HOT Couture! Thank You, House of Elliot!

The House of Elliot: Beatrice & Evie

Hotter than an Alabama Summer!

If anyone really wants to know what happened in Episode 4 (some devoted fans swear there is one) of The House of Elliot, here's the scoop: The two Elliot sisters, Evie and Beatrice made their way to to the Southeast and set up an exclusive but small design shop in East Alabama....and we Steel Magnolias are keeping them busy.

After watching all three seasons last summer, I knew these two could create the finest interpretation of Madame X's gown, and here it is!
I posed for a local photographer right there in their offices. With my hair up, my super cyber diet and hours at the spa and the vigorous laps in the swimming pool, I have managed to achieve a most glamorous look, if I do say so myself. The Colonel asked me if I would be wearing this to have some fried catfish at his favorite diner, Jim Bob's....and well... I had to tell him that Coop was waiting outside in his Duesenberg! He smiled and said, "Go have fun....college games on TV tonight. See you when you get back....but I want to take the Duesenberg to Jim Bob's Friday night. OK?"
You got it, Lover!

Here is a layout so you can compare their work--my gorgeous gown

for tonight--to the Singer portrait.


And thank you Gaston Studios for your suggestion that I could leave off the pearl choker!
I don't want anything to inhibit me on the dance floor.

Ball Gown in Black, Please!

Don't ask me why, but I for some reason I had decided that I really should wear black this year. I suppose it could have something to do with the visual effect of taking away the pounds. I like a sleeve most of the time, but the ones on this gown were just so plain......

so.......I finally decided on no sleeves at all! I have taken this image of John Singer Sargent's Madame X (Portrait of Madame Gautreau, 1884 oil on canvas, Tate Gallery, London) to my dress maker ! She is a marvel at forgery when it comes to needle and thread and taffeta! I have been in for several fittings, and I am collecting the dress this evening!
Now, where is my pearl choker???

It's A Duesey

Some women may want to know what they are going to wear to
a fancy ball before they think about how they will get there. I have long been enamoured with elegant automobiles, and today came across these newspaper clippings. Now -- yes, I have been talking to my dressmaker about a certain evening gown I have always admired, but first I had to know how I was going to get to Willow Manor. I called up an old flame --you know 1-800-AFTALIF 0r 1-800-GR8BYON --and asked if he still had his Duesey--said I needed a ride to the most fabulous social event this side of the Mississippi. Actually, I was just going to borrow his car and go alone. He seemed very curious. I added a little extra intrigue and said that I had heard George Sanders was going to be the guest of honor. I whined about how I had to drive my own car last year, because my date was just a sweet little ole country lawyer from Maycomb. He gasped, and asked was this same ball where the likes of Al Pacino, Rudolph Nureyev, and Miss Piggy had been seen on the dance floor and meeting behind the palms ? He began to gush:

" You have an invitation to the Willow Manor Ball? Really? I heard Gregory Peck and some others just raving about that last October. Well, I am pretty sure I can get to your house by mid week if I start out in the morning. I may have to retrieve the Duesenberg from a museum, but I will be by to pick you up, and then we will head north to the ball! It's pretty quiet up Here on the great movie set in the sky. I am ready for something a little more Down to Earth, if you know what I mean!"

So, ladies and gentlemen, are you ready for the ball? Click above on Willow Manor Ball or the link in my sidebar. As for me, looks as if I have a great ride, my gown is in the making, and my escort is not too bad either...just lucky I guess!

Sepia Saturday: From a Favorite Book

Back in June when I was on the coast enjoying the beach, I found this book at Sun Dog Books in Seaside, FL. I did not purchase it that day, and when I went back for it, I could not find the one copy. In July when I was in Monroeville, AL and browsing the cozy little shelves of Beehive Coffee & Books and chatting with Mary Badham (aka Scout), I found a single volume again! This time, I made it mine! I had remembered it only as a picture book, but in her introduction Victoria Randall shares a brief history of photography. Beginning with the daguerreotype, named for Frenchman Louis Daguerre, to tintype, to ambrotype, calotype, cyanotype, (all TYPES new to me), and collodian, up to George Eastman's introduction of the first film camera. With this, came the traveling portrait photographer, and most specifically featured in this book: The Pony Man. Throughout America were photographers going from town to town with an outfitted pony and a suitcase full of riding costumes. In her modest (120 pages)
treasury of nearly a hundred charming photos spanning from the 1880's to the 1960's, Randall includes many personal details and inscriptions for each image. Here are just a few captured by my camera. If you love sepia photographs and children and ponies,

you should give yourself this book.

CIRCA 1939
Doesn't she remind you of Bonnie Butler in GONE WITH THE WIND?


CIRCA 1918


CIRCA 1918
(click on pictures of the book to enlarge)

CIRCA 1971 Near Fort Rucker, AL

Our first born, Cameron, is seen riding his made in England Mobo walking pony.
I think this is the last one of these sold from Pizitz's in downtown Birmingham.
My Tennessee cousins had owned one, and I had longed for a Mobo to show up under my Christmas tree when I was a pre-schooler. Years later, I was astonished to find him in the toy department and sent word immediately to Santa. He reserved the toy before Cameron was born. Happily for his first Christmas, it became his first and only pony. Alas, there were no traveling pony photographers by this time. This is an old Polaroid I took, with a newly added sepia effect.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


When it's midnight in the meadow and cats are in the shed,
And the river tells a story at the window by my bed,
If you listen very closely, be as quiet as you can,
In the yard you'll hear him,
It is the pony man.



Opening lines of the "The Pony Man" by Gordon Lightfoot

For other Sepia Saturday Posts, click HERE!

My Summer Vacation? Maybe next year...

Once upon a time, when Michael (Where is he?) was maybe NOT Shouting at Street Lights , he was kind enough to tell me about a magical sounding place for horse lovers. It may have been when I posted a photo of a real sweetheart, Chloe, a mare I had visited at the AU vet school, or perhaps when I had done one of my many

"Boy-do-I-love-horses-and-wish-I-had-one-now-and-forever!" kind of posts.

Anyway, he sent me a link to a place in Northern England that I frequently visit online. After I have read all about the different "rides" that Cumbria Heavy Horses has to offer, then I invariably float off into a Walter Mitty styled daydream of not just going there for a summer vacation...but actually going there to live part of the year. For a little while, I ask myself...."Dang, Miss Marnie, have you lost your mind?" Realizing that over the years, I have listened to fans of Fantasy Football, Fantasy Baseball, Quarter Horse Trail Riders, Harley Riders, and Appalachian Trail Hikers, go on an on about their passions, I must say this place does not seem so far fetched.

Okay, call me romantic, but there are two things high on my Bucket List: Ride a horse on a an English beach in the winter and go on a sleigh ride.....yes.....in a one horse, opened sleigh.

I am sure these winter fantasies can be attributed to far too many viewings of

THE LION IN WINTER and DOCTOR ZHIVAGO! I too am of the Woolly Socks school of thought made so totally endearing and fashionable by Willow of Willow Manor fame!

So pop over to my Fantasy Horse Farm where I borrowed these images to lure you there!

Let me know if you want to join in .....when I win the lottery and buy this place!


And yes, I will have to have plenty of sheep too!

PS Don't forget to explore all of the warm and welcoming places you can stay
at the end of long day of riding on the fells !
Oh Lord!! Someone stop me before I create another link!

On a Mission from God...

No, it's not one of the Blues Brothers, but Father Wells Warren, just back from South Africa. He went there to do a wedding. He was away for two weeks, returned Friday, and had another wedding yesterday. I believe he is going for a record! An Episcopal priest who can recite Shakespeare's sonnets with such perfect timing and grace that they seem to be part of the Prayer Book's wedding sacrament is bound to be in high demand!
While I should have been at St. Dunstan's this evening at six, I was learning how to use all of the online resources, webinars, and interactive programs for students that is just one more task in getting acquainted with my school's newly adopted literature books. Of course, I had to register: create yet another USER NAME and password for each of my two books! There are some positive aspects, yet it is just one more way to make sure we teachers are never idle!! Just when I was ready to throw the laptop off the table, thinking all I had wanted to do today was make a new post on my blog, and end the day with some inspiration and solace at my church, I thought...at least check Facebook--check on your nieces and far away friends....and Father Wells.
And so I found that it is true for other professions: We are all living our lives with the internet ...and tonight... I have to say for the better. Let's hear it for Father Wells who has begun posting his sermons online. This one is well worth your time...and I am especially grateful that I had a chance to read it. Now I can go to school tomorrow - clean and bright in spirit - polished by these words (click to read tonight's sermon).

What is your mission this week?

SOUTHERN LIVING....eat your heart out!

After visiting nearly every flooring showroom in Lee County, hauling home sample after sample, being in love with the travertine castle floor look, wide plank antique hickory, or just the same oak floor as the rest of my home, I finally made a choice. And yes, I am happy to report I DID get one "Our Old House" project underway and completed this summer. I finally settled on a very practical product and Home Fashion Center of Opelika (the town where Hoke missed the turn in Driving Miss Daisy) took care of the rest of the work! Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to introduce our new kitchen floor!

Here's the view from the dining room.

The new one is in the same color family as the older floor we had for over twenty three years, but it is several shades lighter and seems to really draw in the mid-afternoon sun beautifully. The whole room seems to take on that Faulkner "Light in August" quality...a soft and sunny brilliance. Of course, much credit and many thanks go to my good friend, neighbor, and interior painter extraordinaire: Bob of Bob's Bread fame. Not only does he paint trim work and plaster walls to perfection, but the man can bake the most wonderous sour dough bread you have ever tasted. We can't wait until our Christmas loaf arrives!

Here's a certain slant of light.

Gracie wanders in for a major stretch! She loves to lie on the cool floor
and sometimes even the air vent, but she would not be still for a picture!

This is the view from the garage entrance!

Yes, this is going make a nice welcome home for the Graystone gang!
Cup of tea, anyone?

Arabian Tails & Breakfast Cereal

A few posts back, I shared some photos of my trip to Tennessee. We were there to attend a wedding. Adding to the delight of this event, we stayed in a restored cabin, and visited with several beloved cousins, one of whom raises and pampers Arabians in her spare time.

My trip to Pulaski would not be complete without a stop along Sorgham Hollow Road to say hello to my cousin Melody and her horses. This is the landscape of my childhood summers now made even more beautiful by the antics of this frolicking family swishing their tails, prancing, and playing to the camera!

These decided to keep busy searching for sweet grasses...

while this sweetheart came to say hello.

Then everyone wanted to be at the same place at once!

"This is my good side...take the picture, ok?"

As is often the case, today I set out to do a bit of reading on this ancient breed and stumbled onto a fascinating connection between the Arabian horse and Kellogg cereal! In the early 1920's W. K. Kellogg established a horse farm in Pamona, California as a retreat for himself and his family from Michigan and as a place to raise Arabian horses. He would go on to make it a gift to the state of California and to establish a library at Cal Poly in Pamona devoted to the Arabian horse. Click here to explore this story. I highly recommend the 1995 Founder's Day Highlights video and the 1932 audio featuring Will Rogers as master of ceremonies for the presentation of this historic property to the state!

If you just want to read up on the breed click here! For the WikiPedia scoop, click here!

To visit the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library click here!

And by the way, Melody told me she may be planning to sell some of these darlings!
Now that is just about as commercial as I will ever get in the blogosphere!
Speaking of commercial, which Kellogg cereal is/was your favorite?
I am a Kellogg Rice Krispies kind of kid! Snap, Crackle, Pop....
with strawberries & blueberries & cold, cold, milk in the summer time!

Sepia Saturday: The Boomers

This photograph was taken in a small studio or booth at the Alabama State Fair in Birmingham, October 1951. That is my sister Carol Sue on the left with her pale strawberry blond hair, adorable freckles, and of course, her cowboy hat. Yep, you got it, I am the baby sister. This is the only baby picture I have ever seen of myself. We had an older brother and sister, born before WWII. I believe my mother must have had her hands full. At this time, my father was on active duty for the Korean War and was stationed at Mountain Home, Idaho. All five of us had just returned from the first train trip across the country and back to visit him. God bless her; my mom still had enough energy to take us all to the fair! Amazing!

For more Sepia Saturday participants, click HERE!

Monroeville & Mockingbird Magic

This is just one of the many Mockingbird houses on the Mockingbird Historic Trail in Monroeville, Alabama. The house was designed by an engineer and painted by a local artist.

This one is just outside the door of the Monroe County Courthouse.

View from the balcony where Jem & Scout watched as Atticus defended Tom Robinson. (The movie set was designed to be identical to this room.)

Niece Nancy and actress Mary Badham - "Scout " -- get acquainted in the Heritage Museum gift shop. Mary was in town for the four day celebration along with hundreds of MOCKINGBIRD fans. We visited with her before we did our reading in the courtroom, in the evening at the 1930's Dinner, and the following morning at the Beehive Bookstore.
Many thanks to the star of the film who graciously signed our books.

This plaque, mounted on a large stone which rests on the courthouse lawn,
is well worth reading! (Click on photo to enlarge, then click again.)

In the documentary FEARFUL SYMMETRY: The Making of To Kill a Mockingbird, Gregory Peck talked of his meeting with Mr. Amasa Coleman Lee. Though none of the scenes in the movie were actually filmed in Monroeville, many of the people involved with the production visited the town in preparation for the Academy Award winning film. The actor explained how Lee would hold a pocket watch as he was talking or thinking: "I stole that from him," he confessed. Mr. Lee once defended a black man in a murder trial and lost the case, just as Atticus lost his case for Tom Robinson. As a result, Mr. Lee never practiced law again.
After her father's death, Harper Lee gave his watch to Gregory.

Life and art merge, and devoted readers remember in this small,
Alabama town named as the Literary Capital of the state.

The Hybart House was a gift to the town from the Hybart family and has become a cultural center. (This was where Truman Capote and Harper Lee dined with friends the night before they left for Kansas to do research for Capote's In Cold Blood.) And this is where we attended the 1930's Dinner. Some of the guests were the townspeople in their costumes who play the different roles in the annual production of the play held every May. There was music of the era played on a grand piano and foods prepared by Chef Clif Holt of Little Savannah restaurant in Birmingham. The menu included fried chicken, potato salad, spiced peaches, ham, cornbread, turnip greens, and lane cake -- all foods mentioned in the book. A special drink was served on the lawn: the Tequila Mockingbird.

One of the terms on the vocabulary list for teaching the novel is
"shinny" which is, of course, the local and affectionate term for moonshine!
I took the photo of the birdhouse, and all other photographs are courtesy of Stevie Wonderful, my nephew and lucky husband of Nancy!

Listen to the Mockingbird

Over the past few days I have been pacing through the downstairs rooms of my house reading aloud from To Kill a Mockingbird. My only listeners have been my dogs. You see, I am rehearsing for my 15 minutes of fame. As part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the publication of Harper Lee's novel, a reading marathon begins at 9:00 A.M. CDT in Monroeville, Alabama in the Monroe County Courthouse. The second day will be Saturday beginning at 9:00 A.M. until the entire book is completed. Though this is just one of many such marathons throughout the country this weekend, it is the one in the hometown of Miss Nelle Harper Lee and the fictional Maycomb. My actual fifteen minutes begins at 2:30 CDT. I have tried to gauge the pages I will read. As it is not an exact science, I have decided to concentrate on chapters ten though thirteen and just hope that I am close. Yes, I have been immersed in the book and the film and numerous articles. I have always been fascinated by the beautiful and melancholy opening scene as a child's hands open a cigar box of gathered treasures accompanied by the tender and nostalgic music of Elmer Bernstein . And yes, I have always been proud of the two children from my county who gave life to Jem and Scout Finch: Phillip Alford and Mary

Badham. (Word has it that Mary may be reading, too!)

"One-shot Finch"
In Chapter Ten, Scout complains that Atticus just can't do anything. When a rabid dog is seen walking down the street, Atticus is summoned from the courthouse by Calpurnia. The two children are stunned to discover that their father is quite a marksman.

Jem's wide eyed wonder at his father... captured by Phillip Alford

Mary Badham's favorite scene with Atticus-- the name she used even for her offscreen and lifelong friendship with Gregory Peck.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Of the many articles, special features, and critiques and facts about the novel and the film that I have studied this week, one offers a truly fresh perspective. In the summer 2010 publication of Alabama Heritage, (click to read entire article) Auburn University historian and professor, Dr. Wayne Flint concluded his six page article "Universal Values: The Enduring Legacy of To Kill a Mockingbird" with his customary wisdom and insight that have made him famous in this neck of the woods:

"In one of those delicious ironies for which Alabama is reknowned, a novel written by a white woman from Monroeville, on the edge of the state's Black Belt has become the primary literary instrument worldwide for teaching values of racial justice and tolerance for people different from oursleves, and the necessity for moral courage in the face of community prejudice and ostracism. Inside the pages of the book, readers may discover not only a New South but perhaps even a new humanity."

Star Spangled

for William & Thomas

Coffin Flags

I keep two neatly folded flags

within a bedroom window seat
among outgrown children's clothes, cedar, and woollens

things seasonal, seasonally forgotten.

On the Glorious Fourth they unfold

along with distant pain and loss
that a younger sister shouldered inside her silence

then left with me to be remembered.

I keep two neatly folded brothers:

The Korean statistic lost above the 38th parallell,

A patriot eternally deployed

While his WWII brother waits in Elmwood.

I keep two neatly folded soldiers
whose stars stare bravely back at me

and see a wife not theirs

and see my sons, not theirs

and see their future cruelly stolen.

And in their stars I see the gentle heroes

who make Independence Day bittersweet

and free the heart from any doubt

of why we celebrate liberty and love of country.

I keep two neatly folded souls

and remember.

Click HERE for details on William & Thomas

Diana: A Celebration...Born July 1, 1961

Among the many artifacts in the the childhood gallery of Diana: A Celebration were several small figurines. I know at least one was a Beatrix Potter character, with its ear or arm broken off. I wish I had written myself a note. For some reason, it is the most haunting memory I have from my May 28th visit to this special presentation at Atlanta's Civic Center. Also quite striking, was the blue HALO vest over a plain white shirt and pale tan jeans that Diana wore when visiting Angola to bring attention to the great dangers of land mines. It was in the gallery with many of her most elegant evening gowns, suits, and matching shoes. We have all seen the images of maimed children, and of Diana comforting them. Perhaps the tiny little figure (no photographs allowed), still much loved and cherished, helped her foresee her future. It stood proudly and left a powerful impression on me, as did her girlhood ballet slippers and her oh so small school uniform.

There are thousands of tributes to the memory of Princess Diana, but on this 49th anniversary of her birthday, July 1, 1961, I thought I would send you to one prepared by the Spencer family. Here is the website of Diana: A Celebration, which closed on June 13th, with the next installation scheduled for Grand Rapids sometime in November. It is beautiful and tasteful, as was Diana. I did not go there expecting to sit in quiet wonder in the gallery with her wedding gown for thirty minutes, but I did. I did not go there expecting to read the hand edited version of Charles Spencer's eulogy and weep for her again, but I did. I did not go there expecting to see a wall of bookshelves filled with condolence books from towns all over the world which were sent to the Spencer family, but there they were! I did not go there expecting to sign a remembrance book, which her brother seemed to KNOW I would need, but I signed it:
" I miss her presence in this world, still ... and every day."

Have You Seen This Plate? OR .......................The Dog We Left Behind

This darling dog was the resident canine companion of Clock Creek Cabin where we stayed during the weekend of May 22 for cousin Rebecca's wedding. He adorned the wall of the bathroom, and we so wanted to take him home with us. The owner of Lairdland Farms and this charming, restored log cabin says he is not ready to part with the pup. Alas, I will just have to book another stay to see those beautiful, begging eyes again. Meanwhile, I am looking for this plate. There was no information on the back, other than the fact that is was designed with a notch so as to hang it on the wall. I will say that it seemed to be somewhat old.

Of course, there were many other wonderful features at the cabin.

Just out of sight is a much needed step stool to climb into this comfy bed.

Gorgeous old pine floors and period furniture made for an authentic restoration of the cabin. I enjoyed reading historic books all about the town of Pulaski in Giles County, Tennessee, where I spent many of my childhood summers. On a nearby 600 acre farm, I passed many a day cavorting with beloved cousins Larry, Gary, and Melody. We swam in ponds like the one near this cabin, rode tractors, got lost in cornfields, looked for crayfish and swam some more in Buchanan Creek, and climbed high up into the hills and pastures where we all had to take turns being Davy Crockett on a given day!

The upstairs loft featured these twins bed across from another queen sized bed, making plenty of room for our son and his family to join us.

The cabin was set near a meadow and a cold water spring.
Just plain peaceful. (Click on any photo to enlarge.)


If you look across the meadow, you can just see the top of the spring fed pond. In the early evening this was the stage for a most spectacular lightning bug display. Well, that is what we call them in the Deep South, but I also love "fireflies." One look at the glowing dancers over the tops of these grasses, and the existence of the fairy folk seems a certainty.

A place for meditation be you a mortal or a spirit...

A view from the hillside...

The side porch where we sat and watched the lightning bug ball.

Goodbye, Clock Creek. We will be back again, Mr. Blackburn.