Day 41 Day off in St. Francisville, LA

How lovely to wake up today to a cocophony of bird calls! Sandra plugged in the coffee pot and I came downstairs at the 1st aroma of fresh coffee. Croissants, juice, cereal/banana made a good breakfast - and a good change from oats and eggs. :)) Sandra is going on homes tours with her St. Louis friends. I've left a request by phone for a home tour of the Butler home at 9:30 for the WT guests. . .I can't say enough about how restful and peaceful it is out here in the country. And, I'm so glad I chose not to ride yesterday, but to give myself 2 days off the bike. . . . (later) Ann Butler gave us an interesting talk this am on the history of this area of LA. Her home, the Butler-Greenwood Plantation dates back to 1796. It's a cottage style home built for lots of ventilation with floor to ceiling doors on two sides and plenty of air space underneath. All of the furniture is original to the home and it's always been occupied by the descendents of the same family. In the formal parlor is a 13 piece set with even the original fabric! Since the room was only "gently" used, she believes that contributed to its long life. She still occupies the home and sleeps in a gorgeous teester bed of her ancestors. Ginger Locke drove down from Baton Rouge and graciously took us around town (Katie, Jane, Cheryl and me). We had the buffet lunch at The Myrtle Plantation. Then, drove to the post office for the girls to mail home the books that they bought at the Butler home. Anne B. is quite an author. I want to read her life story WEEP FOR THE LIVING . . she has a beautiful old fashioned plant called Ardesia - similar to nandina but much prettier with brillant red berries. . . . We drove out to the end of Ferdinand St. to view the high water of the MS River, then around to Grandmother's Buttons which is housed in the old Commercial and Trust Bank building. There's a collection of antique buttons in the vault that was amazing - well worth driving to St. F to see if one likes buttons! Our next stop was the Visitor Information Center and museum which also was very interesting. We had thought we'd tour Rosedown Plantation but by then it was 2:30 and we all wanted a good nap! I hope Ginger was able to stay awake driving home. Since naptime, Katie, Jane and I have been doing laundry in Jane's cottage, reading and writing postcards to our grandchildren all friends. We have wine in the fridge and cheese and crackers for dinner and are considering biking to the grocery for potatoes to microwave. . . . . .Katie and I did the grocery run.. . .our dinner was complete with baked potatoes topped with chilli and sour cream. . .Ummmm. Life is so good.