I have always wanted a banquet sized dining room table. Why? Just because I have a big dining room and I like the thought of everybody sitting down together. I have looked long and hard for one. It has been a ten year search. I let one get away 10 years ago in Selma. It was exactly what I wanted, price and all, but I let it get away. I had even looked into having one made, but never worked out the details. We have a local furniture craftsman, Kenton Brasell, who has made some beautiful things. He said he would make me one, but it just never got off the ground.
My friend Cindy and I will every so often make a pilgrimage to Tucker’s Treasures at the end of the road off Highway 69 between Nanafalia and Myrtlewood. Juanita has several large outbuildings filled with furniture, pictures, rugs and china/glassware. She’s not as reasonable as she used to be 20 years ago when we started visiting her, but that is to be expected. I bought my dining rooms chairs there years ago for $25 apiece. They were nice and sturdy, but were that god-awful stop sign yellow of the 1960s. They were a good brand, but a despicable color. They were tall with cane inset backs. I painted the dining room coffered ceiling a soft green. I had enough paint left to do the chairs. Being green calmed them down a lot. I bought my bed there as well as may other items. I still go to look whether I need anything or not. What would be the point of shopping if you only bought? We’d call it buying instead and all the fun of looking would be gone.
Cindy has purchased a lot of her household furniture there, too. We check in periodically just to see what we have missed since last time. Tucker’s prices really are very reasonable, so she has a lot of turnover. This table had been there for a while because it was so big. It had three leaves. I wanted more. It was 20 inches wide and will let out to 14 feet long. I am having Kenton, the master craftsman make me three more leaves. The table is solid mahogany. It took 4 people (without the leaves) to get it up my front steps. It is heavy. You can seat two people at either end. With all the leaves in you can seat 12-14 easily. Right now I have three leaves in. Kenton has to go to Mobile to find the rest of the solid mahogany that he needed for the other leaves. There are certain things that you just can’t find on hand in rural Southwest Alabama and solid mahogany boards are one of them. I’m just lucky Mobile is only 100 miles away and they can be found there.
One of my favorite things is doing tablescapes for each season. I have included a picture of the Halloween table. I’ll have to have a dinner party soon because I want to use my new table. Would you like to come? I’ll let you know when it is. I may decide to have a witch party like the women in Selma do. They started out with 13 women and it grew to a large number. They dress up so that they don’t even recognize each other. I went to a shop in Selma called TuTu’s that sells fancily decorate witches hats for the occasion. The store had a whole variety of life sized scary figures and all sorts of decorations for Halloween. If you happen to be in Selma this month go by to see their interesting array. There is a billboard just coming into Selma on Hwy 22 that tells you how to get there. It is worth a visit. I can’t wait to see their Christmas things. I would rate it as a tourist attraction in itself.
The big attraction in Selma at the moment is the citywide display of beautiful butterflies handpainted by local artists. For a full description, go to the Dallas County portion of this website for a look. Local writer Janet Gresham was kind enough to share her blogs about the butterflies with us.
Between Tucker’s Treasures, dinner on Saturday night at Mama Nems Bistro in Thomaston and a night at the historic St James Hotel in Selma with a Sunday morning stroll to see the butterflies, you can have a nice weekend in rural Southwest Alabama. Come on down!
My friend Cindy and I will every so often make a pilgrimage to Tucker’s Treasures at the end of the road off Highway 69 between Nanafalia and Myrtlewood. Juanita has several large outbuildings filled with furniture, pictures, rugs and china/glassware. She’s not as reasonable as she used to be 20 years ago when we started visiting her, but that is to be expected. I bought my dining rooms chairs there years ago for $25 apiece. They were nice and sturdy, but were that god-awful stop sign yellow of the 1960s. They were a good brand, but a despicable color. They were tall with cane inset backs. I painted the dining room coffered ceiling a soft green. I had enough paint left to do the chairs. Being green calmed them down a lot. I bought my bed there as well as may other items. I still go to look whether I need anything or not. What would be the point of shopping if you only bought? We’d call it buying instead and all the fun of looking would be gone.
Cindy has purchased a lot of her household furniture there, too. We check in periodically just to see what we have missed since last time. Tucker’s prices really are very reasonable, so she has a lot of turnover. This table had been there for a while because it was so big. It had three leaves. I wanted more. It was 20 inches wide and will let out to 14 feet long. I am having Kenton, the master craftsman make me three more leaves. The table is solid mahogany. It took 4 people (without the leaves) to get it up my front steps. It is heavy. You can seat two people at either end. With all the leaves in you can seat 12-14 easily. Right now I have three leaves in. Kenton has to go to Mobile to find the rest of the solid mahogany that he needed for the other leaves. There are certain things that you just can’t find on hand in rural Southwest Alabama and solid mahogany boards are one of them. I’m just lucky Mobile is only 100 miles away and they can be found there.
One of my favorite things is doing tablescapes for each season. I have included a picture of the Halloween table. I’ll have to have a dinner party soon because I want to use my new table. Would you like to come? I’ll let you know when it is. I may decide to have a witch party like the women in Selma do. They started out with 13 women and it grew to a large number. They dress up so that they don’t even recognize each other. I went to a shop in Selma called TuTu’s that sells fancily decorate witches hats for the occasion. The store had a whole variety of life sized scary figures and all sorts of decorations for Halloween. If you happen to be in Selma this month go by to see their interesting array. There is a billboard just coming into Selma on Hwy 22 that tells you how to get there. It is worth a visit. I can’t wait to see their Christmas things. I would rate it as a tourist attraction in itself.
The big attraction in Selma at the moment is the citywide display of beautiful butterflies handpainted by local artists. For a full description, go to the Dallas County portion of this website for a look. Local writer Janet Gresham was kind enough to share her blogs about the butterflies with us.
Between Tucker’s Treasures, dinner on Saturday night at Mama Nems Bistro in Thomaston and a night at the historic St James Hotel in Selma with a Sunday morning stroll to see the butterflies, you can have a nice weekend in rural Southwest Alabama. Come on down!
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