Shopping Madison Georgia

Madison, Georgia has numerous antique stores and flea markets to shop away the hours in. 

Also many restaurants and coffee shops are located downtown. 

I usually eat a fried green tomato sandwich at The Chop House.

These images are from The Madison Market and garden shop next door. 

They sell  mostly European antiques inside and have an upscale restaurant in back.

To see my first post on the Madison Market in October click here.

Happy Friday

Olive

Southern Porches

Pink houses always remind me of wedding cakes and this Madison, Georgia

 pink house with it's gingerbread trim is no exception.

The black porch rockers are a good color selection against the pink paint.

Even garages in Madison are noteworthy.

Look at the bench full of skulls.

You can never go wrong with classic white with black shutters. 

This porch has delicate trim details.

The window to the left of that porch. 

The side entrance of the house. 

Notice the landscaping is quite understated. 

This allows the majestic white house to take the spotlight.

I hope you are enjoying Madison, Georgia as much as we do. 

I have one more post coming later.

To see the Madison "Porch House" click here.

For the Madison Christmas tour click here.

joy and peace 

Olive

Porch House

The "Porch House" in Madison, Georgia.

It has one of the prettiest southern porches. 

 The residents can usually be spotted on the porch. 

And why not?

That is certainly where I would be.

The porch wraps and hugs the Craftsman style house. 

It is furnished in brown outdoor furniture that compliments

 the yellow exterior of the house.

I cannot have a house in Madison but I could 

duplicate this arbor and climbing rose in my garden.

 All the Madison historic houses have gorgeous yards. 

The spring home and garden tour is May1-3. 

I am not advertising for them. 

They do not know me.

Behind the splendid iris bed you can see a picket fence and

 three car garage for the "Porch House"

More posts on Madison coming soon.

 Madison Christmas home tour post here.

Linking@Wow Us Wednesdays

joy and peace

Olive

Christmas House Tours

Hello my lovelies. 

I have been all over Georgia and South Carolina recently snapping Christmas images.

  In The Rain.

If I do not get a sunbeam soon I may require an antidepressant.

My mood is affected by the weather.

This is the garage to the yellow house. 

I love it. 

Yes, I could live in their garage.

That is a climbing rose around the window.

This is the truck in the garage! 

Over the truck and not visible to you is a chandelier filled with branches.

I am taking inspiration from this look and will fill my chandelier, on the deck, 

with branches when I get the chance.

I forgot to mention this house was not on the tour.  

Many do not allow photos-bummer.

The garden shed is cute too. 

Joe darling, can I get one of these?

The white sofa with red accents was in The Mad House, a small cottage, we toured.

 It was my favorite house on the tour. 

With that name and with my continued absence I imagine you guys thought they kept me {wink}.

All images taken with my iPhone.

All images from historic Madison, Georgia.

Next post we will visit a town in South Carolina and my friend's house

 filled with primitive antiques.

Linking@Wow Us Wednesday's

Happy Christmas

Olive

Barn Door Tall Tale

This barn door has a story of a junking woman and a fine persistent man to tell. 

I do apologize for my grainy iPhone images. 

I  had seen the seven foot tall barn door with it's wonderful intact rusty hinges six days before and hesitated to buy it. I left the store thinking about it. I nearly called, Steve, the owner of the store on Monday last to give him a credit card number. But I held off. I had never purchased a barn door before. That gives one reason to think.

Then Donna @Distressed Donna Down Home (her post today is about our day) and I went to pick up some items from Warrenton, Georgia. On the way back we stopped by Steve's store, Uncle Junks, and the barn door was still there. I bought it. Wee. 

That was merely the beginning of the adventure. Joe was to pick the barn door up on the way to the yellow house. I called Steve but he forgot and closed early. Joe, not being one to give up, found someone to give loose directions to Steve's house. Joe drives far out into the countryside in the dark on a dirt road. He stops and asks an elderly couple, sitting on a porch, if he was going the right way. They didn't know but they get their grandson to assist in the search. 

The young man hops in Joe's truck. The two of them go to another house. It was the wrong house. Again. But the dear lady there made some phone calls for Joe. Small towns are cool. Yes? Eventually they located Steve's house. I am sure he was surprised by Joe's persistence but he drove back to the store and loaded the barn door into Joe's truck.

You see yet another reason why I married Joe.

I may or may not be banned from Steve's store.

Many thanks to Steve and Joe.

Lastly, this is the five foot long star made from barn wood I picked up in Warrenton @ Mimi T's. It was too large to fit in the Jeep so we tied it to the roof, mostly, with ribbon. Joe looked at that ribbon and raised his eyebrows. I simply said "girl power."

Thanks Holly from Mimi T's.

I'll show the star again soon. 

Hanging in our living room.

 If the barn door is still in our booth I will try for better images.

Happy Thanksgiving

Olive

Greasy Spoon

Local Georgia Food Story

This has been submitted to BlogHer for their upcoming ebook. Who knows they may accept one of them. The first food story is here.

Greasy spoon restaurants are abundant in the south. I have eaten in more than my share of them. One town stands out for it's outstanding greasy spoons in my memory.  I was working as a registered nurse in a small economically depressed town where the largest industry was a state prison.  A majority of it's employees were related to each other. If a death occurred in town staffing became a real issue.  The physician's assistant Mr. Mussey and  I were the two folks in Medical, not from town, and we bonded over food and the vagaries of working in a prison.

The little town had a BP gas station on Georgia Highway 15 that had the crispiest and juiciest fried chicken I have ever eaten. The cooks started frying chickens at about nine A.M. and by eleven they were selling them. If you arrived at one o'clock you would not find a chicken wing. It would be a tragedy too. I seldom left the prison for lunch but one of my co-workers would bring me food from various places in town. Hole in the wall restaurants like the BP. The food was delicious. Sometimes odd, like chicken sandwiches with the bones still in the chicken. Apparently it is a regional preference to leave the bone in their sandwiches. We often enjoyed collards, turnip greens, and cornbread just like my Granny makes.

When I resigned from my job Mr. Mussey asked me out for lunch. We drove just outside of the town square by the historic courthouse and turned into a long steep dirt drive. Back in the piney woods was a shabby old house. There was no restaurant sign but Mr. Mussey assured me it was a restaurant. I was brave. I cared for felons who were convicted of heinous crimes after all. I could eat anywhere. Once. We walked into the house and it did appear to be a dining establishment. It had a counter and a few 1950's era booths. It was drab, sparse, and there was no menu. A man at the counter asked what we wanted to drink. I asked for unsweet iced tea. He laughed and said "Everything here comes with sugar, Suga!"  Alrighty then, I thought and ordered a Coke. Since there was not a menu I suggested Mr. Mussey order for the both of us. We had a hamburger and steak fries. It was no ordinary burger like the BP fried chicken was no ordinary chicken. It was a homemade beef patty and perfectly cooked. The fries were not frozen. They were cut, fried, and possibly fried again. At the time I was enjoying them immensely and I did not determine how they were cooked. It's funny when I think of that stressful administrative job it is accompanied by memories of food. The comfort of southern soul food with it's resourceful, thrifty, and nuanced flavors. I have not readily dismissed a "greasy spoon" since then.

Olive