Hezekiah Alexander's Stone House

we had a great time visiting with Jason, Kim and her parents over Thanksgiving. It's amazing how much warmer a 3 hour drive can make you. The difference? About 10 degrees. It isn't that much in the summer, but in the winter...it makes all the difference between freezing and being warm! I also realized how much I miss all the green pine trees. They add so much more color to winter surroundings.

The area around where I live doesn't have nearly the amount of pines that SC does. We've got tons of hard woods..so in the winter time, the surroundings look like a bunch of dead sticks and twigs. This also means that you drive through the country side in full view of people's old buicks left up on blocks, old washing machines dumped at the end of the property, old farm equipment, etc. I liked it better in the summer where I couldn't see anyone from my kitchen window...just green trees.


Jason and Kim have an adorable pair of orange tabby cats they adopted a year ago as small kittens. What a pair these are! I always look forward to visiting my "grand kitties" to see what they are up to. The little boy's name is Coheed...and he has gotten HUGE! His favorite thing to do is to crawl into any available space, which includes the cabinet under the bathroom sink (where he proceeds to shred any bit of toilet paper that is within his reach!) a grocery bag, a box, and even MY duffel! I had placed my duffel on the kitchen table, packing, getting ready for our trip home, and I returned to find Coheed nestled deeply within. Too funny!


The little girl is Cambria, and she maybe small,but her motor is HUGE!! She has the loudest purr I've ever heard, and she is very affectionate.

On our way home from SC we stopped at the Charlotte Museum of History They have the 1774 Hezekiah Alexander Stone House on property, and you can tour it. You know me and history! I love seeing things like this, thinking what my life would have been like 225 years ago. What they had to do just to survive, to feed a family, to preserve food. Don't get me wrong, I love my modern conveniences, and I wouldn't give them up to go back in time like that, but I still feel a connection to the past.





It was amazing to see the date stamped in the cornerstone of the house. The furnishings are original. The house was lived in through WWII, and at some point it was electrified, but it had no running water or indoor plumbing added...ever..The original owner lived here with his wife and 10 children. It is amazing that all of those children lived to adulthood. That wasn't always the case in those days.

Visiting the museum was a great way to miss out on the Holiday shopping. Or should I say AVOID IT COMPLETELY!?? I am not one of those who runs out for Black Friday shopping. Black Friday is always a day for me to just stay in and spend quiet time. It's been raining since last night, so today is much the same, and I am perfectly fine with that!