Mount Vernon - A National Treasure

Linking to Tuesday Treasures

I visited Mount Vernon today, home of George Washington, with a friend visiting from North Dakota.  She hadn't been to Mount Vernon since she took a bus trip with her mother here years ago.

It was a glorious spring day.  Trees and blooms were much further along than they are at my house.  

I especially enjoyed seeing the redbuds in bloom.

Can you beat the blue of that sky?

You can even see the blue reflected in the glass.

And what a wonderful setting for a home on the Potomac River!

Our founding fathers offered George the kingship, but he turned it down.  He also turned down running for a third term as president and the smooth transition of power made a start there.

His carriage though looks fit enough for a king.

Happy Easter!

Sorry for the quality of these.  I used my phone and its not an iPhone while I sat in the pew awaiting the start of the chorus concert.  My husband is a bass in the chorus that performed several Sundays ago at this Lutheran Church decked out for Lent.

Looking up at the ceiling.

Trying to capture the grandeur of the stained glass.

The organist is there warming up.  It had a wonderful sound.

Joining Inspired Sunday.

Treasures I Will Say Good Bye to One Day

The old timbers in our great room are treasures of sorts.  Most came from old barns, repurposed for our house.  The horizontal one above with the peg sticking out of it and below, above the stone fireplace, are chestnut.  Chestnut trees don't grow here anymore since they succumbed to blight.

These beams came from an old church in Northern Baltimore County that was built in Colonial times, likely late 1600s or early 1700s.  So these trees were growing in this area before Europeans arrived.  A bit mind boggling I know.  The timber framer who built this portion of the house found these beams laying by the church after a major renovation had taken place which removed them.  He got a good deal and originally hadn't planned to use them in our house, but changed his mind.

But here's a new treasure that will go with us: the latest painting by my husband.  His father was a Washington DC policeman hence the jacket and baton, his maternal grandfather was a founder of the Franconia fire department and his paternal grandfather was a train engineer.  One of the engines he drove is in the Smithsonian.

Joining Tuesday Treasures

More Real Every Day

A sign went up at the bottom of our driveway and another at the top of the lane at the main road.  

[We live about a half mile from the road which is our address. 1/5 of that distance is our driveway.]

Today the realtor put toppers on the signs to pique interest.

Here's the one at the top of the lane.

Here's the one at the bottom of our driveway.

The house officially goes on the market on the 31st, though I must have everything done by next Monday when the photos are taken for the brochure.  After that it will be a matter of keeping the house neat and tidy.

What to buy a house in the woods?