Rolling Out the Welcome Mat

After about a year and a half of nearly non-stop work on the cabin, we are finally ready to have some company. Other than family! We have furnished all the bedrooms, and have the yard looking decently cleaned up. That's a whole other post. The yard is really a challenge, especially since we are on the side of a mountain, and there is little that can be done to make it look nice. We are going for the natural, we- live-in-the-mountains-look. And hopefully not too much upkeep. No hedge trimming, etc. We did plant some roses, but the deer ate them, so it's just as well. The tomatoes we planted are doing nicely, though, and maybe the deer will leave those for us. They are welcome to the roses.

Cute little spotted fawn!

Anyway, back to the company. I have been a part of a Bible Study for about 10 years with some very lovely ladies. They are coming up for a few days next week, and we are going to eat out, hike up to the waterfalls, and just generally enjoy. Sunday and Monday nights are the annual Perseid Meteor Shower, so I am praying that there will be clear skies. Last year, it was spectacular. You could actually see the tails the meteors left all across the sky! We can't see that much here in suburbia. Too many lights.

Several years ago, I went to a family reunion for my McCay side of the family. My great-grandfather ran an old country store until he passed away in 1956, and it is sitting abandoned on the property that he and his second wife owned.  My cousin took me to see the old store, and we went inside and looked around. It's rather small, but had some interesting things inside.

My Great-Grandfather's Store in the 1950s. You can see his name on the sign.
Robertstown, Georgia

The store as it stands today. The weeds have all grown up around it, but it is still plumb and square!

After Grandpa's death, it was used as storage. There was an old iron bed leaning up against the wall. There were several boxes of old pickle jars. There were wooden shelves with boxes of junk, and even some family papers. We found my Grandpa's original marriage certificate to his second wife in them. We also found some pieces of chain that were hand forged, and looked very old. Long story short, I came home with the bed, and some jars, and the pieces of chain. The bed is now in the cabin, all cleaned up and looking good. We had the chains appraised, and they were from a US Civil War soldier's horse. They must have belonged to Edward McCay, my 2X great-grandfather, and father of the man who owned the store. 

Edward McCay with son John A. McCay and wife Polly.

Edward was also owner of the bed (the appraisal said it was from 1881, which was the very year he was married). Edward was the only one of my people who fought for the US (on my Dad's side), and he was in the cavalry, so it had to be his chain. We are so excited to have this small piece of history! 

Close-up of the "US" emblem

Trace chain, used by in 2X Great Grandfather in the Civil War

With Edward's bed all done up, it looks like a real bedroom now instead of a storage room. The bed was in rough shape, and one of the metal pieces had popped off. So I dragged it down to the welder and he did a spot weld for me. Then I cleaned it up and painted it a nice, oil rubbed bronze. It was actually very close to the original color.

The bed in original condition.

Original color

After the repair and paint, all I needed was a mattress and some pillows. The fabric is from the little fabric shop where I buy everything. Fabric World. You rock.

The bed, all ready for company!

You can see the oil rubbed bronze color in this shot. Very close to the original color.

The little welcome pillow is made from a 50 cent remnant. Gotta love the price, right? And the welcome monogram was done as a gift from my daughter in law's mama. She's a sweetie.

So officially the welcome mat is out!

Or maybe I should say the welcome pillow is out.

Here is a view of the other side of the room. The little dresser is a flea market find. The rocking chair belonged to my other 2X Great-grandfather. It is from 1906, and needs a little repair. Working on that one for later.

Other side of the room

 The pillow in the rocker says, "My family tree is full of nuts." Truer than you know.