the Bluegrass

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March 8, 2012

story time for children

Posted by Jennifer under history, miscellaneous, the Bluegrass | Tags: postaday |
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Last weekend, A.J. and I were browsing through a lovely antique store in Paris (Kentucky), and we found two old books that we just had to add to our collection.

The first is a little children’s book. (I’ll tell you about the other book in tomorrow’s post.)

I’m not kidding about it being little: it measures a mere three inches wide and four-and-a-half inches tall. It’s called The Pet Lamb, and is one of “The Rose Bud Stories for Young Children,” written by Harriet Myrtle. The other books in the series are Going to the Cottage, Eggs and Chickens, The Goat and Her Kid, Bertha and the Bird, The Duck House, May Day at the Cottage, Adventure of a Kite, A Day in the Woods, Two Dear Friends, Little May’s Birthday, and Christmas Eve at the Cottage.

The Pet Lamb was published in New York in 1869, and the copy we bought has an inscription in pencil on the last page that reads, “Presented to May Goff by Santa Claus, 1872.”

Here are the first two pages of the little book, and then a (rotated) close-up of the family in the carriage.

The book actually contains two stories: “The Pet Lamb” and “Harry Heath and His Faithful Dog.” I’m thinking we’ll have story hour on Saturday with “The Pet Lamb,” so stay tuned.

March 5, 2012

this weird weather we’re having

Posted by Jennifer under Lexington & KHP, miscellaneous, the Bluegrass | Tags: postaday |
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First off, let me apologize for missing the last three days here on the blog. With severe thunderstorms and tornadoes bearing down on Lexington, we high-tailed it out of the office just after midday on Friday. Because we have no Internet connection at home, I usually prepare my weekend posts on Fridays, along with that day’s post. But when I left the office so abrubtly (after we’d turned off and unplugged all our computer equipment), I left the blog undone.

Thankfully, we here in Lexington didn’t have any significant damage from the massive storms (although we did spend a fair amount of time that afternoon and evening in our basements), but other parts of Kentucky and the region weren’t so fortunate. Just now, as I type this post, I’m hearing on the radio news that the tornado that ripped through (and, sadly, destroyed most of) West Liberty, Kentucky, was on the ground for sixty continuous miles!

After all that, the weekend was fairly calm, if a bit cooler than it had been on freaky-weather Friday.

But we woke up this morning to our first real snowfall of the season! Before coming in to work this morning, I drove through portions of the Kentucky Horse Park and took these photos:

March 1, 2012

in Lexington, looking up and around

Posted by Jennifer under history, the Bluegrass, travel / destinations | Tags: postaday |
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The day after we got home from our quick trip to Asheville, I had a day off from work (which, if you’re keeping track, is also why there was no blog post on Monday … sorry).

It was a beautiful day, and I was feeling inspired by our architectural tour of Asheville the day before, so I took a loooong walk around downtown Lexington that afternoon to get a few photos of our local architecture.

this lovely old facade is one of three in a row that were renovated a decade or so ago, while the interiors were transformed into theater, art gallery, and restaurant space

a pretty corner of a building on Short Street, which runs behind the old court house

Lexington's opera house

an old (and current) livery stable on the alley behind the opera house

this office building, built in 1885, sits across the street from the old court house

The photo above shows the carriage house at the Hunt-Morgan House. The front of the house (below) looks out over Gratz Park.

on the other side of Gratz Park sit these two Federal-style houses

on the two "short ends" of the rectangular Gratz Park are Transylvania University's administration building (known as "Old Morrison") and this building, Lexington's old Carnegie Library, which now houses the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning

a pretty building on Main Street, with the old court house reflected in its windows

December 2, 2011

… and a few other critters

Posted by Jennifer under early roads, history, Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, the Bluegrass | Tags: postaday2011 |
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While visiting Shaker Village last weekend for the annual Blessing of the Hounds, we met a few of the village’s other farmyard residents … and took several long walks through the village and the surrounding fields and meadows. If you’re a fan of history; Shaker trades and crafts; nineteenth-century farming; quiet, truly beautiful, and well-marked walking and hiking trails; or even just really good food, I highly recommend a visit to Shaker Village if/when you’re next in or near Lexington. You can also read about the main road through the village in this blog post from back in September.

: the Heritage Trail as it leaves the village and heads out into the countryside

a cart in front of a dry-stone fence (there seem to be miles of these handmade fences on the 3,000 acres owned by Shaker Village)

one of several adorable donkeys in a large paddock with a bunch of (hungry!) sheep

these hungry sheep kept eating and eating and eating; this round bale was completely destroyed (having been eaten and trampled) in the 24 or so hours we were there

... but this little ram posed very politely for a portrait

at the other end of the village, this goat and others were anxiously awaiting dinner

a team of oxen

this beautiful Highland bull is in a big paddock by the pedestrian entrance to the village

this silly fox hound escaped from the pack during the Blessing of the Hounds and paid a visit to the Highland bull (photo by A.J. Singleton)

and, finally, a pair of driving horses who pull a wagon / trolley through the village (photo by A.J. Singleton)

December 1, 2011

fox hounds

Posted by Jennifer under horses & driving, Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, the Bluegrass | Tags: postaday2011 |
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Now that we’ve taken a look back, over the past two days, at several old coaches attending race meets and hunts, how about a few more modern photos?

Last weekend, A.J. and my parents and I (and a whole bunch of other people, including the governor, apparently) enjoyed the nostalgic and happy spectacle that was the Blessing of the Hounds and opening meet for the Woodford Hounds.

The weather was glorious and the event took place right in the middle of the main “street” that passes through historic Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill. The Woodford Hounds kennel is located at the back of the 3,000-acre property owned by Shaker Village, and so the day’s opening hunt took the hounds and the horses / ponies and riders across fields and meadows and over hills and dry-stone fences.

Here are a few of our photos from the day, all shown in about the order we took them, so you can get an idea of the progression of things. (I’ve marked A.J.’s photos as his but, as usual, any “unmarked” photos are mine.)

(photo by A.J. Singleton)

see all those hounds on the steps in the previous photo? Shaker Village costumed interpreters stood guard at each door to try to keep the hounds from running inside; this hound's plans to go in the building were thwarted but she got some lovin' instead