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The online Gentlewood Cottage, anyway.
I will no longer be posting here on WordPress. Instead – please come visit Gentlewood Cottage at my NEW location!
All the archives and links and all that fun stuff will be there, as well as a few new additions – and I’ll be working feverishly to polish up a few other new things, as well.
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Photo by – BrittneyBush
Supposedly, our little property was a portion of a larger estate from the time of the Civil War, up to somewhere in the twenties. The house next door to ours was supposedly the main house of the estate. Both our house, and our neighbor’s, have similar backyards, both with old sheds. According to local legend, both sheds used to be housing for slaves. Both had their private outhouses, and the one pictured above is ours….
My very real-life green….
And it’s slightly more attractive relative…
The Nester has had a few really great posts lately on decorating with what you have, and making each room in your home a place that you really do want to be. Her series “Ten Minutes to a Room You Love” has been good, but for some reason I found her Tablescape Tutorial especially inspiring.
It’s the perfect little task for a highly pregnant mama to do on her due date. I feel like I’m getting something done, and still managing to expend very little energy.
It also is a perfect way to showcase a few of my very favorite items, like this little wooden sandpiper that Dan’s dad gave me for Christmas. His parents give the best gifts!
The new arrangement also brings the proper attention to one of Kinsley’s favorite things:\
This is Lyle Maxwell The Kindly Fish. He is a gift from Marme and Grandad, and my grandparents. They also are amazingly talented gift givers. Of course, Kinsley did hint very blatantly (she suggested that it might have been a more appropriate Valentine’s Day gift than a balloon).
As you can probably tell, Kinsley named Lyle. She says that when we say “goodnight” to him, we have to say “Goodnight, Lyle Maxwell!” When we say “good morning”, we only have to say “Good morning, Lyle!” But when we leave, then we say “Goodbye, Lyle Maxwell the Kindly Fish!” I once messed it all up, and when Kinsley gently corrected me, I told her I was sorry. She said “That’s fine, Mama. Just don’t let it happen again.”
So, back to the decorating. I need a few opinions, here.
Arrangment (1)a:
Or
Arrangement (1)b:
Or none of the above?
Also,
Arrangement (2)a:
or
Arrangement (2)b:
Or, no plant there at all?
What should I do to finish it off?
Next follows bedmaking, at which the cook or kitchen-maid, where
one is kept, usually assists; but, before beginning, velvet chairs, or
other things injured by dust, should be removed to another room.In bedmaking, the fancy of its occupant should be consulted; some like beds sloping from the top towards the feet, swelling slightly in the middle; others, perfectly flat: a good housemaid will accommodate each bed to the taste of the sleeper, taking care to shake, beat, and turn it well in the process. Some persons prefer sleeping on the mattress; in which case a feather bed is usually beneath, resting on a second mattress, and a straw paillasse at the bottom. In this case, the mattresses should change places daily; the feather bed placed on the mattress shaken, beaten, taken up and opened several times, so as thoroughly to separate the feathers: if too large to be thus handled, the maid should shake and beat one end first, and then the other, smoothing it afterwards equally all over into the required shape, and place the mattress gently over it.
Any feathers which escape in this process a tidy servant will put back
through the seam of the tick; she will also be careful to sew up any
stitch that gives way the moment it is discovered. The bedclothes are
laid on, beginning with an under blanket and sheet, which are tucked
under the mattress at the bottom. The bolster is then beaten and shaken, and put on, the top of the sheet rolled round it, and the sheet tucked in all round. The pillows and other bedclothes follow, and the counterpane over all, which should fall in graceful folds, and at equal distance from the ground all round.The curtains are drawn to the head and folded neatly across the bed, and the whole finished in a smooth and graceful manner. Where spring-mattresses are used, care should be taken that the top one is turned every day.
~ The Book of Household Management (1861) by Mrs. Isabella Beeton
One thing I’ve been planning to try to incorporate my blog, is a category for vintage or retro housekeeping tips. I’ve recently been lucky enough to pick up a few Heloise books, and have found them to be very fascinating, from several angles. Some of the tips are very dated, and surely useful only as entertainment, but some have also proven themselves to be useful in our home already.
I’ve not been sure how to best accomplish this (weekly, daily, etc…) but for now, I think I will attempt to keep up with a daily tip, roughly following the old housekeeping adage:
Wash on Monday
Iron on Tuesday
Shop on Thursday
Clean on Friday
Bake on Saturday
Rest on Sunday
So, off to create a new category and dust off my vintage housekeeping manuals….
“Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” ~ G.K. Chesterton
Today is my great-grandfather’s 98th birthday. I think it’s pretty amazing that we still have the opportunity to have five generations of our family in the same room.
Lately I’ve been looking over some of the old family documents and photos, thinking of Grandpa, and what he must have been like in his youth. I found this short story that he wrote, and decided to try to type several of these old stories and save them here on my blog…
So, here ’tis…
I was born Jan 1, 1911 at Logan Creek, Ellington Mo (Corridon, MO). I was the youngest in a family of 16 children. Several died before I was born. My father’s name was Charles Lafayette Williams (born May 4th 1866) and my mother’s name was Leona Bell (Renfro) Williams, (born Feb 4th 1866).
Her father was hung in the Civil War. They were both from South Carolina. Leona (my mother) had a brother, Virgil Renfro, and a half brother, George Hines. His wife’s name was Sarah, and their children were Lewis, Jim, Robert, Walter, George, and Sarah.
My paternal grandparents were Daniel Maxie Williams (born Feb 7th 1827, and died May 26th 1875) and Mary Ann Clementine (Foster) Williams (born January 6th 1832, and died October 8th 1915). My paternal great-grandparents were J.E. Williams (born March 16th 1787) and Jane Williams (born June 29th 1798). They married on January 16th, 1816. Also, Joel Thomas Foster (born June 7th 1808) and Lucinda (Holland) Foster, (born June 14th, 1810). My paternal great-great grandmother was Ann Foster (husband – ?). My paternal great-great grandfather was John Holland (born in Ireland, died March 17th, 1835).
My maternal grandparents were by the last name Baskett, possibly from Kentucky. She had a sister named Mexico (went by “Mex”) and one named Viola, who went to Michigan. Viola had a daughter who looked like my sister, Dora, and who married Charley (“Chet”) Hesterly.
My father was a farmer, and my mother was a housewife. I can barely remember my grandparents, because I was too young. I do remember fearing Grandma (Mary Ann Clementine Foster Williams).
When my parents (and family) moved from Kentucky to Missouri, they had a colored lady they didn’t want to bring with them. (My sister, Mae, says that we could not have her anymore as a slave, because of the Emancipation Proclamation.) She was so upset, she jumped off a bridge and drowned herself.
It was said by my brothers that as a young child I was nursed until the age of five. I went to Owl’s Bend School at Powder Mill. The teacher was Corie Martin. I had to quit school in grade three to help on the farm.
My parents were protective, mainly of their daughters. When it came time to look for a mate, I looked for whomever showed interest, or didn’t mind riding a horse on dates. Dating consisted of walks, sitting by the spring where my family keeps milk and butter, church gatherings, pie suppers, and sometimes dances. I married Goldie Kimes, who was born April 14, 1912. Her father would get out the rifle to try to scare off the girls’ beaus.
I liked the fact that she was a hard worker, and most of all, she was a lot of fun. We went horseback riding on our first date. When I proposed on a later date, her response was that her daddy would not allow it. When Goldie was 18, and I was 19, we ran away to Centerville, MO and got married on April 18th, 1932. We claimed to both be older because of her father’s objection to our marriage. Gladys Shriver was the witness. J.R. Harrison was the Justice of the Peace. I had ordered a suit, but did not get it, so I wore dress pants.
This last photo was taken just a few months before my great-grandmother died of cancer.
This ornament has been the highlight of Sophie’s Christmas, so far. It came in a package from Uncle Mark and Aunt Holly. When we opened the box and showed the cheerful pink hippo to the girls, they squealed in delight. Then they hung it on the Christmas tree and have shown it proudly to everyone who walks through our door. Three or four times, in fact. So thank you, Uncle Mark and Aunt Holly!!!
This tiny little cardinal came on a box of wonderful English Toffee, from cousins Rachel and Nemiah. Kinsley has taken a particular shine to it, and has shown it to everyone who stops to look at the Pink Hippo. She and Papa have done quite a bit of bird watching lately, and she has been fascinated by cardinals in particular, so this was also a very timely little gift!
This is the last of the new ornaments this year, a gift from Dan’s papa. He has sent us several of these hand painted, mouth blown, Christmas ornaments over the years, and we always love to look at the delicate detail.
Another one from Papa.
This one was a wedding present. Isn’t it romantic?
This is one I bought before we were married. I think it came from Dollar General, and yet, it’s still one that I love to see every year…
A gift from a dear friend. I think it was given to us on our first Christmas together, but it may have been our second. They’re all starting to blend now…
When I was due with Sophie around Christmas time two years ago, we kept her name to ourselves. We were actually going to name her Lucy Sophia, and had experienced a few negative reactions to the name Lucy, so we decided not to share the name until there was a tiny girl to go with it. My little sister, Hannah saw this ornament hanging on the tree, and was certain that she had learned the name of our baby girl!
As it turned out, Sophie’s name got changed while I was in labor to Sophie Lucia Marie, so all that secrecy was for naught.
This ornament was made by Aunt Paula, and acquired at an ornament exchange which was hosted by my mom.
A vintage ornament which I happen to love. Actually, I love all the vintage ornaments, but this one was particularly photogenic. My grandma gave me this. She doesn’t treasure these old things the same way I do, because this is what she’s always had. Plastic is still new and fascinating to Grandma.
This sweet little hand-painted, Nativity set was given to us by Dan’s sister Holly and her husband, Quico. It came all the way from Spain, last Christmas. The only damage it sustained was to Joseph’s hand, but he doesn’t seem to notice. In fact, he holds his staff as suavely as ever, even without the hand.
So, that’s the partial tour of our tree. What are your favorite ornaments? What memories to they bring to mind?
