2020-09-13 19:47
The Fig tree at Windy Acre Cottage has been exceptionally prolific this year. I think I'll call her Pomona, after the ancient Roman goddess of fruitful abundance.
Besides baggi… Read More
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Charm Of The Carolines Blog
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Official middle Tennessee lifestyle and homesteading guide for living a charmed, magnolia-scented life
2020-08-18 22:13
After years of arguments for and against suffrage, the 19th Amendment was passed by Congress in July 1919. However, 36 states were needed for ratification, and my beloved home state of Tenne… Read More
2020-08-15 15:49
My dad always talked about this tomato dish that was always served at Milan Plaza Court Meat & Three, the restaurant with the town's new motel on the corner of Highway 70 and Liberty in… Read More
2020-06-14 23:11
My friend Kim and I explored Cheekwood Gardens on Friday and collected reference photos to use in painting our submissions to the upcoming exhibit at the Mansion of selected works by Chestnu… Read More
2020-04-15 15:34
Did you know?
Most of my paintings are available on 4.25 x 5.5 notecards for only $10 per package of 4 cards & envelopes, including free shipping. That's four small prints on… Read More
2020-04-13 00:03
I've found in these uncertain times of Covid-19 and the challenges of self-distancing and self-quarantining, enjoying the simple pleasures of cooking from scratch, hanging the wash out on… Read More
2020-03-28 00:18
PHOTO CREDIT: Scott Smith
Wild Violet Blossom Jelly
3 cups boiling water
1 package (1-3/4 ounces) powdered fruit pectin
1/2 cup lemon juice
4 cups sugar
1/2 cup homemade Wild Violet Syrup (… Read More
2020-03-28 00:12
Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it. ~ Mark Twain
Yesterday was a Goldilocks kind of day. Middle Tennessee has experienced chilly, rainy weath… Read More
2020-03-25 02:03
Yesterday a request came across my desk for a historic home tour by car for those of us self-isolating due to the Coronavirus. What a fun project! I'll create several!!!
According to my dear… Read More
2020-02-08 03:09
Another wonderful recipes found in The Charleston Academy of Domestic Pursuits is Crepes with Creamed Chicken. I'm not sure if I've ever made homemade crepes before. I was in the kitc… Read More
2020-01-26 00:30
I think the reason why I love to cook is because I don't have to. There are no little mouths demanding three squares a day, except for the four little furry mouths, but unless I choose to m… Read More
2020-01-25 16:04
So to literally make homemade laundry detergent, you start with wood-fire ashes to leach the lye. I don't go back to the mid-19th century recipes to make my batch. Thinking the mid-20… Read More
2020-01-08 17:03
Born today, 1935: Tennessee's own Elvis Presley, one of the most celebrated and influential musicians of the 20th century, who sold over 600 million records worldwide. Forever loved. Forever… Read More
2020-01-08 16:58
Artists are different.
Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.
Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an o… Read More
2019-12-26 19:55
Artists are different.
Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.
Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an o… Read More
2019-12-10 20:51
Artists are different.
Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.
Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an o… Read More
2019-12-05 05:20
Artists are different.
Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.
Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an… Read More
2019-12-02 00:27
Yesterday, November 30, was St. Andrew's Day, the official Flag Day of Scotland celebrating the Apostle Andrew. With a large portion of my ancestry heralding from Scotland, I wanted to celeb… Read More
2019-11-28 05:58
Home For Thanksgiving
By J.C Leyendecker
We gather on this day to be thankful for the many blessings we enjoy, for the family we love, the friends we cherish, the food that has been prepar… Read More
2019-11-13 04:07
Artists are different.
Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.
Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an… Read More
2019-11-05 00:27
Artists are different.
Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.
Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an… Read More
2019-10-26 21:23
It's that time of year again. Don't blink.
The months between Halloween and New Year's Day go by in an instant, and it doesn't seem to be enough time to make homemade giblet gravy, tr… Read More
2019-10-15 01:32
Artists are different.
Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.
Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an… Read More
2019-10-02 23:27
Artists are different.
Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.
Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an… Read More
2019-09-06 01:46
Artists are different.
Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.
Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an… Read More
2019-08-21 14:04
Artists are different.
Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.
Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an… Read More
2019-08-13 18:15
Artists are different.
Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.
Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an… Read More
2019-08-10 02:18
Artists are different.
Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.
Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an… Read More
2019-08-02 01:04
Artists are different.
Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.
Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an o… Read More
2019-08-01 13:05
Today the historic preservation community and I are brokenhearted for Lynette Tanner and the Natchez, Mississippi, community after hearing about a fire destroying her 204-year-old Ferriday… Read More
2019-07-12 12:46
Artists are different.
Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.
Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an o… Read More
2019-07-01 23:07
Artists are different.
Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.
Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an o… Read More
2019-06-26 12:08
Artists are different.
Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.
Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an… Read More
2019-06-25 01:24
While strolling the local farmers market located just a couple of blocks from Windy Acre Cottage, I picked up a sack full of plump Roma tomatoes. I love these hearty little fruits. They are… Read More
2019-06-20 13:13
Artists are different.
Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.
Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an… Read More
2019-06-13 13:31
Artists are different.
Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.
Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an… Read More
2019-06-05 22:41
Artists are different.
Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.
Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an… Read More
2019-06-04 00:11
On June 6, 1944, more than 150,000 troops from the US, Canada, and Britain, stormed 50 miles of the channel beaches of northern France in a heroic and epic mission to save the world from Na… Read More
2019-05-29 13:18
Artists are different.
Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.
Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an… Read More
2019-05-24 22:49
Before we head out for our Memorial Day Weekend, before the picnics, before the day spent on the lake, before hitting the sales at the mall or making homemade ice cream with the family, le… Read More
2019-05-24 15:09
Artists are different.
Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic.
Artists are inventive, expressive, adventurous, and intuitive with an… Read More
2019-05-22 14:20
I can't believe it's been a decade since I took a week off from my job to learn how to use Typepad and elementary HTML programming in order to publish my blog. Are they still called blogs? I… Read More
2019-05-17 22:17
You just never know who might be coming to town.
My friend Sonja got a call last week to inform her the Tennessee Titans Caravan was adding a Spring Hill 'meet and greet' to their tou… Read More
2019-05-17 00:29
Artists are different.
Artists are inventive, adventurous, expressive, and intuitive with an overwhelming desire to share their world.
I am such an artist.
Each Friday, I'… Read More
2019-05-13 00:52
"The peace and prosperity of Nancy Hilderbrand's existence on the banks of the Tennessee, the ancients' Giver of life, is disrupted by the Removal of 1838, when native peoples are stripped… Read More
2019-05-11 17:47
This photo was taken the day my Mom became a Mother.
Happy Mother's Day!!
Blessings abound in middle Tennessee where we are celebrating Mother's Day for the 55th time in the Jones fam… Read More
2019-05-01 14:30
Bob and Wanda Bell recently donated this fabulous miniature dresser, circa 1850 to Rippavilla. Kate Wilson, Executive Director, happily accepted this wonderful and generous donation from Wa… Read More
2019-04-29 23:18
Yesterday I had the pleasure to go wild ginseng hunting with a couple of friends on their private land in a nearby county. I've always heard of ginseng but never thought much about where it… Read More
2019-04-24 18:27
As many of you already know or can figure out easily, I love history, patriotism, reading, writing, painting, and puppies. If I could choose a Superpower it would be Time Travel. And my favo… Read More
2019-03-25 23:05
Kiffin Yates Rockwell (1892–1916) was an early aviator and the first American pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft in World War I. On May 18, 1916, Rockwell attacked and shot down a… Read More
2019-02-05 05:58
Happy Chinese New Year!!
It's the Year of the Pig, representing carefree fun, good fortune and wealth. Don your red clothing and exclaim, "Gong Xi Fa Cai!" Read More
2019-01-26 18:29
One of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War and the beginning of the end for the Confederate Army, was the Battle of Franklin in my hometown of Franklin, Tennessee. Around 30,000 Union So… Read More
2019-01-06 18:52
Nearly a decade ago I had the pleasure to meet Robert Grede, a charming and creative gentleman from Milwaukee who traveled to Columbia, TN, to spend hours in our local county archives condu… Read More
2019-01-01 05:59
Wishing you a Happy, Healthy, Prosperous New Year!! Read More
2018-12-24 23:30
Wishing you and yours the happiest of Holidays Read More
2018-12-02 09:00
The Confederate Charge at the Battle of Franklin 154 years ago was more fierce than Pickett's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg the year before. More than 63,000 men engage… Read More
2018-12-01 16:23
"We cannot overestimate their noble and heroic deeds. Every American citizen should feel pride in cherishing the memory of the gallant men who stormed the works at Franklin, as well as thos… Read More
2018-11-30 02:27
Today is the 154th Anniversary of the Battle of Spring Hill, part of the Franklin-Nashville Campaign of the American Civil War.
The Confederate Army of Tennessee, commanded by Lt. Gen… Read More
2018-08-15 15:22
It has been such a busy summer! From traveling to Plein Air Invitationals to shopping in Amish Country to volunteering for a Mud Run to entering the 15th Annual Tomato Art Fest to teaching a… Read More
2018-06-18 18:19
Periodically the Creative Spirits class takes art-related field trips. This past Saturday was such a day where a few members of the class ventured in the 105* heat index morning to see all t… Read More
2018-05-23 23:56
Last Friday I was walking the property at Rippavilla with a group of ladies when one woman, new to middle Tennessee, asked if privet was honeysuckle. Bless her heart!
Both Privet and Honeys… Read More
2018-05-20 23:01
Today I had the pleasure to tour one of many Maury County's beautiful historic homes, Pleasant Grove, whose colorful history dates back to 1795 when the core of the house was built. This &l&helli…Read More
2018-05-01 20:21
Winter and spring have both been unseasonably cold. We even had a frost yesterday with 33* morning temps. So I had to create my own spring and dream of warmer weather. Specifically I've been… Read More
2018-04-01 01:08
Easter afternoon 1967 at my grandparents house in Milan, Tennessee. My cousin Karen and I (the only grandchildren at the time) received a duck and two chicks along with our Easter Basket. B… Read More
2018-03-15 01:11
Continuing my research of Irish recipes I ran across this interesting one for Colcannon. I've never heard of it before, but it doesn't look too difficult or fancy. It's made from hearty, sti… Read More
2018-03-12 21:47
I've really enjoyed working on my family's genealogy and learning about our Scots-Irish roots. I wish I had known this when my grandparents were living to learn any history or storie… Read More
2018-03-08 02:31
In graduate school I had a "Graduate Assistantship" whereby I worked 20 hours a week in the International Student Services office and was paid minimum wage, however all of my tuition was wai… Read More
2018-03-05 00:06
March has never been my favorite month. My friend Carol challenged me to find at least one thing every day in March that I love. She says God loves March, that's why he created it. I just ne… Read More
2018-02-27 01:45
My beautiful friend Judy is a loving and dutiful wife to her husband who is feeling quite under the weather. What started as an aching back turned out to be "the disease which shall not be n… Read More
2018-02-06 17:13
I only own one antique cameo, one that belonged to my grandmother. It's beautiful, yet unremarkable. As so many cameos, it is a woman's profile carved out of white shell against a coral bac… Read More
2018-01-22 16:00
To receive the Wet Paint Monthly Newsletter directly to your inbox, simply email [email protected] and request to be added to the list. Enjoy!
Doing my best Oprah imitation, let me exc… Read More
2018-01-12 23:03
It's a wintery day. Ice. Sleet. Freezing Rain. Snow. So of course I don't want to make matter worse by attempting to drive. It's simply a good day to stay home, paint, and cook. And what wou… Read More
2017-12-26 18:23
To receive the Wet Paint Monthly Newsletter directly to your inbox, simply email [email protected] and request to be added to the list. Enjoy!
One Word
It's not uncommon this time of y… Read More
2017-12-08 16:48
"Tis the Season for recipes that use Turkey leftovers from the Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. One of my favorites is a recipe given to me by student and friend Cynthia Young. She is an… Read More
2017-12-08 14:52
Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives:
Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of Americ… Read More
2017-11-20 20:51
Thanksgiving at the Jones home typically means a big dinner with Turkey and Cornbread Dressing. For years my mother made the dressing and I made the giblet gravy to go with it. T… Read More
2017-11-20 02:12
I love the movie Christmas in Connecticut!
It's a 1945 film starring Barbara Stanwyck as Elizabeth Lane, a homemaker columnist for "Smart" magazine who writes about her idealist… Read More
2017-10-22 00:38
While reading one of my vintage etiquette books, I ran across the proper way to serve Café Brulot. I've never heard of café brulot, and according to the passage, it was almost… Read More
2017-09-22 18:03
To receive the Wet Paint Monthly Newsletter directly to your inbox, simply email [email protected] and request to be added to the list. Enjoy!
Welcome to October!! My favorite mon… Read More
2017-08-28 21:48
You can imagine my surprise to find Columbia's main downtown thoroughfare blocked off Sunday evening and the street set up for an evening supper.
It was a the Columbia Main Street's… Read More
2017-08-23 00:40
Ready for another Book Give-Away??
Not reading assignments or reading for work or reading for self-improvement, just reading for the lazy afternoon in the porch swing enjoying the birds sing… Read More
2017-08-21 12:54
This morning Jane Pauley shared with us her "simple pleasures" summer vacation on CBS Sunday Morning. I don't want to make her jealous, but her description is just another day at Windy Ac… Read More
2017-08-03 05:01
August 3 is National Watermelon Day. How do you plan to celebrate?? Parades, seed spitting contests, Watermelon Queen?
Learn about its origin here...
Trentloos_2016-08-08T21_09_23-07_… Read More
2017-07-26 14:08
Ready for another Summer Reading Book Give-Away??
Not reading assignments or reading for work or reading for self-improvement, just reading for the lazy afternoon in the porch swing enjoying… Read More
2017-07-07 23:53
On July 4, we took a short drive south of town to Ethridge, Tennessee, to Tennessee Amish Country.
The farms are clustered along a few roads and at the end of the driveway of each farm you'l… Read More
2017-06-27 14:34
John Egerton understood the South was a region of contradictions: holding both mountains and cotton fields, opulent wealth and abject poverty, savagery and sweetness, churchgoers and evildo… Read More
2017-06-23 21:45
Ready for another Summer Reading Book Give-Away??
Not reading assignments or reading for work or reading for self-improvement, just reading for the lazy afternoon in the porch swing enjoying… Read More
2017-06-18 12:00
Happy Fathers Day to my Father, the best dad ever! And to all the Father's who provide for their families and set examples for their children to follow. God bless Fathers!! Read More
2017-06-18 00:45
This past weekend three of my best girlfriends and I took a trip to New Orleans for inspiration and for me to find gallery representation in the Big Easy, as well as teaching opportunities… Read More
2017-05-29 12:10
Memorial Day was first widely observed in May 1868. The celebration commemorated the sacrifices of the Civil War and the proclamation was made by General John A Logan. Following the proclama… Read More
2017-05-27 20:50
Henry W. Buck from Solano County, California, enlisted March 3, 1941 (nearly a year before the US officially entered WWII) as a Private in the National Guard Infantry in Napa, California.
B… Read More
2017-05-24 14:57
I don't know about you, but I enjoy all four seasons. And to make each one special, I often quiz my friends to ask what they do different in the summertime. Picnic, swim, a day at the beach… Read More
2017-04-16 22:06
Easter is one of the most popular festivals across the United States. Going back to history, we find that Easter did not enjoy the status of a popular festival in the hearts of the early se… Read More
2017-04-15 01:38
Tuesday I was invited to a hands-on art "show" at Spring Hill Elementary with Spring Hill Parks and Recreation. We decided to exhibit Visual and Culinary Arts.
Making our trail mix in baggi… Read More
2017-04-02 15:31
My precious friend Russell Hooper recently celebrated the life of Eleanor Ritchey Cheek Plaxico and posted a photo of her portrait on his Facebook timeline. The painting took my b… Read More
2017-04-01 18:55
Watching The Mind of a Chef, a cooking program on PBS this morning, chef Ed Lee of Milkwood and also 610 Magnolia restaurants in Louisville, Kentucky, spoke about the under-apprecation for S… Read More
2017-03-12 02:29
It was 74* and sunny two days ago and today is freezing and snowing flakes the size of silver dollars. Needless to say I don't want to leave the cottage today, so I'm making a large pot of s… Read More
2017-03-03 16:34
When I was a young lady, my boyfriend invited me to spend Christmas Day at his grandmother’s house up on the plateau towards east Tennessee. We enjoyed the trip and conversations with… Read More
2017-02-28 18:13
Each February the Kiwanis host an indoor Yard Sale to benefit Imagination Library. It's a great way to get a jump on your spring cleaning, but that only works if you don't return to shop an… Read More
2017-02-03 18:32
Today I'm pleased to introduce a guest blogger, my buddy Skip Torrans, owner of Torrans Manufacturing Company in Jefferson, Texas, which manufactures retro-inspired metal lawn furniture and… Read More
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