Bama Planter

Hello from the frozen South.  Other parts of the country wonder how two inches of snow can shut down all of central Alabama and Georgia.  It's the ice that comes first.  No one can drive on a road covered in ice. We have no snow plows and salt trucks and all that sort of stuff.   It's 13 degrees now in central Alabama and about 20 in Mobile.  This only only happens here about every 15 years.  It's usually about an inch and it's gone in a day.  View from the library window.  Since I'm almost 60, this is apt to be the last snow I will see in my lifetime.

I have six new girls ready to make their debut as they hide in a cabinet in the back room.  Here they are, with new dresses and clean faces.   All of the old clothes are stored away, none of which were original.  None of the wigs were original either; in fact, some of the girls had no hair at all upon arrival.  I use a product called Renaissance micro-crystalline wax polish on all the faces to clean and protect them. It does absolutely no harm now or in the future and is made in England and used by the British Museum. All you need is a small jar.   She's looking good for 100+ years old.  Dressed for winter.  This Heubach doll has a rosy face as compared to the Armand Marseille girls.  Another red-haired beauty. OK maybe the blonde wig needs a trim. 

 I was fortunate to bid on and win this wonderful desk that was auctioned in north Georgia. The shipping company I use always gives me a good rate because I am never in a hurry. The flash makes the desk look like an ugly muddy brown, but it is not.  The top slants but does not lift, which allows for two small drawers as well as a large drawer below.     The dove tails show the quality of construction.  I found the stencil of the maker inside the top right drawer.  The stencil identifies the desk as the work of Patterson and Lavender, cabinetmakers whose business was located at 43 and 45 Cornhill Street in Boston.  Their firm made all sorts of furniture for stores and offices in the 1860's, 70's, and 80's.  The seller has several other high quality pieces.  I am glad this desk has found a new home here in Alabama.   Here is a picture I found on line showing the firm's stationary which gives their address and highlights s...

When I say it's cold here I mean it's about 50 and sunny, but a bit too chilly to sit on the porch without a blanket.  The sun will warm you up after a few minutes. The Christmas things are being put away today. I ran out of wall so I slid this mule chest in front of the stepback until I can find a space.

We had a sunny day so I made a few pictures of the front room.  The only treatment I've ever used on the floors was boiled linseed oil about 20 years ago.  I'm still learning about crocks. Most of these are out of Bibb and Perry County.  I'm looking for a brown/mustard rug to replace the one under the table.  It's too new and too red. This is my latest mule chest.  The unusual thing about it is that the inside till is on the right rather than on the left.  My cousin noticed this and said he had never seen one with the till on the right. This is a view inside the cupboard.  I open the doors only for photographs, or for the curious who want a look inside. I've grown to appreciate the grey painted dry sink.   The chair to the right has turned legs in the sausage pattern. Wallace Nutting calls it a mushroom chair.  The legs have lost several inches since 1680. The dough bowls are in a 5-board box.  90% of the on-line doug...

This primitive blue pie safe just came out of a planter's town house in south-central Alabama.  The back is marked Selma, Alabama. I tried to work it into the house but the blue color stood out too much against the browns of the other furniture so I stuck it on the porch. The wear on the front doors is original and not faked.  I know better than to mess with it.   The inside is clean, solid, and unpainted.  And empty for now. The piece next to it is also pine, put together with square nails, and has never been painted.  Both are safe from the rain as the porch is ten feet deep.  Both have been secured to the log wall for safety.  Here is the colonial mule chest I found on line and had shipped down from New Jersey. Above it is a spool cabinet and on top of that is my Christmas tree decorated with dried orange slices.  I bought the pine corner cabinet about a month ago at a local sale. It is square nailed and original except for the...

Here is one of my favorite plants from literature... love-lies-a-bleeding.  My friend in Denver planted this and you can see how well it has grown.  The long flowers will dry and produce thousands of tiny seeds for next year.  The flowers can be anything from dark red to light rose.   These will grow longer and look like dreadlocks.