Mississippi again

July 6th. I decided I should start dating my entries. This made sense as I started looking back and couldn't remember when things happened.

Steve fixed up an old laptop for Melanie in Mississippi. We're trying to update Waverly to the computer age. For those of you who don't know what Waverly is, it's a pre-civil war mansion that my friend lives in and gives tours in. so, we mailed the computer to Melanie and she had so much trouble with it that Steve decided to drive down there and fix it. We took of on the 6th, it's only a six hour drive in the car. We stayed in the mansion in the master bedroom. While there I wrote an article for Melanie about the mansion to send to newspapers. Then I took some pictures for her, and I'm redoing some of her brochures. I also redid the stationary for her. Mr. Robert, her father, was so excited he broke out a bottle of his best wine and went for the wine glasses.

"Oh, no" Melanie said, "He's getting the $2500 a piece wine glasses." He poured wine and insisted we toast. Steve and I held our breath as we clinked the $2500 a piece wine glasses against each other. I insisted on a picture in the dining room in front of the portrait of Melanie's mother. It sets the atmosphere of the mansion.

Melanie tells us stories of the little ghost girl that lives in the house. She said her mother used to put pennie on the floor in the ghost room in tic-tac-toe configurations. They next morning the pennies would be in different places. She would also find indentations on the bed as if a small child had laid on it. The ghost girl would call to her mother during the day when she was alone. Melanie was sleeping in the ghost room one night and saw the girl float across the room. We went upstairs to the ghost room and found an indentation on the bed. Steve decided to leave three dimes (he said they have copper in them now) on the table next to the bed. He placed them in a triangle with tail sides up and we left. We forgot about them the next morning when we left. Halfway home we called Melanie to check them. The dimes were no where to be found. There had been no tourists yet that day. Mr. Robert always goes upstairs in the morning to check all the rooms making sure they are ready for the tourists. He said there were no dimes on the table. They looked all over the room and the mansion and they were never found. I think the ghost girl likes Steve. They are still looking and Mr. Robert said he is never going in the ghost room again.

We ended up bringing her computer back because it crashed, but Steve can fix it. I swear, he could fix a rainy day. I've never been around a man that can fix things. We stayed two nights but had to leave. There is no air conditioning in the mansion, only a window unit in the small ached kitchen. At night all the windows and doors are left open for the natural cirulation. It was still hot. During the hottest part of the day we stayed in the kitchen. In the evening we would sit on the back porch.

I always have a good time in Mississippi. They feed me well, fresh eggs from their hens, pear preserves, homemade buscuits, ham, Jimmy Dean sausage (Jimmy Dean came to Waverly and Mr. Robert told him he made the best sausage ever), and Melanie's strawberry cheesecake. I always eat too much there.

Center Hill Lake

I promise to keep my blog updated. I have been at home too long. When I'm home, I get manic about keeping my house clean. It's hard sometimes. Four dogs and four cats can wreck a house. So, Steve and I took a few days and explored Center Hill Lake. What a fun trip. We stayed at Long Branch Campground. It sat just below the dam. We would go down a concrete stairway to fish on the river. Every five hours the dam would generate power, which meant the water on the river rose about six feet and the current was really fast. These are the times you do not want to fish. Yes, I'm learning to fish. I'm learning how to cast for trout. There were a couple of young boys hanging out with us while we fished. Every time I would bring my rod back to cast they would back up all the way to the stairs. They had seen me cast. I caught a couple of trees, moss, and a few sticks, "fish sticks" Steve calls them.

We drove down river to "Betty's Island" to fish some more. We waded out into the water with the fly fishermen. After about an hour I CAUGHT A TROUT!!!!! I heard a fly fisherman close to me say "You got to be kidding" as he was still casting for fish.

Overall it was a very relaxing trip. I always seem to write better when I'm traveling. I think it's because I don't have to worry about cleaning the house.

Arrgg Mema Pirate

My annual trip to the Tennessee Renaissance Fair was quite the event this year as Pirate Mema was accompanied by her favorite bumblebee. She won third place in the costume contest. After watching the jousting and Axel the Sot we walked around the fair several times. Just as we met up with Jack Sparrow she was exhausted and decided to have a nap.

I have been to this fair for several years, but this year was definately the best time I ever had.

The Fairytale Wedding

This was truly an event. I think the pictures speak for themselves.

Now I digress

From left to right, Sara, Me, Danny Tedesco and his mother.

This is at the afterparty of the Nashville Film festival premier of "The Wrecking Crew". The movie is about a group of session musicians in the mid sixties to early seventies in Los Angeles who worked on almost all of the music recorded during those years. My father, Al Casey, was a member of the wrecking crew, as way
Danny's father, Tommy Tedesco. Danny made this film to show people an era in music that few know about. This group of musicians (about 20) worked with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Jan and Dean, The Beach Boys, Herb Albert, The Association, Sonny and Cher, The Mama and the Papas, I don't even know who all he played with. They did three to four sessions a day and usually two to three songs a session. Danny documented this accurately. He is going to send me a DVD when he gets a distributer.

We had a great time. Danny treated us like VIPs, including going in and out of the VIP lounge. Sara loved being treated like this.

The rest of the story

Even though I'm home, I will be still blogging. I have a story in two parts. Remember, this is a true story. This is about my friend in Mississippi, Melanie, and her father, Mr. Robert. This is fairly long, so bear with me.

Mr. Robert bought Waverly Mansion in 1969. He is well known in Mississippi for the work he and his wife have put into the Mansion to restore it. They have received recognitions and awards from several different areas of the Mississippi government. The mansion sits close to the Tombigbee River. The mansion had a pier to export the cotton they grew. So that sets up the story.

When TVA was dredging the Tombigbee River to widen it, they wanted to bring equipment down the road (Waverly Mansion Road) that runs in front of the mansion. They informed Mr. Robert they would have to cut down one of his trees to get their equipment to the river. Mr. Robert told them they could not cut it. The chief engineer of the TVA project came over and told Mr. Robert he was going to cut down the tree. He said, "You just get out of here old man." Mr. Robert told him to wait a minute and went into the house. He called the Mississippi Senator, got through to him immediately, and told him what was going on. Thirty minutes later three limosines pulled up to the mansion. Government people told the chief engineer of the TVA project he was not going to cut down one of Mr. Robert's trees and they would have to find another way to the river. A 30 million dollar project was shut down because of a tree. The TVA had to rent a barge and haul the equipment down the river to where it was needed. A couple days later the Chief Engineer showed up at Mr. Robert's door with gifts and an apology.

And now, the rest of the story.....

Steve and I stayed at Town Creek Campground about five minutes from Waverly Mansion. One of Steve's miniature pinchers, Rollo, ran away. He was gone about five hours, but came back to the campground. The next day we were loaded and ready to go when he got out of the door and ran away again. We searched everywhere. This was about 11:00 am. By 4:00 pm we knew we would not be leaving that day. We went to visit the mansion, then came back and kept looking. Melanie kept calling because Mr. Robert was worried about Rollo. About 9 pm Steve went out for one last look. He heard him barking up in the woods. When he got to him, Rollo had a rattlesnake cornered. Steve threw a stick, grabbed the dog and ran.

The next morning I called Melanie to tell her we found Rollo. She yelled "Thank GOD!!!" She said Mr. Robert was about to call the sherriff's department to send out cars to look for Rollo. She also said he was going to call the Colonel of the Air Force base (they are a few miles from Waverly) and have them fly over with their cameras to look in the woods for him. Mr. Robert said he knew the colonel well and had entertained his wife at Waverly. Melanie knew this would have happened and said it would have been a PR disaster. She said she could hear herself trying to explain to the newspaper why Mr. Robert had the Sheriff and Air Force out looking for a dog. When she told her sister about it her sister said "Thank GOD!" She also knew her father too well.

Mississippi is always an interesting trip.

Mississippi Magnolia

Ya'll know how friendly those Mississipi boys are. Young Sargent Major Jimmy escorted me during Waverly's Pilgrimage. A good time was had by all. See ya'll soon.

Miss(issippi) Diana