There are many paintings by Norman Rockwell about Christmas. These are just some.
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McClure homes:
I was searching for the original post on FB for the McClure home which I'd been interested in - located in south west Virginia...kind of in my neck of the woods. And these other homes with the same title came up. So I'll share them as well! Some other McClures either built them or owned them!
"Built in 1909, the Nickel Ensor McClure House is a majestic example of Romanesque Revival Style in Alva, Oklahoma. I'm glad to see it in good shape with work continuing to take place by the current owner. It was listed on POK's Most Endangered Places in 2009 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010."
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From Jimmy Lloyd of Natchez Mississippi
"The James McClure house built in 1850 located on North Union. The name McClure is associated with King's Tavern, which was built in 1789." (No mention on the Wikipedia article of Mr. McClure, however as an architect he might have had some input in renovations.)
The King's Tavern building in was built in 1769, making it the oldest structure in the old river port city of Natchez. When the British moved in and established the nearby Fort Panmure, the King's Tavern building was originally built to be a block house for the fort. As there was no saw mill near this frontier town, this building and other structures were constructed using beams taken from scrapped New Orleans sailing ships, which were brought to Natchez via mule. Another source of wood used in the King's Tavern building construction were barge boards from flat river boats, which were dismantled and sold after arriving in Natchez with their goods after traveling down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Boatmen couldn't take their flat boats back up these rivers, so they just added to their profit by selling the boats as wood, which was needed to build Natchez. Besides the wood, sun-dried bricks also were used as building material. The result is a building which has an ambiance and decor of another era from the outside.
After the Revolutionary War in 1776, the British left the area, leaving the river port open for other interests. In 1789, a New Yorker by the name of Richard King moved his family to Natchez where he bought this block home and opened a combination tavern and inn, as well as the place where the town's mail was dropped off.
...with the invention of the steamboat, which could travel down and up the river as well, the need for this dangerous travel along Natchez Trace ended with this form of modern transportation. This development cut down on the lucrative stage business significantly, dropping the economic activity taking place at the King's Tavern. Richard King sold the King's Tavern in 1817. The building was once again a private home, becoming the Postalwaith family home for several generations, a total of 150 years, beginning in 1823.
In 1973, the building was sold to a local investor and it eventually became a tavern and restaurant to serve both locals and visitors, taking the original name, the King's Tavern. Under new ownership as "The Tavern" it reopened in the fall of 2013. The owners used the farm-to-table concept using locally sourced quality ingredients.
It was for sale in 2022. It is also supposedly haunted.
Source: Wikipedia
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I don't remember having any McClure ancestors, actually. But there surely were a lot of them building houses! Yes, I found some more McClure homes...(coming soon!) My Ancestry search brought out Confederate Captain John McClure Biggs, husband of my first cousin four times removed. I don't know why his middle name was McClure, haven't gone back in his ancestry...but who knows...
Sharing with Tom's Tuesday's Treasures!
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A house blessing.
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Two more days until Christmas!
This and tomorrow are the biggest days men go shopping (at least in my having seen their quick and somewhat stressed presence in many stores through the years!) Gift wrapped things are highly popular.
Not all men of course.
Some just arrange for gift cards to be emailed around.
(If this sounds familiar, thanks for thinking of us who purchased presents (after thoughtful consideration of the traits of the receiving person) back in what, October? August?)
Actually I purchased or made my presents either this month, or over several years - but packed them and gave the pottery away last month. I do hope my Ohio relatives don't mind. They were busy looking at each other's phones to see what someone said they wanted was the right style or color! That was the 4 women. None of them asked me what I wanted for Christmas. There was no thought that I might like a present. I am positive if I'd presented a list there would have been dead silence from them. I was told however, that my daughter-in-law had already chosen my present.
I'll be grateful to receive anything. How thoughtful to be included in the family with busy lives.
I've said that for years.
But a little bit of the angry "Elderly Grand-Elf" has a bitch to share. No not toward male shoppers who procrastinate...they know who they are.
When do adult grandchildren acknowledge that they have the wherewithal to give gifts to their Elderly Grand-Elf?
My oldest grandson has done this several years. For which I'm very grateful. Of the other 5 grands...not so much.
So no excuses kids...you're grown ups now, and have incomes (except the 2 still in college)..probably much more than mine.
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Today's goddess:
So the sun has returned, with promises of warmth to come - but it will be many more months before the spring blossoms start peeping out.
Lake Tomahawk almost frozen over, January 17, 2025.
Tlazolteotl *
Birthing.
Any woman who has given vaginal birth (as opposed to Cesarian Sections) knows the incredible energies she had to find to push another human being into life.
When the nurse says you are 10 centimeters dilatated, that's how big your cervix must expand for you to give birth.
Every human being has experienced being born.
And every mother who gave birth has experienced the incredible forces of her womb to do this act. Us who had C-Sections (2 out of my 3 births) still had much similar feelings both emotionally and physically in the process and recovery from an abdominal surgical incision.
There are lots of photos on the internet of expectant mothers pushing, grimacing, breathing but no photos of actual birth. The babies are shown right after birth, being examined, or having the umbilical cord cut. The babies are shown with the moms holding them right after birth.
But though thousands of doctors and nurses and many fathers have seen a baby's head crown, the actual birth isn't shown. Perhaps the prudish society says we can't see a woman's vagina giving birth, or her anus, or somehow these are taboo still. OK, I don't want my privates spread all over the internet...but really, millions of births take place all over the world every day! They are invisible to the mothers, however. Just saying...
As the light reaches its lowest point here in the northern hemisphere we tuck ourselves into our warm homes, and even amidst the holiday gatherings it is valuable to find a bit of time to slow down enough to feel ourselves germinating, or even incubating. This is the time to nurture what wants to be born in us and in our communities—to protect and nurture our seeds until the time comes to send out our first tentative roots. When we reach deeply into the dark and embrace it, we find that what we need to know is inside of us already.Mary Porter Kerns
Winter Solstice is tonight...the longest night of the year. We consider all our animal friends, those living wild in woods, water or wind and the beloveds in human homes or fields.
By lynnbywaters
We live in times when it can be difficult to live grounded and connected to the earth that sustains us. Taking time to mark the seasonal changes has given us a new sense of gratitude and taught us to appreciate the darkness as well as the light.
