Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Kingsley Plantation part II

The Kingsley Plantation, on Fort George Island in Jacksonville, FL, was named for one of several plantation owners, Zephaniah Kingsley, who operated the property from 1813-1839.  The other day I talked about the slave quarters, in Kingsley Plantation part I.  

This place is full of Spanish, African and US history.  I wish I could explain it all, tell the whole story, but since most of the information I'm getting is from the internet, I'll just hit the highlights that everyone seems to agree. 

Anna Kingsley was born Anta Majigeen Jai in 1793 in West Africa.  She was captured in 1806 when she was about 13 years old. Anta is sometimes called an African Princess because she may have been the daughter of a ruling king.

Zephaniah Kingsley was a plantation owner, a slave trader and a merchant.  He originally purchased Anta in Havana, Cuba in 1806.  He married her almost immediately in Cuba and settled in the Spanish colony in Florida (the Jacksonville area) with his wife Anna Majigeen Jai Kingsley. (Anta became Anna) 




The United States was moving away from slave trading and since this was Kingsley's main source of income he chose to settle in the Spanish colony where slavery was still encouraged as a way to populate the colony.  In 1811 Anna was given emancipation and with this, the three children she had had with Kingsley would also be free. In 1824, Anna had their fourth child. 


A kitchen house was built and above it was where Anna lived.  In the tradition of her native land, wives lived separately from their husbands, especially if he had other wives...which Zephaniah did.  He had three other wives, all slaves at one time.  In his will, however, he only listed Anna as his wife. 



The Kingsley's only lived on the property until 1839 because the Spanish ceded the Florida territory to the US.  Kingsley was trying to make sure that his family could inherit his property and when it looked like the US laws were not going to be kind to his mixed race family he loaded up and moved to Haiti.  The place where they moved is now a part of the Dominican Republic.



Currently a restoration is going on and the main house, which I have labeled as Kingsley's house, is not open to the public.


Since the Kingsleys, the plantation has gone through several incarnations: a social club, a tourist attraction, a state park, and finally, a National Historic Site. It boasts the oldest surviving plantation in the state, as well as one of the most complete slave cabin complexes in the nation. source
 

According to one of the information plaques on the plantation, Anna experienced all levels of plantation life  - slave and free, slave-owner and land-owner, planter's wife and plantation manager. 


In 1843, Zephaniah Kingsley (78) died on his way to New York from Haiti.  He left most of his land to wife and children.  (His lesser wives were not in the will, but the children were.)  His white relatives in the United States contested the will, but in 1846 Anna came to Duval County Court (Jacksonville) and won.  This was an extraordinary decision given the current social and political views about freed slaves and mixed race people.

At some point Anna came back to the United States. She died in 1870 at the age of 77 and was buried in Jacksonville in an unmarked grave.

I gleaned all of this information from a several sources - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 plus the placards on the grounds of the Kingsley Plantation.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Gulf Shores



Here's a little view of Gulf Shores, Alabama that I took last summer.  I like the decay of the dock and boat cover with the hotels in background. 

I'm heading to Gulf Shores in the morning to be with my sisters, my nieces and my mom.  I'm so excited to have some vacation time with them.  Usually when we are together I'm in Michigan and everyone has a job or school or everyday household activities.  This time everyone is on vacation! My husband is staying home, taking care of the house and Mocha while I get to play. 

Photo of the Day will be suspended for the next week and blog posts will be hit or miss, but I do hope to post something each day.  Be prepared to see lots of photos of my nieces this month! 

Have a fabulous day!
Kristin

Monday, March 28, 2011

Kingsley Plantation part I


Sometimes the coolest things are just around the corner from where you are.  My husband and I found that out when we went to do a small Monkey Bars installation over a week ago.  The people who made the wooden bowls told us about the Kingsley Plantation and insisted that we head on over there after leaving their place.  It was just a few miles away and was a must see in Jacksonville. 



It was a beautiful drive.  Some of it was paved, but most of the drive was dirt.

When I think of dirt roads I see Michigan dirt roads.  Dark brown and rocky.  Florida dirt roads are creamy white.  It comes from being at sea level.  We don't have a lot of dirt, but we've got a lot of sand.



The main house is by the water and the slave quarters are the buildings in the semi circle to the South.


This is what was written on one of the information boards
The lost art of Tabby
Constructed nearly 200 years ago, these cabins were home to enslaved people.  Following emancipation, former slaves lived here and worked the land.  Slowly, individuals and families moved away, leaving the buildings to fall into ruin.

Tabby was a labor intensive concrete made from oyster shells, sand, and water.  Tabby was poured into forms, layer by layer, until it became the buildings in front of you.


This house seems to have been restored to some degree.  The stucco has been put over the tabby walls and the fireplace has been restored, minus the chimney.


Can you imagine feeding your family from this little fireplace?  Or living in these tiny little homes?  They were just two rooms.  Two very small rooms.

It was pretty warm the day that we toured the plantation and it struck me how hot these little houses must have been most of the year.  Cooking with fire all year round in the oppressive Florida heat.


This is the photo from the information board below.


Part two tomorrow along with some history of the family that owned the plantation. 

Kristin

POTD - This way to the beach


POTD - This way to the beach
©2011 Kristin Corlett


Wouldn't you like this to be your walkway to the beach? 
It's a little beach on a river, but just a stones throw from the ocean. 
This is part of the Kingsley Plantation that I'll talk about more this week.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Sunday, March 27, 2011

POTD - Cooling Towers


POTD - Cooling Towers
©2011 Kristin Corlett

I have always wanted to get good photos of the cooling towers in Jacksonville, FL.  They are the iconic shape of the towers associated with US nuclear power plants, but these are not nuclear.  It's all part of the JEA (Jacksonville Electric Authority) power plant that uses gas and coal.  Now I have to admit, I thought it was nuclear plant because of those towers.  I didn't realize that it was a common shape to use for cooling.  I got a closer shot but I really liked this view of the towers with the marshland in the foreground.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Chihuly Chandelier


You may not know who Dale Chihuly is but you may have seen his glasswork at the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas, in any number of museums around the world or at the Rochester or Jacksonville Mayo Clinics.


This particular Chihuly has graced the lobby of the Jacksonville Mayo Hopsital since it opened in 2007.   I don't always gaze up when I pass underneath it, but I have sat in the lobby and watched people looking at it.  It's nice to witness the reactions of people who have never seen it before. 


It's stunning.  It's absolutely stunning.  Healing and heartache come through hospitals, no matter what hospital you go to. This beautiful chandelier can take you away, even for a few moments.  Thank you Dale Chihuly for such a lovely piece.


Unknown Mami

That's what's happening in my part of the world.

For more views of cities and towns near and far, head on over to Unknown Mami's for more Sundays in my City.

Have a great day!
Kristin

Friday, March 25, 2011

I hope it's just a bug

I went to the doctor on Wednesday and got two new medications.  I didn't start either medication until Thursday.  I ate lunch on Thursday and didn't really like the taste of my meal - the fish was very fishy. 

I took both of the medications - one at 7am and the other around 1pm.  I was visiting the bathroom a lot all evening.  By 2am I was nauseous and feeling quite poorly.  I originally went to bed in our bed, but when the nausea started I went to the guest room. 

24 hours later - I've felt really fragile all day today.  Thankfully I haven't been running to the bathroom and I never threw up but my whole body is not happy.  I took my new meds again today as I didn't feel any relief in my symptoms and thought if it was drug related they would have certainly subsided as the medication wore off.  

I'm thinking that this is food related or I've got a stomach flu of some kind. 

Unfortunately I haven't been able to read or really do anything today.  It would have been nice to be able to catch up on my blog reading.  I'm a week behind in a lot of cases.  I just can't focus for more than a few minutes.  It feels like I've been working on this message for hours now. 

I'm crossing my fingers that I feel better in the morning.  I've been invited to a going away party/bbq for some transplant friends who are headed home.  No sick people are allowed around the newly transplanted and if I feel even slightly sick, I can't go.  I really expected to feel better by now. 

Tomorrow I'm going to stop taking one of the medications if I don't feel better.  All of my symptoms are possible side effects, but I didn't think it was possible to get so many side effects at once, so that's why I doubt it's that. 

I'm just going to change one thing at a time I guess and really hope that it's just a touch of a stomach bug.

Kristin

UPDATE: It's not a bug. It's one of my medications. I went on an internet search this morning for side effects and found the exact description of what I'm feeling on a discussion thread. Dozens of people talked about the same thing. I'm glad to know I'm not sick, but I was kind of hoping I'd get over this feeling quickly. Looks like my body needs to adjust to the medication. (It's a medication for low thyroid)

POTD - Fancy a Radiator?


POTD - Fancy a Radiator?
©2011 Kristin Corlett

I knew when I saw this pile of car radiators that it was going t some day be a photo of the day.  At first I thought they were gently used but as I started looking at them, some of them are truly bent up!  I don't know what they were going to be used for, but the booth owner looked like he was repairing some sort of auto part.  Maybe he refurbishes the radiators?  I don't know.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Friday Fragments


It's Friday Fragments Day!  
It's Friday Fragments Day!

Welcome to Friday Fragments!  This is the place where we're able to put little snippets of fun or interesting things together without having to stretch that idea into an entire blog post. 

Mrs. 4444 is our lovely host and I am so grateful for her continued hosting of this fun carnival.  For more Friday Fragment finds, please head on over to Half-Past Kissin' Time.  Thanks!




*•-:¦:-•:*''''*:•-:¦:-•

 I recently determined that I was popular on Facebook.  I use Facebook the way Zuckerberg wants us to use it and for that I get rewarded.  It doesn't matter if you want to see all of your friends status updates on your wall, it isn't going to happen if they only update every so often.  They may get tossed into your feed every ten times they post something, but unless they start linking to things each day, post pictures, comment a lot on other updates or have people "liking" their posts, they just won't show up on your recent activitiy.  I post a photo a day, I link to my blog post a day and I comment and "like" lots of things each day.  People also comment and "like" my posts each day, making me more popular.

If you'd like to be more popular on Facebook - and by more popular I mean to show up on other peoples recent activity feed - you need to be social!  Imagine that, a social network rewards social activity.  Like other peoples items, comment more often, update your status message several times a week, share a link or two each week and post a photo.  That ups your activity and makes you more a part of the fabric of your community and Facebook likes that.

I've never been one of the popular kids, so this is kind a new place for me.  It's pretty cool!  I promise I won't let it go to my head :)

*•-:¦:-•:*''''*:•-:¦:-•

You may not want to be a part of Facebook and that's OK.  I won't force you!  I keep up with all of my blogging friends through their blogs and I keep up with my family and other friends on Facebook.  The two together really keeps me connected.  It works really well for me and I love it.


*•-:¦:-•:*''''*:•-:¦:-•


I don't call people and chat.  I never have really.  If I do end up calling, I can talk forever, but I can think about calling for months before I ever pick up the phone.  If you are someone I've been meaning to call, call me.  Take the pressure off for me :^)

*•-:¦:-•:*''''*:•-:¦:-•

I've been selling stuff on Craigslist and it's pretty exciting.  My husband and I bought several items at a furniture auction a few years ago to help stage a house that we were flipping.  We ended up selling the house before it was even finished, so we never needed to stage the house.  Then the furniture was stored in a loft area that I couldn't get to easily and my husband didn't want to be bothered to get it down and it ended up staying there for over a year.  Maybe two.  A few weeks ago we got the furntiure down, I photographed it and finally stated listing it.  Finally we are getting the excess out of our space.  I love it!

*•-:¦:-•:*''''*:•-:¦:-•

I think my cat has short term memory loss.  She loves her wet cat food and now, just moments after eating it, she comes to me crying to no end and running back to her dish.  She's acting as if I didn't feed her!  The guilt she heaps on is pretty big.  Too bad it's not working.  She isn't getting any more wet cat food for the day.  It's dry food for you baby.

*•-:¦:-•:*''''*:•-:¦:-•

On American Idol last night Steven Tyler said, "You don't look a day over fabulous."  I loved that line.

*•-:¦:-•:*''''*:•-:¦:-•

I hope you have a wonderful, delightful, fabulous day!
Thanks so much for stopping by.
Kristin

POTD - Ireland Post


POTD - Ireland Post
©2011 Kristin Corlett

I was thinking about sending a few letters out this week and while I was thinking about letters I started thinking about mailboxes.  I'm slightly obsessed with mailboxes, as you may have noticed if you've been traipsing around my blog for any length of time.  Well, while I was obsessing over mailboxes I started thinking about the United States Post Office mailboxes and how they are fairly ordinary.  Maybe they seem average because we see them all the time?  Then I started thinking about the round mailboxes I saw in Ireland.  Now those look cool!  ...but do they look cool to the Irish?  or are they average and boring?

These are things I ponder at 2am. 
I think I need to go to bed.

Have a great day!
Kristin

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Bye bye stuff

I've got some furniture listed on Craigs List.  A few of the pieces I've gotten absolutely no responses, but others have been getting a little bit of love.


The white buffet has been getting a lot of calls.  She's quite popular!  I've had a few people come by to see it and I have one person who really wants it, but she's waiting for the thumbs up from a friend of hers (who hasn't seen it yet.)  I'm showing it again tomorrow.  The first person to give me cash is the winner, so I'm anxious to see who wins the race.




I received an email that went like this...

Is item still available? I can come pick it up ASAP.  Respond immediately!

I reply - "Item is available, I accept cash only."

No return reply :)  Guess they wanted to write me a check for $1000 and ask me for cash back.  Not going for that.



I've also gotten phone calls like this...

"Hi!  Is it still available?"
"What piece of furniture?"
"The one with flowers."
"I had two items with flowers and I sold one yesterday, so the sofa is available."
"OK bye"


Then there's this little striped chair.


Not a single call, not an email, not a wink, a nod or a nudge.

I think I'm going to have to take a few more photos, different angles and maybe I'll need to paint the wood.  Mocha sure loves the chair, but we don't need another piece of furniture for the cat :)



But this is the scene I love to see the most - the furniture sold and going home with someone else.

I'm really liking this selling stuff business :)  It makes me very happy.


Have a great day!
Kristin

POTD - Umbrella


POTD - Umbrella
©2011 Kristin Corlett

When I set up a photo shoot on my kitchen table the other day, the sun was streaming through the windows. The light was just too bright, even with the sheers filtering some of the sunshine. So I got out my new umbrella to help soften the light. It helped a lot, but it was so pretty with the light shining through that I had to snap a shot or two.  I see a few people who carry umbrellas to shade themselves from the sun, but for the most part umbrellas only come out in the rain.   It was nice seeing this scene all lit up.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Turned bowls

Remember the other day when I mentioned that I saw some incredible bowls? 
It was the home where they had the Bobcat that I featured on Sunday.


Below are just a few of the beautiful bowls that dotted their home.


I had never heard of the phrase "turned bowls."  I have heard of turned legs or turned spindles, but never thought of it when it came to a bowl.  It makes sense now that I look at these bowls,  but I can't visualize how they can be turned.  How does the inside get turned? 


I was just so enamored with the beautiful bowls and vessels and the stories of the wood and the other incredible objects in their beautiful home.  I never did ask how the bowls were made.   This vessel above was made as a pet funerary urn. 



I topper on the urn actually screws into the urn.  Gosh, I just loved the detail in the leaves (one on each side). 


The whole house was decorated in old Florida style with beautiful palm tree pictures, palm frond hats,  green Roseville pottery and wooden bowls.  I wanted to photograph every little thing! 



I couldn't stop looking at this bowl, touching it, admiring it.  It's from a Norfolk Pine and that splotch at the bottom of the bowl is the very heart of the tree.  The knots that circle the bowl are the branches that come out of the tree.  The Norfolk Pine produces it's branches symmetrically along the trunk.

Photo from source

This is a photo of a Norfolk Pine. 
Now can you image a section of a tree like this turned into a bowl? 
Pretty cool!

There were more stories and more bowls. 
If you are interested in seeing more about these handmade bowls please visit the turningartsgroup.com.
Thank you Gene and Nancy for a wonderful afternoon.
Thank you.

Hope you have a great day!
Kristin

POTD - Bundle


POTD - Bundle
©2011 Kristin Corlett

Just over a month ago I mentioned that I was part of a swap where I send out bundles of paper goodies from my stash and I receive bundles from other folks.  It was called a 10 for 10 swap.  Well, my 10 arrived yesterday and this is one of the bundles.  I just love the way it was presented with the old map on the outside and the vintage lace holding it all together.

Enjoy!
Kristin

Monday, March 21, 2011

Gabriel House of Care



Friday night was the open house for the Gabriel House of Care on the grounds of the Jacksonville, Florida Mayo Clinic.  It's a hospitality house for people in the transplant process and those that are having caner treatments.  It isn't free to stay there, but it's considerably lower than a regular hotel and looks like a 4 star resort!


The donation that got the ball rolling on the Gabriel House was from a lung transplant patient, Jorge Bacardi and his wife, Leslie.  Pictured next them is the donor, Christopher. 


The plaque above says:

What inspires acts of great philanthropy?  For Jorge and Leslie Bacardi of the Bahamas, the answer is a stranger's extraordinary gift, which Mr. Bacardi described unforgettably in a 2008 letter to Mayo Clinic:
"I have just undergone one of the most critical surgeries on this planet.  I have come through this ordeal in astonishing fashion, thanks to Mayo Clinic, Cesar Keller and his magnificent lung transplant team and, most of all, to the grand generosity of one young man - and unknown entity I have named 'Gabriel' - and his selfless act of organ donation.

"I have a debt that is impossible to repay.  Nevertheless, I am determined to honor and give thanks to Gabriel, as well as the many other 'Gabriels,' both alive and dead, and to the medical staff at Mayo Clinic who help people like me achieve this miraculous rebirth."

Mr. and Mrs. Bacardi later discovered their angel "Gabriel" - Christopher Gregory, a 19-year-old college student from Maryland who passed away unexpectedly during his first year at Loyola University in New Orleans.  Born from Christopher's sacrifice, a passion to honor organ donors and a desire to celebrate all caregivers who make the gift of life possible, the Bacardis' story, the comforts here and modern medicine combine to create rebirth for generations to come.



Mr. and Mrs. Bacardi, of the Bacardi Rum family, donated a very large sum of money to get the ball rolling on Gabriel House.  The house will be run by the non profit organization, St. Andrews Lighthouse, Inc. and will have a live-in house manager, a full staff, volunteers and of course, the house will be full of patients and caregivers.  St. Andrews Lighthouse has been housing transplant families for years now, but only had a few rooms in their transplant house. 

In the Gabriel House their mission to make sure that everyone who stays will find friendship, compassion and support during such a difficult time. 


There are 30 bedrooms with private bath - as you can see, the bedrooms have hardwood floors.  It's so much easier to keep sanitary conditions in the rooms with a hard surface floor.  I'm so excited to see that.  There are four laundry areas, one per wing,  and a fitness room.  My friends in the liver transplant group, Matt and Patti are demonstrating the machines :)


There are several sitting areas, this one is near the entrance, a meditation/reflection room, library and large dining room.  The furniture hasn't arrived yet for the dining room, in this photo.  These are clearly rented.



The kitchen is huge.  In fact the photo in the mosaic is just half of the kitchen.  It's huge.  There is a pantry area where all residents can store their food, too.  The game room/TV area is on the second floor.  I can see that being a nice gathering space.

I am so grateful that the Bacardi's chose to give this most generous gift to Mayo and I can't wait to see how beneficial it is to all who come and stay.  I'm sure that I will still be able to rent my condos to transplant patients, as not everyone wants to live in a group setting like this.  There is aenough business to go around :)

If you would like more information for the Gabriel House of Care, on the grounds of Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL, please use the information below.

Gabriel House of Care
4599 Worrall Way
Jacksonville, FL 32224
Phone (904) 821-8995
Fax (904) 821-8997
info@gabrielhouseofcare.org
www.gabrielhouseofcare.org


I can't end a post like this without asking that you get information (organdonor.gov) on how to become an organ donor if you haven't already signed up, tell your family of your wishes and help save lives.   Organ donation has saved the life of so many people that I know and I bet it's saved the life of someone you know, too! 

I should add, for those of you who don't know me, that my husband had a liver transplant at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville in Dec of 2005.  Someone saved my husband's life and we are also so very grateful.

Have a fabulous day!
Kristin

POTD - Over the River


POTD - Over the River
©2011 Kristin Corlett

Over the river and through the woods to the house on the river we go.  Not sure why the palm tree is leaning over the river as I thought I noticed enough river bank to hold the shallow root system.  It's been there for quite some time so maybe, a decade ago or so,  it was the favorite scratching post for an elephant!  It could happen.  Haven't you ever heard of the Florida elephant?

Enjoy!
Kristin

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Bobcat






Last week my husband came home from an estimate all excited.  He met this man who made wooden bowls and he was given a tour of the house and all of the beautiful things in the house.  I told him that when he went back to do the job, I'd love to tag along.  Yesterday he did the job and I tagged along :)  I brought my camera and both lenses.  The wife was home this time and she was so excited to tell me stories about the bowls, the pieces of art and stories about the other pieces in their home.

One of the things that struck me was this bobcat sitting on the entry table.  She told me that she found him on the side of the road.  He was still warm, but no signs of life.  She decided to get him to a taxidermist so she could preserve his beauty.  It was determined that this fella was about a year old.  I had a terrible time getting good shots of him but I wanted to share him.

Thank you to the folks who shared their home and time with us.  We talked for over an hour after Tom finished the job.  I hope we can go back some day and chat some more with them.  I'll be sharing the wooden bowls later in the week.

Unknown Mami

That's what's happening in my part of the world.
For more views of cities and towns near and far, head on over to Unknown Mami's Sundays in my City post for more!

Have a great day!
Kristin