St. Francisville....and rain...lots of it.

Beautiful Lousiana Oak trees in the "Feliciana's".....

Friday I took the "Girl Cousins" to
St. Francisville....probably my MOST favorite town in all of Louisiana.


St. Francisville is a small wonderful old town that is very quaint on the Mississippi River....about 45 minutes north of Baton Rouge.
"Girl Cousins"

It was the scene of a "Civil War Battle" is full of rich history...old, beautiful Plantations and Antebellum homes....the most wonderful HUGE Oak Trees with Spanish Moss hanging off of them and... cool antique shops. Fun!
"Church and Cemetery at Grace Episcopal Church...St. Francisville La."
Miss Priss and I LOVE to go up to St. Francisville and hadn't been since January.
So we decided we needed to take "KJ" before she left here for home.
We knew "K" would HATE it so we didn't take him. HA!
"KJ and Miss Priss"

We got to do a bit of sightseeing before a terrible rainstorm came upon us.

After having lunch at the "Magnolia Cafe" me and Miss Priss's favorite place to eat.
Then a bit of looking around the downtown and doing a bit of shopping.

I decided against my BETTER JUDGEMENT and took the girls in the storming, lighting, thunder and rain (my sister Jenny would have had a FIT had she been with us!!) to one Plantation nearby...which is supposed to be majorly HAUNTED.
I only went there because I knew I could get to it quick.....most are a bit further outside the town.

And we weren't skeeeered of the supposed "ghost".....lots of people on the "porch" were though. It was a tad bit "creepy" with that storm going on and it was only about 4:00pm and had turned "very dark" outside..then add in the terrible thunder and lightening and all those big massive Oak trees looming over head.

Photo of "The Myrtles Plantation" on a "dry day." I didn't take this photo of course.

Big.... hundreds of years old....heavy moss laden limbs.....just waiting to get hit by lightening and fall on us. Ugh. That's all I could think about...I wasn't worried about the ghost. I didn't want a huge Oak limb on our heads.

We weren't going to tour it but I just wanted my niece to see the architecture of the home......because it is beautiful outside of it. Lovely ironwork all around the front porch and such.
Of course they had suspended "tours" because of the storm and everyone was sitting outside in rocking chairs on the back veranda.Scared.

I think the storm enhanced their "nervousness" about the tour and the "ghostie" that is supposed to show up.
Whatever floats your boat.

We checked out the gift shop and walked around the grounds a bit then left....with the lightening and thunder pounding directly over our heads. It was very bad too.
I snapped this photo on our way off the grounds. I loved that Hydrangea bush and that cute little statue.

Didn't get a photo of the "ghost" though. Believe me...I wasn't paying big money to get in to look for her either.

I told the girls....that these Plantations and such have to have some kind of "draw" to get people to visit them.

It's very expensive to upkeep these places you know. And they are beautiful and full of history.....and some of the history is tragic....like at this particular Plantation.

I wrote a longer post about St. Francisville earlier this year so check it out so you can learn more about that area called the "Felicianas."
It's geogeous....if you ever come to Louisiana...make sure you visit there.

"Me and KJ"...waiting on the porch for the storm to let up. But it didn't so we made a run for it to the truck.

Going To The Big Apple .....

It's been a busy week with "The Cousins" here but still in the midst of it all....last week I booked plane tickets for Miss Priss, my husband and myself to NEW YORK CITY and I am sooooo excited!!!

We will be heading that way the end of September to celebrate our anniversary and Miss Priss's birthday. Two big events in October....

This was to be the year for a big trip to Europe...but the husband asked me "IF we could delay the Europe trip for at least a year and do something calmer" since we have invested so much $$$ and time wise into the remodeling of our house and other family things this year.

So I said,....."sure" and booked us a trip to New York City Trip instead. HA~!!!
We will be there 5 days....and our oldest son Gabe will come and meet us in NYC.

He's been there many times (in fact he's going there again in a couple of weeks) and my husband has been before but this will be the first trip for me and Miss Priss.

Did I mention that I am sooooo excited????

I'll have more photos of "The Cousins" later....believe me....we've been ALL over Baton Rouge this week.
I'm exhausted today.

These people look a bit tired too....
I can't imagine why.

Many Things to Ponder

"Dreams are illustrations... from the book your soul is writing about you."
~Marsha Norman~

I don't know about any of you, but my month has been very busy.
And although I am an organized person..it's been full of confusion at times. Even with my BEST planning intact. New challenges have arose that I did not expect.

As a result of all this....I have hardly had time to read or to sit and meditate or to have quiet thinking even.

Let alone to dream.
Which I dearly miss.

You have to MAKE time to do these things sometimes.

I need a moments rest and...we are heading into a long "running" stretch the next two weeks with my Twin Niece and Nephew, who my kids refer to as "The Cousins" flying down from Iowa on Sunday night.

I have "day trips" planned for us all in my head already, including a trip to New Orleans to sight see in the French Quarter and surrounding areas, next Tuesday if all goes well.
There is a lot to do and see here in Louisiana. Tons of history.

And of course....the food is awesome. Not that they care but some of us do! HA!

The "kitchen remodel" is coming along....my digital camera's chip is FULL UP so I have to go purchase a new one before I can shoot any more photos to post.

By this weekend...we should have it about 75-80 percent complete. The new "Cambria" counter tops will be installed tomorrow morning....Thank GOODNESS!!!
Cambria is a quartz material and does not hold bacteria and that was a huge reason why we selected it. Plus it is beautiful and hasn't the maintenance upkeep like granite does.

We have picked out a color called "Brownhill" to match our new cabinets.

We painted the walls the same color be had before because we loved it.
It's called "Chesteretown Buff" and it's one of the "Historical Colors" by Benjamin Moore Paints.
Here's the paint color:
We had hoped to have this More than over before the Twins arrived.
But it hasn't worked that way....gitches you know.
Lots of glitches.

Three weeks without a stove or a sink with running water. Ugh!!!
I'm nearly over the edge with all this :~)