Everyday Living

Spring “Cleaning”

~ Decorating, Faith, Food & Entertaining, Gardening, Grandmother, Music, Travel

“Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future. Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭19:20-21‬ ‭

It’s that time of year…a lot of us have kicked it in to high gear cleaning out closets, wiping down baseboards, and organizing our pantry.  It’s a good time to free up drawer space and donate those gently used items to charity. What is it about spring that makes us want to clean?  It means cleaning windows and moldings, and an overall organizing of our home.

I come across as a very organized person because I wear a lot of different hats, but the truth is that I just fly by the seat of my pants!  And most of you bloggers will understand when I say there’s a time to clean up our devices…and for me, that means filtering through the thousands of pictures on my iPad. Yes, I said thousands!  I am that girl that has ten photos of the same shot and can’t find it in me to send any to the trash!  I began working on this little spring cleaning project on Tuesday and I am happy to report I have cleaned out over 1500 photos (can I get a pat on the back?!).  As I have taken the time to do that, of course, you re-live so many sweet memories that pictures bring back to you.  I thought in keeping it real on the blog, it might be fun to share a few with you that I kept…and the story behind them!

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I take photos of flowers anytime, anyplace…I don’t even remember where this was taken!

Yes, another castle on our travels…swords and armor!
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The Breakers {A Summer Cottage}

~ Travel

I think it’s time for a little travel, what do you say?  Today, we find ourselves back in Newport, RI, touring another gorgeous mansion!  Do you remember when we took a walk through The Rosecliff Mansion?  It was the most romantic of the mansions we toured, and today we will be at The Breakers…the grandest of Newport’s summer “cottages”! It is a symbol of the Vanderbilt family’s social and financial preeminence in turn of the century America.  Cornelius Vanderbilt II was the grandson of Commodore Vanderbilt who had established the family fortune in steamships and later in the New York Central Railroad.  After Cornelius became Chairman and President of the New York Central Railroad system in 1885, he purchased a wooden house called The Breakers in Newport that same year.  In 1893 after a fire destroyed the wood house he commissioned a new house to be built. The Breakers was completed in 1895.  The design is based on Italian Renaissance villas. This house was their stage to receive the world, and foreign ambassadors and dignitaries came to enjoy the grandeur of this American mansion!  Grab a cup of coffee…you are in for a “Gilded Age” treat! 

I can’t imagine calling this a  summer “cottage”. There are seventy rooms and more than three hundred windows.  The house measures 138,300 square feet and only took two years to build and furnish.

The Great Hall was inspired by the open courtyards of Italy. But for all its opulence, the Breakers was always a family home.  Generations of Vanderbilt grandchildren slid down the staircase and rode their tricycles around this Great Hall.
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Romantic Rosecliff Mansion

~ Travel

“And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭22:37‬ ‭ 

You may remember taking a road trip with us early last fall to New England…Boston, Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha’s Vineyard.  Ring a bell?   After Butch carefully planned our itinerary, I realized how close we would be to Newport, RI…so  I suggested we add a couple of extra days to see what it was all about!  He was so sweet to agree, and we made our way over!  Being the history buff that I am, I had read and been somewhat fascinated by the Gilded Age, a time in  American history that saw rapid economic growth.   A couple of visits to the Biltmore and a trip to Hearst Castle had piqued my interest in this era of American history.  Newport was the summer playground for the wealthiest industrialists who built opulent mansions facing the sea.  So of course,  I had to see what this was all about  We toured three of the mansions, and with Valentine’s Day on my mind,  I am sharing the most romantic of all, Rosecliff.  Put on your walking shoes and be ready to take in all of the eye candy!


Rosecliff was built between 1898-1902 by Nevada silver heiress, Theresa “Tessie”Fair Oelrichs and her husband, Hermann Oelrichs who was wealthy in his own right.  They purchased the land in 1891 from George Bancroft, an amateur horticulturist who developed the American Beauty Rose.  The flamboyant architect, Stanford White modeled the mansion after the Grand Trianon, the garden retreat of French kings at Versailles. In 1902 upon Rosecliff’s completion, it was reported to have cost $2.5 million.


The architect created an exquisite house clad in gleaming white terra-cotta tiles delicately adorned with cascades of flowers and musical instruments.
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