Isn’t this a lovely picture? Our neighbor, Dr. D’Amato gave us these apples which I’m certain are heirloom because they taste so good.
Those apples reminded me of my den which is also a red color, and as I was sitting eating one of the apples this afternoon in the den, I decided to take some pictures of our wormy chestnut coffee table. I did so because when I review what Google searches land a reader at RiverCliff Cottage, I see the words “wormy chestnut” frequently.
Here’s the coffee table Mike made a few years back. While our house is not rustic, our den is, and this table is perfect. We can put our feet on it, knock it around or leave soft drink cans on it. Nothing phases it. This is furniture made to work.
It’s not all wormy chestnut. The legs are made from reclaimed walnut.
Unfinished barn siding makes up the table’s apron — I am a tobacco farmer’s daughter. I’m sure this barn siding housed tobacco at one time since it came from Southwest Virginia. I like furniture that tells a story and this table tells part of my story.
Here’s another picture…
It sits right in front of the fireplace, and Gerald (my brother in law) and Mike made the mantle above the fireplace. It’s very simple, but again, it’s wormy chestnut.
Quite a few folks commented or wrote to me on Facebook about the slipcovered chair and ottoman that is now in our living room. Here’s the post. While I knew that I loved the concept of slipcovers which could be washed, I was a little worried about the slipcovers because they looked so tailored and perfect when Danette installed them. I wondered how they would look after I washed them since I don’t own a steamer and don’t really have any plans to buy one.
I found out earlier this week, as I went up into the loft which we’re not using right now. Luckie can’t climb the steps, and she gets lonesome when we’re not around, so we’re just not going up there. Luckie, while elderly and deaf and almost 15, is our lone dog and is pretty much running things around here.
At any rate, I went up into the loft which, like most rooms that are not being used, has become a respository for stuff we are too lazy to put away. I try and keep the cats out of the room, but Sam the Cat had made a visit. Here’s the little sh*t when he was in jail and headed to the vet a few months ago.
In his defense, he may have gotten locked up there. It’s happened a time or two. However, the net-net was that Sam had peed on the slipcovered chair that was up there. I was so angry.
Here was the chair when it was brand spanking newly slipcovered. It is a brighter white than the one downstairs.
So..the very reason that I wanted slipcovers was because of the pets. It was the time when the “rubber meets the road”…the crucial moment of action. I took the slipcover off, sprayed the offending yellow stain with Oxyclean (and almost choked from the smell) and placed it in the high efficiency washer with a Tide Pod (something else I love). When the washer stopped, I took it out and hung it on the clothesline. When it was almost dry, I bought it in and attempted to iron it a little bit. This process was a little sad. I only attempted to iron the “tail” of the slipcvoer.
I took it upstairs, and I pretended like I was Danette Mayfield, the very nice lady who made the slipcover. I zipped and tucked, humming as if I knew what I was doing, and even though you can tell my ironing wasn’t a high priority, I think it looks pretty good. I like the “shabby chic” look. And…the stain and the offending smell is gone.
And I know my investment in slipcovers for existing pieces of furniture is a good one. Yay!
I’m really enjoying our living room — it’s sunny and cheerful. We touched up the paint and rearranged it this spring. Here’s the post if you’re interested.
However, I’ve not liked this corner. I’ve been “over” that red chair and ottoman for a long time. They were made by Taylor King, and they’ve not been sat on often. However, I’m trying to be responsible with my purchases, with what goes in our landfills, etc, and there is no reason to get rid of these. While I’m tired of the red chair and ottoman, there is nothing wrong with them; so I have felt compelled to continue using them.
All that said, I still wanted a change. Enter slipcovers. I’ve been waiting on these to get here from Danette Mayfield for about six weeks. While they look white in the pictures, they are actually a “natural” denim fabric.
Closer up…these look so nice, and I can remove them and wash them! Yay! Just yesterday, I washed another slipcover that Danette made, and it worked out well.
When Danette first came by and measured, she said she’d have these done in three weeks. It was actually six weeks, which turned out much better for me, as I was squirreling the money away for these and I had just enough. I was actually short $5 which she gave me a pass on, so I gave her a huge bag of green beans!!
Other things…earlier this week, I vowed to clean the house which included painting the baseboards. I want to give you a progress report. Kitchen baseboards are DONE! Floor is scrubbed — hands and knees type of scrubbing. Yes, my back is hurting.WoW I have a glamourous life.
And…the back yard is looking so good going into August, and it’s rewarding to see so many things that are perennials or were given to me by friends and neighbors for this “friendship garden” in my back yard. The sharing of flowers–the sharing of most anything– is all part of rural life.
Thank you for reading RiverCliff Cottage and visiting me in my rural life — complete with great slipcovers!
Note: For additional pictures, as well as those included below, go to the red tab up above that says “JSB Class of 1974.”
On Saturday, July 26, 2014, John Battle’s Class gathered for our 40th Reunion! Most of us are in the picture below but there will be more pictures from others that are more complete. Our reunion was at the Greenway Party House in Abingdon, Virginia. It could not have been better weather. Warm but not hot and humid. There was a nice breeze.
Doris put this thing together!
The Mendota girls (Lisa Benfield and me) helped…but only a little. Doris did the heavy lifting.
There are lots of pictures, and I don’t have all of the names. I’m hoping that you will email me at rivercliffcottage@gmail.com and let me know the names. Here we go!!
Here’s Alice Roop and Betty Campbell…
Denver Raines and Dennis Salyer…
Diane Duty (all the way from Seattle) and Doris (all the way from Abingdon)…
Help! I need names for these four!!
Frankie Smith and his wife…
Janet Hilliard…
Left to right: Tim Tabor, Karen Stine, Alice Roop and need your help on the last name.
Trinka Hensley…Trinka also got “most children” (5) and “most grandchildren” of anyone present.
Linda Godfrey….(on the right)
Linda Owens…
Lisa Benfield and Millie Cather…
I need your help on this one…
Marsha Lawson…
Lola “Bunny” Davis and Karen Stine…
Dennis Salyer, Mark Tolley, Cathy Hawkins, Linda Owens and Trina Barlow…
I need your help on this one.
I’m going to stop putting names on these for this evening. I’ll go back and update in a day or so.
Whoa baby…it’s been a busy weekend with our class reunion, and I’m getting set for a busy week ahead.
We’re expecting company in two weeks, and I am using this as an opportunity to get my house cleaned up. Really cleaned. I’m going to say it here so it’s like a promise or something–our loft will be clean, the baseboard painted in the kitchen and the rest of the house cleaned by this time next week. I’ve got to get it all done because there is the possible Jury Duty lingering next week.
It seems lame blogging about my front porch flowers when there is so much violence it the world. I can’t stand to hear one more bad thing. Do you ever feel that way?
Saturday, just to feel like I got something accomplished, and make a positive contribute to my personal area of the universe, I worked on the grapecart that we keep on the front porch. Here’s how sweet it looked last fall…
Here’s how sweet it looked early this spring…
And then, as I mentioned last week…it started to go in a shameful direction…
But after a visit to my True Love’s, it’s all sweet again. I removed the old petunia and replaced it with something that can handle the heat a little more without as much attention. Ta da! Enter moss roses and hen and chicks (sempervivum). If you like hen and chicks and live in Mendota, don’t buy them! See me! I’ve already given them to several neighbors and still have some!
Thank you for reading RiverCliff Cottage. Hope you have a wonderful week.
We’re so looking forward to tonight’s Class of 1974 40th Reunion.
However, there are lots of people who won’t be able to make it due to family, work, other responsibilities, etc. We’ll be posting pictures for them to enjoy.
There’s are sixteen who won’t be there for another reason. Their life was cut shorter than ours for reasons we will never know, Tonight and at other times when we reflect on our high school years, we will remember…
Johnny Lynn Anders William Cross Debbie Gunning Andy Grant Brenda Owens Hall Kathy Harley Terry Houser Darrell Ketron Jeff Leonard Patty Gallimore Leonard Wayne Melvin Judy McNamara Becky Moore Jeff Pack Janie Senter Phillips David Sproles Mike Venable
I’ve been so fortunate to live in a number of places. However, there were some downsides. I missed all of my class reunions. I attended a picnic briefly but I had to leave to catch a plane to go somewhere else, so the picnic doesn’t even count.
This time, not only am I going to attend (YAY!), Doris Clendenen Shuman, our classmate and reunion organizer, asked me to help with a few things for the Amazing John S. Battle Class of 1974 40th Reunion. My dearest friend, Lisa Benfield Edwards and I met with Doris yesterday. I am so excited to get to be a part of it.
Here’s Doris…it’s only natural that the class reunion organizer was voted “Friendliest,” isn’t it?
And here’s Lisa posed on top of a piano. She and Eddie were voted “Most Talented” and it was well deserved. We are thinking of Eddie as we approach this reunion as he is very ill.
One of the sad things about a 40th reunion is the absence of those who have passed, and while working on our Class of 1974 Memory Board, I recalled Andy Grant. Andy and I were voted “Wittiest” among the Senior Superlatives. Andy died at an early age.
Here’s the very inappropriate picture of Andy and me. There are a few things wrong with this picture. First of all, smoking in the school?? Second, I’m sitting on his lap taking dictation! And oh my gosh…check out those wide-leg, cuffed bell bottom jeans! Whew…I recall lots of ironing and starching to get them just right!
There are also a few things right. We were young and happy. Andy had no idea his time was brief. I had no idea I’d make all kinds of crazy decisions that while they’ve enriched my life, they weren’t filled with wisdom and I hurt others along the way. For that I’m sorry. However, as I look at this picture, there are no regrets.
It’s been raining for two full days in Mendota, Virginia, but we caught a break a few minutes ago, so I went out to do my daily “bug walk.” Tomorrow will be week four of the war on Japanese beetles. I’ve killed about 40-60 beetles each day. My green beans are holding their own. Look how full the vines are in the raised beds. They are Mountaineer Half Runners, and I have nicknamed them the “Fighting Mountaineers” because they continue to produce even with damaged vines.
Here’s the damaged skeletal leaves. The damage is primarily where the sun hits the vine, as Japanese beetles like to be exposed to the sun where other Japanese beetles can find them and they can party and eat on the vine. And have sex. I don’t want to be crude but I can actually see them humping. They are so distracted they pay little attention to my hand as it swoops down, grabs them and drops them in the bucket for a swim. I wear gloves, because they bite. Did I say I hate them?
Beside the beans, I have a Crazy Garden. Each year, we have some part of our garden that is wild and crazy. It’s a place for bees and butterflies. I put the Crazy Garden out late this year, so it’s just getting ready to go into bloom.
Black closer to the house, since the soil was soft and damp today, it was a great time to sow some zinnias. I just toss them…don’t even bother to cover the seeds. Enough will get pushed in the ground by the rain to germinate.
Those zinnias will look like this in just a few weeks. I planted these in mid-June.
In the spring, I’m greeted with Lupine — one of my faves. However, Lupine is difficult to transplant if you buy a seeding from the garden center. It’s easy to grow from seed if you are patient and don’t mind waiting until the next growing season for the reward. Today’s little seedlings I planted from seed two weeks ago look like this…
Will look like this next spring…I know…run out and buy seeds now!! A pack of seeds is about $1.00 Can you believe one little seed????
And the Black Eyed Susie vines planted from leftover seed from last year look like this today…
But the Susie vines will look so pretty in the fall when I replace the red New Guinea Impatiens with mums. They’ll spread around like they have in the past. Here’s vines from last year.
I stuck alyssum seeds in around this little tree that I bought two or three Christmases ago for the hearth. I could not find alyssum this year, and I thought I’d just stick these seeds in and see what happened. It should be full of trailing alyssum in a week or two. I’ll show you when it happens.
It’s also fun to get “starts” from friends…a trip to a friend’s house rewarded me with about 20 of these five weeks ago. Nice! I don’t know what these flowers are called, but they remind me of an old friend, Patricia Quick. I hope she’s reading this and smiling. .
And then…for the bedding plants I DID buy from my True Love’s Half Dead Plant Rack…I’ve perfected the low maintenance flower bed of cramming everything in so tight that no weeds can surface. For this to work, you’d almost have to have a “country” or “cottage” garden.
I love mailboxes. I like getting mail. When I was single years and years ago and lived on the Weaver Pike…I signed up for all kinds of junk mail just so I could walk to the mailbox each day. Junk mail??? What was I thinking?
While Keanu Reeves is famous as a result of his performance as Neo in The Matrix, it was the movie The Glass House that I loved. Through the mailbox, past and present met and true love was found. Ahhh…
In Mendota, our mailboxes are more practical. I was surprised when I returned to the area how many people exchange Christmas cards. Neighbor to neighbor. I like that. But there is something uniquely magical about Mendota mailboxes.
They look like an ordinary mailbox. No one would know this is a magic mailbox by just looking at it.
However, just watch when I open the door.
You never know how many a mailbox will deliver. In this case, it wasn’t a dozen…it was 15!! This is one fertile mailbox!
Miracles abound…what once was this…wild flowers growing on a thorny bush…
Became this…a tasty single blackberry…
Or a bowl of this…lots of tasty wild blackberries…
I hope when you open your mailbox tomorrow you find something good in it. If not eggs, maybe it’ll be something even better. And look closely around your lawn…what might be a briar….really might end up being a berry.
Thank you for reading RiverCliff Cottage. Please leave a comment if you like this post.
However, there are lots of people who won’t be able to make it due to family, work, other responsibilities, etc. We’ll be posting pictures for them to enjoy.
