Bass House 2

These are additional l photos from the Bass House in Leeds, Alabama.

This is one of the better pictures of the parlor.

Native American Artifacts
These are arrowheads found on the Bass property and other places.
A plaque to Marie West Cromer, a white woman who was a positive activist for Native Americans.
The "chungke" stone was an oval stone similar to a discus that Native Americans used along with a spear in the game of chungke. The sporting events were played all day and in all types of weather. The stone was kept in a safe place and passed from generation to generation until it was completely worn out. This stone was found on the Bass property.
AROUND THE HOUSE

Not sure but, I think this is called a rim lock. It would use a skeleton key to open. To lock or unlock it from the inside the person wouls flip the latch that you see on top.

North Electric Telephone

This fixture illuminated the table inthe kitchen.

Coffee grinder. Place the beans in the top. Grind them by turning the handle. Open the drawer and remove the ground beans for coffee.

Reproduction wash board. Used for scrubbing clothes to get them clean.

Brown jug, atop a whirlpool refrigerator. The ceramic jug was probably used to store milk and lower into a spring to keep it cool. NOTE: The Bass House has incorporated the old and new in its kitchen. The kitchen appears to be a functional one.

Notice the white flour sifter on the lower left of the cupboard? It is attached to the cabinet. A large bag of flour(probably in a cotton flour sack) was placed inside the cabinet with the sack tucked down into the cylinder of the sifter and used as needed. That way the flour is stored and there's no need to lift a heavy bag of flour each time it is needed. The closest I could find to something that looks like this was a Hoosier cabinet.
Pie safe

Not sure what this copper container is but it appears it has held water judging from the patina inside.

ice box

??Where does the large block of ice go??

Outside The Bass House

This is a well that has been covered up. The family would hang a bucket from the pulley above and hoist up the water. I'm sure it has been nailed shut to avoid any inquisitive souls from opening it and falling to their imminent death down a deeeeep, dark, hole. The well was located right outside of the kitchen attached to the house. That's convenient.

A barn or shed of some type located at the back end of the property.

Back of the Bass House .

ARCHIVES ROOM

  Former basketball player Charles Barkley hails from Leeds, Alabama.
Heroic Veterans of Leeds, Alabama

This was a good day trip for me. While I have quite a few photos here, there was so much more I didn't photograph.

I am impressed with the way the museum encompasses the history of all of the people of Leeds. The museum shows the diversity of the history of Leeds, Alabama.

Museum guides are volunteers and admission is free.

Street Address: 1129 Montevallo RoadLeeds, AL 35094

Hours of Operation: The Jonathan Bass House Museum is open to visitors on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Sundays from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Group tours are available by appointment and can be arranged by calling 205.699.2721.

The museum is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Years Day.
THAT'S IT***

Bass House Part 1

I’d seen an article in the paper regarding a display of Barbie Dolls at the Bass House in
Leeds, Alabama. According to the article, the collector has over 400 Barbie’s along with a few Ken’s and others from Barbie’s entourage. The entire collection was not displayed just a few from the collection.

I’d never heard of the Bass House Museum let alone Jonathan Bass. From what I could find out, Jonathan Bass and his family were lifelong residents of Leeds, Alabama. The house was built by his father and was still under construction in 1863 while Jonathan was away serving in the Confederate Army. Two rooms were finished after Jonathan returned in 1865. The home stayed in the family for over one hundred years.

Other articles I found expressed the uniqueness of the architecture for a house during this period of time.


I think this may be the lady's parlor since there are elbow length gloves draped over the sofa arm.

Another parlor.

I was impressed with the stencil painted ceiling.

Now on to the Barbie's

It was difficult to decide which way to photograph the display. They were all inisde a glass display case. Some were standing, some were flat so I just went in at different angles. The museum guides who are all volunteers admitted that she was unsure as to how to display the dolls.

This is one of the earliest Ken dolls. He has felt hair (which reminded me of how Steve Harvey wore his when he had his sitcom). The zipper on his pants is less than an inch long and it works. Though Ken's maroon cummerbund is a little low I can overlook it considering he's been around for over 40 years.

These are additional Barbie and Ken dolls in various themes.

The Bass House Museum is a menagerie of themes. Other rooms displayed Native American arrowheads, war heroes and sports figures from Leeds. I'll show those pictures in my next post.
THAT'S IT for now***

Things That Work My Nerves

 1. Christmas. Too commercial. Too expensive. Stressful. People who haven't been nice all year get all chummy. Too fake. I'm usually glad when it's over.

 2. Drivers who tailgate . There's hardly any traffic and plenty of space for them to go around me if I'm going too slow.

 3. People with missing teeth who insist on talking with food in their mouths. WARNING: Cover yourself because the food is going to fly in all directions.

 4. People who get into an elevator before the occupants can get out.

4. People who forward chain e-mails. Among these:

*Free O'Charley's dessert. and in tiny print I have to buy a dinner first.

*Forward an e-mail to help breast cancer. How is this helping fight breast cancer?

*Get a free laptop or a free I-Pod. All you really want is my e-mail address so that you can clog it with spam.

*Make $2000 a week if you forward this e-mail. How is this possible???????

* Forward an e-mail about a missing child who really doesn't exist. How can forwarding an e-mail help find her? I saw this same e-mail four years ago.

* Look underneath my car for thugs who may carjack me. That's got to be a mighty thin criminal to fit underneath my car.

**Don't take flyers off of my windshield because a criminal is hiding behind my car waiting to attack me. For more >>>>>ridiculous chain e-mails .

5. People who forward e-mail with every body's name on it. Great way for my computer to get a virus and more spam than I can imagine. Not to mention people who have my e-mail address that I don't want to have my e-mail address.

6. The constant beep of someone texting in a tranquil setting: Doctor's office, library, funeral, spa.

7. People who look me up and down to see if I am wearing what they consider fashionable or designer

8. Stuck at a table with people I don't know who ask me my name first and then, "What kind of work do you do?" Translation: Do you measure up to our standards? Are you worthy to share the air we breathe?

You already know how I feel about cell phones. This past weekend I saw a toddler run out into the street at a shopping outlet. Had it not been for two older ladies dashing out to retrieve the child, he might have been hit by a car.

His guardian had her back turned talking on her cell phone. When she heard the commotion, she turned around and screamed a frantic, "Niko!"

I think I would have dropped my phone overcome by the thoughts of what could have happened. She didn't!

The child began to cry as another man who was with them began to try to calm the child by saying, "Stop crying, your mama just went to the restroom.". This child had been entrusted to this irresponsible woman. She never let go of her phone. It was as if it had been riveted to her hand.

Bad cell phone etiquette in general!!!!!

What works your nerve(s)?

THAT'S IT***

The Color Purple-continued

When JF and I planned this outing we decided that we would surprise the ladies at the end by giving each one a gift bag. I was able to get a grand deal on these plastic bags because the store that was selling them was going out of business. One of the customers in line who had us all in stitches about her mother was kind enough to allow me to purchase the last pack of the Jesus and Oprah napkins. In case you can't read it , it says, "I don't need a shrink. I've got Jesus and Oprah."
I just had to have them. They were purple to go along with our theme. When I asked her to pass me a pack, she told me the one she had was the last one and she insisted that I take it and pay-it-forward. We put a split of wine (with the label, Harpo's Juke Joint Juice) in each person's bag.

They also got a plastic glass to pour it in. There were cheese and crackers, biscotti,candy and some other things.

I just happened to have seen the African Rooibos Red tea at

Publix and thought it would be great as Nettie's African Missionary Tea . I happened to have had the religious charms and ribbon at home that I'd used on a previous project. So I tied it around the top of the tea bag.

JF worked very hard on this project, getting the limo and reserving the meeting place. With her experience and expertise it was a success. The ladies have already asked us to plan another outing.***

Here's a picture of the Playbill. I usually save these and look back on them when I want to remember something I enjoyed. When I finally make my Comfort Box the Playbills along with ticket stubs will be inside. I read a book many years ago titled, The Woman's Comfort Book. I found it to be very helpful in suggesting ways to self-nurture. One of the suggestions was to make a comfort box. Use a shoe box, detergent box or whatever you chose. Decorate it any way you want. Inside place things that make you happy or remind you of a pleasant event. You don't place it all at one time. Place items as you go along in life. There may be ticket stubs, love letters, a favorite handkerchief. It can be anything that will arouse good feelings when you need to be nurtured. While this may sound juvenile most often it is when we are young children that we are less judgmental. Revisiting that time of less stress and perils of the world should allow a time to decompress.

We met up at 6:30 at the night spot STEEL.

As you can see it was still daylight because we had not reverted to Central time.

BTW why do we have daylight savings time? What are we saving? Are there dividends, interest?

Photos weren't allowed during the musical so I got only this opening shot of scenery. There was a packed house on opening night. The atmosphere was electric. The sound, scenery, timing and everything was spectacular. Fantasia did not perform. Kenita R. Miller did not disappoint in her portrayal of Celie. She had a strong voice. The entire cast was superb. The orchestra was outstanding. The production was brilliant.

SPOILER: At the end of the play a cast member came out and asked the audience for a few more minutes of their time. She told of how they have been collecting money at each venue they perform and how this money goes toward the rebuilding of homes in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. We were asked to give checks or cash to the cast members who'd be stationed at all exits. To me this was tacky. Tickets sales should have provided a portion to the Katrina effort. I saw many people placing cash and checks in the open receptacles that looked like large salad bowls held by the cast members. I did not give. Somehow I don't think all of that money makes it to the Katrina project. What's to keep a dishonest person from taking all of the cash and pocketing it. It reminded me too much of solicitors who stand in the median of a street with those red Wilson chitterlings buckets begging for money for their church or youth group. Come to think of it the collection bowls they were using were red. Crude.

****

Here's a pic of the bar in the limo.

Entering the limo was a special feat. Our driver had a step stool for us. The ladies were all shapes and sizes. Gentleman that he was he assisted each and everyone of us inside. This was a stretch limo so we had to step and fold ourselves into unnatural positions to fit ourselves in. I for one threw my purse inside first then heaved my body in. After getting inside I slid down the seat so that the next person could haul herself in.

I'm sure this limo driver has never had this many butts turned up in his face.
Sipping champagne in the limo helped us to lose some of our "up tightness"(Is that a word?)

Here are some of the ladies waiting their turn to crawl into the limo. I have distorted their faces because I didn't ask for their permission to post their pictures. Besides, you never know, someone could be in witness protection or may plan to run for public office. Of course, the way things are politically here in the 'Ham, that probably doesn't matter. More champagne anyone?

THAT'S IT***