Old Bridge

Back in the day, we had a fantastic iron bridge. I was very young, about 7 years old, but I do remember when "they" tore it down and replaced it with a concrete-boring-bridge and being very disgruntled about the whole thing. I know it was probably too narrow for the growing city but why not keep it for foot traffic? Can't do anything about it now but it should be a warning for future progressions, don't you think?

Back in 2002

My mother sits in front of a house she bought for investment reasons. It backed up to Witherspoons. Can you recognize this house? Yep, it's Heavenhill. Just got lots of coats and jackets on. While playing musical lumber (the game where you keep moving piles of lumber to different rooms to try to get it out of your way while you work) I found a envelope of pictures of HH back in her heyday..well 10 years ago and really not her heyday. Enjoy a blast from the past!

We miss our Emmy. I was just talking about her the other day and
then found these great pictures.

Wallpaper V. Stencil??

Finding remnants of the old wallpaper got me all jazzed up about putting some wallpaper in Heavenhill. I don't want to go completely primitive with HH but more classy with some splashes of yesteryear here and there. I started looking at websites that host an amazing collection of vintage wallpaper. It is sooo much fun!

Then I started thinking about art..if it is too busy, you can't really put anything on the walls b/c it will clash with whatever is hung..plus nail holes in wallpaper... eeek!

So I thought just segregating one wall in the Kitchen for the wallpaper so it can be the art and then wrapping it into the hallway. Yes!!

I also am looking for that perfect color too..Are they too bright? too dark? Is it my Monitor?

After I narrowed my selections down I then made some mock ups of the kitchen in PAINT..mmhmm...that is not a typo! I no longer have PS since I bought my new laptop...sooo this is all that I could do.. so please don't laugh.

Also, I started looking at the stenciling idea. They have some groovy patterns out there and I think it may be easier..painting and stenciling vs. hanging wallpaper?

The cost would probably be lower too. Yes, I don't have to texture the walls if I wallpaper..but wallpaper is expensive and then the labor of hanging it.

Also.. it's a permanent deal. But it's SOOO Cool too! (I never thought I would ever say wallpaper is cool!)


Soo..what do you think? Which one do you like?

Stenciled (plus many more here)


Wallpaper A & B

Wallpaper C & D

Wallpaper D

Turtle Turtle

A couple of weeks ago I spotted a passerby in the yard..he was pretty cute! I thought, ooh there must be rain around the corner and boy was that sign ever so right...over 2 inches that coming week!!

shotgun has no idear

want to swing?

Heavenhill

I am back...after a bit of a hiatus.

I am working on my beloved Heavenhill... Once it is complete, it will become a guest house for vacationers to rent. This will give me more control over the property and will allow me to enjoy HH when it is not occupied. I would rather do this (and hoping for a success) instead of renting it out as a primary residence.

I am hoping to host an Open House once I am done!! It has been in the family for ten years with not much done to it in the past 8.

So here's to a successful renovation!

back porch/yard


barn


chicken coop

the attic....it took me two days to vacuum 115 years worth of dust


future living room probably was the bedroom back in the 1800s


"Quilt Room" added on probably in the 30s or 40s. Guest Bedroom and Bath


Standing in the Master/Gallery looking toward the front of the house which will be the Kitchen

Pieces of Wallpaper I found attached to the old walls. Would love to try to find something similar to hang in the kitchen.

OTTO MOBILES

Farmer really has caught the bug...the cleaning/gifting bug. He has given away 3 vehicles from Otto's Mobiles. Otto, farmer's grandfather, saved pretty much every vehicle they had since the 50s (but why, oh why, did he not save the Model A?!). Once the farm truck or town car stopped running, or nobody wanted to drive them anymore, they were parked and became yard art.






There were three vehicles parked on the side yard and all are gone now..As I sit and type this little bloggy, I am looking out the window and I see a clearing! I spot the big two story red barn now. It's kind of sad, like maybe an arm was sawed off the farm. Alas, if we ever get lonely there is always a truck or car we can drag back to fill the void.


here is a pic of the terrific trio and where they stood for about 40 years (give or take).
This photo was taken in 2007


the caddy getting towed to her new spot


The Buick's turn to go

Farmer also sold a Mrs. Baird's Bread International Pick Up. If he sells more of the collectible vehicles, that money will go into restoring the couple of vehicles he wants to keep.


This four door mercury parked out behind one of the barns looks like a lot of fun to drive around in *hint hint*



This is Otto's Cadillac. This was his "going honky tonkin'" car and "watching the Stephenville Yellow Jackets high school football games" car. One must have a director's chair and a bottle of tequila to make the leisure trip complete! Oh the days of olde.
Farmer will part with the humdinger for $1,000.00

Quartermaster Iron {Day} Cot

I briefly talked about this bed in a previous post (here)

But I'll give you and extended version of our find and the finished product.

Get Ready!

For a couple of years I have been admiring this tiny iron foot board that laid against Farmer's Dad's Cellar.."Do you think you have the headboard? I wonder where it came from..."

Well to make a long story short, I figured it out. While visiting various historic forts around Texas and viewing the barracks, it hit me..what was at the farm was part of an old barracks cot!

Farmer's grandpa, Otto, used to have a Mexican crew that built fences on ranches all over Texas back in the 50s and kept digging post holes and stretching wire until the early 70s. They would make camp and live near one of the barns on the property. Well I suppose over the years they picked up different cots here and there so they would not have to sleep on the ground. So down at that same barn where they used to sit around the campfire and make their dinners, there is just loads of cots stacked like soldiers that have been sitting their silently for about 40 years. Waiting for a warm body to support.

The Quartermaster iron cot is dated to around 1890s to the early 1900s. What a find, exactly what I was wanting (and more!). This farm is very special...it seems to listen to what you need (or want) and it gives it to you...there have been many other times when I was looking for a random something, like a travel soap box, a lid to fit a certain wide mouth glass jar, an deviled egg dish, an ice scoop, a...(well you get the point!) and there it was, appearing out of nowhere!

when we rebuilt the side porch, we designed it to be a screen porch with the capability to close it up during the colder months. We built glass inserts to hang (think the old timey screen inserts but this is with glass) to keep all the cold air out. Every Spring we take the potted plants outside and then bring 'em back inside for the winter. The side porch is a major part of the home.

here is me trying out the cot for the first time!