Super Sale Going on at Pomegranate

Stock up now on great linens and accessories at unheard of discounts......

Like these green snaffle napkins, set of four for $10!  See them here.

These napkins are $15 for a set of four and the quality is great (I have these):

These navy napkins are $10 for a set of four. See them here.

Great card table size tablecloth for $20:

Love this table runner. Not sure what I'll use it for but I will find something!  See it here.https://pomegranateinc.com/collections/attic-sale/products/green-snaffle-table-runner

This will make a cute gift:

Really cute duffle for $24:

Friday Finds

It's the last Friday in July.  Can you believe it? Where has the summer gone?  Here are some fun finds for this Friday. Hope you have wonderful plans for the weekend.

Cutest Jean Jacket
Love this jean jacket with bell sleeves, now greatly reduced.  Wear this with everything you own.

Tweed Dress
Love this adorable tweed dress to wear now into fall and then again in the spring.  And it's really on sale.

 

Chic Coffee Table Book
I saw this book recently and fell in love.  You'll fall in love too. See her Instagram feed here.

 

J Crew Picks
While I don't buy much these days from J Crew I like this cute navy dress but wish it had long sleeves to wear into fall.  The raincoat is the same fabric is also very cute.

(Rain Coat)

New Needlepoint

Love The Mother Nature Series from The Plum Stitchery. There is a series of animals. Order from any needlepoint store and stitch away!

Happy Friday!

My Favorite Clothing Designers

Like most women I love clothes but I don't consider myself a clothes horse.  Once upon a time, I bought designer clothing (when greatly reduced) and I still have some of those clothes. I'd love to return to the day when I bought only a few items each year but of great quality that I could wear forever but that's getting difficult to do with the quality of today's clothing and the prices of the really good stuff.

But I am making an attempt to shop year-end sales for my clothing for next season.  There are some designers that I love but can never afford even at greatly reduced prices - Carolina Herrera, Missoni, Armani, Rochas, Balmain, Valentino, Hermes and others.

Love this Balmain jacket:

 

I still have a wool Valentino skirt that I bought in Italy in 90's along with a floral Armani suit.  I wore out a Max Mara navy cotton suit that I also picked up in Italy but I still have my camel Max Mara coat that I bought at Saks in Washington about the same time.

So what's on my wish list?

1) Something Rochas

2) A Marni dress

3) Something from Gucci's clothing line in tweed - like this dress.

Or this fabulous coat:

 

4) A Chanel jacket (I doubt this will ever land in my closet but a girl can dream can't she?)
5) Something Prada like this organza dress:

6) Gucci Fur Mules

(Classic Mules)

What have I added to my closet?

Two pairs of Malone Souliers shoes bought at 70 percent off. I cannot wait to wear them.  Eying a greatly reduced Marni dress!  What's in your closet?

(Malone Souliers)

Virginia's Incredible Thoroughbred Heritage

Kentucky conjures visions of Thoroughbred horses racing across lush green fields with colts and fillies by their side. But over a hundred years before the Civil War, Virginia laid claim to the horse breeding industry that eventually made Kentucky famous.

It was 1730 when the first Thoroughbred stallion was imported to America, to Virginia, Bulle Rock.  He was a 21-year-old foundation sire Darley Arabian and had been a race horse in England.  He lived in Hanover County (just north of Richmond) and was imported by a merchant mariner, James Patton, and owned by Samuel Gist.  He was thought to have mated to at least 39 English or Spanish mares.


In 1798, John Hoomes of Bowling Green, Virginia (also north of Richmond) purchased the English racehorse Diomed, who won the inaugural Epsom Derby in 1780. Diomed’s English owner, Sir Charles Bunbury, sold him for a small sum of money as the horse had been a failure as a breeding stallion and not very virile to boot. However, Diomed flourished in Virginia and sired numerous top-flight racehorses, including the great Sir Archy, who was the great grandsire of the famous Civil-War era Kentucky racehorse and stallion Lexington. Diomed was still fertile at age 29 and lived to be 31.

During the Civil War, a Confederate Captain Richard Hancock served under General “Stonewall” Jackson. After the war, Hancock married Thomasia Harris, whose family owned a farm near Charlottesville, Virginia, which Hancock named Ellerslie Stud when the former Confederate officer began to breed and raise Thoroughbred racehorses. One of his four sons, Arthur B. Hancock, founded Claiborne Farm in 1910 in Paris, Kentucky.  So it could be said that Claiborne actually started in Virginia. Ellerslie is still in tact near Charlottesville.

One of the most famous horses at Ellerslie was Princequillo,who is considered to be one of the finest long distance dirt runners behind Kelso. He was purchased by Arthur B. Hancock and at stud he sired 64 stakes winners and became best known as a broodmare sire. Among his daughters' progeny are Mill Reef, Secretariat, Sham, Fort Marcy and High Echelon. His most famous descendents include Secetariat, AP Indy, Cigar, Seattle Slew, John Henry, Zenyatta, American Pharoah, and California Chrome.

Princequillo gained the name Mr. Fixit thanks to the wonderful conformation and soundness he passed down to his progeny.He died of a heart attack in 1964 and is buried at Claiborne in Kentucky.

 (Princequillo)

The Middleburg-Upperville area of Northern Virginia is and has been home to some of the most prominent racehorse breeding establishments, among others, Isabel Dodge Sloane’s Brookmeade Stable, Elizabeth Whitney Tippett’s Llangollen Estate, Jack Kent Cooke’s Kent Farms, Paul Mellon’s Rokeby, Bertram and Diana Firestone’s Newstead Farm, Joseph Allbritton’s Lazy Lane Farm, and Edward Evans’ Spring Hill Farm. These owners are associated with such racehorses as Sword Dancer, Mill Reef, Arts and Letters, Sea Hero, and Hansel.

Secretariat, the most famous racehorse of modern times, was a Virginia-bred. He was foaled at Christopher Chenery’s Meadow Stud in Caroline County, near Richmond. Bowling Green, where John Hoomes brought Bulle Rock, is located in Caroline County, making the area the location for two major events in the history of the Thoroughbred breed in America.

 (Barn Where Secretariart was Born in Virginia)

Another famous horse spent much of his life in Virginia, Sir Barton, the first winner of the Triple Crown in 1919.  In 1921 the champion was sold and moved to Audley Farm just outside of Berryville where he remained until 1932.  In December 2008 a statue of the great champion was unveiled in front of Audley Farm's stallion barn (the farm is located on Route 50 near Berryville).  In 1932 Sir Barton became part of the Army's Remout Service at Front Royal and then later in Fort Robinson, Nebraska.  He was later taken to a ranch in Wyoming where he died of colic in 1937.

(Sir Barton)

(Sir Barton's Statue in Virginia)

While Virginia is no longer one of the leading states for breeding and racing Thoroughbred racehorses, it is where the sport emanated in Colonial times before there was a United States. Some of the greatest American racehorses have a clear connection to the Old Dominion State.

Think Out of the Box With Needlepoint Ornaments

Christmas ornaments are not just for Christmas. Use your imagination and put these rounds on handbags, tote bags, in the middle of a pillow, framed. I love this round Hermes ornament for this round summer bag. Adorable, one-of-a-kind, so unique.  And at Po's Point through the end of the month, all Christmas is 30 percent off. 

Use the code Christmas30 at check out or call the store directly.  Who say's Christmas can't last all year long?

The Homestead's Cascades Historic Hotel to be Torn Down Soon

If you've been to the infamous Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Virginia then you've likely driven past The Cascades at Healing Springs, on Route 220 just north of the famous Cascades Golf Course where Sam Snead got his start on your way to The Homestead. The golf course is considered "mecca" for golf enthusiasts but the old Cascades Resort at Healing Springs has seen better days. In fact, it is scheduled to be torn down this summer.  We are all losers in this decision.

This is a post card (not sure of the date, likely 1950's) when the hotel was open to the public. I am not certain when it closed to the public.

This history of the Springs is sketchy.  If you know much about the history of "healing springs" they were in vogue in the last half of the 19th century and early in the 20th century.  There was an earlier hotel that was built around Healing Springs about 1850.  There was a Cottage Row part of the complex that was torn down in 1975.  The hotel that is currently standing was built in the early 1900's.

There are two springs on this property, Healing and Little Healing, both thermal.  In 1895 Jakey Rubino, a trader from New York, bought the springs and marketed the water "Rubino Healing Springs" which did not sit well with the The Hot Springs Company which was already established.  He found himself in court as he advertised his water as "healing"even though the water had no healing qualities. He actually won the case but by the time the case worked its way through the courts, bottled water was no longer in vogue and his market was gone.

But Rubino built an impressive home (now used by the Homestead as a restaurant - Rubino's - and a pro shop for The Cascades Golf Course) which was purchased in 1923 by The Hot Spring Company.  The Cascades Golf Course was built in 1923.  It's worth a stop to see the lovely home and sit on the upper deck for a nice summer lunch overlooking the Cascades Golf Course. It's a beautiful spot and the temperatures in Bath County tend to be much cooler than the surrounding areas.

Very sad.

Baby Steps to Saving Our Planet

It's alarming that it''s going to be over 100 degrees tomorrow in Washington, DC.  The heat index there will 115 tomorrow.  The storms that routinely hit our farm now take out one or two trees each time. This my friends is the new normal.  Climate change is an alarming development that we need to accept and not ignore. While it will take the nations of the world to come together to effect significant change (if it's not too late already) we as individuals should do our part.

So what can we do?

1) Conserve Water
Wars are going to be fought over water. In India, regions now have no water at all. I am lucky as I have a well and don't pay for water but what happens if my well goes dry?  Don't water the lawn, wash your car as often, take fewer showers and baths.  Don't leave the water in the sink running ever (guilty here).  Run the dishwasher only when full and save the laundry for full loads.

2) Pay Attention to What You Eat
Americans are ignorant about what it costs to produce food.  It takes 80 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef.  Really.  We cannot sustain the amounts of meat we eat in the US if we are to bring down emissions that are changing our climate.  The emissions created by growing cows and and other farm animals are immense. I will only eat organic chicken and refuse to support the poultry industry's inhumane methods raising chickens in football field long indoor houses.  It takes massive amounts of water to grow chickens this way. Where does your food come from?  How is it produced?  Is is adding to climate change?  We all need to start asking these questions every single day and act accordingly.  Think what would happen if all supported only sustainable farming (for the planet that is).

3) Buy Less of Everything
Our consumer culture needs to stop.  So you shop on-line - your purchases are trucked in massive tractor-trailers down some interstate to a UPS depot where it's trucked again to your doorstep. Factor this time millions every day and you get the picture.  We don't need all this stuff.  You can't even drive down the major interstates anymore due to all the trucks.  And the waste. What happens to that?

4) Quit Buying Bottled Water
Why do we have to buy huge cartons of bottled water?  What happens to all of those non-biodegradable plastic bottles?  A hundred years from now they will still be here. Put a filter on your tap water and learn to love it.

5) Plant a Tree
Trees produce oxygen that we need.  Now if those storms will just quit taking them out. 

6) Turn Out the Lights
Why do you need lights on in a room that you are using?  Turn them off!  Use energy efficient light bulbs in every lamp, every fixture.  When I visit my parents I turn off 10 lights each visit - every room in the house is lighted but they only use two rooms. It makes a difference if we all do it.

7) Walk, Bike, Run, or Use Public Transport
Most Americans don't get enough exercise.Walk to the store instead taking the car. Don't circle the parking lot 10 times to get a closer parking spot. Take public transportation in lieu of taking your own vehicle. Think about the best way to get there that's best for the environment and your bulging waistline.  It's a win-win.

8) Turn Your Computer Off
If you turn your computer off every night it will save you an average of $14 a year in electricity costs.  Not a lot of money but if we all do this, think of how much less our utility company will earn?

9) Donate Your Outcasts
I donate a lot of stuff each year to the local Goodwill.  One man's trash is another man's treasure.  And have you ever shopped there?  Recycle your clothing, your old furniture, books, CDs, etc.

10) Use Your Local Car Wash
Did you know that if each of us used the car wash once a year it would save 8.7 billion gallons of water a year?  Car washes tend to be masters at knowing how to conserve water, many recycle it.  So instead of washing your car at home this weekend use the local car wash instead.

Christopher Spitzmiller Plates

Are you a fan of the infamous Christopher Spitzmiller lamps but not the price?  If so, you can still own a piece of his handcrafted wares - plates.  He makes beautiful plates with his signature swirl in two sizes. I have seen the blue ones and the blue really pops but all the colors are unique.  Maybe mix and match?

(Christopher Spitzmiller Plates)