Day after Christmas Snow in Dublin, GA

Welcome! Christmas Eve at the Capt Hardy Smith House. I love to decorate for Christmas. A tradition passed down from my mom. White candle lights in each window with Christmas music echoed throughout the house. The day was quiet, our dogs were happy and the house toasty warm. We went to Christmas Eve service at Christ Episcopal Church in Dublin at 11:30pm. Christ Episcopal Church is the only Episcopal church in Dublin and Laurens County. The church is the oldest public building in continuous use for its original purpose. It was built in 1898. Check out their website for more information on the church and its history.

http://www.christepiscopaldublin.org/

It was a fitting time to reflect about the past year and to those we love and hold near and dear to us. Both of us had recent family events that compelled us to worship at this little church Christmas Eve night. As the rest of the upper East Coast got buried in up to two feet of snow, such as NYC, on Christmas day, Dublin, got a dusting of the white stuff a day after Christmas. We will take it. Close enough. The last recorded 'White Christmas' in Dublin was Christmas eve 1994. Unfortunately, the snow melted before Christmas day.

In this picture, Max, John's dog, enjoyed post Christmas day fun by playing in the oldest graveyard in the City of Dublin. I believe 1819 was the first burial at the location. It is located behind the First Methodist Church, the land that was donated by Capt Hardy Smith, his family and descendants, over the years, that is also next to the house and the 1/2 acre of what remains of the Hardy Smith farm.

In other developments at the Hardy Smith house, the renovations continue. The second wall of the 'Gone With The Wind' room has been primed. The front facing wall (fireplace) has been primed and caulked. Only two more walls and the ceiling need to be primed and caulked then we paint the walls! The room will soon come alive with beautiful color. Keep checking back for developments.

Happy New Year from the Capt Hardy Smith House

A VERY COLD DAY in Dublin but a VERY WARM day at the Hardy Smith House

By looking outside it would appear sunny and WARM. Mother Nature has thrown us a loop here in Dublin, GA. It is COLD and it is WINDY. What do I mean by COLD? Mid 30s with a wind chill index of 26 degrees! The high gusty winds are making it undesirable to be outside. Even Wi- Fi access is limited because of the windy conditions. INSIDE the Hardy Smith House, it is sunny and WARM. We are in the process of designing our 2010 Christmas card to be sent out to family and friends.

The Christmas decorating is done. John has completed priming of the front facing wall in the 'Gone With The Wind' room. He is working on sealing the wall with chaulk as he will do with the remaining walls in the room after priming. The windows in the room are repaired and ready to be painted. We are deciding if we should paint the walls first then wallpaper later or just wallpaper after priming. We want the room to look as period as possible as if it were a scene taken out of the 1939 classic movie with the name the room is named after. The walls will be adorned with beautiful pictures and furniture. Shopping for period furniture will be a treasure hunt in and of itself but we look forward to it. We want everything to be just right however long it takes to find just what we are looking for.

That is the latest on what is going on at the Hardy Smith house. Keep checking back for updates.

The very latest developments at the Hardy Smith House

Our 24/7 Security, Max

 Hello All.  It has been a busy two months since my last entry. Now that I have a working computer with web access, I will make a great effort to keep the world updated with our renovation progress on a more frequent basis. It has been a lot of fun and work. As more work gets done to the house, the beauty becomes more evident. 

Two days ago, I started Christmas decorating. The outside of the house is adorned with beautiful white lights and red bows. I even put a red bow on our beautiful mailbox. John and I are hoping that we make front page news in the Christmas decorating contest for the local newspaper, The Courier Herald. We have three Christmas trees up in the house. Today, I plan to put the final 'beautifying' touch on the decorating by placing a white electric candle in each window in the front part of the house just as I did last year. Decorating for Christmas is one of my favorite activities to do. It is a family tradition. Because the days are shorter this time of year, we have to move fast in getting everything up so everyone who drives by on Gaines St can see how beautiful this home is. Even our dogs delight in taking part in the decorating. Lady, my dog, loves to be by my side every moment. If she cannot see me, she gets very nervous. Max, John's dog, keeps watch on our prized possessions. 

The 2010 Christmas Parade in downtown Dublin was yesterday. Check out my Facebook page for 2 short videos on the event. It was a lot of fun. It was sunny, windy and relatively warm for this time of year. It was in the 60s. Very comfortable and pleasant. Both sides of the main route on Bellevue Ave were lined with onlookers. So a very good crowd showed up to enjoy the parade. The parade started like just about any other, lasting about an hour, with the police, then the bagpipers with the local elementary and middle school children displaying their various talents. The 3 local high school marching bands showcased their strength with West Laurens HS being the largest and most impressive in my opinion. The kids loved candy being thrown to them by float participants. Even John could not resist in partaking in the activity. The parade had fun for everyone to enjoy. The clowns, local politicians, businesses and even 'Mr. Pig' from our Piggly Wiggly grocery store stopped by to say hello to the crowd. Of course, John wanted me to take his picture with 'Mr. Pig' since we do a lot of our grocery shopping there. Check out John's blog or Facebook page for that happy moment. 

Master BR closet, Before. That is bat/rat/squirrel poo.

Master BR closet, After. All poo gone.

As for developments at the Hardy Smith House, John has been working hard on cleaning, painting and restoring/enlarging two closets, cleaning behind fireplaces/putting them back together, repairing the huge windows in the 'Gone With The Wind' room and sealing walls, windows and flooring from cold drafts.

All this found behind 3 fireplaces.

When John took apart 3 fireplaces (the master bedroom, the 'Gone With The Wind room' and upstairs bedroom), what a treasure trove or time capsule of letters, buttons, stamps, cards and some old bills that he found. Check out John's blog for more pictures and detailed information on the finds. 

Hidden behind master BR closet, Christmas stamps along with a signature on the wall.

When John is not working on CPA stuff, he is working on the house. Sealing the drafts has made a noticeable improvement on our electric bill. Next, on our house things to do list, is the 'Gone With The Wind' room. We plan to either wallpaper it with to as close to the original as possible or paint the room in colors reminiscent of themes from the movie. The furniture will be period, most likely Victorian, with pictures depicting the history of the 'War Between The States' or what the Northerners or Yankees refer to as 'The Civil War' as well as other related, interesting history of the house and the South. Looks like we will be doing a lot of antique shopping. There are a lot of antique places within a 100 mile radius of Dublin. I have already checked out some of them to get some ideas. 

The sun is getting low in the sky, the light is dimming and day is about to end. Time to finish decorating for Christmas. Thanks again for stopping by and reading my blog today. Keep checking back for updates. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.