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Most of you know that rust is one of my favorite things.  Well, Cocoa-Cola memorabilia is another, and when I can find the two in one location I am a happy girl.  I spotted this old metal Coke cooler at a flea market recently.  Unfortunately, the amount of rust at the lower corner would obviously preclude a serious collector from purchasing this relic, but it didn't preclude me from taking the picture!

Devotion

And Someday When You Grow Up ...

Signs of Autumn

Windows ~ No. 3

Photographed at Rusk, Texas

Melrose Well Pump

Water well and pump near the back door of Melrose Plantation.  The pump sits on the cover of the well which is about three feet above ground level.  This well no doubt was used to pump fresh water for the kitchen and for fresh drinking water.

Cruising ...

... through Canton.

Here I am still posting pictures of my last trip to Canton and it's only a little more than  a week until it's time to go back.  I can't wait.  Anytime you have a venue that attracts a large number of people, the picture-taking opportunities abound.  I've never even bought anything there - except food.  Oh, I take it back.  I did buy a garden rake last year.  I'm too busy gawking at all the people to actually shop!

28/100 Strangers ~ Boom-Boom

I'm not even sure I should count Boom-Boom as one of my "strangers" since the whole time I talked to him he was interviewing me instead of the other way around.  He was at a small vendor table at the recent First Monday Trade Days in Canton.  I think his business had something to do with jewelry or perhaps glitter.  As I said he was full of questions about my camera and then trying to impress me with his knowledge of photography.  But I must say he was the friendliest stranger and definitely one of the most unique I've encountered.  Thanks, Boom-Boom.  (Doesn't that name just fit him to a T?)

The Weaving House ~ Melrose Plantation

The Association for the Preservation of Historic Natchitoches   has undertaken the careful restoration of the eight structures composing the Melrose complex. In 1971, in the interest of maintaining Melrose as a monument to Louisiana history, Southdown Land Company, the owner of the plantation at that time, conveyed the property and complex of buildings to the Association for the Preservation of Historic Natchitoches. Since that time the organization has undertaken the careful restoration of the eight structures comprising the Melrose complex.  In 1974, the Cane River plantation was declared a National Historic Landmark.

A large loom was located in the weaving house where slaves created quilts and other textiles, many with African designs, for use on the plantation. 

I've been attempting more photographs in black and white and I couldn't decide which version I liked best, so I give them both to you. 

 

Melrose Live Oaks

Live oak trees are the focal point of the landscaping at Melrose Plantation.  As mentioned in yesterday's post, they are believed to be at least 250 years old.  Many of the branches are in excess of 100 feet long.  If you're wondering where is the Spanish moss, groundskeepers keep it pulled from the branches since it was found to harbor nests of redbugs (mites) which were biting the guests!

Melrose Plantation

South of Natchitoches (pronounced nakka-tush), Louisiana, in the heart of the Cane River Creole National Historical Park sits Melrose, a unique Southern plantation in that it was established by a freed black slave, Marie Therese Coincoin, in the late 1700s.  Many of the Creole descendants of Marie Therese (1742-1816) still live along the banks of the Cane River in this area.  There is some controversy over the history of the ownership and the dates of construction of various buildings and I would simply invite you, if you are interested, to read two brief histories found at the embedded links.  The history is indeed fascinating.  The original plantation house still sits on the property and the pictured main house was constructed in 1833.  The large live oak tree in front of the house is believed to be in excess of 250 years old.  Over the coming days and weeks I will try to sprinkle in a few pictures of Melrose and the city of Natchitoches.

Red-Lander

Imogene's Cafe in San Augustine, Texas, is now the occupant of the building which once housed The Red-Lander, one of the more prominent newspapers in the Republic of Texas during the 1840s. Sam Houston maintained a law office across the street from the Red-Lander for during most of the years of The Red-Lander's existence.

Clematis

One last bloom before winter.

Just a Touch of Red

Shootin' the Breeze

Fence No. 8

Flowering quince is a good contrast to this old weathered fence at my Aunt Ruth's farm.

Aunt Ruth is no longer with us but her farm and many of her plants and flowers

continue to thrive.

Ford Tractor

27/100 Strangers ~ Steve

I met Steve at First Monday Trade Days in Canton where he was a vendor offering demonstrations and selling a product called a Swiss peeler.  I'm always fascinated by what those guys can do and I shelled out 11 bucks for one of his little gizmos because I'm a sucker for kitchen gadgets.  Now, granted, it's an okay peeler and maybe with a little (I mean a lot) of practice I might be able to peel a potato, but never anything like Steve.  He actually made hashbrowns with this doohickey (notice the bottom right of the photo).  He fashioned curliques and rosettes and he even gave some lady in the audience a shag haircut and shaved her legs (don't believe everything you read on the Internet).

For those of you new to my blog, the 100 Strangers Project is a method to improve your street and portrait photography and make you more comfortable in approaching people and asking to take their photograph.  Just Google 100 Strangers Project and you'll find out more than you ever wanted to know.  It's fun but still rather intimidating.  If you want to look at my first 26 Strangers, just click on "100 Strangers" below or in the sidebar on the right.

Canton, Texas

Babbitt Brothers ~ Flagstaff, AZ

The Babbitt brothers - David, George, William, Charles, and Edward - came to Flagstaff in 1886 to go into the cattle ranching business.  They established the C.O. Bar Ranch on lands between Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon.  The historic C.O. Bar is one of the largest cattle ranches in the Southwest and continues in operation today.  It was named C.O. for the former Babbitt home of Cincinnati, Ohio.  

By 1889, the Babbitt brothers also had established a general mercantile store in Flagstaff.  This store supplied goods such as oil lamps, saddles, wool shears, canned food, hardware, and trade blankets to the trading posts which were beginning to spring up across the vast Indian Country of northeastern Arizona. The building is across the street from the historic Monte Vista Hotel, and the Coconino County Courthouse is hidden behind the trees in the upper right.

Romance

Windswept Beauty