WELCOME!

Picture taken 6-28-09.

Dear Readers,

When some good friends and family members suggested I start a blog, I thought they were nuts.  I continually emailed pictures and stories to them, and they said my experience could help others.  Oh, they also said that I was a gifted writer and I had a way of making serious things sound humorous…  I am glad they thought they were humorous!  I really didn’t give much thought to doing a blog at the time, but as the weather turned crappy and I can’t get outside and get my hands in the dirt, I decided to try it.  Well, then it became addictive!  I didn’t realize I had so many pictures!!!  One thing Suzanne admired about me was attention to detail, research ability, patience, and my effort to give whatever I was working on my undivided attention.  She knew when I made up my mind, it was going to happen!  Well, this blog is for you, Suzanne!

Now, doing this blog was very frustrating at first and I still haven’t worked out all the bugs.  I was not brought up with computers, so sometimes things just miraculously disappear!  So, bear with me, and if you have any suggestions, by all means tell me!

The blog is about the mansion, it’s history and the families that have lived here.  More research is being done on that, but I assure you, it will be quite fascinating.  The MANSION HISTORY page has some highlights.  It is also about the garden and all the renovation in the yard.  You will see before and after pictures that even startled me at first!  There are pages covering nearly every room.  I just wish I had taken picture’s when we first arrived in mid-December of 2008!  I think I was in to much shock to take pictures plus we had to hurry and make the mansion livable.  You will see what I am talking about in the pages ahead!

The blog is also about the plants I have in pots, in the ground, and the vegetable varieties I planted in 2009.  They all (will)  include descriptions, growing information, and my experience with them…  Not all good!  I have been a gardener since I was 8, that is 40 years (!), but that was mainly in mid-Missouri.  There were also MANY years I had no garden or plants of any kind but I continued reading books and MANY catalogs.  I did spend a year in Minnesota (zone 3), and a summer in California.  Now, I get to experience Mississippi’s zone 8, and so far I am enjoying every minute of it!  I have my wish lists ready for 2010 and plans to extend the garden, build much needed raised beds, and add MANY new varieties of vegetables, annuals, perennials, cactus and succulents, and exotics.  I want everyone to know that gardening is great therapy, providing much pleasure and and being able to enjoy the fruit of your toil.  Grow enough, and it will last till harvest the next season.  So, I hope the pages ahead will be an inspiration to those of you who are thinking about gardening.  Maybe you just don’t know where to begin…  Look at what this back yard looked like initially!  Pictures and words cannot fully describe it.  All you have to do is do it!

There are also some needed repairs to be done with the mansion plus remodeling the kitchen.  It is a cook’s nightmare!  The walls need re-painting, and just little minor details here and there throughout the mansion.  I will be adding antiques, collectibles, and more stained glass panels to the windows.  I also like crystal and Japanese collectibles…  Actually, that’s how Suzanne and I met…  READ ON!

There will be an estate auction, don’t know when yet, to sell allot of the items in the mansion.  Although some of the items you will see in the house grow on you,  there is so much.  Suzanne was a great woman, but at times she could get a little carried away.  We had plans with the mansion and she wanted me to continue with them.  That I full well intend to do.  So, in the months ahead, be prepared, as everything will be logged in this blog!

Yes, the blog has been made for everyone to see, but MAINLY it is to honor the memory of Dr. Suzanne M. Skinner.  Even though she has passed, this is her MANSION, her dream, and my pleasure to continue as though she were here like she requested me to do.  Be sure to read the page about her and you will see how this great lady was such an inspiration to me, her patients, and her many friends!

Sincerely,

Lonnie L. Miller

This page has the following sub pages.

• About