The Landscaping, Sidewalk, Hurley and an Incredible Find have arrived!

Jun. 24th 2013

20130622_095039

Saturday morning at 10am, a huge red Kenworth truck pulled into Belle Grove Plantation bearing lots of beautiful new plants! We also had 17 wonderful volunteers who gave of their time and worked hard in the heat to help us unload and plant 1/3 of the plants! We can’t begin to tell you how much we appreciate all our volunteers! We could have never done this alone!

20130622_100601

Thank you to the following:

Mr. and Mrs. Hudson

Mr. and Mrs. Moore

King George Board of Supervisors Ruby Brabo and her daughter Clara

Mrs. Veazey and her son Warren

Mrs. Durrette and her daughter Rachel

Mr. and Mrs. Crosson

Mrs. DeGroat from Chesapeake

Mrs. Barnett from Chesapeake

Mrs. Goodall and her friend Alex from Richmond

We had the following plants to arrive:

Blaauw’s Pink Azalea – Delaware Valley White Azalea – Girard’s Renee Michelle  Azalea – Karen Azalea – Milky Way Dogwoods – Old English boxwoods – Golden Mop Cypress – Pink Velour Crepe Myrtles – Monarda Petite Delight – Karl Rosenfeld Peony – Okame Japanese Cherry Trees – Double Red Knockout Roses – Double Pink Knockout Roses – Crown Jewel Gardenia – Leyland Cypress – Twist and Shout Hydrangea – Limelight Hydrangea – Charles Joly Hydrangea – Sunny Yellow Knockout Roses

Leyland Cypress

Leyland Cypress

Double Red Knockout Roses

Double Red Knockout Roses

Pink Velour Crepe Myrtles

Pink Velour Crepe Myrtles

Crown Jewel Gardenia

Crown Jewel Gardenia

Old English Boxwood

Old English Boxwood

Golden Mop Cypress already planted

Golden Mop Cypress already planted

One bed almost complete

One bed almost complete

As we were digging holes, we were finding more artifacts! One find was more than we could have hoped for! Alex found two parts of a white plate and two pieces of green glass. As soon as I saw the green glass I knew it was from an old wine bottle. But you just couldn’t date it because it lacked markings. But the white plate looked really interesting! I held my breath and hoped until today. I ran to Ferry Farm to get it dated! Mara confirmed my wildest dream! It dates from 1740 to 1755! It is now the oldest pieces we have found on Belle Grove! And the date would have been when James Madison’s Grandmother was still here! Can you believe it?! James Madison’s Grandmother, Rebecca Catlett Conway Moore and his mother, Nelly Conway Madison could have held this plate!! It just blows your mind!

White Plate (1740 to 1755)

White Plate (1740 to 1755)

Green Glass from a Wine Bottle. Found in the same hole believed to be the same dates

Green Glass from a Wine Bottle. Found in the same hole believed to be the same dates

While we were hard at work on the landscaping, we had a crew of hard working masons from Betts Masonry working hard on our sidewalks. You know that we have been pulling our brick from the Riverside to move to the front. Well Saturday we started seeing the fruit of our labors! We love this sidewalk! It should be done by Friday if we don’t get delayed by the weather!

Getting Started on the Sidewalk

Getting Started on the Sidewalk

Getting Started on the Sidewalk

Getting Started on the Sidewalk

DSC_0004

DSC_0005

DSC_0006

DSC_0007 smaller

DSC_0010DSC_0004  jj

DSC_0006 jj

DSC_0005 jj

And I know we haven’t talked much about Hurley , our Official Plantation dog, because I have been at Belle Grove and he and Brett have been in Chesapeake. Well Hurley has arrived back at Belle Grove Plantation! He has a photo shoot on Tuesday with a soon to be bride.

DSC_0013

DSC_0016  jjjj

DSC_0054

DSC_0042

DSC_0019

Just like me, he is discovering lots of new things, like this fake owl on the porch! I don’t think he cares for it.

DSC_0045

DSC_0046

DSC_0047

DSC_0048

After all the hard work, the end of the day gave us a wonderful sunset!

DSC_0055

Just another great day at Belle Grove Plantation!

Keep up on all the things going on at Belle Grove

Facebook Link

Follow and Share our Facebook Fan Page!

Posted by Michelle Darnell | in Darnell History, Hurley | 16 Comments »

Heading Back

Jan. 11th 2013

tgif

It’s the weekend and we are so excited!

The term “TGIF” has a whole new meaning to us these days.

View of Belle Grove from the opposite bank in Port Royal

View of Belle Grove from the opposite bank in Port Royal

Yes, tomorrow we are heading back to the plantation for a full day of fun.

But we won’t be taking this trip alone!

We will be taking our favorite staff member…

IMG_4423

Hurley!

We have two or three meeting set up for tomorrow.

Ferry Farm

Ferry Farm

Our first is with our favorite archaeologists from Ferry Farm. They are coming to see the plantation for the first time! We are so excited to have them there! Who knows what we are going to find out with expert eyes viewing the plantation for the first time!

First Bridal Shoot at Belle Grove Plantation

First Bridal Shoot at Belle Grove Plantation

Afterwards we are meeting with a bride-to-be to discuss having her photo shoot at the plantation. We expect to have many photo shoots and weddings in our future! We can’t wait!

We may also have a group of ladies stopping by to see the plantation and to discuss a future meeting and luncheon with Belle Grove Plantation. I am so excited to have this group come to see us. We are much honored to have them. I will reveal the name once I talk with them to make sure it’s okay to let you know too.

Sidewalk on the Carriage side

Sidewalk on the Carriage side

All while this is going on we are going to start pulling up the bricks that are laid out as the sidewalks on the Carriage side and pathways on the Riverside. There are tons of them! But we have to get them up before they can do the grading on the grounds. We are going to “repurpose” them as part of the new sidewalks and arrival area on the Carriage side.

Front Gate Entry

Front Gate Entry

If we have any left, we are going use them to upgrade the front entry gate. They are about four feet tall and have been painted white. They use to have a topper that would have been most likely a ball and the wrought iron gate has been removed. The wrought iron more than likely went during the Civil War.

Idea for the new Front Gate Entry

Idea for the new Front Gate Entry

But I have an idea of what I would like it to look like now. I want to replace the ball toppers with a finial topper like the one in the picture. It matches the ones I have used in my design for the road sign at the entry.

Best of all I have my father’s really nice camera to take tomorrow. Maybe we can finally get a good shot of the eagles that are flying over all the time. I think I could sit all day and watch them!

Follow us on Twitter tomorrow!

@BelleGroveVA

@BelleGroveVA

I will be sending our “Sneak Peak” Pictures and Updates!

Don’t forget to send your Cookie Recipes in soon!

Cookie Contest 2013

The Deadline will be here before you know it!

Facebook Link

Posted by Michelle Darnell | in Darnell History, Hurley | 37 Comments »