Thursday, September 16, 2010

Good, Good, Good... Good Vibrations

uuuummm...

In stead of putting on ANOTHER pot of coffee, I decided to try something different.

I love this tea cup my wise friend Nancy made special, for me!

I took a rejuvenating outdoor shower and got a new start to the morning.


Homesick

Random piece of info about me.
I know that most people when they get homesick, they make a phone call, write a letter or some other way to plug in.  However me... I was in an unusual mindset at the ripe ole age of ...
let me think...
26 or 27
and living in Ohio.
Back in the days when I couldn't stay put for very long.




Where Did You Come From

I found this crystal on the ground, near my outdoor bathroom.
I have had many crystals over the years.
However, I really don't know where this one came from.
It doesn't really surprise me too much.
I'm sure it's one of mine from days gone by that some how found it way back to me.
I have been doing a lot of de-cluttering, purging and reorganizing.

It looks a bit banged up...
but, then again so am I!



Hair Stick


My brother Michael, made this one.  Both of my brothers got all crafty up in the mountains of Virginny.  And on one of my visits a while back I talked him into allowing me to give it a new home.  Unfortunately, not long after bringing it home my "sweet" dog Lexi decided that it needed a little more work... Yikes.
I think it is still beautiful!



My hair is finally long enough to wear it again.

Last summer, I cut all my hair off... again. 
This time I wasn't able to donate it to Locks of Love, unfortunately.
I had allowed myself to get pretty sick and my hair was falling out in clumps.
I didn't have enough to donate...
I barely had enough to make a No. 8 paintbrush.
It was pretty bad.
My husband didn't want me to cut it...
"what if it doesn't grow back" he asks.
My response was...
"well, I guess I will shave it then"

Luckily for him ...
and anyone else who doesn't like the Kojak look...
I made a LOT of changes in my life.



Gotta Brand New Bag


After a cup of tea and a nice shower, I put my hair up and set to work.
I found a piece of the material we used for my wedding dress.
Sorry folks... it isn't white.
This piece was big enough for me to make 3 of these small pouches.
I figured I need a place to put my new found crystal.


More Flannel Sheets


I dug these out of an old trunk...
I forgot we even still had these.  I will either pass them down to Mary if she wants them
or make more pads. 




Ben Lomond


I figured since I am throwing little pieces of my past out there...
this is a pretty BIG piece.

This is what I get homesick for these days.
HOME

When I was growing up we moved around a lot.
This is probably one of the reasons I had such itchy feet as a young adult and couldn't stay put for very long.
Ultimately putting down shallow roots on a barrier island.

Ben Lomond was a constant for me.
So many stories begin and end here for me, as I am sure they do for many others.
My grandmother sold the farm to some developers not too long before my mother died.
She moved to Virginia Beach, Va to be close to my mom and my mom's sisters.
My aunts both lived in Virginia Beach at the time and my mom was on the Outer Banks.

My grandmother was a mountain woman... and eventually moved back to the mountains not long after my mom died.  Now, I don't know if my mother's death prompted this move... it is simply a way I measure time.

I have been back a few times over the years.  Once with my mom & dad and a couple times with friends and my now husband.  The last time I was there, I went with my grandmother.  We had lunch at the restaurant, took a tour, met with a woman who wanted to know more about the history of the property.  And then ended the visit with a trip to the stable to see the horses which is near where the old barn and cottage use to be.

It was definitely strange to go back but I am glad I did.

Life goes on!
Things change and new memories are made.
It is funny how things go sometimes...

your past comes up and taps you on the shoulder.
I was sent one of those random status updates on facebook by someone I know who is affiliated with a Va Wedding Magazine, he had no clue of the connection. 

Kinda funny...
I always said when I was younger, that I wanted to get married there.
Now lots of folks do I suppose.



 



 
Boswell's Tavern


For as long as I can remember, my grandmother's long time friends
Jack and Mina Schwem owned this farm not far from Ben Lomond. They were some very interesting folks, let me tell ya.

Jack Schwem

 This is not how I remember him...
I just thought it was a cool picture.  I remember him more like a
 Mark Twain figure. I remember him liking books and making amazing things with wood and metal. 

Meema told me that when he bought Boswell's Tavern he wanted to refurbish it as authentically as possible.  When he set out to find fixtures to match the period he was limited.  So he decided to make them himself.



Mina

This is Mina Schwem. 
From what I remember of her she was a very sad woman
a very beautiful woman, but very sad.
I remember Meema saying something about a fire... and her not being the same afterwards.

Jack and Mina never had any children of their own and as far as I know there was no one in Jack's family who was willing to keep Boswell's Tavern going the way he wanted after he died.

A Historical Landmark

So he left it to my grandmother.  She moved in and we continued in the Jarmen & Farley tradition to live long and make many memories.

It wasn't "open to the public" but she always gave anyone who stopped by the grand tour.

On a visit I made to Bowell's Tavern...

My aunt was getting a few things out of the attic.  This picture was one of them.
I commented on how much I loved the drawing.
Meema didn't feel the same... she didn't think it was particularly flattering to Mina.
Aunt Angela said that she just wanted the frame.

Any who...
several months later the painting showed up at my wedding dinner as a gift from my aunt.

I love it!

My Wedding

Now that's a story for another blog.

Barefeet, snow, sleet, rainbows, wind and laughter!

This is one of the Cherokee Wedding Vases from our wedding.
My phenomenal friend Robin, got them for us.  One was used during the ceremony and this one to keep.


Mary's
Carolina Lily Project












Pretty cool huh? 

Minus the dust bunnies.
This was part of her NC Symbols Project for Social Studies last year.
The rest was a power point presintation.

She got an A+


2 comments:

Ginny Rodgers said...

I WANT THOSE FLOWERS! RAD RAD RAD! I get tears in my eyes when i see or think about Ben Lomond:( I miss it so much. I keep dreaming about Meema. Hope she likes the name Boone.

mwtalley said...

Great Blog. I sent the piece on Ben Lomond to my room mate, Jim Guy. He loved the place and almost bought it in the 80's

Bill and Mary's lily project is awesome!