End of July Harvest

There are showers and rainbows in the distance but the rain eludes us.

It's a busy time here -- out of town company, 30 chickens to butcher for the freezer. . .  

And the raccoons are getting into the corn.

 So --pick the corn and get it into the freezer with the chickens. 

Blight has hit the tomatoes (as it always does, sooner or later) and I spent a hot morning removing all the affected leaves from the vines in hopes of slowing the spread of the disease.

And the day ended with another rainbow --  no shower but a lovely cooling breeze.

 

Farm Days

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Founder's House

Though Thomas Hughes spent quite a lot of money on founding his Tennessee colony, he didn't spend very much time there -- possibly because of poor health but speculation is that his wife didn't want to leave England. 

Nonetheless, this is his house. A felt-topped writing desk . . .

A washstand, trunk, and a grand pot de chambre . . .

An up-to-date kitchen . . .

With all modern convienences . . .

Charming . . .

Spices . . .

And a piano in the parlor . . .

Popular tunes . . .

A fan for when the entertainment got too lively . . .

 
And a bit of Burns for those missing the homeland . . .

This will be the last of my Rugby posts. 
If you want to know more, you can visit their  website --
or better yet, visit Historic Ruugby itself.

 

In the Laurel Dale Cemetery at Rugby

Like the rest of Rugby, the grave yard remembers the past while serving the present. 

There are recent graves here but I was interested in the older ones.

I don't know the stories of the folks buried here --

Some are victims of a typhoid epidemic that swept through the colony . . .

 

My hosts told me that there is a  wonderful night time lantern tour where costumed characters stand by 'their' graves and tell their stories . . .

One story is told  in the character of a woman whose returning fiance was shot dead as he stepped off the train . . .

 

Benjamin Thomas Bensted was Rugby's first priest.

Margaret Hughes, the mother of the founder and the matriarch of the colony, lies here.

 

 

Little Grace lived a year and four days . . .

So many stories . . .

 

Historic Rugby -- Print Shop and Beyond

Rugby's working print shop is a re-creation of the original.

 

I'm sorry to say I neglected to get photos of the nifty old presses. . .  

I really love the paraphernalia that goes with old time printing. 

Here are some of the homes of Rugby.

 

There are lots for sale and new houses are built but within the historic area, they must conform to the Victorian look.

 

Tomorrow we'll visit the grave yard . . .