The Lanier Mansion of Madison

Touring the Lanier Mansion was definately a highlight of our trip to Madison. James F. D. Lanier was the leading citizen of Madison at one time.

Lanier's immense wealth came in handy for the State on Indiana -- Lanier gave $500,000 for troops to be fitted out for (I think) the Civil War and also bankrolled the State when they were going under with debt.

The house is in a beautiful setting, right off the banks of the Ohio River. In its heyday a pig farm was just up the street as well as iron works, so perhaps it was not once so idyllic.

The dining room was beautiful albeit a bit busy with all the decorations on the wallpaper.

There were two parlors (mirror images of each other).

A lovely view from the upstairs windows out to the river.

The house had four bedrooms plus two little sitting rooms/offices on the second floor. The attic floor had room for servants and children.

The very feminine girls' room:

This bedroom was very, very busy with all the patterns everywhere and the very ornate bed.

A view from the side.
The Lanier House has done a good job of trying to maintain historical integrity. I just love learning about history, especially how people lived. I think it would be so fun to go back in time just for a day and be a guest at a home like this! I'm sure life was too hard back then to make it enjoyable long-term, but it would be fun for a day! :)

The Pigs of Madison

Michael and I were amused at the many pigs we saw in Madison. I had to take some pictures for you. :)

Every year the town has a Ribber Festival and as part of that shops are given cement pigs (like this one) to decorate.

The shops use their imagination to create a pig that goes along with what they sell.

Madison used to be an area with a lot of pig farms. In fact, the Lanier Mansion originally was just down the street from one such farm -- imagine the smells and sounds!

This pig looked like it should be hired by Chickfila.

This poor banker pig got soaked in the rain.
Here's the sheriff pig.
This was my favorite pig -- lovely flowers!

And this little pig cried wee, wee, wee all the way home.

I missed the best pig of all which was in front of the newspaper offices. The pig was covered in newspaper articles with recipes for pork bbq strategically placed on the pig's snout, etc. Very funny! I wonder who will win the prize?

Textiles of Madison

For those of us interested in textiles, I thought I'd post some of the textiles we found in the Lanier Mansion in Madison.

We were amazed at the different taste in decorating 200 years ago.

There were no qualms about papering a room with one palette and then carpeting the same room with something in totally different colors and crazy patterns.

I did enjoy this beautiful quilt. Recently I've been feeling that yearning to do some more quilting. I still owe David a baby quilt since I made one for all the others.

This carpet was in the room with the quilt. Nice and simple compared to the rest of the house.

Check out the mix of wallpaper and carpet in this little office room!

Another intricately designed carpet:

The girls' room was very feminine -- roses on the wall paper, roses at the windows and covering the bed and pink on the floor too.

Hopefully you can see the amazing combination in this room on the wallpaper, curtains, and carpet!
I really did like the carpet design, but maybe for decorating a calligraphy or as inspiration for embroidery, or even a throw rug -- just not wall-to-wall carpeting. :)

History can be so beautiful!

The Houses of Madison

Michael and I really enjoyed admiring all the beautiful houses in Madison.

Everywhere we turned there was something beautiful!

We did spend some time just driving the streets, but I'm sure we still missed many, many houses.

And I loved the alleyways behind all of the houses. So quaint, and inviting, and mysterious all at the same time.

Somehow the town reminded me of New England and of Scotland. I think it was the historic feeling in the air.

I always thought it would be fun to live in an older home. But, I know it brings its own difficulties of space, repairs, and expense.
However, there's no stopping me from enjoying these houses from the outside!

This one had a lovely flower garden next to it!
On another note, we've had some gorgeous weather here the last few days -- in the 70's and just about at 80. What could be nicer in August!

Today I'm planning to rest after a busy week, prepare for dinner guests, maybe knit some on my sock (that I've finally started!) and perhaps read. There are a few chores to throw in as well, and we'll see what the little munchkins are up to. Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

The Tomato Thief

I must interrupt my planned series on Madison to bring you news of my tomato thief.

Yesterday I wandered out to take a look at my plants. I noticed one of my tomato plants had lost quite a few leaves and tomatoes. In fact, whole branches were stripped bare.

I had noticed the beginning of this the other day, but figured it was nothing to worry about.
Then I glanced up at the top of the plant. Another full stalk stripped completely bare. I knew now I had to find out what was wrong. I finally decided I better search for a little caterpillar. Maybe something like that was eating my plant!

What did I finally find? A HUGE caterpillar and its smaller friend! A yelp actually escaped from my mouth when I discovered this -- I never expected something so big.

Can you see how big this monster is? No wonder my plant has been devastated. I have never seen such a big caterpillar in my life!
The children were fascinated and together we captured our culprits and put them in a jar with the stalk of tomatoes they were already eating.

I guess these are known as "Tomato Hornworms". UGH! We'll have to keep a tight watch on the other 2 plants.

Trip to Madison

Michael and I had the rare opportunity to get away by ourselves earlier this week! We travelled to a beautiful town called Madison.

Madison is situated on the Ohio river with Kentucky just on the other side.

The Lanier Mansion is one of the more stately homes in the 132 blocks of historic homes. We enjoyed taking a tour of it and I will post more pictures on another day.

There are lots of antique shops to look in, coffee shops and cafes to visit, and beautiful architecture to enjoy. The "Downtowner" is where we took two of our meals. Here we are in front of the Lanier Mansion.

Alleys were everywhere and so many of them looked inviting! I liked this picture because the building wasn't so nice yet someone took time to plant a great big pot of pink geraniums by the back door.

Dinner at the Downtowner:

We stayed at a delightful B&B called the Iron Gate Inn.

Our room was beautiful and the decor felt very restful.

The B&B owner did the remodeling of the bath area himself. A job well done!

We loved all the period furniture in the living room. The house was built in 1840 with 6 bedrooms. The ceilings were so, so tall!

Candlelight breakfast was enjoyed by all -- we were joined at the table by a couple who live just 5 miles from us. The front door gave an indication of the abundance of tassles to be found within. The owner's wife used to work for a tassle and trim company. I counted 13 tassles in our bedroom alone! I couldn't help but think of my friend Heather who's been making tassles recently.

After breakfast we made a quick stop at the local farmer's market before the rain came on. I bought my very first tomatillos.

Then it rained and rained so we sat at the Madison Coffee and Tea Company and read or knitted while sipping coffee.

Later, when the rain cleared, we enjoyed some more perusing of the shops.

And then it was time for lunch -- tomato soup and grilled cheese -- what could be more perfect for a rainy day!

We were home by dinner time and greeted by 4 sweet little faces. Many thanks to my sister, Emily, and my mom who took on the task of watching the munchkins while we were away. Tomorrow I'll have more pictures.....