A guest post:
It was such a lovely day. I saw beautiful homes, loved and cared for, in their glory of wonderful craftsmanship. And I was so happy to see 2 of the homes that I have always wished I could find on the tours...and even more so was able to converse with both of the owners at length. They were delightful ladies, both have lived in these homes built at the beginning of the 20th century with their families for quite some time. One is a huge 3 floor 'castle', the other has a huge doll house in the second story window that always caught my eye as we'd drive by. A grand-daughter just loves coming to visit in Grandma's 'castle'! And it looks so like one, with turrets, stained glass windows, unbelievable doors that are layered, i.e. cherry wood on one side, walnut on the other...each one SO interesting as you can see the edges of each wood...a sweeping staircase crafted by a French Canadian master builder who took approximately one year to carve this magnificent butternut stairway, he lived with them while doing so back in 1886, on the third floor during this time, his room is still there the paperwork the owner has relates, marvelous pages that will become a part of her book she's working on of her home's history.
Then I stopped at the shop we loved behind the antique place, and bought a simple tall black iron 3 legged tower to plant a vining flower near perhaps, then, stopped at a friend's to see her lovely garden, and she gave me a sweet pea start to plant at it's feet :). What a perfect day.
Today my husband and I will likely stay indoors, because it's thundering and raining out our windows! I wanted to plant that sweet pea, and perhaps work on the City Park garden, instead we'll enjoy a day of relaxing.