Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Merry Christmas thoughts

It is Christmas eve and there is still so much to do.  Oh well, this is turning out to be the best Christmas ever! (I say that every year :-)  I for one will miss the holiday season.

 I will miss all the Christmas cards from loved ones wishing us holiday cheer!  We just put them across the mantel as they came in! 
 

What a beautiful, tangible way to say "I love you" across the miles!


When DH and I finally put up the Christmas tree, I was a little sad that our two little boys had grown up and left us to put up the tree by ourselves.  DH did a great job decorating it and when he stepped back for me to take the picture, there was our sweet dog, Sardis and mean cat, Elizabeth!  They were with us all along!


We had a lot of fun with extended family, too!  Our nephews came over and we had sandwiches and Christmas cookies!  My heart just melts when I visit with these intelligent, young men!


And I will miss all the lights decorating the houses for Christmas!  I've been walking Sardis right at dusk lately just to see the lights.


Here is my card to you!  Best wishes for the holiday season filled with love!

Love,
Lottie




Thursday, December 5, 2013

Heyward House tour ( 3 of 3)

It's December and I have visited some of the most beautiful holiday home tours on blog land this year! So much time have I spent admiring your homes decorated that I forgot to post this house from our trip in November to the beach.  Please come along and join us on the tour!

The Heyward House in Old Town Bluffton, SC, was not decorated when we visited it in mid November, but I thought it was such a pretty house, just a sweet house, that I wanted to share some pictures we took on the tour. 


DH is standing on the top step for me.  This simple timber-framed house was built ca. 1840 and is of  Carolina Farmhouse architecture.

For more on the history of this house, click HERE.  

Living Room



Dining Room



Bedroom




Back Porch Bedroom


This is Katie, our tour guide.  My goodness, was she ever so knowledgeable about history and history of the furniture in this house.  I imagine by now the house has been decorated for Christmas!  Can you just image how beautiful this simple and sweet house would look decorated for Christmas!


Thank you for coming along on the tour with us!  Time for us to leave the warmth of Bluffton and the Spanish moss to drive back to the upstate. We have a lot of work to do getting our Christmas decorations out of storage and put up!  See you next time!

Love,
Lottie


Saturday, November 30, 2013

Visit to Rose Hill Mansion (2 of 3)


On my last post, I wrote about the relaxing trip we took to Hilton Head Island on the coast of South Carolina early in November.  The weather was great except for one day that was cold, 54 degrees, and rainy.  We planned a house tour that day to stay inside. Come join us!

We drove about 30 minutes from Hilton Head to historic Bluffton, SC, to visit beautiful Rose Hill Mansion. It was built in 1858.  The history is incredible and well documented so visit this website, www.RoseHillMansion.com  for the background.  I just wanted to share some pictures we took with you.
The house is a 10,000 square-foot Gothic Revival  that borders an inland waterway at the back.  The front yard is several acres.  Oh, the house looks so romantic with the Spanish moss blowing in the cold wind!  The owners live upstairs and the tour is of the downstairs areas.
 The ceiling on the porches are in a barrel shape to keep the air cool.



The owners lived in the gardener's cottage for three years while the house was renovated.  Yes, you can rent the cottage!

When you enter the wide double doors, this beautiful staircase is the first thing you see.  Yes, you can rent the house for weddings!

This table and gorgeous rug is at the bottom of the stairs!
The furniture was bought by the current owners to complement the house.

Next are pictures of the office.  This is my favorite room.





Next is the ladies parlor!

 


It was about this time in the tour when the guide reminded us of The Great Depression when squatters lived in the house.  In each room was a family with no electricity or running water.  Families even kept their chickens in their room. .

Now, the dining room....where we were served wonderful refreshments: pound cakes, cobblers, pimento cheeses, etc.




There was a sun room off the dining room and a men's parlor that was huge!  After I ate a few refreshments, I forgot to take many pictures:-).  Here are a few pictures of some of the large furniture in the men's parlor.




Now for the rest of the story.  During the civil war, Union forces occupied Hilton Head.  When they fired on Bluffton, they spared Rose Hill.  History says they didn't burn the house because the troops thought it looked like a church.  In fact, the same architect designed the Church of the Cross in Bluffton.  But others say no.  Dr. John Kirk, the builder of both Rose Hill and the Church of the Cross, was a beloved doctor who took care of both Confederate and Union troops who were wounded. 

A beautiful day in the low country....Thank you for joining us!

Love,
Lottie                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Friday, November 29, 2013

Beach trip to Hilton Head Island, SC (1 of 3)

Hello bloggy friends!  Hope you had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed your time with your family! We did!  

A couple of weeks ago, we visited Hilton Head Island on the coast of South Carolina.  It was early November and we were not sure about the weather, but it was in the 70s most days.  It was wonderful to just have some time to relax before the holidays!  Come on a tour with us.
DH and I wore our jackets or sweaters and walked along the beach everyday!


DH wakes up early anyway and took the camera with him every morning for his walk on the beach to capture the sunrise.  I slept late but he showed me the pictures at breakfast.

 We could walk to the beach from our apartment but we didn't have ocean view.  This is the view outside our balcony window.  So relaxing.... and different than piles of leaves at home.

We could also see the kiddie pool and the hot tub to the top right of the stairs.  DH loved that hot tub!
 
We were on the second floor right in the middle.  Except for one day, the sunshine was glorious!

I don't think I have ever enjoyed a get away as much as this year!  We were able to spend some time with both our sons at the beginning and end of the week.  We didn't spend hardly any money at all since it was off season.  And it made our Thanksgiving better this year because we were rested when we came home and started the holidays.  It makes it easier to laugh and let the little things fly by!

I'll be honest, the seven hour drive home was hard, but we decided we are going to the beach again next year in November.  We will gamble on good weather again.

You don't have to take a trip like we did (missed the pets somethings fierce), but be sure to take some time to relax before the holidays! It is so important to be rested.

What do you do to be rested before the holiday?

Love,
Lottie