Coming in May.

 



  When you live in a very small town, kind of in the middle of no where, you have to create some excitement to get people to come. We try and have a least one major event a month. Some work better than others.We depend very much on tourist. The one I am posting about today is a new one. I wish I could take credit for it, but I am afraid I can not.

   Clarksville is a very small historic town, founded in 1817 and located right on the banks of the Mississippi River. When I  grew up here, many years ago, it was an active town with  several grocery stores, clothing stores and other retail shops. Like many a small town ,the changing times have taken it's tole on Clarksville. But, unlike many other small river towns of it's size and age, Clarksville is alive and open daily.  Large box stores, like Walmart, have killed many of theses small towns. Mom and pop shops can no longer complete. Clarksville no longer is  full of clothing stores and grocery stores, but it is full of antique shops, art gallery and fun other gift type shops. Great efforts have been used to  fill and keep the shops open. The shop owners are a tireless group that works together to promote and keep  Clarksville alive. With just a pinch over 400 in population, we are proud to have some thirteen shops and 3 great places to eat. Clarksville has one of the biggest antique mall is this part of Missouri. There is over 40,00 square feet of treasures and things just waiting to be found. We also have one of the smallest antique malls in Missouri. That would be my shop, Downtown Antique Mall. While  I only have 7 dealers plus myself, they are special hand picked dealers, all of which do a beautiful job of display. Treasures changes often and we have to have good prices to complete. If you are looking for something special, odds are, you will find it in Clarksville.

   Clarksville not only is lucky to have wonderful hard working shop owners, we also have one of the greatest Mayors a small town could ever wish for. She works endless hours and devotes many resources to doing for us here in Clarksville. I am sure any town would be thrilled to have such a smart, talented, energetic and thoughtful Mayor as Clarksville does. Not only is she the Mayor, she and her husband have the most wonderful old fashion storefront antique shop around. Beautiful displayed with real antiques, it is a delight and a real treasure for our town. Our Mayor and her husband are the ones that have put our latest event together. It is called ,"Clarksville Antique Ramble," designed to bring shoppers to town and see what we have to offer here. There house , a charming old stone cottage, as well as My Old Historic House, will be open for tours during this event. My house is open most often, but this will be a first for there home. It is full of beautiful Victorian and early Federal pieces. Great lighting and wonderful things all available for the first time ever for public viewing. There is a small price of $10.00 for both homes. Other wise the event is free. Along with the shops full of stuff, we all are going to go all out and do extra displays of antique and vintage cloths and linens. Some for sale, others just for looking. We are in the early stages of this event. We are hoping for some outside vendors as well. I am working with the next town down the road, Louisiana, Mo. and there Historic Museum, to maybe share there large vintage hat collection. I'm hoping they will be on display at city hall.I am planning antique dresses laid on all my beds. My windows will be displayed as well with vintage linens, I already have the most wonderful old lace curtains.

   I am posting this early, so you can hopefully get this date on your calender. I know a lot of you all are far away, but please, try and make an effort. This would be a good time for tours, shopping and down home fun. Make your reservations in advance and if enough of you sign up, I'll throw a big blog party. Honest, for real!!
   Come anytime for a tour. I will always leave the lights on and Sissy Dog will meet you with a jump and a kiss. Happy blogging. Richard and Sissy Dog in Clarksville,Mo.

Sissy Says, " Happy Valentines Day!"

   Hope this week brings you all a lot of love and Happiness, especially for Valentines Day. I have a lot of love and special Happiness because of this little girl. Have a beautiful week. Richard and Sissy

Hour and Half till Dinner/Not quite Downton Abby!

    I have 3 friends that I often go out to dinner with here in the country on Saturday nights. We used to always go to the golf course here in town. Eagles Bluff is a beautiful golf course, 18 holes, and we are so lucky to have it in our little town of 400 people. I have never played golf, not my style, but the club house is lovely and on weekends it was open to the public. It was a casual place and the food was down home, comfort and affordable. Well they have closed for the winter season and that has left us without a place to go. We tried several other places, but was not the same. For the past couple of weeks I have just opted not to even go. Yesterday my friends came in and asked  if I wanted to dine out and the notion hit me, for us to dine at, My Old Historic House. Well this was around noon and I had to work in the shop till five, so I said about 6:30. They all agreed.

Welcome to my castle.No jumping right now Sissy.

      Clarksville, my little town, has no grocery store. The nearest is 30 miles, one way, from here. We do have a gas station/quick shop. It is small and limited. I had planned to make mac and cheese  this week, so I had most things needed for that. I always use cream of mushroom soup in my cheese  sauce and I did not have any. So to the gas station I went, they had a can, off brand, had to do. I make mac and cheese kinda as a complete meal. I add chunks of ham or in this case hot dogs.I had the slim makings of a salad and needed a desert. I asked my guest to come up with that. They have a home in Louisiana,Mo. 8 miles away. Where it has no grocery store either, it does have a Dairy Queen, Dollar Store and larger Quick Shops. I'll show you the desert latter!

    At 5:00 I hurried home from the shop. I live two blocks away. I  go several blocks, round about as I use that walk and time for Ms. Sissy, well you know why! As soon as we made it home, I feed her and lite the fire place in the kitchen( gas log) and shut the dinning room door. I just finished reading a book about Alminia, Countess of Carnarvan,of Highclere Castle. Highclere is the English country home that Downton Abby, the Masterpiece mini series is based on. Highclere was built in 1849 and has 100 rooms. At that time, central heat was not heard of, especially in a country house, of that size. The book  describes in great detail about when  Alminia was first married to the Count of Carnarvon and moved to Highclere. She was used to a more modest sized home that was warm.. She tells of how cold it was, and how only a few rooms were used in winter and she wore her fur coats in the house. Well, My Old Historic House,  does not have 100 rooms, only 14, but in winter it is cold. I have central heat, but the cost to run is more than I can afford. So I too, live in only a few rooms and often wear my coat, not fur, To warm up the dinning room for my last minute dinner party, I use the kitchen fire place and shut the dining room door. This takes a few minutes, that is why that was done first.

Love the hat, what would, Alminia -Countess of Carnarvon ,think?

I guess they liked it, almost all gone.

At least the silver was polished.

   Since I was having a guest that had never been to my home, I wanted to make it as special as I could, serving mac and cheese with hot dogs.I asked myself, what would Alminia do?? So I moved the French bronze and crystal candelabra from the mantle to the table, replaced the candles with fresh ones , dinner would be by candle light .I set the table with nice china and had full intentions to go to the yard and pick some magnolia leaves for added inspiration. Time was against me, as remember, I only had  one and half hours to cook and pull this together, And there is no staff at, My Old Historic House. Alminia had over 50 servants are her beck and call. I barely had time to throw the junk that was on the dining room table, upstairs in the closet.

The desert table is ready!

   My guest arrived and wearing there coats, we had a fast tour of the two parlors, and then into the warm  dinning room and kitchen. As I finished our  dinner , mac  and cheese needed a little more oven time,we all gathered around the fire. Finally it was done and to the dinning room we went. I wear about 5 layers of cloths in winter, by this time, the fire was starting to really warm the house, so as I excused myself, off came a few layers. Kinda seems like a comedy almost at this point.
   We dined on mac and cheese with hot dogs and salad. We had water and no bread. Alminia, Countess of Carnarvon, would  had to have smelling sauce.And for desert, Little Debbie's, right out of the box. I thought latter, I should have at least placed them on a silver tray.But we had good conversation and it was warm, after all.

It's cold in here, might want to leave your coat on!

The big finish!

  My guest left and I was left with a pile of dirty dishes. I rang for the staff, but no one came. Where was Mrs. Hughs when I needed her??? I washed them up, turned off the fireplace , replaced the  candelabra to the mantle, enjoyed the smoke rising as I blew them out.Went out for Ms. Sissy's last walk and was surprised to see we had a nice beautiful snow. All in all, I felt like it was another successful event at, My Old Historic House. Come by any time. Give me at least and hour and half and I'll fix us something to eat. Sissy will always meet you with a jump and a kiss, but I can't always promise you snow!!

A parting gift for my guest, a fresh fallen snow!

You all come back now.

 

Romantic Homes Magazine

    Well this is old news, but I thought I would share it with you anyhow.  My Friend, Elizabeth Maxson , from St.Louis,  and, Elizabeth House Blogspot,  used to write for Romantic Homes Magazine. She wrote this article and it was published in August 2008. I was very proud and pleased that this happened, as it was the first time, My old Historic House, was published. It has been in several magazines since, but the first is always a great send off.

    It was a cold day in January when Elizabeth drove all the way from St.Louis to Clarksville ,70 miles, to take pictures of my Victorian Parlor Dome Collection. I could not go, as I was working. I gave her a key and sadly gave up the rights to be there during this artistic process.Being a decorator and trained artist, it is hard to not be in the final judgement of the picture taking process.This is called," control", and I did not have it. Anyhow, I did give her the key and the rest is history. Elizabeth had told her editor at the magazine about my domes and her ideal to do an article about them. Unlike some writers, Elizabeth takes her own pictures. She uses natural light. So with all that in mind, I think the article came out beautifully. I had a couple of rooms unfinished at the time she took these pictures. Well Elizabeth is a very, how shall I say it, Shabby Chic kinda girl. The unfinished rooms really appealed to her. Cracked walls and peeling paint and wall paper. I was in constant fear that when the article appeared it would show these rooms. I gave her a blank canvas you see. Well where she did love these rooms and she did take photos there, she was kind to me and showed the better part of my house. I love the article, I think she did a wonderful job. I have to say, I was a little sad as it did not show more of the house. I have to remind myself, that the article was about the Parlor Domes, not the house. With that in mind, I gave her an A+.

   Some how, during the years, I had lost my copy. In fact, I had kinda of forgotten about this article. My neighbor was going through  magazines , came across it. She asked me if I 'd like it and of course I was thrilled. I have since added it to the collection of other magazines that features my house.I keep them open to the right page on the library table, Doesn't seem to hurt and usually does a little of impressing to point them out, when I give tours. What a brat I am. Sorry. No I am not!!!!!

    I was cleaning this morning, well if that is what one would call it. I took my sleeve and ran it across the library table. Yikes!!! I saw this magazine and thought it would make a nice blog post. Hope you enjoy. I tried my new printer scanner for the first time. I have never done this before. The darling thing, scanned them and sent them right to Picasa, where I downloaded them into a file. It was so easy and amazing. A whole new world has come into my blog head. I know it can be better and I promise to do that in the future. I love this computer. That is coming from a person who will not own a cell phone or buy anything that takes a battery. Go figure!

    I hope maybe some day you all can come and take a real tour. In the mean time, keep on reading. I will always have a light on and Sissy Dog will meet you with a jump and a kiss. I love comments, that's why I do this, so leave me one and you will get one back. Have a beautiful day!!

Dark of Winter

  I looked out the window this morning at 7:00 am and I could not see the river. I live about 150 feet from it, there is a street and a park between me and the Mississippi River. The fog was heavy and you could see it starting to lift. It was like a heavy smoke creeping  up from the  water. A little latter I walked Sissy through the park on my way to open the Antique Mall, I could not see them, but I could hear American Bald Eagles talking as they managed there way through the fog. It was a sound I hear often, living on the river, especially this time of year. It is kinda  surreal, almost movie like. There sounds are loud and very mysterious. I am lucky to live here on the river among these creatures. To see them sore is amazing and to hear them speak is magical. I wish  I had a way to record them.The river was like a poem today. I enjoyed it very much!

  Winter is always so dark. Sunshine days are few and far between. The streets and side walks seem to be dirty and the gardens and trees are so lifeless. I love the snow and even ice can be beautiful. We get it and for a few moments it is clean and sparkles.But, when it melts and after the  salt trucks and snow plows, it always seems so dirty. It is on days like this, that I long for winter to be over and  for the new life of spring  to appear. I guess I have a little longer to wait.. I did notice that a brave jonquil had already peaked it's tiny head out of the earth. I said hello and put a few leaves atop it to protect it. Nature is amazing and seems to know when to do what. Just think, not too long from now we will be seeing the gardens and sides of the roads come alive. I for one ,can hardly wait.The bright yellow of the jonquils and the  pinks of apple blossoms. Come on spring!!!
   Hope you enjoy the pictures, I am afraid the fog does not show as much as I'd like it to. It is one thing that is hard to take a picture of. Hope you all are having a great winter day. I know the sun is shining some where. Come anytime for a tour. I'll leave the lights on and Sissy dog will be more than glad to walk with ya through the park.

Video of My Old Historic House.

Last spring I was lucky to be featured in a video of my house. It comes from PBS Illinois. They are located in Quincy, Illinois, about 65 miles from my town of Clarksville,Mo. They do a weekly session called, "Illinois Stories." One thing they like to feature are house museums. Where I do not live in Illinois, they broke the rules a little an came and did a story of my house. It is a 30 minute video and now they have given me permission to share it with others. So type this in your search bar and it should pop up. Enjoy. Come for a real tour anytime. I will leave the lights on and Sissy will always meet you with a jump and a kiss. Richard

illinois stories elgin/cottrell house.

Busted

       A bust is a cast representation of the upper part of the human figure,depicting a persons head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulder. The piece is supported by a base known as a plinth.The purpose is to create a likeness of a person. Bust as the earliest forms of portraits, going back to Egypt around 1346 BC.The tradition of the sculptural bust is historic and vast. The bust was the customary form of portraiture.The Greeks were known to idealize the face. The Romans were realist, more life like. Bust truly elevated mortals, put them upon a pedestal in public spaces . Perhaps the element of vanity is what adds interest to the bust form.Bust in interior design add an old world charm and also gives intriguing elements and accents. Bust are great conversational pieces, perfect ornamentation to adorn the top of many surfaces. They can be a focal point or an element of surprise.Bust are a moment of the past, honored in the present. They add character and a sense of timelessness. The ageless appeal of bust will always live on.
   I have always had a love for this art form. It seems I am not alone, as there are endless examples to chose from. The bust in my collection tend to be mostly from Europe. They are or the Royal heads of state and  common people as well. My collection are from the Victorian years, however some of the subjects lived much earlier. Where mine are of porcelain, other bust range in media from marble, bronze to wood. Bust have adorned houses and building since the dawn of time. My house is no exception and today I am sharing my small collection with you. This pair of bust is on the fireplace mantle in my dining room. They are porcelain that is not glazed, known as Bisque. They are life size. I bought them from a home estate sale in Springfield,Ill.

Leopold V- Duke of Lippe, Austria. was King and this bust is of  Crown Prince Leopold III,Prince of Lippe, crowned 1851.Married Princess Elisabeth of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in 1852. 

This is a real photo of the  Crown Prince, do you see a resemblance?

Makers mark on the bottom of the two bust.

                       Albert Edward- King of England, known as Edward VII, oldest son of Queen Victorian,
                     married Princess Alexander of Denmark. Her full name was: Alexandra Caroline Marie    
                     Charlotte Louise Julia. Chosen at the age of 16 to be Edwards wife , they married in 1863.
                     The Tiara she is wearing is from Queen Adelaide, wife of King William  IV.The bust is of her
                      as  young lady .

This is a photo of Queen Alexandra.

   

                  The french often made bust of there common people  as well as there Royals. The

             next group of my bust are the commoners. They again are of porcelain, the painted ones 

             are called Bisque and the white ones were called Parian.

This lady is sure to have been a house maid, see her head dress. I love the faux marble plinth.

                 

Love how his cloths are painted and the plinth is highly decorated .Love the hat. He too is life size.

   

Judging by her hat and dress this girl was mostly likely a house maid.

     

 Marie Antoinette was Queen of France and often called, "Mother of France." This bust
 is a copy of one that original was placed at the entrance to the pavilion - where only her ladies
and most important people could see it. It was larger than life size where this one is life size.

                                                                                  

Queen Marie stand guard in my library.

The real  Queen Marie Antoinette

This lady is glazed porcelain and I am not sure who she is. I have seen her in many forms.

This unknown subject is made of plaster. I am sure she is not that old. I still love her ,
even placed her in my room. I like the simple whiteness of her with the wicker and
dark green walls. I have seen her in many sizes and materials. But I have yet to find
out who she is.This was a Christmas gift this year from one of my antique mall dealers.



I hope you have enjoyed my tour today of the Bust at My Old Historic House. Come by
anytime for a real tour. I will leave the lights on and Sissy Dog will always meet you with a kiss!