Sky Watch Friday

December sunset. For other skyward views, please visit Sky Watch Friday, and click on one of the many links from around the world.

From Our Home to Yours, Merry Christmas

Tuscaloosa Christmas Tree

Merry Christmas from Tuscaloosa! This is the tree outside the courthouse. The lighting ceremony kicks off the Christmas parade and the season.

Santa 911

Poor Santa ate one too many Christmas cookies and got stuck in this chimney. Firefighters to the rescue! This cute Christmas display is on the roof of Station 1 every year. This building is for sale now because Station 1 is moving to its new building soon. Wonder how they'll get the chimney on that new roof?

Tiny Tinsel Tree

This tiny tinsel tree with Santa and the Elves came from Woolco. When my husband was little he begged for and it was in his bedroom every Christmas. When we married over 20 years ago, his mom gave it to us. Alas, the lights no longer work, but it's still plenty sparkly!

Foggy Night

We've had the strangest weather this past week -lots of fog, almost every day all day and night.
It gets old after a few days. It's just SO gray. Not very festive, except when it makes the street lights all glowy.

Sky Watch Friday

Moon over Christmas Shopping.
For more skyward views from around the world, check out Sky Watch Friday.

Balcony Windows

Stairs

Stairs in the main hall of the Jemison Mansion (sorry about the blur, wrong setting on camera...)

Stairs leading to the cupola/widow's walk. These were closed off due to the ongoing renovation.

Christmas at the Jemison Mansion

Christmas tree in one of the front parlors. Look at the size of the molding/framing around the window!

Click to enlarge to see the details around the fireplace, the mantle decorations, the mirror and the reflected original gas lamp chandelier. (oh, and the food looks nice too!)

Jemison Mansion 2

This is a closer shot of the Jemison Van De Graff Mansion in Tuscaloosa. Here's the view from across the street. Last Sunday was Christmas Open House. Notice the grates under the porch. The family moved their bedrooms to the basement during the summer. These grates were part of the "air conditioning." They also had a "refrigerator" - a deep dry well in the basement to keep food cool.

The Friedman Bedroom

When Croxton's Raiders came through to burn the University of Alabama at the end of the war of Northern Aggression (yes, we were already defeated) the Battle home was spared. By that time, there were over 25 family members living in the house and they were all starving together. The family, like the south, lost their fortune and their home. In 1875, Hungarian immigrants, the Friedman family bought the house. Victor Hugo Friedman was born that year in this room. He lived all of his ninety years in this house and died in the same room. He left the house to the City of Tuscaloosa to be used and enjoyed. He asked that people be allowed to touch the furnishings and only asked that no "hard liquor" be brought into the home.

The City used the land behind the house to build the YMCA. He also acquired the Jemison home and donated it to be used as the public library.

More on the Jemison home tomorrow.

SkyWatch Friday

Mistletoe against a blue sky

Happy Friday everyone!

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The Battle Bedroom

This is the Battle bedroom in the Battle Friedman home in Tuscaloosa. The Battles were the original owners. The furniture in this room is theirs. The bed is hinged so that it in the summer, it could be pulled to the middle of the room and the headboard and footboard removed. They did that so that the breeze could blow through the room from the windows. If you've ever been in Alabama in the summer, you know why. It's miserably hot, even at night.

Christmas Performance

At the historic Battle Friedman Home Christmas Open House, this Tuscaloosa Belle was playing Christmas carols on her violin. There were also Belles dressed in period clothes to greet guests at the door. Look at the size of the square column behind her. There were four in all flanking each side of two parlors. The house was originally built in 1835 and was only four rooms, these two parlors and two bedrooms above each. It was the townhome for the Battle family whose plantation covered parts of three counties. The family stayed there during the social season.

Inside the Battle Friedman Home

Christmas tree in one of the front parlors. I missed pics of the other parlor because it was FULL of people. I hope to go back before the holidays are over to get better pictures, and just to hang out and enjoy. One of the best things about this home is that the last owner, Dr. Victor Hugo Friedman, left strict instructions that the home was to be used and enjoyed, not treated as a museum. So you can sit on the furniture and touch the books and the piano!

(CDP purists, pretend you don't see these additional photos)



Ceiling medallion in the same room. The fixtures were, of course, originally gas burning.

Pianoforte
...and I'm saving the best pic of this room for tomorrow, stay tuned.

Christmas, Southern Style

Yesterday was Christmas Open House at two of Tuscaloosa's historic homes. It was my kind of day! This week, I'll be sharing photos from inside both. This is the front of the Battle-Friedman home. Click to enlarge so you can see the plaster painted to look like rose marble! If you're ever in town, be sure to visit this lovely landmark. The home has an interesting history that you'll only hear from the sweet historic preservation society ladies who will give you the tour!

Remember Pearl Harbor

This sweet little pin belonged to my husband's grandmother.
"Remember Pearl Harbor" was the battle cry on the lips of most Americans during World War II. Today we remember the lives lost in the Japanese attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, December 7, 1941.

Coleman Coliseum

Coleman Coliseum is the home venue for the University of Alabama's basketball, gymnastics, and volleyball teams. This is part of the front view. The building is huge and seats over 15,000. It opened in 1968 as Memorial Coliseum, but had a name change in 1988. When I was in college, it's where we went for registration and schedule pickup. Now, of course, all that is done online.
Coleman is used for commencement ceremonies and other large gatherings, including concerts. "Superstars who have performed on its stages include Elvis Presley, Tom Petty, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Reba McIntyre, Jay Leno and Hank Williams, Jr. "

The Jemison Van De Graff Mansion

Please click to enlarge so you can really see this beautiful old home. It's the Jemison-Van de Graff Mansion and it's a Tuscaloosa landmark. When I was little, it was the public library. Now, the Tuscaloosa Visitors Bureau houses the basement, the main floor is rented out for functions, and the top floor is rented by a couple of businesses.

Visitor

If you look closely between the diagonal slats in this bench and the grid of the window screen, you can see a neighbor's cat making himself at home on my back porch! If our cat had known, it would have been an ugly scene.