Old, new, and questions.....

View of north porch with newel post

When we first saw the Benjamin House, a green wooden fence that matched this newel post separated the drive from the backyard.  The railing that attached to the green post was a green 2 x 6 that my wife's hand could not easily grip.  We looked for a railing system that would support our aging knees and diminishing balance, but the answer was elusive!  Different people measured and made suggestions, but none seemed to want the project.  Finally, after three years of talk a company from Quincy agreed to build the handrails when business slowed in the winter.  The Spring of 2015 brought more than just pretty flowers!  The matching rails  now adorn the front, south, and north porches.  This should help our visitors of all ages from the young trick or treat goblins to the long time admirers of Shelbina history.  The north porch is a masonry construction that the Crist family installed and Bob often lamented that he should have redone all the porches this way before the home was placed on the National Historic Register.  It is a lot less maintenance.  We now need to strip and paint the wooden porches, but the handrails conform to Registry guidelines.

We, and Shelby County Historian Kathleen Wilhelm, have not found a photo of the north porch from before 1960.  The Todd boys (Mike & Butch) gave us some insight of a porch that used to connect to the west wall of the mansion.  It too is long gone.

Another Great Visit (with more history)

With the blooms of Spring, we had another wonderful visit with the Crist family.  This visit included Heidi Crist Templeman and her family.  Husband Scott is really nice and the two grown children (Callie & Brooks) would make any parent proud.  Sister Robin is always a joy to see and their father/grandfather, Bob, is a great role model as he climbed stairs at age 90 and provided good humor to the day.  Betty Lou Crist is always present with us at Shelbina's Mansion.  We always enjoy stories from the Crist family.  Can you imagine the thoughts of Callie and Brooks as they toured the home where their mother grew up.  You don't see this style in Kirksville!

Scott, Brooks, Bob, Callie, and of course Heidi!

It was a beautiful day, so we got Bob to pose with his daughters outside too!

I QUIT!

My back hurts.  I want to fish more.  Of course I change my mind the next morning and realize how meaningful it is to preserve the old mansion.

Heidi is coming, Heidi is coming!

It is always nice to visit with Bob and Betty Lou Crist.  Through all our conversations, there are events and people discussed.  One of the children, the baby (Heidi), often comes into the conversation.  We have met her sisters (Robin and Camilla), but must use our imagination to visualize Heidi.  After a recent visit with Bob and Betty Lou, we received an email that Heidi and her two children were planning a visit to Shelbina with hopes of visiting the mansion in which she grew up.  It will be so exciting to hear her perceptions of "Growing up Benjamin".  Heidi went from being lowest on the pecking order of 5 children, to having the house to herself!  It is always exciting to meet someone who lived in the Benjamin House, but this is going to be special as her sisters plan to join in the homecoming!  I am sure the energy and memories will be flowing.  Heidi plans to bring her children to share the day.

Kitchen blues!

Ideas are a blessing, but they sometimes look better in your mind's eye than real life.  The kitchen has been a long time coming, but

there is progress.  The latest work on the walls has me a bit doubtful as to the results.  The kitchen of 1873 was a place where the servants worked rather than a "hangout" as we know them today.  With this in mind, our restoration has a more simple taste as a goal.  Rather than the smooth walls and coloration of the main part of the house, we have tried to project a more humble surrounding.  The walls needed repair, but we chose to keep the finish a bit rough.  Sounds good, but after a lifetime of smooth sheetrock walls, it takes a bit of time to accept the result.  It also takes more work than you might imagine to achieve a textured finish.

Also, working with "white" is not easy when judging how much "texture" has been achieved.

I am certain that some people will enjoy the kitchen walls, while others will lift their nose and sniff.  I understand, because Marilyn and I have mixed emotions about the results.  It has grown on me and I hope that you can appreciate something different than you have ever seen.

More than just a building!

The mansion and furnishings catch a person's eye and curiosity, but there is a lot more.  The people that come in contact with the house seem to be special.  This  past week we had another Spring snow.  While having breakfast, I looked out the window at the bright white surface that coated everything and muffled sounds from traffic.  Eating breakfast toast with honey reminded me of where the honey originated.  Clayton Armstrong and his wife gave it to us from their harvest.  Clayton, a bee keeper among many things, is a really interesting fellow and has helped us learn about the bees that have long inhabited the mansion.  He and his family are the subject of another blog on catching bees!  Later that morning, Marilyn and I traveled to Shelbina to do a bit of work.  Can you imagine our surprise when we found the snow removed from our driveway.  Buddy Ratliff  is the culprit and does so many things to help people.  Memories and people are such an  important part of the home we call Shelbina Mansion.

Halloween 2014

Each year we look forward to seeing everyone (and eating a lot of candy).  Our friends, Dan & Rose Fitzhugh, help us have a good time each year and others join us when they can.  Rose & Dan have done so much for Shelbina's Mansion and this year was no exception.  They provided the pumpkins, delicious food, and some of their family to share the festivities.

Rose & Family

 As sometimes happens, my camera started to fail and we missed getting photos of so many of our great visitors.  Hope they return next year to give me another try!

Just the beginning!

Friends from High School

The Benjamin Mansion has had a long history of "SPIRITS", but few  people realize that the spirits only visit once a year!

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