Mama Duck on Wild Bird Wednesday

This mama duck is very busy keeping track of her 15 babies at Lake Ella. They were being chased by a goose when I took this picture. Visit Wild Bird Wednesday to see more fabulous birds from all over the world.

More Knott House Kitchen

These items are located in a little room just off the kitchen. The first one is a pretty little breakfast set sitting on a tray just right for serving the lady of the house her breakfast in bed. The second picture shows two more of Luella Knott's modern electric appliances. Since clothes were mostly made of cotton back then, ironing them was a necessity. The contraption next to the more familiar looking electric iron is called a "Thor Automagic Gladiron". The last picture is an ad for this modern marvel showing how "easy" it was to use.

Knott House Kitchen

Although Luella Knott loved furnishing her house with pieces from the Victorian Era, when it came to the kitchen, she preferred it to be up to date. This is what her 1930's kitchen looked like. The electric refrigerator was quite a modern convenience for that time, since most people relied on ice boxes to keep their food from spoiling.

Knott House Porch

This porch is located on the east side of the Knott House just off the dining room. It was used for reading, listening to the radio and apparently taking an occasional nap since it also is furnished with a nice little bed. There is also a lovely view of the Wood House next door from this porch and you can see that view in one of my previous posts here.

Knott House Dining Room Reflections

All of these pictures were taken in the dining room of the Knott House. The third picture is a china cabinet and right after I took this shot, I turned around and stepped backwards towards it and the door on the right side slowly opened by itself. I didn't even realize what had happened until one of the people in our tour group said "I think there might be a ghost in this house". Before I could get another shot, our tour guide laughed and quickly closed it. I think that when I stepped near it, the pressure on the floorboard caused it to open, but who knows? Maybe it was Luella Knott, beckoning me to take a closer look! To see more fabulous reflections from all over the world, please visit Weekend Reflections.

Knott House Living Room

Continuing with my series on the Knott House, here are some more pictures from Luella Knott's Victorian living room. The mounted birds under glass are located on the left side of the mantle over the fireplace. There was also another mounted bird on the other side of the mantle. I found them both a little disconcerting since I am such a bird lover. Luella's poem about the birds is attached and reads:

"Mounted Birds ---
We're glad that you do not think that we
Are silly or absurd;
That you take time to read a rhyme
About a little bird."

Knott House Living Room

Luella Knott was fond of Victorian era antiques and that is how she decorated her living room. She often shopped at estate sales for vintage pieces. She attached poems to her furnishings with satin ribbons to draw attention to her favorites. Not only did she write poetry, she also published some of her own music which you can see sitting here on her piano along with one of her poems. The name of the song is "I'm In Love With My Mother-in-Law". The poem reads: "Piano - I'm sound as a dollar and good for a song; my body is healthy, my legs are strong; I'm not very rare nor even unique, but in a few years, I shall be an antique!"

Our tour guide mentioned that one of the Knott's grown children happened to be friends with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, which explains this photograph. You can also see another one of Luella's poems on the table: "Round table in living room. I'm quite a mixture as you see, of walnut and mahogany. With here and there a tiny line of inlaid maple, oak and pine. In spite of age, I'm still erect, And worthy of your deep respect."

The two Victorian chairs you see here were referred to by our tour guide as grandpa and grandma chairs. The one with the arms is the grandpa chair, while the other one without the arms is the grandma chair. Having arms on the chair would have caused a problem when sitting for a woman in the Victorian era because her dress would have had a huge skirt with maybe a hoop underneath.

More pictures of Luella Knott's living room tomorrow!

The Knott House

Who could resist this young lady standing in front of the Knott House beckoning me to come in for a tour? The Knott House was the home of Luella and William Knott, often referred to as "the poet and the politician". Luella wrote whimsical poems and attached them to her furnishings with satin ribbons to draw attention to her favorite items in her home. The poems are still there. William Knott served as the Florida's State Treasurer during the depression. William Knott died in his house at the age of 101 and Luella died eight days later at the age of 93. Interestingly, William was born during the Civil War when Abraham Lincoln was president and died in 1965 when Lyndon B. Johnson was president. The house is beautifully preserved and I took lots of pictures which I will be showing on my blog in the coming days. You can read more about the history of this house and the Knotts here. Linking up with signs, signs.

Portable facilities

There was an arts festival going on downtown over the weekend and I noticed these portable hand washing stations sitting on the sidewalk. They were not far from a long line of food trucks parked on the street, so I guess it was nice to have a place to clean yourself up after eating all those messy, but delicious treats.

The Wood House

I could not find much history on this house except that it was built in 1904 and was used as a winter residence for the Wood family who came south from Ohio to enjoy the warmer climate. It is located on Park Avenue near downtown Tallahassee and is now being used as office space. I took the second picture from the porch of the Knott House next door, which has been beautifully preserved and I was fortunate enough to be touring at the time. More pictures from the inside of the Knott House are coming, so stay tuned.

Happy Easter

One of the flower beds in my front yard is just full of these beautiful amaryllis blooms. I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!

Turtle Barge

There wasn't much sunshine to bask in on the day I took this, but that didn't stop these turtles from laying around in the middle of Lake Ella. Linking up with Weekend Reflections.

SkyWatch Friday

Ominous clouds building over the gazebo at Lake Ella. Linking up with SkyWatch Friday.

Practice makes perfect

This is my oldest grandson performing at his piano recital last weekend. He did a fantastic job and I am so proud of him. I have to admit though that I took this picture in Orlando, but I'm posting it anyway!

Doggy Play Area

I noticed this cute little play area for dogs behind a fast food restaurant. Linking up with signs, signs.

Cupcakes

If you are in the mood for a cupcake, this is the place to get one. They are a chain, so maybe you have one near you. Visit their website here.

SkyWatch Friday: Rainbow in the Clouds

I took this picture in the parking lot of the grocery store. It was just starting to clear up after a storm. To see more fascinating skies from just about anywhere in the world, don't miss SkyWatch Friday.

Making Tracks

I'm not sure what kind of tracks these are supposed to be, but they seem to be blazing a trail for the kids to follow in the Discovery Play Area in Cascades Park.

signs, signs

Every time I have passed this place, I have wanted to stop and take a picture of their sign, so yesterday I did. Isn't it cool? Linking up with signs, signs.

Pet Fountain

It's nice that they don't have to share with the humans.

Tell me how you really feel…..

I think I'll let this one speak for itself.

Weekend Reflections at Lake Ella

Duck and a goose on a cloudy day at Lake Ella. Linking up with Weekend Reflections.

Florida Map

Yes, that is a map of the State of Florida in the middle of the brick plaza at Cascades Park. I wish there had been something to climb up on to get a better view, but then again I probably wouldn't have been able to climb it, much less get myself down.

SkyWatch Friday under the Lamp Post

To see more fabulous skies from just about everywhere in the world, don't miss SkyWatch Friday.

Sportsmanship

This sculpture entitled "Sportsmanship" was created by sculptor Edward Jonas. It is 15 feet tall and weighs one ton and is located on the west side of Doak Campbell Stadium on the Florida State University campus.

Commemorative Marker

I found this little marker commemorating the founding of Tallahassee as the Capital of Florida in 1824 in one of the flower beds in Cascades Park near downtown. It was presented by the Caroline Brevard Chapter DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) in 1976.

Theme Day: Triangles

This picture was taken in the newly opened Cascades Park in downtown Tallahassee. Those are my two oldest grandkids watching the waterfall. The big triangle in the background is supporting one of two identical bridges located on each side of an outdoor amphitheater. The first day of the month is Theme Day in the City Daily Photo Community. To see more fascinating interpretations of this month's theme from cities all over the world, visit here.