We Never Do Anything Halfway at Belle Grove Plantation

Yesterday was a great adventure! I was back in Chesapeake Friday night so we could head to Richmond on Saturday to meet with our design team. We decided to make a day of it and headed up Surry, Virginia to eat lunch at the Surrey House Restaurant and Inn. We have been following them on Facebook for awhile and have seen some of the awesome dishes they make.

https://www.facebook.com/SurreyHouseRestaurant?fref=ts

As soon as we sat down, Jennifer (one of the owners) pops out of the kitchen to say hello and asked about my finger. The restaurant is wonderful. They have such a “homey” feel when you come in. They have some sayings framed around the place and I loved the one that said:

“Unattended Children will be given Expresso with an Energy Drink and a Puppy.”

Lunch was great too! I started with something I have never had before but wanted to try – Virginia Peanut Soup. This area around Suffolk, Smithfield and Surry is a large producer of peanuts. And I have to tell you, I LOVE Peanut Butter. But the soup must be an acquired taste. The waitress asked me if I had ever had it before and I said no. So she suggested that I take a sample first. It was awesome! So I asked for a cup.

It was like drinking warm, liquid peanut butter! It is even had bits of peanuts in it. They served it with crackers which was just perfect! When I was young, my grandmother, Nannie, would always make me an afternoon snack of peanut butter on crackers. What a great memory it brought back! I tried very hard to get the recipe, but it is a closely guarded secret. (Time to start experimenting!)

Brett ordered a Chicken Cordon Bleu sandwich and I got a Cheeseburger. Instead of fries, we both got an Apple Fritter. He had his without sugar, I had mine with sugar. They were heavenly! I could have made a meal of just them!

After we finished, we headed out to go to Richmond. Just as we started to pull out, Sam, Jennifer’s husband flagged us down to say good-bye. What a great couple! You must stop here and grab a bite! Make sure you say Belle Grove said “Hello!”

We arrived in Richmond at Gates Antiques for a day of reviewing and approving new purchases. It is such a “hard” thing to do… not! Here are some wonderful things we saw yesterday.

You  may remember this Federal Linen Press from a recent post. It was in pieces as they were working on making some repairs for us. Well, it’s done and will be making it’s way to Belle Grove on Monday!

They also have the English Slant Top Desk ready to head to Belle Grove!

They have started work on a Settee that we are planning on placing in the Grand Hallway upstairs. Look at this carving repair they have completed! It is hard to believe that it wasn’t part of the Settee to start with!

I finally got to see in person the Sideboard we picked for the Formal Dining Room!

It is very more beautiful in person than in the photographs!

We selected these two Victorian Chairs for the Parlor!

One has a Fruit Detail at the head and the other has a Rosewood Detail!

We also selected a matching Settee to go in the Grand Hallway downstairs! It looks allot like the one they just started working on, but has just a very differences. We won’t be using this leather covering. We are going to do both in a gold fabric with a diamond pattern and light blue accents in the fabric to match the wall color in the Grand Hallway.

You can see here that similarities with some of the carvings.

But this inlay is different on this one. It is in the head rail at the top.

And this carving in the foot rail.

We selected this Corner Cupboard for the Parlor too. Can you see the tea cup collection in this?

And of course the best for last!

This is the Egyptian Black Marble Serving Table that will go in the Parlor beside the Corner Cupboard.

The marble has white and gold veining in it! It is amazing!

We returned to Chesapeake last night completely happy with all the selecting and repairs being made!

Our design team is doing an awesome job and working very hard to get us ready to open soon!

This morning, I head back to Patients First here in Chesapeake to see my long time primary doctor, Dr. Mansfield. I have been seeing her for years now and its almost like seeing a friend when I come in. I wanted her to follow up on  my broken finger to make sure it was looking good. I had gotten a call just two days after my accident (three weeks ago) from Patient First telling me that it was in fact broken. They had advised me to go to an Orthopedic Surgeon to have it looked it. Thinking that it was just a hairline fracture, I declined the referral and said I would just splint it and watch it.

Thursday this week, I got a second follow-up call from Patient First. They again asked if I had gone to the Orthopedic Surgeon. I reminded them that I had declined, but then it got me to wondering why a second call. So I asked the nurse for a little more detail about the break. Come to find out, I didn’t have a hairline fracture. I had a compression fracture and she told me that I broke part of the finger tip off!

So today, I thought it wise to follow up with Dr. Mansfield to make sure I really don’t need to go. When she came into the room, she sat down and said that after reading the notes from the two follow-up calls, all she could say was, “That’s Michelle.” I guess you can say I get pretty involved in my own medical care. She had them take a second set of X-rays to review the finger.

After the X-rays came back, she said, “I have to say, you don’t do anything half way do you?” I kind of laughed and asked what the results were. She told me that I did have a compression fracture and that I did break the tip off. But that the break was in eight pieces!

Good news – I don’t have to go to an Orthopedic Surgeon! There is really nothing they can do but splint it and let it heal. She said it should heal nicely. The two cuts (one on top and one of the side) are healing good with no infections.

Bad news is that it is going to take longer to heal. But I have been using my hand and there really isn’t any pain unless I hit it or touch it. The splint is pretty much keeping it from that.

She did tell me that the reason they followed up twice was more because of the cuts. That it could have had some of the bone coming out! Yikes! But thankfully that didn’t happen either.

So splint, clean dressing and no dirt or water and I should be good. Typing has taken some getting use to, but its not really slowing me down.

I do want to thank everyone for the kind words and the gifts that I have gotten since it happened!

It means allot to me!

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