Mrs. Happy Housewife

I can truly say, I had rather be at Mount Vernon with a friend or two about me, than to be attended at the seat of government by the officers of state and the representatives of every power in Europe.

GEORGE WASHINGTON, letter to David Stuart, Jun. 15, 1790

I had never visited Mount Vernon and therefore made it an important goal during our DC vacation. I immediately recognized why George Washington love it so much.

It was a lovely day - sunny and fair - and the house and grounds were some of the nicest I've visited.

First, we entered the Visitor Center.

Life of George Washington stained glass.

Quotations mural.

Amazing dollhouse.

Dollhouse and ghost me.

After looking at this amazing dollhouse replica of Mount Vernon, we watched a short movie on George Washington.

Finally, we were permitted to make our way to the house itself.

Looking downhill from the house.

The house from afar.

Tulip Poplar.

Can you believe George Washington planted this tree? And I touched it!

It was a long wait to enter the house but worth every second - even when I overheard a WASP telling a friend that her ancestors were indentured and she therefore came from slaves. Um, no!

Sorry, no photos allowed in the house.

Porch facing the Potomac.

The Potomac.

After seeing the house, we walked towards the gravesite. First, though, we passed many outbuildings.

The Wash House.

Ironing.

Heating water.

Come along, Mom!

The tranquil gravesite

Above the tomb.

Inside the tomb.

George Washington sleeps here.

Amen.

On the way back to the house, we passed the barns and noticed some runaway lambs. Then, my lambs escaped, also.

Leaving.

Cupola.

The gift shop was wonderful and extensive; I could have spent the day there. They had postcards and an inexpensive guidebook to alleviate my pain at not being allowed to photograph the interior of the house.

More Mount Vernon photos are at Flickr.

I spotted this plate and three others recently at Goodwill. Do you think it looks like a sunflower? I do. Oddly, the design is called "Casablanca" and it was made by the Royal China Company. I think Casablanca was a terrible name for this design. Someone gets a naming fail. 

I found a little bit of information on Royal China online.

In 1934, the Royal China Company began production in the old E. H. Sebring China Company plant located in Sebring, Ohio. Early production included dinnerware patterns in groups called "series." The patterns in a series varied from year to year. Also, shapes within a series were not always the same and the same pattern was often used in several series. Therefore, determining what pieces were made in early patterns is quite difficult. Also, fire in 1970 that destroyed all of the early records, has impeded researchers in their efforts to piece together the history of this company. Numeous collectors are interested in three colonial-style dinnerware lines produced by Royal China. These are "Currier and Ives," Colonial Homestad and Old Curiosity Shop. "Currier and Ives" is colored transferware on an ivory background that was adapted for Royal China use by Gorden Parker. It was introduced in 1949 and continued to be sold into the 1980's. Colors made include blue, green, brown and pink. Large department store retail outlets and catalog giants such as Sears and Montgomery Ward helped to make this pattern tremendously successful for Royal. The pattern was also distributed as a premium through the A & P Grocery chain. Gorden Parker also designed Colonial Homestead and Old Curiosity Shop. Colonial Homestead was introduduced in the early 1950's and was still being sold by Sears in the late 1960's. Old Curiosty Shop was sold primarily during the 1950's. The Royal China Company bought the French-Saxon China Company of Sebring in 1964. This plant was initially operated as a subsidiary company, but it became the center of Royal China operations after the fire in 1970. In 1969, the Jeannette Corporation bought Harker China and Royal China. Royal China assumed control of Harker production until that plant closed in 1972. The Jeannette Corporation and all of its holdings was bought by the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of New York in 1976. In 1981, Royal China was sold to the J Corporation, a group of private investors from Boston. Another change of ownership came in 1984 when the plant was sold to Nordic Capital of New York. The Royal China name was retained through all these changes of ownership. By 1986 the company was no longer in production.

The information for this article was taken from the book "Lehner's Encyclopedia of U.S. Marks on Pottery, Porcelain, and Clay" by Lois Lehner. This book has a wealth of information on pottery companies and should be in every dealers library.

My plates were a dollar a piece and I'm quite happy with them. I've also warned the household as to how unhappy I'd be if a plate met an untimely end. Fair warning, ya'll.

We've had a nice, comfortable futon in our living room for a while. It was a hand-me-down from my In-laws. It didn't really match my decor, though, and I think most people would rather not sit on a futon when they come to my house. Thanks to the powers of Craigslist, I was able to trade the futon for a fistful of cash and finally bought some new furniture this weekend.

See? A new chair and loveseat.

The chair we acquired on Saturday from a furniture consignment shop having a grand opening. I spotted it after visiting nearly all the thrift shops in town. I'm pretty sure angelic voices sang and the heavens shone down upon this perfect chair. At least that's how I felt after hours of fruitless shopping.

The loveseat I found listed on Craigslist on Saturday night and we picked it up Sunday afternoon.

Now, here's the living room:

See how the light blue chair matches Monet's painting in the background? The other wingback we purchased at Goodwill for a song some time ago. It needs a lot of therapy, but we still like it. By the way, the coffee table is from a yard sale and the rug is one I crocheted.

Oh, do you see a girl in the corner there? She's cooking mini pizzas for lunch and talking to me. She's probably ranting about politics.

A new book I recently heard of is "Jane Austen's Sewing Box".

Based on the novels of Jane Austen, this beautifully presented book is for craft enthusiasts and lovers of history and literature alike. A celebration of the Regency period, each of the 18 sewing, needlecraft, knitting, paper and decorative projects is accompanied by an extract from the relevant novel, historical notes, full colour photographs and illustrated step by step instructions for authentic replication. Key points: quotes from Austen novels illustrate how a character wore or used an article that can be recreated by the reader; brings the style, colours and textiles of the Regency period alive, a elegant and creative era of art and crafts; an accessible range of activities that caters for a variety of craft types and skill levels.

Jane Austen and crafts? Sounds fantabulous!

"Lost in Austen," which aired on the BBC, sounded like a wonderful film for a sci-fi loving Janeite:

Amanda Price is sick of the modern world. She yearns for the romance and elegance found in the books by her favorite author, Jane Austen. But she's about to get a rude awakening as one fateful evening, she is propelled into the scheming 19th century world of Pride and Prejudice while that book's Elizabeth Bennet is hurled into hers. As the book's familiar plot unfolds, Amanda triggers new romantic twists and turns within the Bennet family circle as she clumsily tries to help the sisters nab husbands and even captivates the tantalizing Mr. Darcy herself. But what about Elizabeth...and what will become of one of the world's greatest love stories?

Thanks to Netflix, I was able to watch the DVD without purchasing it. I'm really glad for that because I think it would have been a shame to have wasted money on this movie. While many parts were extremely funny, I thought the inclusion of so much crass language made the movie unworthy of an association with "our Jane". The movie is definitely not family friendly. Quite a shame - it would have been an interesting addition to my Jane Austen collection.

We just got back from watching the new Transformers sequel. Unfortunately, the audience was loud and immature. Many hooted and shouted when the "New Moon" preview showed because of this guy. And, right before the movie began, one man yelled into the darkness, "We love you, Michael!" During the movie, much of the audience screamed or talked. I missed hearing many parts because of this.

The movie itself was more, more, more. More action, more battles, more Transformers, and more vulgarity. Although the movie was fun, the smut level was really too high and I wonder how it was able to get a PG-13 rating.

At the end of the movie, everyone clapped louder than I've ever heard before. Trust me - it wasn't that great a movie. S, however, has already declared it to be the best movie ever made. Of course, he's an eleven-year-old boy. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad movie, but a little editing would have done wonders.

(Shown above are the Transformers t-shirts I made the kids last year using freezer paper stencils. Can you guess what the kids wore to the movie tonight?)

Just wanted to alert ya'll to two book challenges:

• Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge.

Now what is required for this challenge? Very little. You decide how much or how little you want to read about the land of Narnia. All you need to do today is link your blog up to the Mr. Linky below so that people will know that you are participating. If you've written an introductory post on your blog talking about the challenge, all the better! Link up that specific post! As you read through The Chronicles of Narnia visit around and see what other people are reading and thinking about.

Then come back here on Friday, July 17th to link up all of your Narnia posts from this month. (Whether you write one post or a dozen! Come and link them all!)

• The Everything Austen Challenge (with prizes). 

The Everything Austen Challenge will run for six months (July 1, 2009 - January 1, 2010)! All you need to do is pick out what six Austen-themed things you want to finish to complete the challenge.

Check out the links for more info on both challenges.

I'm considering the Everything Austen Challenge. Maybe I can convince one or both of my children to join me.

My husband recently alerted me to a new blog called Alice and Kev. This unique blog follows the lives of a homeless father and his young daughter...in The Sims 3 computer game.

The blog's front page explains more:

Welcome to the tale of Alice and Kev.

This is an experiment in playing a homeless family in The Sims 3. I created two Sims, moved them in to a place made to look like an abandoned park, removed all of their remaining money, and then attempted to help them survive without taking any job promotions or easy cash routes. It's based on the old 'poverty challenge' idea from The Sims 2, but it turned out to be a lot more interesting with The Sims 3's living neighborhood features.

I have attempted to tell my experiences with the minimum of embellishment. Everything I describe in here is something that happened in the game. What's more, a surprising amount of the interesting things in this story were generated by just letting go and watching the Sims' free will and personality traits take over.

The unusual saga is much like a soap opera or telenovela. The free will and personality traits enable Alice and Kev to make choices independent of their creator and their lives are quite a sociology experiment.

To read the ongoing tale, you'll want to start at the beginning.

The decor and design industries often go a bit cuckoo. Some trends are so outlandish it makes me shake my head in disbelief. If you feel this way too, you may enjoy Moggit: The Mogg Blogg. Yes, it's rather snarky, but I think a little snark may be needed when we're discussing $850 broom lamps and Jolly Roger chandeliers.

I have added a new link to my far-right sidebar (a little below my bio blurb). The link is to my son's blog, "I Like Ike". I have no input in S's blog; it's all his own. I do, however, pester and coax him to use proper grammar and punctuation.

S would love to have visitors to his little corner of the internet and he'd be simply giddy if kind people would leave him a comment.