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Last night the flowers on the cotton fields turned to new cotton buds! It’s definately getting to be fall here! Maybe we can stop mowing and return to a lazier type of life.

We have furnished baling over 400 round bales and moved most to the side for the winter and I use the word “we” very loosely! I just bush hogged!!

Now the place looks wonderful and makes the cooler darker morning enjoyable simple for the views! Life is good.

There is little use for long flowing sentences for this post as the wonderful plants and flowers tell their own story so well.

But a little history is useful. Built back in 1800, this 9 plus acres has not always been so well care for, the in-ground tennis court was added in the latter part of the 60′s and the wall was added by the present owners in 80′s.

The secret of the wonderful blooms is the home made compost made from the horse manure!

This is the courtyard at Two Trees stables, situated on 9 acres plus in the center of the Historic Horse District of downtown Aiken. This property will be divided over 2 weeks, this week looking at the buildings and horse paddocks and next week the Gardens.

Here, the paddocks are enclosed behind the Privacy brick wall, this surrounds the entire property. Similar to the CSB Stable, the main courtyard was designed to house the Polo Ponies of the then owners the Graces.

There are wonderful details everywhere. Along with the Stables, there are many other building including this delightful “ice cream house” amongst the paddocks.

I have always been interested in the old way of storing grain and hay. This is the beam that held the pulley to allow easier movement of heavy feed sacks. There is also the original oat press in the feed room which they used to process them.

Established in 1939 by Thomas Hitchcock and his daughter Helen Clark, over 1200 acres were place in the Hitchcock Foundation for the recreational use and enjoyment by the people of Aiken. By 1985 an additional 230 acres had been added. In 1991, between Aiken Prep’s donation and the Campaign to save the woods, the total acreage had reached almost 2000.

The woods offer visitors peace and quiet just steps from Downtown Aiken. With 7 or so different ways to enter, it is possible to walk the entire area over time. Oh course the easiest way is from horse back (there are no motorized vehicles allow). The trails and jumps are maintained with horses in mind whether it is  Fox hunters or Carriages or just pleasure horses.

This is the original barn for the Hitchcock family farm. Built in the 1800 to house their polo ponies and Driving horses, this barn is of a fairly typical of Northern style with the Cedar shingle.

Constructed totally of wood, even the floor inside the stalls are made of wood all be it, very thick planks with small drainage cracks to allow the urine to run out.

Another point of interest is the walk way which surrounds the entire barn allow for exercise even in rainy cold weather. This is something that most modern day barns no longer consider essential and do without.

As a side note, this picture shows the gorge which now lies next to the barn. Without going into the rights and wrongs of Drainage lines, this is of interest to me as  Charlie Bostwick once told me that,  as a child his Grandmother could and did jump across the then gap. As you can see, this would not be possible to do today without some sort of help!

The Pineapples are a reoccurring theme in this home, they are a traditional Hawaiian welcome symbol. This charming downtown cottage, named Carolina Cottage by is present owners was completely renovated in 2006.

This central space which serve as  corridor or Hall is typical of home built in the 1950. The same as my house this area would have held the oil burning stove which would have been the “central” heating system for the entire home. (notice the second chimney).

There is a main fireplace, where the original Mantle has been preserved.

The whole home has a distinct cottage feel, especially with the wonderful porch seen here. This home is currently on the market or available for lease.

Well it’s spring time and the grass is growing, therefore I have been mowing! Not had time to do a blog this week, been busy spending time  setting up a new website to reunite lost and found pets in Aiken county!

So if you are missing a pet or have found one,check out

www.AikenPetsReunited.org

Spring time is here! There are flowers everywhere and in this the walled garden in Aiken, it shaping up to be Fabulous.  There  are wonderful corners in the garden with climbing jasmine,

Where the Snow drops onced bloomed, Roses are growing, there is even more green, green grass and under the shade of the trees are flowering beauties.

As with anywhere in Aiken, the Azalea are in full bloom!

Enjoying Wonderful Homes and farms in Aiken sc.

Far back from the road down what almost looks like an old country lane sits this gem. Surrounded by Magnolia trees and Camellia bushes, it’s hard to remember you are in Downtown Aiken.

This is the perfect retreat for animal lovers, cats are free to roam without worry of traffic and dogs will sit for hours watching the squirrels clamber from tree to tree.

This home was built in the 1940′s when brick as commonly used for cottages and when some-one with a great eye wanted bay windows. The interior is small but functional with a great “main” entertaining room with wonderful fireplace and a more intermit dining room for long leisurely meals.

The Back and side gardens are wonderfully wooded, perfect for bird watching. The whole place has a country feel to it, just what you need in the middle of  Downtown Aiken.

Enjoying Wonderful Homes and farms in Aiken sc.

The garden was well on it’s way to restoration, the plan was to finish the interior in about 8 weeks! Never try and finish thing in a hurry, there will always be something that slows you up or down and put you off your timetable.

The before and after pictures do not give any sense of the time and effort it took the workers to change this home from “wouldn’t let my dog live in there” to a great place to live!

Oh the Kitchen!!!! Not sure if the colour scheme was to keep the pests out or hide the stains but it was a case of ripping everything out and staring from the studs!  This gave me a chance to alter the floor plan and by removing the island cabinets created much more space! We were able to repair the floor and with a little fore-thought, plan where all the hook-ups needed to go. We added water line for the fridge….I still don’t have an ice maker but if I ever get one I can just plug it in!

We also had (By we, I mean the Wonderful Contractor who did all of this!)the bright idea to remove the old Chimney stack from the oil burning heating system and turn that space into the Laundry area. The most fun was the bathroom! Who says you have to have the right type of end pieces on the tile? Why not have half  wallpaper and paint, and where does it say you have to have a door on the airing cupboard?

Yes it was fun, and yes I have done it again but this time I wasn’t going to live in the finished house ,so it was a lot easier and a lot less time consuming! Next time I think I would like to start from the very beginning and find some land and built the whole house from the pad up..but that would take a lot more money, time and effort. So maybe next year…………..

Enjoying Wonderful Homes and farms in Aiken sc.

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