Copper Top Cottage Rafters Going Up

The front rafters are on and I thought you might like to see how we did it. Mr D is taking off the last of this week to do more work on it. He would have done it last week but his bad cold, the weather, and the holidays got in the way. I love how my shed/elegant hideaway is starting to shape up. Don’t you?

Mr D notched out the vertical stud so the cross beam could rest there. Each of the rafters are attached to the cross beam and the front header board with the hardware you see.

Above is the cross beam and below is the front header beam.

The front part of the roof that faces our home will be covered in a tin called Copper Penny. The Copper Penny is much less expensive than real copper would be. The back part of the roof is an opaque undulating plastic roof material used on big warehouses. The back faces Northerly and I will need the light for winter. During our hot summers, there is a nice canopy of trees shading the whole area.

The front of Copper Top Cottage is tall and wide for two reasons. There will be a decorative window over the front door and the front door is made from 4 windows put together. Kinda like a french door affect.

Here is the window going above the door.Its the skinny one the bottom back of the stack. My extra windows will be used as lean-to greenhouses and cold frames. I’ll use the windows with broken panes as a trellis for the vines that will be here and there. You know what here and there means don’t you?

There are three windows on this side and 2 on the back and other side. The outside will be covered in siding. The windows swing out. There are hindges on the side of each window.

When you look down at Copper Top from our back porch….it will be so awesome. You will be able to see the Copper Penny roof. I’ll also be adding a pergola to the front and growing an Akebia vine on it for shade. There will be window boxes and the windows will have lace curtains. I’ve got to put a swing down there too. My house is known for a swing on every porch.

Thanks for stopping by to see the progress on Copper Top Cottage. I’ll have another update soon.

A Recipe From The Past

Recipe from My grandmother and her story. Please enjoy!

Please give, Adriana Salvia Founder at Passeddown.com and Jennifer Mondoux, Editor, a visit and find out what is cooking. Now you don’t have to worry about what’s for dinner!

http://www.passeddown.com/recipes?item=100&thanks=1#comment-56

This is reprint from their website. I submitted my story a long time ago and here is what they wrote—Great job you guys!!!

Moravian Chicken Pie

Posted by Jennifer on Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 in Main Courses :

When we launched the site on Monday, my friend Irena – a great writer and a smart, smart cookie – mentioned our site on her gardening blog, http://myrootsrundeep.blogspot.com. She also challenged one of her regular contributors and fellow gardener (and gardening blogger) Anna, who lives in North Carolina, to submit a recipe. What came back to us is an amazing tale of family history and food. I’m still a bit blown away by this story and by the detail! Lucky for Anna, and good on her, for knowing her roots (pardon the pun) so well.

And hey, talk about Six Degrees of Separation – my father was a fighter pilot in the RCAF (the Royal Canadian Air Force) in the late 1950s and early 1960s. And guess where he was based at one point? Zweibrucken, Germany, the birthplace of Anna’s ancestors, whom you’ll read about in the fascinating account below. It’s a small world Anna!

Check out Anna’s blog too, when you can. She’s at: http://flowergardengirl.wordpress.com/

And thanks Irena for passing along the word about PassedDown!

Anna’s Story and Recipe

Abraham and Catherine Staudt/Staud were proud of their children. All had been born in their home town of Zweibrucken at Gimpweiler Germany. All had grown restless and desired a new life in a world free of religious persecution. A brother had preceded Anna and her two married sisters to the new world. The brother had arrived in America and was in an area known as The Great Swamp of Pennsylvania. Some say it is a low lying area rich in farmland because of its loamy soil and others say the name Great Swamp refers to a gathering place of people from all over the world seeking religious freedom and new land opportunities. My studies have led me to believe that both is true. It is fertile land and it was a great gathering place.

Anna, her two sisters, the children of the two sisters, and a brother in law departed for the new land in the 20th year of her life, 1738. They departed with great hope and dreams for their families. There was joy and tears and they left family and cousins behind with talk of the others joining them once things were settled. There must have been massive amounts of luggage and family keep sakes. There must have been several crates of the necessary needs to keep the little group supplied with basic needs for the trip. It took several years to plan for such a trip.

During the mid to late 1700’s, there was a horrible flu epidemic. Most people had taken to wearing masks for protection from the stench of this sickness and for protection. During the voyage, one by one the members began to get deathly ill with this flu outbreak. Anna describes in her own words that she called upon the religion of her upbringing for her strength. The illness slowly took one life after another. She saw her sisters, their children, and her brother in law die among the many who couldn’t overcome this madness around them.

Most of the crew and the captain of the ship all died. The ship’s wheel was secured in place. The wheel was lashed as described in those times. Anna would say that only the Lord guided them through this time. For four weeks the ship drifted, guided only by the Almighty-as described by the few who survived. Anna grieved and feared for her life wondering if leaving her homeland was so wise after all. Finally it was decided that the carpenter of the ship would take over the wheel and take the fate of the few in his hands.
He was the only skilled man left upon the ship.

They sailed the wreck successfully to shore and all survivors arrived shaken and mournful but thankful to be on land. Anna went to live with a brother who was a potter in The Great Swamp. Anna was a skilled and prepared helper of the house. She took care of the family needs and cooked for them until she met the young and handsome Jacob Muller. She won him over with her many household talents but also with her determination to continue living in spite of her great trials for such a young woman.

Jacob helped to build the town of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. His memoirs tell of him clearing the land and becoming friends with the Moravians. He and Anna moved to Maxetanien, Pennsylvania and opened a place of lodging. Anna cooked many of her famous recipes. Their Inn was known as a kind and loving place for the passing brethren. Many an afternoon was spent speaking with these brethren who were on their way to the new Wachovia Tract in North Carolina. Even though the trip was long and required they pass through Indian territory, it was tempting to Anna and Jacob who were adventurous by nature.

The area of The Great Swamp was getting crowded and land was at a premium. Anna and Jacob had joined the Moravian Church. They were interested in some land purchased by the Moravians in NC known as the Wachovia Tract. Today this land is known as Bethania, Bethabara, Old Salem, and areas surrounding Winston Salem, NC. They moved to the Wachovia Tract in 1771 and settled one and one half miles from Bethania where they attended church and fellowshiped with others. They were married for 50 years and had 11 children. Eight of those children were still living when Anna died in 1790. She is buried at Bethania.

In Anna’s life, she was known as a wonderful wife, mother, and home-maker. It is well known that the Moravians are famous for their home baked goods and hearty meals. I have mentioned before that they cook, stick to your ribs food. Anna was most likely famous for her yeast rolls and chicken pie. I’d like to share with you one of those famous recipes passed down from my blessed grandmother Maria Anna Elizabeth Muller. My name is Anna Marie. There have been many Annas. I am proud to be one of them.

Moravian Chicken Pie

Given to me by my Great Aunt Anna Perryman

Please visit the Passed.com site to see the recipe and a picture of what the pie looks like!

Elizabeth Lawrence and Gardening Bookmarks

I told my son he had given me one of my favorite gifts of all time for gardening. Some of these books will be out of print soon and I’m so glad I have them. Take a look at what my sweet son did for me.

I want to hold these close to my heart and cherish every word. I’m not kidding. I am so nuts about Elizabeth Lawrence. She inspires me in so many ways. Mostly, her writing and advice is forgiving. We share the same pioneer spirit on plant cultivars and we both don’t mind saying—goodbye if a plant will not perform. She is unassuming also. I had no clue who Gertrude Jekyll was until Elizabeth introduced me to her.When a writer wants to teach you something, they don’t assume you know–they teach and I’m appreciative of all I’ve learned while strolling through Elizabeth’s gardens through her books and Charlotte Observer articles.

Ms. Lawrence admitted to her readers that she didn’t always know every name for every plant. I fail there so badly. I am guilty of driving to the Nursery and being caught up in how attractive a plant is for my garden. I am first drawn to color and then texture. The name doesn’t stick so well. So I do a little private cheer when the all knowing Ms. Lawrence freely writes that such and such flower came from a neighbor or friend and grows nicely even without a name. I love that.

I’ve been gardening for 40 years and can make anything grow but mostly because my great aunt Nana was my mentor. I think my Nana knew Elizabeth. Nana hosted weekend parties at her Mountain House for several state gardening clubs. They loved going on mountain hikes with Nana cause she knew where all the wildflowers were hidden. Aunt Nana could find the rarest of Lady Slippers. There is a guest book at the Mountain House with entries from several of those groups. At some point, I’ll write down the names of the groups and see if Ms. Lawrence was affiliated. My Aunt Nana knew all the pioneer women of that day as she was one herself. I just love my Aunt Nana and wish she was alive today.

All these new books present a problem. These books are not only entertaining but they are fabulous reference sources. I will need a lot of bookmarks. Mr D uses a folded post it. What? I just can’t do that. I want a pretty bookmark for Ms. Lawrence. So when we picked up my books yesterday, I went looking for bookmarks. Oh my word! The ones I liked are about $6 a piece. I was thinking a dollar at the most. I need about 50 of them–so this is not the option. What could I do? I also needed to pick up an 09 calendar and they were 50% off.

Then the creative lightbulb went off and here is what happened. Naturally, I’m drawn to gardening calendars……

OH LOOK! You can cut this calendar apart and it will make several dozen bookmarks. It was only $6 and so far I’ve made about 50 from 1/2 the calendar. I also pulled out all my old calendars and made a few more. Looking for the thick paper calendars with borders is best. But you can use any part of the calendar. The best is the front and back covers—the folder they come in usually has a pic of all the months. Those can be cut apart and make beautiful bookmarks. Take a look at what I did.

If I was using a calender page that was too thin, I doubled it or backed it with heavier paper. I connected them securely with cross-stitch floss or fabric strips. Most of the bookmarks from the rooster calendar are single layer because it was sturdy enough to work. It is also covered in something that makes it durable. I used a hole punch to add character…you’ll see.

On the bookmark above, I folded it in half and wove the edges together.

The paper above was very thin and I added some card stock to the back and secured it at the two corners. I’ll probably go back and add some paper glue to a few spots in the middle. Don’t use any glue except special paper glue or you will get puckers in your paper. Not pretty.

The possibilities are endless. I have my neighbors to save their calendars and I may include this in my gift baskets. I think it would be cute to make up a theme basket and inclue a book that color coordinates with your theme. I would love to make some gardening baskets–include a gardening book, plant, a few bookmarks, and maybe a pair of gloves. Ms. Lawrence says she saves all her mildly used left hand gloves and trades with a left handed friend. That way, they recycle a pair for another season. Isn’t that just too clever. Some how…I will find a clever way to make a basket for one of my left handed friends.

Who doesn’t like gingham fabric?

If I laminate them, they would hold up and could be sold in a garden center. Garden centers don’t usually offer things that will absorb moisture as it gets destroyed in a matter of days. Some garden centers have a non plant area but most have plants all over the place. I might make up a batch of these with something else clever to go along and see if there is a market for them. I sure know I couldn’t find a good bookmark for cheap.

Isn’t that much better? Problem solved! I made a lot more bookmarks and will continue to. I might even have a give-away on my blog. I want to get more buttons and embellishments for the streamers. The embelishments keep the bookmark from falling down inside the book and it’s pretty;) I think you all will be seeing a lot of these and of course…..they are stamped with the name Flowergardengirl on the back!

Do My Tennies Need Jingle Taps?

According to Martha Hemingway, my new best friend, I can use a smooth bottomed pair of tennis shoes.

Ms Hemingway is the director at –link removed by me…just in case it’s corrupted.   She( meaning me and the video from the site I removed) and I have been clogging around my living room together. I have blinds pulled tight and the lights down low. It’s just she and I learning how to Turn a Circle and Walk the Dog!

By the end of the night…I was doing this———>

It’s not so much the shoes I’m worried about and MrD is scared to death I’m going to make him do it.

This whole thing is so me! Alrighty folks, nail down your loose items and join me.

Are you trying to keep your feet still? Give it up!

That’s what we do here in NC for fun. There are several dance halls running wide open most days a week. Our youth are involved which is a joy to watch. These kids get too tired to be in trouble.

I have just got to have me some Jingle Taps! When I get good enough….I’ll video the amazing spectacle.

Reynolda Gardens, NC of the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Family

Reynolda Gardens of Winston Salem, NC.

July-Reynolda116.jpg

 See the slideshow:

http://s289.photobucket.com/albums/ll211/flowergardengirl/Reynolda%20Gardens/?albumview=slideshow

July-Reynolda181.jpg

As part of my desire to document the beautiful gardens of North Carolina and the people who made them what they are, I’m starting with the Reynolda Gardens. They were lovingly planted in the early 1920s by Kate Smith Reynolds and her hand picked advisors and attendants. I have also shown pics at one time of Tanglewood Park which is also a garden of the Reynolds family. I will post those pictures again this week also. Mrs. Reynolds has her name on many buildings and gardening groups. Her name was respected as was her family. They did much to give back to the community.

Please enjoy the pictures, the scent from the rose gardens are intoxicating. Reynolda Gardens test and displays the All American Roses. I have included a picture of the Impatient, the most talked about rose.

Kate Smith Reynolds had a dream to educate and preserve. She enlisted the help of many professionals to build her flower and vegetable gardens. She wanted it a living museum for the people of the Winston Salem, NC area. She wished for it to live forever and provide education for all who wished to know more about gardening and raising your own vegetables. Mrs. Reynolds stayed on the cutting edge of technoloy and introduced new cultivars and hybrids. Her gardens are loved as much today as they were back in the 1920s when she first built them. Thank you to the Kate B. Reynolds foundation for keeping them alive for my children and grandchildren.

You can read about the preservation of Reynolda Gardens by the National Park Service and Wake Forest University and Friends of the Kate B. Reynolds foundation here:

http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/hli/currents/reynolda/existing.htm

 Reynolda Website:

http://www.reynoldagardens.org/history.html

This post was originally published at my genealogy blog. I’m moving a few things over from there for you to see.

Salem Creek’s Finest Hour

There is a place where you will want one of everything they have. A talented force is behind these beautiful pictures. These folks start the previous year planning just how to wow us for the next season. Christmas is my favorite time to visit Salem Creek in Winston Salem, NC.

Ken Gaither is the owner and started this beautiful store in 1982. Home furnishings, garden collectibles, scented candles, soaps and lotions, unique gifts, seasonal decorations, and the best staff anywhere are located in the building you see above.

Greetings of seasonal aromas fill the air as you first enter. It’s a treat for the scents as much as the sight. You don’t know where to look first. I usually go straight for the source of the scent and tuck it away in my basket. The store is two stories tall and open in the middle revealing the level above.

When you shop below, the view above is filled with decorated trees of all sorts. The upper level also has their Dept 56 and other popular holiday accessories. Look at their website to see all the name brands they carry.

There is no problem finding the gift items on your list and then several hundred things for yourself. The best way to see the store is by making several trips around the main circular isle. It will bring you past wonderful displays like the one above. It will take you numerous trips around to see it all.

This time of year brings us the very best decorated trees and festive atmosphere. In the fall, you will see lots of pumpkins and tables decorated to overflowing with scarecrows both scary and nice. For today though….it’s snowmen, holiday decorations, floral arrangements, jewelry, special food items, and lots of breath-taking trees. It is very merry and bright.

From gingerbread themes to those of elegance, Salem Creek will surely treat you to the very best. There are snowmen trees and those decorated with quiet shades of gold.

If you don’t have a place setting for the season…..here is one for you.

You haven’t seen anything you need yet? How about giving them a call? Connie can help you with making your home a comfortable place to come to at the end of the day. Debbie can assist you with the holiday ornaments or suggest a theme for your tree. Kay knows the whole store and makes every season bright. Then little Hannah will make your check-out go smoothly. Now there are many more dedicated folks who make your shopping easy and smooth but those above are friends of mine.

Most of the folks who work at Salem Creek have been there forever. Ken is a bit of a perfectionist as I can see from the way his store is nicely decorated. He carries himself that way too. He looks like he could be walking the designer avenues of New York City as a fine southern gentleman.

It would be hard for me to change the black and white check on this love-seat…but you could if you wanted to as they have hundreds of options.

You say give me something non-traditional? They have that too.

…..and why do you suppose this appeals to me and my craftsman home? Could it be the color or my interest in all things nature? Either works actually.

Who doesn’t like a nutcracker?

Christmas just isn’t Christmas without a few festive trips to Salem Creek.

*** please see their site for information on items you might like. I do not give out brand names or prices. I have been known in the past to purchase an item for you and send it by UPS if you send a check ahead of the purchase. The best experience is to visit the store!

Before You Lose The Freedom Of Choice

What part of the goat do you get the cheese out of?
Do you have to take the goat apart to get the cheese out?

These are the words out of the mouths of babes. Who will lead them? For awhile, we were treating the polluted water issue with caution thrown to the wind. I attended a party once where you were required to take off your shoes. Everyone put their shoes in a big pile in the middle of the floor. The pile of shoes was jumbled making each pair mismatched. Somebody blew a whistle and we all collided in a frenzy trying to find the ones that belonged to us.

I think most of us ended up with concussions and bloody open wounds. Now there were better ways to find our shoes and unclutter the mess. It wouldn’t have been as much fun.

That is the way we use to treat our polluted waters. It was no fun to clean them up so we just endangered our lives and that of others while we tried to sort it all out. 

We threw caution to wind and increased our concrete coverage. No need for silt fences during construction cause little critters down stream would have to adapt to less oxygen in the water. There were too many of them anyway and the rest of the animals up the chain were getting too fat. Reducing their population was almost necessary. We thought.

No need to preserve and protect. You may think this mildly esoteric and kooky but there are some people who have a more organized shoe finding method and are pairing up things quite nicely. The results are adding enormous value to our economy here in NC. There is an emergent awareness of the resident fauna and flora and it is thriving again.

The pelicans in NC are a great success story. At one time, there were less than 5,000 pair. Their habitat has seen less human disturbance and the numbers have doubled. The  healthy water systems have helped to maintain balance upstream. When we incorporate measures to clean our water before it dumps in to local streams, we improve the habitat down stream. The critter population from beginning to end benefits.

NC grew too quickly that caused run off from construction sites to deposit silt down stream. This suffocated our crayfish and all the animals who fed on them decreased in numbers due to a lack of food. NC State University is studying techniques that builders can use to filter the water before it reaches our ground water sources.

The university is testing coconut and jute fiber products that collect the silt before it leaves the building site. A holding pond is constructed and the run off will filter through those fibers greatly reducing the silt saturation level. In a normal run off basin, 40% of the silt settlement will overflow or leach in to the underground water systems or stream beds. With this jute and coconut system, 90% of the settlement is filtered out. The solid is scooped out and reused on site. It cost less to clean the water before than after. It is an increased cost to the developer which will be passed on the consumer.

You will have to decide if it is worth it and North Carolina has decided that Yes!, it is worth it.  When we keep our waters clean, there is an increase in people wanting to visit our state. Those tourist dollars who like to see the crayfish in the streams and watch the birds fly overhead scouting them out will bring financial stability to our state. This increases jobs and adds more wealth to our local economy. 

 The Conservation Enhancement Program Land Trust Fund pays farmers to establish buffers so run off in creeks don’t put the crayfish out of their home. Farmers in NC are paid to leave a wide unfarmed area away from any stream, lake, or body of water. Less pesticides and oxygen starving silt enter through waters because there is time and space for it to be leached out before entering the waterways.

The Cape Fear river has seen a decline in their shrimping industry due to run off pollution. The Cape Fear water is at the end of many creeks and rivers. Many waters from NC eventually flow to the Cape Fear.  This is not a direct pollution problem but is an upstream condition. It is hoped that with the new standards in place there will be an increase in shrimp populations.  This area has completely lost their brown shrimp fishing populations. This lack of supply drives up cost. You either pay now or pay later. Most of us would rather pay at the source so we can save more later.

One way in which our state is trying to overcome the problem is to attack it at the source. Roots of trees that grow on the side of stream beds are the first screen in filtering out silt that chokes the water critters. Stopping the farmers from taking those trees and shrubs down, stops a good deal of the silted run off. Nets are also being used where applicable.

The little tiny fresh water muscle is seeing a come-back due to these efforts to clean the water. Muscles are bivalve animals and filter large amounts of the naturally occurring silt saturation.

If you decrease the numbers of muscles with too much silt, then you also decrease the fish numbers who dine on them. These little muscles are vital to ecosystems. Fish eat algae and birds eat fish. The  fresh water muscles clean the streams and act as little siphons and help us all.  

Muscles can’t do it alone. Freshwater and waste-water  treatment plants use chemicals like ammonia and chloride to help clean the waters to make them safe for drinking. This is an added  expense to us but worth the cost. Most people do not realize that a treatment plant must be manned 24hrs a day. Without it, you would be sick and so would our waters.  Waste-water treatment plants filter our water and put it back in to the rivers to be used again.  

Water is finite with 3 percent being fresh.  2/3  is locked up in the north and south poles. Waters for the whole world run in aquifers under ground and transmit it all over the world. What you do in one country could very easily affect someone else in another.

The aquifers are little underground tunnels made from layers of clay and other Geo substances. These layers are the protection between us and our water source. People tap in to these aquafers by drilling wells for irrigation systems and other such water requirements. Those up stream from the aquafer suffer- geology dictates where our water comes from and remember it’s a finite source. We could change its chemical make-up leaving it unusable for human,animal, and plant consumption.

Use it efficiently. NC  industries and agriculture are actively setting goals to use less water. The animals and microbial life need us to maintain these water levels and quality.  NC cares and is taking an active role. I am proud to live here.

The question of how to have cleaner water and air was asked by North Carolina. Instead of looking at the problem through the consequences, we choose to look at it through the solution.  Before you lose the the freedom to choose clean drinking water, won’t you be careful. It does matter.

Pictures: From my garden on December 10, 2008

Sources: A combination of material from NC State University, UNC-ED television, and experiences taken with me on my journey through–My North Carolina.

The Sugar Creek Christmas Tree

Listen to Micahel Garet from Sugar Tree Christmas Tree Farm in Boone, NC. He tells us how the industry is doing this year.

I guess my video skills need some practice. I never imagined he would be laying on his side like that. I’ll try to remember not to turn the camera!

Here are the Sugar Creek Puppies. They were friendly and got petted non-stop by all who visited.

They had lots of comfy straw to lay on and watch the festivities.

An average 7ft tree was around$60. They were mostly Fraser Firs.

Now here is a Fraser Fir going home to a nice family with a vey tall ceiling.

NC Grown. I can’t have a real tree in the house, so I put it on my front porch.

These are too small.

How does someone get this home?