Pink Roses

back in the day...

This is an undated photo of my farm from many years ago, with it's many barns and outbuildings.  Some of the structures are still there, but many were destroyed in 1989 when Hurricane Hugo passed through town. Some of the remaining features include:

 

Here is a photo dated 1973 showing some of the buildings at the top of the driveway.  These buildings included a blacksmith shop, and a smokehouse.  All of these were destroyed in the Hurricane. 

I am grateful to have this glimpse into the history of the farm through these photos, generously given to me by the previous owner of this property.

same barn, different month...

I am documenting the seasons on the farm by taking photos of the same things every month. This is a series of photos of my big barn, taken on the first day of each month, from the same bedroom window. 

February 1, 2014:

 

March 1, 2014:

April 1, 2014

May 1, 2014

I will post another series in a few months.

patchwork powder room...

Once upon a time, there was a quirky little unused space under the staircase at the farm.

This spot had held nothing but an old piano for decades. (the piano came with the house, so I still have it)

As I spent months stripping off the layers of wallpaper in the entryway, I considered the best use for the space.  I wanted to build a powder room, but there wasn't enough room.

Then one day, while doing repairs in the kitchen, we had the great idea to move the doorway a few feet to the right, and create a space large enough for a tiny powder room.  It was an exciting moment!

(repairing the plaster walls, and painting over the green paint is also pretty exciting!)

 

I had a really clear vision on how I wanted to decorate the powder room.  YEARS ago, Pam Garrison decorated the back of her craft closet with a patchwork of vintage papers, and I was so inspired. I have always wanted to do that, somewhere, somehow.  I have dozens of rolls of vintage papers, collected over the years for art projects, and the farm was a "worthy" place to use my precious hoard.  I started rolling the papers out in the dining room and weighing them down with scraps of wood to flatten them out. I hung the  papers fairly randomly, but did consider the colors and pattern, and tried to come up with a visually pleasing design.

I decided to hang the paper with the seams showing, so that you could read the borders.  I really like it that way. I had the old wood floors refinished in the powder room before I started hanging the paper, and I did all the paper before the plumbers came in.  It was much easier to work without a sink and toilet in the way.

These old papers are very difficult to work with, and are not prepasted.  My favorite paper was so old and fragile, that it ripped in half.  I just hung it up anyway!

This room is tiny, but it took me WEEKS to complete.  I think I obsessed too much.  Also, everyone that saw it, hated it.  That sort of shook my confidence.  I'm glad I kept going!:)

My electrician rewired and hung an old metal tole floral chandelier that I painted white.  My plumber installed a petite pedestal sink, and a round toilet, to save every inch of space we could.

The carpentry work is being completed this week...baseboards, door and trim.  We are re-using an old door that was originally in a back room of the house...it is a bit short, and has 6 panels, so it is perfect for this space. (I painted it PINK!) We built a shelf/ledge behind the toilet, and I will use that to store extra toilet paper and supplies, in some sort of decorative container.

I absolutely LOVE the way this room turned out, and it's going to be so helpful to have a bathroom on the first floor of the house! I will post photos when it is all completed!!

bittersweet...

It is with great sadness, that I am taking down this gorgeous, original, dining room wallpaper.  I absolutely fell in love with this paper the moment I saw it...pink flowers, birds, butterflies..all in the most beautiful colors. This is the first photo I ever took of the dining room...the floral paper was covered in another wallpaper, a gold geometric pattern, but you can see a bit of the floral peeking out from underneath to the left side of the fireplace.

One of my first projects was stripping off the gold wallpaper to expose the lovely floral wallpaper.  I had hoped the floral would have been in better shape.

 

Unfortunately, through the years, the plaster walls have cracked and crumbled, there are many water stains from a leaky roof, and the paper is beyond repair. (You can see the living room across the hall with it's original wallpaper before I removed it)

 

I decided that this would be the LAST paper I removed, and I have enjoyed the faded beauty for the past 9 months. We opened up the fireplace, and my stone masons were able to seal, repair, and stucco over the old brick, making it look a lot cleaner. 

I may put tile around it, or paint it...not sure yet.

There are a few "good" areas of the wallpaper without stains or cracks, and I am removing them ever so carefully.

 

I will frame a section of this paper and hang it in this room, to cherish and remember.

So this is where I will be for the next few weeks...stripping off the faded past, and preparing this room for a shiny future!

pink...

good morning neighbor...

 

this never gets old...

fireplace makeover: family room...

My old farmhouse has 6 fireplaces, none of which were in working, useable condition.  The fireplaces had been used to burn coal, and all but one had been boarded up.  I wanted to clean up/fix up all of the fireplaces, and rebuild one so that we could actually use it to burn wood and have a fire.  I decided that the family room fireplace was the most useful, and over the past 2 weeks it has been rebuilt, and refaced with stacked rock.  Here is the progress...This is the family room last summer after I first bought the house.  We had removed the dropped 8 foot ceiling, and brought the room back to it's original 11 foot ceiling.  You can see that the original ceiling was a mess! Layers of wallpaper, and plaster walls were hiding the chimney.

Later in the summer, we removed the walls, ceiling, and the floor.  We got under the house, jacked it up, and replaced the supporting floor joists-making everything safe and straight and level once again.  You can see the full fireplace at this point. (don't worry, I saved the mantle!)

We repaired everything structurally, and then ran electrical, then insulated, then hung sheetrock. New plywood subflooring was installed. New windows were also ordered and have been installed.

To rebuild the fireplace I hired two brothers who were experienced masons.  They were also very kind.

We bought 3 1/2 tons of Tennessee stacked rock...

and this is what they did...first they cemented over all of the old bricks and installed firebricks in the actual fireplace.  They installed a damper, and then they marked the dimensions of the fireplace with strings (leveled) up to the ceiling.

 

As they began laying the stone, they asked me to go outside and walk around the farm and find a special rock that could be placed in the fireplace.  They said "we want you to have a rock from your land, in your fireplace.  Someday you will stand here with your grandchildren and tell them the story of this rock".  That made me cry.  I found a beautiful piece of pink rose quartz out by the lake.  They showed me how to trowel the mortar, and let me place the stone in the fireplace.  Like I said, they were very kind.

We took 2 original beams from the house and installed then on each side of the chimney, and they applied the stone around them to secure them.  These 2 beams will be used to support the mantle, which will be a huge old beam from one of the barns.

They used cement blocks to build up the original brick chimney and make it larger for the stone.

This is the fireplace today...the stone work is complete, and the hearth has been built. 

 

They will be back next week to clean all the mortar off of the bricks, and spiff it up a bit.  The mortar at the top of the chimney is still wet, and so it looks dark grey.  When it dries, it will be pale, like it is at the bottom.  My carpenters will be cutting a beam to size and installing it to make the mantle.  I am happy with the way this has turned out...a bit rustic...but I think that's what is appropriate for an old country home.  They have also refinished the other 5 fireplaces...but that's another post :)

edit: fireplace after it was acid washed to remove all of the mortar from the stones...

where garlands intersect...

Valentine garlands are still hanging in the kitchen window...tickets, mini cupcake liners, pom-poms, and lots of twinkly lights.  All a bit too cheerful to take down quite yet...

gifts from the farm...

Every day I seem to find a new treasure here at the farm...a candy striped Camellia blooming in the side yard, tiny Spring Snowflakes (leucojum) popping up by the house, and even this tiny glass bottle found in the woods...the neck is broken yet still so perfect to hold these blooms.  Yesterday I received one of the greatest gifts of all...a phone call from a descendant of this farm.  He was delightful, and shared so much information of his family history.  He sent me emails of articles written about this property...wedding announcements, and accounts of the people and crops...true treasures.  My favorite gift might be that he gave me a NAME...the name of this "country home" as it was called in articles dated from the 1890's...it was called "OAK GROVE".  I love it!  I had been thinking of a name for this home, and never quite decided on the perfect one.  Now it is settled, and it seems so right.  I will continue on with the name that was given over a century ago.  Thank you Dan!  Please come visit Oak Grove anytime...

 

Here is a family wedding announcement that appeared in the local newspaper dated June 18, 1896.  The brides name was Pearl!

It describes Oak Grove as "one of the loveliest country homes in the county".  I hope to some day make it that way again:)

Jackson Argus
Week of June 18, 1896
LEACH – CARMICHAEL The Beautiful Wedding Was Solemnized at High Noon Yesterday
The wedding of Miss Pearl Carmichael and Mr. Joe M. Leach was solemnized
yesterday noon at the home of the bride near Jackson, the Rev. Jno. Speer
of Stone Mountain officiating.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. D. N. Carmichael never looked more beautiful,
nestled as it is, in a beautiful grove of oaks, from which it takes its name,
“Oak Grove”, the same being famous as one of the loveliest country homes in
Butts County and owned by one of the most prominent and wealthiest planters
of this section of the State.
The decorations were very beautiful and tasteful and everything seemed
to conspire together in making the hour one great joy and gayety. The bride
was lovely attired in a pretty tailor made traveling suit of gray and
blue cloth, and she never looked prettier, and with the handsome and
distinguished looking bridegroom by her side covenanting an everlasting love
and protection to his bride, made the union a living picture of poesy, and
dreams of perpetual happiness and joy.
Precisely at high noon the groom with his bride on his arm appeared in
the beautiful drawing room where awaited the minister and a large concourse
of relative and friends of the contracting parties.
Very soon after the wedding ceremony the spacious dining hall of the
Carmichael home was thrown open to the invited guests, and tables laden with
all sorts of lovely things eatable, weir made the victim of a wedding party.
Mrs. D. N. Carmichael assisted by Mrs. H. E. and J. B. Settle, Mrs. Rose
Carmichael and Mrs. P. H. Watkins proved to be hostesses of the most elegant
kind.
The bride is a very lovely lady of less than twenty years, and numbers
her friends by the score. The groom Mr. Joe M. Leach, is a worthy and
honorable citizen of Griffin and a member of the leading grocery firm of that
city.
The bride and groom left in the afternoon for Griffin where they will
make their future home.
The guest present were:
Mr. and Mrs. Leroy Daughtry, Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Carmichael, Mr. and
Mrs. Frank Curry, Mr. and Mrs. Jno. B. Settles, Mr. and Mrs. P. R. Watkins
and family, Mr. and Mrs. Joe S. Ham, Mr. and Mrs. F. S. Etheridge, Mr. and
Mrs. Jno. Huff of Griffin, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Carmichael; Mesdames N. E.
Settles, Rose Carmichael, S. G. Etheridge, W. F. Lee, Mary Heflin, Mr. Walker
Moore, with Miss Annie Carmichael, Misses Agness Carmichael, Myrtis Peavy,
Eva Sassnett, Mary Goodall, Rosa Thornton, Annie Wright, Emma Ezell, Edna
Madden, of Concord, Mary Harkness, Mary Brooks of Griffin, Judie Brooks,
Sallie Saunders, Susie Manley, Geneva Carmichael, Messrs. C. C. Smith, Joe
Wright, E. P. Bridges of Griffin, Claud Hutchinson of Atlanta, Mr. R. T.
Watkins, B. F. Watkins, Joe Carmichael of Molena, Cliff Ford of Griffin,
Walter Carmichael, Van Fletcher, W. G. Goodrich, Lem and Harrris Carmichael,

farmhouse upstairs...completed!

It's taken months of work, and I'm excited to say, the upstairs is completed!  Oh a few minor details remain, and I still need FURNITURE :), but the hard work is over!  I am starting a gallery wall...

The antique heart pine floors just GLOW!  They turned out better than I could have ever expected...I am thrilled!

I had every room painted the same color for continuity, and the pale cream color really lets the floors shine, and be the focal point.

I needed so many light fixtures, that I was overwhelmed.  I ended up buying very inexpensive lights at Home Depot for all of the bedrooms.  They can be replaced if/when I find a flea market treasure!

A few light fixtures are extra special...this chandelier was purchased on a trip to New Orleans to visit my son last month.  He is living and working in Louisiana, and took me to some fabulous antique shops.  I love having this chandelier in my home as a souvenir of my trip.  My electricians rewired it, and it's perfect in the hallway over the staircase.

I designed these custom beadboard bookcases around the chimneys in each bedroom.  My carpenters did an amazing job building them, and I think they look as if they could have been an original feature of the house.

I was fortunate to find a wonderful painter, with such attention to detail.  Her meticulous painting makes everything look perfect!

I am so thrilled with the finished product! I love bringing this old farmhouse back to life.

Now comes to best part...decorating with vintage finds!