History Chase..Here I Go Again!

Sea BreezesAshantilly To Be Recognized in New Historical Marker October 25
The Georgia Historical Society (GHS) along with The Lower Altamaha Historical Society will unveil a new historical marker to recognize Ashantilly plantation. The dedication will be held on the grounds of Ashantilly, Highway 99, north of Darien, Georgia on October 25, 2009, at 3:00 p.m.

From one of colonial Georgia's most prominent families, Thomas Spalding was an influential planter who helped develop the plantation economy of the low country as an advocate for modern agricultural ideas including crop rotation and diversifying the crop varieties beyond the standard rice, indigo, and cotton. The Ashantilly property was inherited from his mother, Margery McIntosh Spalding. Although possessing a large estate on Sapelo Island, Spalding built the Ashantilly house as an inland domicile for his family. Accounts of the structure suggest it was classically designed; the building consisted of a central, two story structure and flanking wings. Like Spalding's homes on Sapelo, Ashantilly was constructed of tabby, a concrete like material derived from oyster shells, found in abundance in tidewater Georgia. The Spalding family sold the property in 1870 to William A. Wilcox, founder of the Ashantilly Press.

The marker text reads as follows:

Ashantilly

Built ca. 1820, Ashantilly was the mainland residence of prominent antebellum planter Thomas Spalding (1774-1851), owner of the nearby Sapelo Island plantation. The house, likely built by Spalding's slaves, was constructed of tabby, an equal mix of oyster shell, sand, water and lime. Ashantilly was named for Spalding's ancestral home in County Perth, Scotland. He died at Ashantilly and is interred in the family burial ground adjacent to the property. William G. Haynes, Jr. (1908-2001), proprietor of the Ashantilly Press, was the last private owner of Ashantilly. In 1993 the Haynes family donated the property to the Ashantilly Center, Inc.

Erected by the Georgia Historical Society and The Lower Altamaha Historical Society....borrowed from the GHS website

Here I go again...running after local Georgia history. I am going to tour Ashantilly this afternoon. Ashantilly is the summer mansion of Thomas Spalding, the builder of Reynolds Mansion over on my beloved Sapelo Island where my friends and I stay each summer. All of the above information will get you caught up, until I come home and share my pictures and tell you more. One of the best parts about living on the Georgia Coast is the never ending living history that is all around us. Ashantilly is maybe 10 minutes from my home, drive time. Folks in coastal Georgia are intense about preserving their history. I am intense about soaking it in. I have had the rare opportunity to speak to folks over on Sapelo Island whose great great grandparents were slaves. Oh my, and off I go again. We are the product of those who came before us in this sacred and lovely place.....the sweat and blood and sacrifice of the slave labor that developed the area I call home is important for me to understand. I equate it with the sweat and blood and sacrifice of my Lord who developed the area I will someday call home. These are my thoughts on this lovely October day in Darien Ga. Will write more later, I am off to Ashantilly....

There They Go!

Sea BreezesWe had a whirlwind grand baby weekend. After coming home from work, the Tennessee babies and parents drove up, camper and van and all. We were sooo glad to see them. They have grown over the summer. Henley is adorable in her glasses, Lander is more boy than ever, and baby Paisley is cute as a little bit bigger button. We enjoyed hugs, kisses, an easy dinner, frog playing, story telling and night night time. Saturday morning brought early risers. Talks of Disney World, a great Pop breakfast, a little early morning TV and more toad catching, brought the rest of the crew. Katie and gang arrived mid-morning, and we were off in the sunny morning to visit Holfwell-Broadfield Plantation, about a ten minute drive from our home. It is an old coastal rice plantation, and a state park. We had fun touring the old buildings and had a yummy picnic under a live oak tree. Back to our home for baby naps and hanging out. Evening brought us going to dinner at B&J's-a local seafood, any kind of food place. All of us ate well. All twelve of us. It is hard to believe we have 12 folks in our family. God has blessed us with ten children. Enjoy a picture of our grand babies. Have a great time in Disneyworld, Sartin gang. Have a great week Olliff crew! We love you all.

Here they come......

Sea BreezesReady, set, here goes, here come the grand babies, all FIVE (5)...Blake and gang are coming tomorrow evening, on their way to Disney World to go camping. We are so excited. Katie and her babies are coming for the day on Saturday, so chaos will be transpiring. How I look forward to these hours with all these children I love who aren't our children, but the children of our children. Scripture mentions seeing your children's children. What a blessing. We are so blessed. They add so much joy to our lives, these children of our children. I am so glad we had children. They are blessings and gave us grandchildren to be further blessed. Thank you Lord for these blessings that come in little boy and little girl packages. Please give us the energy and good health to continue to enjoy and love them. Amen.

Tobias Waldemar Sartin 1994-2009

Sea BreezesTobias "Toby" Waldemar Sartin passed away quietly in his backyard under a pine tree on September 25, 2009 in McIntosh County, Georgia. His best buddy, Trooper was by his side. Toby was 15 years old. He was born January 21, 1994, in Memphis, Tennessee, puppy of sire Eileens Garth Man and dam Arts Little Reba. He was the largest red long haired dachshund in his litter. Toby was registered with the American Kennel Club on January 13, 1995. His funeral service was held Saturday, September 26 in his backyard. After the burial, Trooper slept by the grave for a long while, tears rolling down his old eyes. This writer did not know dogs wept.
As a puppy, Toby spent his first four years in Dyersburg, Tennessee. He received his early education at dog obedience classes in Dyersburg. He took the class twice; the second time he won a fourth place trophy in the class.He always liked the trophy displayed low, so he could admire it. Toby was known for his love of himself, his toys, and sitting pretty and mooching. He hated cats and other dogs. He never bit a stranger. He only bit his own family. He also loved to sleep and burrow into beds. He never really cared much for house breaking. He loved the beach, walking and riding in the basket on the bike. He liked eating anything off the floor. He licked dishwashers and loved full garbage cans. One time he fell into the upright kitchen garbage can with his tail hanging out, still eating the stale food at the bottom. He loved water and baths.He loved his chew bones, but never really enjoyed them as he carried them around the house trying to hide them, so no one else would get them. He trusted no one or no thing. Toby was gay. We called him Sweet Boy. He and Trooper were known in the family as "The Boys". Toby was blessed many times at the annual "Blessing of the Pets" on St. Francis of Assi Day at many Episcopal churches, his family attended over the years, but he continued his nasty lifestyle of biting and poop eating. Toby moved to St. Simons Island when he was three and lived on the island until he was 12. He took to island life immediately. He loved the sea breeze blowing his red fur and was a common site walking the St. Simons beach sporting his orange and white Tennessee cap. He was known in the community as Island Dachsund. He hated every dog he met. He loved to be in the yard with Pillus, and he loved running off. When he was four, his family adopted mutt Trooper and the boys became constant companions. Besides Trooper, Toby leaves his grieving mistress, Phyllis, Pillus, as he called her and her husband Harold and boy Patrick, and girl Katie and boy Blake who all loved and hated him in their own ways and also their spousea and children, whom he tolerated. He also leaves many other friends from years past who loved him.Toby was handsome until the end. He was still red, slim hipped and could go up and down the stairs. He stilled howled in the night and kept everyone up. He still drew blood at the vet, the vet's blood. on every trip. Oh, he hated vets too. To his Pillus, he was loyal and loved. She loved his tenacity, his vibrancy, his stubborness and his playfulness. She will miss her sidekick who even sensed her mood by her very change in breath. He loved her with his very heart and soul, even though he bit her just two days prior. They walked many a mile together on road and beach. Tob could still do a couple of miles up until age 14. The last walk together, Pillus carried old Sweet Boy and wept the entire walk. How do you say goodbye to a friend, a love? Not goodbye, old friend, just until we meet again in the road and beach that has no end, only, rainbows and sweet sea breezes. I love you Toby. Rest in God's Sweet Peace.

The Power of One Picture

Sea Breezes Amazing, the power of a picture. I just sat looking at the above picture, and here comes this blog. Last weekend Katie and her gang came to visit. After they left, we collapsed from fatigue. That girl does that to me. She always has. She was born running and has never stopped. Her go go go is one of the things I love best about her. So this post is for you, Katie. You are beautiful. I think every mother secretly hopes to have at least one daughter. I only got one and also two beautiful boys. But as I said, this post is about Katie. A daughter is special to a mother because, after all, we mothers are daughters ourselves.We had a chance to make it better, or so we hoped. We swore our relationship with our own daughter would not have the conflicts we had with our own moms. And so we tried. But alas, the conflicts came, but so did the joys and the sorrows and the decisions. One day, my little girl became a young woman, a high school graduate, a college graduate and a fiance, and a wife, and a mother and heck, I had to sit down and rethink the whole mother daughter thing all over again. She is having way too much fun being a mother. Did I have that much fun mothering her? As I look back, she was a handful. She was such a bright kid, diligent in her studies and overachieving on everything she did. She was popular, a top swimmer, and lovely dancer. She was a cheerleader and HOMECOMING QUEEN. She was a leader and nominated to every committee for community service and church activities she could be. And to boot, she had great hair and a fabulous shape. Where did this kid come from? She really was the perfect child in every way. Oh yes, we had our battles. She was the spiciest kid in our home, full of attitude and drama. We used to say we felt her breeze go by. One Saturday morning she came in complaining of boredom, and she had already done three activities. She has always had an uncanny decorating and style sense. She has compassion for people and animals. She has been on mission trips to Europe. One not so long ago morning, she called me from Poland, afraid to go into the concentration camp. "Should I, Mom?" she asked. "Go", I advised. "You may never get another chance." She called the next day, glad she took my advice and had a life-changing experience. She has made new, dear friends in all our many moves. She is an advisor and confidant to her friends and colleagues. She is a master teacher who genuinely cares for her students. She is the mother I tried to be to her and more. She is having more fun mothering. She doesn't analyze each moment in her life like I do. She just does it. She is decisive, yet unpredictable. She wears her self confidence like a beautifully tailored suit. Katie is beautiful. I shot this picture of her and Greg at the beach last weekend. The more I looked at how beautiful this only daughter of mine is, the more I started on this thought process for this blog. Katie married a man who loves her beyond himself. She has two children who couldn't be any cuter or perfect. Her faith in God is strong and growing. My daughter is my best friend. I think she has many best friends, but I hope she counts me as her best 59 year old friend. Katie Susan Sartin Olliff-Happy early birthday sentiments from a sentimental Mom. Amazing, the power of one picture.

Where Did August Go?

Sea BreezesWhere did August go? Why is time flying by so fast? I love August. It's my birthday month, Harold's birthday month, and granddaughter Henley's birthday month. August is hot; I love hot. August still means summer;I love summer. So where did August go? Is your life rolling by fast forward like mine? I have go to figure this out. I have got to slow all this down. Now, how? September crept up on me like a new pound of body fat. Can I slow down my job? Well, no, the school day has a way of running by fast. If I'm not teaching, I am planning on things to teach. I shouldn't enjoy my job as much as I do, but laughing with and at kids all day makes the day fly by. What about my time working out, I like that too, and that flies by. I could stay in that pool forever. What about my time at home? I love my home and I love piddling around it. That time flies by too. What about time at church? I love that too and wish I could work there. That time disappears quickly too. My time with friends and family is so fun and goes too fast. What is wrong with me? I love everything about my life. I love my job, my ten children, my marriage, my church, my family and friends, my home and everything in between. God, I love my life, can I live forever?? I can slow this busy life down by savoring each and every second. St. Paul told us to give thanks in all situations. Whatever and where ever you are dear readers, pause and give thanks, and savor the moment. Life is endless joy, in Him. Thanks be to God. I am going to say hello to September and pull out the fall decorations. After all, September is already here.

Where Did We Spend Harold's Birthday Day?

Right here on St. Simons Beach is where we spent today!!

Sea BreezesToday was Harold's birthday. I baked him a yummy pound cake last night with Splenda. We thought it turned out great. We were church skippers today, as Katie calls it. After breakfast, we put the top down on the Spyder, loaded the beach chairs and sunscreen and headed over to St. Simons for a lovely day at the beach. The weather was perfect, blue skies, high tide, light sea breeze....and we sat, sunned and played in the waves. For dinner we had steak, twice baked potatoes and fresh green beans and garden tomatoes. He said he had a great birthday. Happy Birthday, sweet hubbie, I love you.