Hotel Talisi, You Are Missed

We were coming back from the Wiregrass Saturday night and talked about taking the boys to supper at the Hotel Talisi in Tallassee, then decided since it was so late we would just drive straight through and instead have Sunday brunch there this week.

Well now we won’t get the chance. It burned down overnight.

Hotel Talisi, Tallassee, AL

One of the owners, Dawn Bodenburg, had been emailing me about Hotel Talisi opening back up and us coming back…I’d even gotten an email from a reporter with the Tallassee newspaper about how local businesses were getting involved by sponsoring the redecoration of the hotel rooms.
Oh the way I *loved* the crazy upstairs hallway, like someone’s slightly batty grandmother’s living room:
Hotel Talisi, Upstairs
It even had an old fashioned telephone booth.

Oh, and the fried chicken and everything else they served downstairs in the restaurant…dressing, blackeyed peas, broccoli casserole, squash casserole…if it had ‘casserole’ in the name, they served it.

Supper at Hotel Talisi, Tallassee Alabama

Here’s hoping the insurance company sends Dawn and the other six owners a nice big check and we’ll all be enjoying the Hotel Talisi again very soon.

Saving Margaret’s Grocery

Margaret's Grocery 2005, Vicksburg MS

Thanks to my friend Larry for telling me about this – according to the AP, Margaret’s Grocery in Vicksburg (which the story called the “Bible Castle”) is:

 

…being taken over by a local church that hopes to preserve it.

—

The couple sold the home to Cool Springs M.B. Church, on condition that they be allowed to live there as long as they were able.

 

Since Miss Margaret passed away last month and the Reverend is in a nursing home, the church will be kept going – not sure how, but should be interesting. Can’t wait to see what they’re up to on our next visit!

Ideas In Creative Ideas

It’s here and I couldn’t be more tickled!

Some of my project ideas are in this latest Nov/Dec issue of Lowe’s Creative Ideas magazine.
First of all, I have to say everyone there was so great to work with – and so much fun, too. They’re really smart…I worked some on the gift wrap station (pg 46) and they added some things to it that had never even occurred to me!
Another project that I worked on is at their website: the outdoor snowman. My idea was to take a piece of fencing large enough to paint a family of snowpeople, with a place at one of them so that you could stand behind and look as though you are one of the snowpeople, for funny photographs. I got the idea from those neighborhoods where all the residents have those signs in their yard that say “Merry Christmas from the ____ Family”, so I thought that would be fun, plus adding the circle to show your face in one place. What the magazine group decided, though, was to cut out one snowman from plywood and that makes it so much more simple and fast for anyone to accomplish – and store away. Really nice.
In the Chanukah room makeover (pages 40-41), I did the Star of David / snowflake paper craft wreaths – which would work with Christmas, Chanukah, or any winter holiday. Just spraypaint it any color that works with your decor, or keep it the natural brown color. I’m thinking about hanging some of these from the porch ceiling this year.
The dreidel pad game idea came about so kids can have their own place to play. I actually made it a two-sided pad so they can paint one side if they like, and play a game I came up with on the other, chalkboard-painted side. The idea was to play dreidel traditionally, but to also keep up with a score for each player depending on where in the bullseye shape the dreidel fell. Anything to win more chocolate gelt!
One thing that I can’t find explained on the website is the menorah topiary that’s on the coffee table – you can see it a little bit in the screenshot pic above. For that one, I took one of those closet organizer wire corner pieces from Lowe’s, cut off any tines that didn’t make the menorah shape, added little protective nubs to the menorah tips so it isn’t scratchy (those are in the closet section of the store too), spraypainted it silver, then potted it with ivy (they used rosemary for the photoshoot).
I really love everything they did – it was a fantastic experience – and I hope other people have fun or get inspired by what’s in the magazine’s pages. If you try any of the projects in the magazine, you can vote and comment on them at the website too.
Love these other ideas in this issue:
Cork toppers on page 21…
Wreath chandelier for the porch on page 27
Twinkling towers using tomato cages on page 28
The burlap background above the mantel on page 37
…so-so-so nice. If you don’t already, you can get Creative Ideas sent to your home at no charge by signing up at their site – and if you need this holiday issue, it’s available at the local Lowe’s stores too. I posted this on my Facebook wall (thanks for all the sweet comments!), and if you’re on FB too, you can look Creative Ideas up there also.

Dear James Dickey

It’s not hard at all to find cars, homes, barns, no telling what completely covered with kudzu but the other day we drove past two houses that were in the process.

James Dickey, who wrote Deliverance (I wasn’t right for several days after seeing that. Was anybody?) wrote a poem about kudzu, and a lot of people know these lines from it:

In Georgia, the legend says

That you must close your windows

At night to keep it out of the house.
The glass is tinged with green, even so,

As the tendrils crawl over the fields.

It’s a really, really dark poem – it’s complete here.

—
There’s a new brewery being built in Durham called Fullsteam, and the Herald-Sun just ran a story about them.

In the article, they’re quoted as saying

“What we want to ask is, ‘What if in a parallel universe, the South was the center of beer production?’ What kind of beers would we have?”

…so they’re doing a series of beers called ‘Plow to Pint‘ featuring Southern ingredients…
Scuppernong
Sweet Potato
Paw Paw Fruit
Hogwash Hickory-Smoked Porter
…and they’re working on a kudzu beer too.

28 Months And One Year!

Shug is 28 months now! …and I can’t call the baby “the baby” anymore because he’s a year old!!

Shug and Shugie

…and I have to show this – I think Shug drew a horse!! He loves picking them out when we drive and saying “horse” so I’m thinking/hoping that’s what this is!

Shug Horse