A Little House in Louisiana

We spent yesterday at my parents' house in West Monroe, Louisiana, and it was too beautiful a day to leave my camera in the car. Here are some of the pictures I captured of their yard and house (You can click on the pictures to enlarge them) ... Isn't that a pretty fall garden! That's turnip greens and broccoli ... I love the little bench where they sit to rest and admire their hard work ... Another "resting" place. Look at that stack of firewood behind the swing (compliments of a sweet nephew) ... This is their backyard which backs up to a little lake ... Here are a few of Mama's garden treasures she's collected through the years ... I love this little sign. It says, "Don't look, birds bathing." This unique old planter sits on the patio table ... And this piece of driftwood has been moved two or three times during the years ... Patio and back porch ... My mama's roses ... This is the little lake behind their house. It has duckweed growing on it now, but I think it's pretty, especially with all those cypress knees along the banks ... I forgot to show you this firewood box that Daddy built. They keep it on the front porch so they don't have to go all the way out to the firewood stack on cold winter days. Now, I'd like to take you inside the house, starting with the living area ... This old barrister's bookcase belonged to my paternal grandmother, and the bird pictures (which Mama says are around 100 years old) came from my maternal grandmother's family. Many, many years ago, Mama saw this old pharmacist scale in a barn owned by a friend's dad, and when she commented that they were beautiful, the sweet old man said, "Oh, you can have that." Mama, of course, said she would pay him for the scale and he said, "Okay, give me five dollars then." I just love stories like that, and Mama has lots of them to tell. Take this old pie safe, for instance ... Daddy was a building contractor before he retired, and was doing a remodeling job many years ago for a little old lady. He noticed this old cabinet on her porch and asked her what she was going to do with it, and she asked him if he would "take it to the dump" for her. Daddy gave her $5.00 for it and took it home to Mama, who was thrilled with it. Another one of Mama's treasures is this wonderful old picture that she found probably 40 years ago in an antique shop in Mandeville, Louisiana. It hangs over their entertainment center and is called "The Love Potion." There was a companion picture that went with it, but Mama said she could only afford to get one of them at the time. I often wonder what happened to the other one. This dining table and chairs belonged to my maternal grandparents. It has a couple of leaves to it and I can remember how big it looked to me when I was little. What wonderful memories I have of Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners at that table. Back then, it was a tradition that the children were served first in the kitchen, and then the ladies in the family served the men their dinner in the dining room. After the men's plates were removed, the table was reset for the ladies and they had a nice leisurely dinner while the men served them and did the dishes. My girl cousins and I always looked forward to the day when we could eat at the "Ladies' Table." The cabinet under the clock belonged to my grandparents, too. I can remember it in their bathroom (it was painted blue then, I believe), along with the old claw-footed tub. The chandelier over the table was one of my "trash to treasure" stories. It was made in Spain, and I found it in a junk shop and paid very little for it (I can't remember how much, but it was a bargain at the time). I took it home, cleaned it up, and had it rewired for Mama and Daddy to use in their new house. I enjoyed taking the pictures yesterday and writing this post about my parents' house. It is a perfect little house for them, and is very dear to my heart because they have put so much of themselves into making it home. (You can read more about my parents in a post I wrote about their recent 65th wedding anniversary, if you'd like ... It's called A Marriage Made in Heaven). Sincerely,