More pictures of Prestwould Plantation

Here are some more pictures from my visit to Prestwould Plantation in Clarksville, VA.
Here is the mansion itself.  It is made of a light reddish colored sandstone block.  It's interesting to think of the skill and muscle of masons who built the mansion.  The north side of the building faces the drive, and the south side, which looks toward the direction of the river, is the same design. 

 

The west end of the house also has a porch.

 

In the 1960's, the Roanoke River (or Staunton--pronounced STANT-en--as it is called in this section) which was about a mile south of this plantation was impounded to create the John Kerr Reservoir.  At the time of the operation of the plantation, the river would have been the means of transporting plantation commodities, such as tobacco, to market.

On the west and northwest sides (and down the hill from the mansion) are several other structures. One is a frame structure which housed slaves.  It started out as a single dwelling, then was made into a duplex to house two families.  Apparently there were other buildings like it in this area of the plantation, but this is the only one that remains.  Built in the 1780's, this building may be one of the oldest of its kinds in the Chesapeake, according to the plantation's registration with the National Park Service.

 

There were two smoke houses made of stone, one in shambles.

 

I'm not completely sure about this stone structure which stands on the west side of the mansion.  An "office" is listed amongst the buildings, and perhaps this is the office.  I do know the stone looked warm on a sunny late fall afternoon, and I could imagine sitting against the wall daydreaming.

 

There was a "loom house," which I thought was an interesting concept.  It also housed slaves upstairs.  Who can imagine all the artistry and skill that was wrought inside that building?  

 

Here is the kitchen.  I like to imagine what might have been eaten this time of year.  I like to think there were sweet potatoes, collards, cornbread, with some ham for Christmas.  Perhaps there was sorghum molasses and honey for sweeteners.

 

Here is the little apiary with its straw bee skeps.  I'm supposing this is a replica, and it's a shame it's in such disrepair.  It stands in the garden area to the east of the mansion.  With space for only four skeps, honey would have been a premium commodity I'm thinking.

 

The garden area is mostly to the east of the house, and this octagonal summer house is situated near the gardens.  I think some romantic novels have the protagonists getting kissed in the summer house.  What do you think--is this a place where one could find a little privacy?

 

Or is the room below a place where a bully might threaten to banish a younger playmate?  The literature said it was probably a place to store root crops or garden tools.  I'm thinking it might have looked like a dungeon to a kid.  Was an enslaved child who was afraid of spiders and snakes sent here to fetch some root vegetables for the kitchen?

 

Of course, there were stone walls all around.  I think this is an original finial adorning the front gate.  It is hard to imagine all the work that went into making the walls.

 

There is lots of history here, but I'm glad to be living with modern freedoms and conveniences myself.



 

 

 











Easy microwave apple crisp for two

I've been experimenting with making a crisp in the microwave.  I'm still tweaking, but this is essentially what I've come up with so far.

Peel, core, and slice about 2 1/2 small McIntosh apples.  Place them in a microwave-safe dish.  (I use a 2-cup bowl.)  I'm a great believer in the maxim "Don't muzzle the ox that treads out the corn," so I taste a little of 3 apples as I go along and, that way, end up with the right amount, leaving enough room for a crust.  In a separate bowl melt 3 1/2 TB salted butter.  Add to that 2 TB sugar, 2 TB plain flour, 2 graham crackers crushed with your hands, 4 TB quick oats.  Stir together with a large spoon, crushing any large crumbs of graham cracker.  If you want, sprinkle just a smidgen of cinnamon over the apples.  Put the topping over the apples and microwave on high 2 minutes.  (My microwave is 1200 watts.) Voilà!  (Serves 2 or 3.)
I've done this a couple of times with frozen blueberries as well, but I'm still working on that.  The first time, I thought I should nuke the berries a minute before adding the crust.  When I did that, the 2 additional minutes made the juice of the berries boil up into the crust.  It still tasted great eaten right away, but I thought it might result in a bit of a soggy crust if it sat for a while.  The next time, I just did 2 minutes with the crust and berries together, straight from frozen, but I ended up with some juice floating in the bottom of the bowl.  One difference with the blueberries is that I sprinkle just a little sugar over the blueberries since they are more tart than the apples.  I might try sprinkling just a wee bit of flour with the sugar.
If you try it, let me know how it turns out for you.

Out and about

Yesterday, I had a chance to get out and about with my friend Lea.  It was a refreshing day, so nice to have a change of pace.
Here are some pictures of some sights we saw.

boats at a marina as we cross a bridge

 

osage orange fruit

 

 the fall colors of a water oak against a blue sky

 

a white musk rose, still blooming on Dec. 1 because of the heat retained by the stone wall and stone slabs in a cemetery

 

 an absolutely lovely ancient white oak

 

 ancient Eastern red cedars, full of foliage, full of character

 

Hi Lea, what will we be up to next?



A few foliage pictures

Here are a few foliage pictures from Thanksgiving.  The weather has been warmer than normal this season, so there was more color on Thanksgiving than usual.

 

 

 

 

 

"A loaf of bread, a cabbage head, and a can of Mulligan stew"

In a book or poem that was read to us as kids, there was a line that included this phrase:  "...a loaf of bread, a cabbage head, and a can of Mulligan stew."  We loved the rhythm of the phrase and it stuck with us.  I can hardly say the phrase "cabbage head" without wanting to add "and a can of Mulligan stew!"  Here, I'm holding a cabbage my older brother grew this fall.

I guess we'd have to round that out with a two-foot long loaf of bread and a number 10 can of Mulligan stew!



 

I can divide!

Whenever I see this sign, which I assume means the seller is willing to divide the land and sell it in smaller parcels, I always want to respond with "Yeah, I can divide AND multiply AND add and subtract!

 

Okay, truth be known, I can add, subtract, multiply, divide, and even do algebra--but GRAPHING is where I DRAW THE LINE.

Keeping it real--kind of

Today was one of those days that I wonder if what I'm doing even makes sense.  I loaded a big pile of weeds into the wheelbarrow.  Should I be proud of all the work that represents or just ashamed I let the weeds get so badly out of hand?  Anyway, here goes.

 

Meanwhile, the pansies are looking quite cheery.  We are in a drought, so I watered them (and added a little more compost).

A few days ago when I went out in the morning to do some of that weeding, I noticed the moon setting and tried to take a picture through my binoculars (like I had done the hawk).  I wasn't really satisfied with the result, but I was quite amused that a bird had crossed the view just as the shutter snapped.  I do like the blue sky and white moon next to the reddish leaves of the neighbor's ornamental pear.

 

I raked a considerable amount of pine straw at my neighbor's house today, and I also sawed off a large portion of the Leyland cypress trunk (roughly 11" diameter, depending on where you measure) with the bow saw.  Let's just call that interesting.  Again, I could be proud of being such a tough cookie or just feel stupid for not letting someone come in with a chainsaw.

And if I ruled the world, pine straw would be one word: pinestraw (as would butterbeans).