Monday, June 30, 2014

...Exploring West Virginia...the Craik-Patton House...Five...

...now on to the adjoining Nursery...
...a small bed...with some period clothes laid out...
...a white dress and petticoats...I'm always amazed at how much white they wore...I always think it would be difficult to keep clean...
...a china doll in a toy cradle...
...little shoes...our tour guide told us that to make it easier for the children to put the shoes on they're cut the same...i.e., no left or right...
...a doll sized table chair and cabinet...with some crockery too...
...another pretty china doll showing us her petticoats...
...our tour guide also told us that little girls were expected to stitch their first sampler by age 7...this little girl (Sarah Thomas) managed to stitch hers in her 7th year 1829...
...another cradle with some cloth dolls and a cute little quilt...
...a tiny tea set on the mantle...and the wallpaper is the same as in the adjoining master bedroom...
...what a sweet room...I think the children living here were very lucky indeed...

~Have a lovely day!

Saturday, June 28, 2014

...Exploring West Virginia...the Craik-Patton House...Four...

...and now a glimpse into the Master Bedroom...
...the lady's dresser...with some pretty hair clips...
...a milliner's doll...used to show the latest fashions...not really a toy...
...a beautiful white on white quilt...
...a closeup of the stitches...
...a lady's house dress...
...a closeup...
...the four poster bed...with the trundle for the little ones...
...a sketch in profile...
...and one of the lady...
...a closeup of the wallpaper...
...a couple of paper cut silhouettes of children playing...
...and a closeup of the quilt...

~Have a lovely day!

Friday, June 27, 2014

...Exploring West Virginia...the Craik-Patton House...Three...

...tea was also set up in the sitting room...
...there was a french chandelier...with 13 stars...
...more tea set up between two original settees...
...and a fake black marble fireplace...
...an antique clock...
...some more fancy wallpaper...
...and a beautiful pianoforte...

~Have a lovely day!

Thursday, June 26, 2014

...Exploring West Virginia...the Craik-Patton House...Two...

...next we moved into the dining room...where there was this beautiful locking buffet...
...the locks were important because Mrs. Craik kept all of her silver and china locked up...
...she wore the keys on her belt and would probably have inspected the buffet contents every day...
...the table was set with decorated china...at a time when most people ate off of stoneware...
...they did not trust the water for drinking...which we thought was hilarious...but they did use it to wash their wine glasses between wines...
...and they filled finger bowls with it to wash their fingers...
...they served their coffee from a silver urn...
...and they had small side table for serving as well...
...and of course they had another fireplace...
...a close up of the pretty wallpaper...(I wouldn't want it in my house...but)...the more elaborate and colourful the wallpaper the more expensive and impressive...
...and they had a winter kitchen underneath the dining room...the servants carried dishes up the outside stairs into the dining room via a side doorway...

~Have a lovely day!

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

...Exploring West Virginia...the Craik-Patton House...One...

...we toured the Craik-Patton House...it was a lot of fun...and very informative...
...it's one of 'The Seven Sisters'...Seven Pre-Civil War homes here in W.V....
...this is the Ruffner Cabin...you couldn't go inside...hoping they are going to fix it up and open it too...
...the exterior of this Georgian home was quite unusual for the time...

...it was built by the Rev. James Craik...the son of George Washington's personal secretary...
...this buttery yellow room was the library...
...and this secretary was George Washington's...it was a willed to Craik's father on Washington's death...
...a little corner set up for tea...
...and a portrait of Rev. Craik over the fireplace...

~Have a lovely day!

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

...Using up Leftovers...

...How good are you at using up your leftovers?...I grew up in a family that regularly ate up leftovers...but I know that's not always the case nowadays...
...we had just a couple of spoonfuls of the Creamed Mushrooms left from our canapés...

...so I tossed them in the food processor...
...and gave it a whir...
...then I mixed up a nice thick vegan soup...which is just almond milk and veg broth and some AP flour...cooked until thick...
...added the minced creamed mushrooms
...and I had a delicious big bowl of creamy mushroom soup for lunch...

~Have a lovely day!