Family Treasures...

Welcome Back to Sharlotte's Reflections!

It's Thursday

 so it's time to highlight our love

for all things related to:

dishes

and tables

and well, 

all things kitchen!

Today I'm sharing my niche and plate rack.

It's the only open cabinet in the kitchen

and

a place to change out for the seasons.

I've been hooked on red lately

and

since red is a great color for summer

I've had this vignette up for several weeks.

The platter was a great find (you can see it used in one of the header pictures)
but the rest of the items are cherished family treasures.

Let's take a closer look:

The waffle mold, mixer, cookbook, and rolling pin
were used in my maternal grandmother's kitchen.

The recipe box holds my paternal grandmother's recipes.
They are so neat ~ all handwritten and well loved.

That cute little rooster timer was a "new house" gift from my mother.
And guess what happens when time is up?
Yep...it crows!
Too cute!!

Now, below this open space is a plate rack to store dishes.

It's very handy during mealtimes and a great place to see all the patterns.

Thanks so much for dropping by and seeing a glimpse into my kitchen.

I'm joining Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch for her Tablescape Thursday.
Be sure to drop by for loads of inspiration!

Until next time,
Sharlotte

Summer Table

Happy Thursday everyone!

You know what that means...

it's time to share our tablescapes.

 

 

And I must admit,

sometimes they are just for fun.

 

 

Sometimes it takes just one thing to spark an idea...

 

 

and before you know it,

 

 

a tablescape is forming in your head!

 

 

 Welcome to my table...

it's set for two.

Enjoy!

 

 

Looking forward to seeing more tables over at

Susan's Between Naps on the Porch for her Tablescape Thursday.

Drop by for loads of inspiration!

 

Thanks for dropping by...

Sharlotte

Well Hello!

Gee Whiz!

I've had major computer/internet issues

and my posts have been basically called to a halt.

My browsing on Pinterest, Houzz, other blogs,

and basically everything else has been extremely limited.

It seems that when it's cloudy, sunny, stormy, or just plain hot

the internet is unreliable.

ugh...county living.

Then my faithful, trustworthy laptop was having "fever" issues.

Yep...it was really warm, ok hot.

My last laptop actually melted

AND

I didn't want to go through that again.

 

Enter: Lenovo

yep...new computer.

I had never heard of this label before...

my husband said it was the old IBM company...

I told him..."...I'm just thankful to be up and running again!"
Thanks Honey for the new computer!!

 

Now all this to say, I'm looking over things and things look a bit different.

I hope that all transfers

and I can figure out all the fancy buttons.

Keep your fingers crossed!

 

So, here we go again...

Sharlotte's Reflections is back online!

YIPPEE!

 

See you tomorrow with a new tablescape!

 

Sharlotte

 

 

 

 

Family Weddings....

As we wrap up June (can you believe it's almost over?)

here's to two more wedding anniversaries during the month of June:

My Mother and Father

(60 years this year)

I love this picture...

and

My Son and Daughter-in-law.

(celebrating 5 years this year)

I love this picture too!

If this is your wedding month, congrats to you as well!

June...2014

June is our anniversary month...

and this year marks our 30th year together.

These flowers were to celebrate the occasion.

A lot of water has gone under the bridge...both high tides and low tides.

But that's what it's all about, right?

Happy Anniversary, Honey!

Isn't it amazing how fast time really goes by?

Terror on Highway 59

This is a post in a series. To start at the beginning, click here.

On our way to visit Lake Livingston in Texas, we pass through several small towns.

One of them is Coldspring, Texas - the county seat of San Jacinto County.

It's a quiet little town, with quaint buildings, a little shopping district, and of course,

a courthouse.

Now, I have a friend who's father lives there 

and I've actually visited once myself.

 So this little town wasn't completely unknown to me but to my husband, it was a new site.

As we drove around a bit, we saw a sign that pointed to the 

historic "Old Town" and historic jail.

Sold...we love visiting historic sites.

We toured the jail and saw life as it was then...

the docent of the jail was quite interesting.

She had her facts down and enjoyed showing us the memorabilia from days long ago.

There were docket books, clothing, pictures...and one special cabinet 

which held photographs of previous members 

of the San Jacinto County Sheriff's Department.

She casually motioned to an adjoining cabinet which housed a stack of cookbooks

but more importantly the grouping of books detailing the arrest of notorious

Texas sheriff: 

J.C. "Humpy" Parker.

What? A sheriff arrested by the FBI?

In this little town?

Really?

So as we were leaving, I purchased a copy of his story and read, and read, 

and read.

I'm not sure what intrigued me most:

the fact I live right off of this highway

or

the fact that a small Texas town (so close to me) has such an interesting past.

As I read, I was both shocked and amazed that this happened in the late 70's!

from the dust-jacket...

"The story that put a crooked Texas sheriff in jail.

An assistant United States attorney called it "highway robbery." An american civil Liberties Union lawyer called it "a monstrosity of justice." A young sheriff's deputy said it was "scary what we did."

They were referring to an extraordinary arrest trap set up by the San Jacinto County sheriff's department along US Highway 59, just seventy miles north of Houston. Young motorists traveling along the four-lane highway were systematically terrorized over a five-year period by deputies who stopped cars without cause and conducted brutal searches for marijuana. In 1980, for example, this tiny, five-deputy sheriff's department chalked up as many drug arrest as Houston's seven-hundred-deputy department.

The sheriff and his deputies flagrantly ignored the law, and the victims of their arrest trap often were subjected to humiliating strip searches on the side of the road. Some were tortured in a sadistic, medieval fashion, with handcuffs, water, and towels."

The book is a well written and a quick read...filled with actual accounts of witnesses, victims, and legalities.

Mr. Sellers, the author, was a reporter who received numerous awards for investigation and news reporting.

If you're curious about small town corruptness, this is a must read!

And...

as far as I know...

Coldspring is back to being a quiet, good-old-boy type of small town.

Drop by if you're ever in the area...

and you too can see where history was indeed made.

Just be sure to drive the speed limits!

The "Good" Old Days...The Jail

Now let me say that I am the scaredist scaredy-cat you ever met.

I don't like to be scared and I won't scare others.

It's just not my thing.

No scary movies or stories...

Nope...not for me.

So don't worry, this post really isn't scary.

It's just that being in an old jail is kinda creepy.

But it was daylight

and there was a docent

and my husband

and a few other people.

Ok...here we go...

Let me begin by saying that the building itself was pretty.

Bricks are always attractive, aren't they?

Now the bars on the window were a giveaway that this historic site was indeed a jail.

It was built in 1886 - opened in 1887.

The ground floor was the booking area and living quarters for the sheriff.

improvised kitchen

The second floor were the cells.

It was interesting seeing the actual places where criminals were held.

We could enter the cells, but the docent asked us not to close the doors, just in case the old hinges would get stuck.

No problem.

This next photo is an interesting shot...

see the taped off section?

Yep...trap door.

Above this section was a metal circle to hold the rope for a hanging.

And even though there was documentation on the actual rope...

...it wasn't actually used. 

In fact, no hangings were ever held at this site.

But going up the stairs, the trap door was clearly evident.

We had to watch our step on the way down... the steps were narrow and steep

(and well worn.)

Whew...we made it...that's it!

The "Good" old days "Old Jail".

Up next...the "Terror on Highway 59."

(right around the corner from this site- yikes!!)