day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

In celebration of St. Patrick's Day, I'm posting a photo of our favorite Irish establishment:  Pat O'Brien's in New Orleans.  Michael and I LOVE to visit Pat O's and sit on the patio soaking up the atmosphere and a hurricane.  This photo was taken on our last visit to NOLA.

May the Lord keep you in His hand and never close His fist too tight.
:-)

(Irish blessing)

Happy Day!

The Merriest of Christmases

This year will be a very special Christmas for us, as it will be our son's first Christmas.  He is fascinated with the ornaments and lights of the Christmas trees.  My husband and I are having a wonderful time watching his curiosity with all the decor...and we have never been happier. 

It is a wonderful thing to remember what it is like to see the splendor and beauty of Christmas through the eyes of a child. 

Photo copyright Terri Fortney Photography, 2010

Baby's First Christmas

You have to hold him up to see

The angel on the Christmas tree.

And even though he's still too small

To know the meaning of it all

You watch his eyes reflect the glow

Of colored lights that come and go

And feel him quiver with delight

At every new and wondrous sight.

There's Santa with his jolly face

Beaming from the fireplace.

And from the stocking hanging there

Peeks a cuddly teddy bear.

Bright ornaments and candy canes --

Musical toy and wooden trains --

There's just no end to the delights

Spread out for him this night of nights!

He points and grins from ear to ear

And then he yawns - his bedtime's near!

Dad gives him a kiss and you tuck him away

To rest up for the fun of his first Christmas Day!

~Alice E. Chase

Oh, so happy, happy, happy,

Salute The Brave

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.  
        - Elmer Davis



This photo is courtesy of Able Veterans.  Please visit and support Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust.

THANK YOU, AMERICAN VETERANS, FOR THE SACRIFICES YOU HAVE MADE TO KEEP OUR COUNTRY FREE.

Patriotism

“Patriotism is like charity — it begins at home. ”

~ James Henry

Happy Independence Day!

Happiest of Father's Day

This was my DH's first Father's Day as a Daddy. This day was such a special one for him, so I thought I would post a few photographs. Doesn't the smile in the first photo just say it all? We are in heaven.

Meeting the Easter Bunny

On Easter morn at early dawn

before the cocks were crowing

I met a bob-tail bunnykin

and asked where he was going.

"'Tis in the house and out the house

a-tipsy, tipsy-toeing,

Tis round the house

and 'bout the house a-lightly I am going."

"But what is that of every hue

you carry in your basket?"

"Tis eggs of gold and eggs of blue;

I wonder why you ask it.

"Tis chocolate eggs and bonbon eggs

and eggs of red and gray,

for every child in every house

on bonny Easter day.

He perked his ears

and winked his eye and twitched his little nose;

He shook his tail -- what tail he had --

and stood up on his toes.

I must be gone before the sun;

the east is growing gray;

Tis almost time for bells to chime."

--So he hippety-hopped away.

Meeting the Easter Bunny

by Rowena Bennett

Please Thank a Veteran

My Uncle, Roy E. Moore, was an American soldier. There are so many stories that have been circulated about him for years within our family...how he gave food to hungry children in Germany during WWII after he, a tank commander, and his fellow soldiers rolled through and liberated a village, how he cried over fallen fellow soldiers, how brave he was starring into the face of death. Even after he had served in WWII, he was asked to participate in the Korean War as an older man, and he did so without thinking twice.

My Uncle, Albert Lay, Jr., was a member of the United States Navy. He served courageously during WWII. He does not talk very much about all that he witnessed and did during the war, but we do know that he was what was, at that time, called a "Frog Man"...underwater demolition...the predecessors to the Navy Seals. He is STILL brave and tough as nails to this day.

My Uncle, Edmond L. Lesko, was a member of the United States Navy during the Vietnam War. He spent hours and hours on a submarine deciphering codes and listening for intelligence that the Armed Forces might have been able to use to their advantage. He was so fortunate to not have seen combat, but his sacrifice and the work that he did was no less important than if he had.

These are the men in my family who have most closely defined for me the sacrifice, commitment and dedication of what it means to be an American Veteran. For their sacrifices, and those of every American soldier, I am truly grateful.

Please tell a United States Veteran how appreciative you are today. It is the very least we can do.

Many blessings,

A Haunting?

This time of year, all the focus is on the creepy, the ghostly and the haunted. We enjoy getting into the "spirit" of things by hosting our biennial Halloween party and passing along all the great, spooky stories of our own haunted house. Yes, my husband and I supposedly inhabit a real haunted house!!

The main portion of our house was built in 1869 by Colonel Thomas Cheatham Little for his bride, Agnes. The back of the house that now houses our kitchen was built in the 1820s and was originally a cottage on the property. Colonel Little was a veteran of the Civil War and an escort for General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Young Thomas ran away from home at the age of 16 to join the Confederate Army when word of the death of his uncle, a Confederate officer, reached him. Devastated by the news and filled with anger, he joined the war, fought with the Confederates, and was with Forrest when he surrendered at the end of the War. Thomas and Agnes had several children, and the house was passed down in the family until my Dear Husband purchased it in 2001. He was the first person to own the house outside of the family.

After the purchase of the house, DH immediately began hearing stories of "The Gray Lady." Since the earlier part of the century, there were stories of the solemn woman who could be seen haunting the upper hallway of the house. She was also seen at times in some of the upstairs bedrooms and a few times on the ground floor of the house. There were stories of guests' bed covers being pulled slowly off of them in the middle of the night, one woman being pushed down by an unseen force, a chair flying through a glass window. But most of the reports were simply of a lone woman in Victorian style clothing appearing in various places in the house.

DH lived alone in the house from 2001 until we married in 2005, and claims to have never seen The Gray Lady. Likewise, I have not seen her since moving into the house over four years ago. With that being said, however, we can report many strange happenings that we have been unable to explain. They include our dogs being locked into one room of the house when no one is home to do so, doors that are heavy and difficult to move slamming shut without any assistance and with a puzzling ease, items disappearing or moving from where we originally placed them, and a stereo blaring music without anyone turning it on, then, shutting itself off after about 20 seconds. I have many times heard footsteps in the house, thought it was DH returning home, and then found no one in the house but me. Of course, it makes us feel a little better to come up with reasons for these happenings, and since we have not yet "seen" a ghost to blame them on, we will continue to look for logical explanations of such occurrences. It helps us sleep better at night, you see.

This time of year, our friends love to visit our house and hear all these stories. And I admit that I, especially this time of year, always feel a little reluctant to look over my shoulder for fear that the Lady in Gray will finally make her appearance!

But...until I have seen her for myself, I will continue to try to "explain away" all the odd little happenings.

I am including a photograph in this posting in which guests claim to be able to see The Gray Lady in one of the upstairs windows. Can you find her?

Happy Halloween!!

Halloween Party 2009

We held our biennial Halloween Party at the B&B this past weekend, and the costumes were so much fun! It was a great time with wonderful friends!

 Friends Lindsey and Sherry as Sonny & Cher and Sister Leah and Father Jeff
Sonny & Cher...Sherry and Linsey...love Sonny's moustache!

 Charles & Vickie

Matthew & Beth

My DH

Cindy

Steve, aka Bobo the Clown

Farmer Dorothy
 My mother-in-law with friends Beth and Sherry.

Yours truly. The longer the night wore on, the more the makeup wore off.

Had to take a picture of my cute witch socks and shoes.

Bobo the Clown and DH, the Gangster, talk politics, thus the expressions...

Wonderful Doris

Charles & Doris, the DH's godparents

My sweet gangster

"Babe, I got you Babe..."