J.J. Audubon

I brought a puzzle home from our trip to the Hub. Other than southern jellies, there wasn't really a lot else I thought he'd like.
It features many of the birds from John James Audubon's Bird of America Series.
It's been slow going with our schedules.
We worked on the edge pieces a couple of nights in front of the fire place.
The grandbaby has helped and as we've assembled the pieces, I have read to hear from our volume of the Audubon book, purchased years ago on a family trip to New Orleans. We have discussed which of Audubon's bird paintings are our favorites.
As much as I love the herons and cranes, the doves are my all time favorites.
The Hub loves the wild turkey.
My girls always favored the brown pelican.  That is likely because of their deep Louisiana roots and the fact that the pelican is the state bird of their home state.
Their brother has liked the mockingbird since he was a little boy. I think he likes that particular painting, not because of





the birds but because of the rattle snake Audubon painted in the tree with them.
That particular painting scares the rest of us. Take a glance at it below and you will see why!

hairspray to the rescue

 

I was relieved when Siri took us to Shreveport  as we journey on to Natchez on our Sister Trip without us passing through Fouke, Arkansas. There are newer and better routes, according to Siri, than the ones we know and our accustomed to from trips to and from the area through the years. The reason for my relief is simple: the Fouke monster. Don't even try to tell me the Fouke monster is not real. I have seen the pictures. I have seen the "Legend of Boggy Creek. Back in the day, movies like the Gargoyles and the Legend of Boggy Creek were  way scarier than they are now. To watch them now, is to see them, perhaps, as awkward and unrealistic. But not in the day.

Back then, before places like Weta workshop and their computer generated graphics increased our ideas  of realistic looked like. At the time I first saw Boggy Creek it was scarey stuff.Like Gargoyles and Jaws, it was the stuff nightmares were made of.What made the creature particularly scary was the fact that we lived near Fouke, Arkansas and frequently drove through there.The closer we would get to Fouke, Arkansas, the more animated my sisters and I became.Mother came up with a solution. She convinced us that the monster could be repelled by hair spray. She used aqua net. She preferred the heavy stuff, sold  in a red can. We made sure she had it on the ready just about the time we crossed over into Arkansas, whichever way we were going.Now as an adult, I know this is all fiction. I haven't had a nightmare about the Fouke monster in years.But at the time I packed for our recent trip south, I was not sure whether or not we would take our old route through Boggy Creek. So I had a can of hair spray on the ready...

 

Angels in Natchez

We intended to go to the cemetery in Natchez to see the Turning Angel. It is the subject of a book by Greg Isles, which either one or both of my sisters have read.  When our itinerary expanded to include the Audubon Pilgrimage in St. Francisville and time with my nephew from Baton Rouge, some things we might have done had to be omitted. The Cemetery Tour was one of those.
Fortunately, there are other angels in Natchez. Some of them are pictured above. Aren't they lovely?

Rosedown

Rosedown is something of a crown jewel in the string of antebellum dwellings in Louisiana and the Felician Parishes. Though known primarily for its expansive gardens and grounds, the interior of Rosedown is stunning in its own right.
I considered the gardens and foyer of Rosedown worthy of their own blog posts.
An remarkable amount of its original furniture has remained at Rosedown, this largely because descendants of Daniel and Martha Turnbull, who built the house in 1834-35, resided there for several generations.

The house and gardens are now the property of the State of Louisiana and are preserved as a state historical site by the Office of State Parks.

darby's

 

 

Darby's is a Natchez institution, as far as I'm concerned. I've been a Darby's fan for a long time... since back when the whole second floor was a Christmas store. Back then I could get everyone's collectible in one place...House of Hatten ornaments for my Mother-in-law, demitasse tea cups for a nieces, Coca Cola Christmas things for the Hub, Fontanini Nativity for my son and Dreamsickles and Snowbabies for my daughters.
They still are well stocked, those upstairs now houses furniture. There is also a furniture store across the street that we spent just a few minutes in before we headed home.

mighty mississippi

 

 

 

 

in a southern garden

 

 

more rosedown outside

 

 

 

statuary at rosedown

 

 

 

 

 

alcove at rosedown

 

this charming little alcove in the upstairs at Rosedown captured my attention. I can just see a sweet baby being rocked there, either in someone's arms or in the rocking cradle while someone nearby sewed or wrote letters or attended some quiet task.

Fabrics of Natchez

Some of the upholstery and drapery fabric found in the historic homes in Natchez are so beautiful and so classic that major textile companies adapted them for wall coverings and yard goods. a vintage floral print at Green Leaves, for example, is now marketed as is the print above, called Urns of Natchez.
Some of the prints are classic, while others, though traditional, are less formal and decidedly more fun. The one pictured below, for example! I am looking, even as I write this, for somewhere to use it~

 

 

outbuildings at rosedown

 

 After the death of Martha Turnbulls son from a contagious disease, the brought a doctor to live and work on the grounds of Rosedown to care for the family and the  workers who lived there.
The office of the physician remains on the grounds as a testament to the serious disease was in the era of the Turnbull's occupancy of Rosedown







The latticed pavillions, gazebos and summer houses on the grounds of Rosedown are closely identified with and part of the garden landscaping design which still bears Mrs. Turnbull's signature  

Signs of the Sisters Trip 2013