Well, our first anniversary of sharing The Studio at Scurlock Farms with others will be next week. What a fun, enjoyable year it has been! We have met so many nice folks from around the country - from CA to FL and spots in between. Several have come from the snowy north to take in a little warmer weather in TX during the winter months.
We were having so much fun and success with The Studio, in March, 2011 I decided to do the same thing with Rocky Overlook, my parents home, or what we call "the big house". They lived in The Studio while building it and it sits across a ravine and around a curved rock walkway from The Studio. Privacy is afforded by shrubs, trees and the ravine. It is close enough for a group or family to use both houses.
Our first guests at Rocky Overlook were in late July, 2011 to a couple from San Franciso that were getting married in Georgetown. They rented both Rocky Overlook and The Studio so close family members would have a better option than staying in hotel rooms.
The bride's parents and brother were from Hong Kong and did not speak English. We very much enjoyed meeting them. Rocky Overlook was the first American home they had been in and they totally enjoyed their stay with us. It was very fascinating to watch Hym doing his exercises in the yard under the oaks or on the upper patio in back of the house.
My granddaughters were thrilled to see the comments Hym left in our Guest Book, written in Chinese! We still don't know what he said, but know it was something nice.
In October, we had two big events at Rocky Overlook and The Studio at Scurlock Farms. I volunteer for The Caring Place in Georgetown. We have a thrift store, Fabulous Finds, a vintage store, Refinds, and a boutique. All items that are donated are sold in our stores (all under one roof), and the proceeds go to help those in town and the county that are in need - clothing, food, rent, utilitis, our annual Coats for Kids,, and holiday meals for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
We had a fundraising event at both Rocky Overlook and The Studio called The Gathering on the Gabriel. It was a huge success and raised $10,275 for The Caring Place Building Fund. Tours of both homes were available with my sisters acting as docents - Susan grew up there and Staci was born there. A delicious buffet lunch planned and prepared by another sister, Tanya, was served on the upper patio and guests sat at tables under the oaks. A live band played beautiful music for two hours, and then we finished off with a live auction of many works of art by Chuck DeHaan, C. P. Montague, Dennis Schmidt, Sheron Thweatt, and Dalhart Windberg, several pieces of jewelry from the Lia Sophia collection, and a set of antique Haviland china.
Gary Freedman, a fantastic auctioneer from Rockwall, held the auction for us. Gary has helped raise over $3.2 million for charities in the North TX area in the past 10 years. His wife, Deborah, was his spotter, and the two of them made the auction fun for all.
The next day, a beautiful wedding was held at the farm. Sara and Alan exchanged their vows on the lower patio as the guests looked on from the upper patio. The bride's father, Kurt, had cooked bar-b-que and a buffet dinner was served on the upper patio. Guests sat under the trees with Japanese lanterns and light wrapped trees providing lighting.
Photos of both events are posted at www.ScurlockFarms.com.
November is shaping up to be a busy month for both Rocky Overlook and The Studio at Scurlock Farms. We'd love to have you visit, too!
February 7, 2011
February, 2011 Artic Front - Brrr!!
We Texans are not used to extremely cold weather and snow, but we had a good taste of it this past week. We thought the thermometer on the deck was stuck at 20 for 3 days after an arctic front blew in on Tuesday. We had guests from Wisconsin staying at the studio, and I believe they felt right at home! They really enjoyed the fireplace.
Wednesday we had about 1" of snow and it was beautiful. The snow was very dry and powdery. The three granddaughters got a snow day from school and enjoyed playing in the snow. They tried building a snowman and all they got for their efforts were cold hands! They did make snowballs and had snowball fights.
The plumbing in my Mom's house is in the attic very close to the eaves. We had left cold water dripping in the bathroom and when we checked Wednesday morning, the hot water was frozen at the sink and the shower in that bathroom. Dan spent 2 hours in the attic with a hair dryer. Some of the time was spent in the pitch black waiting on the electricity to come back on - we were experiencing rolling blackouts Ercot was doing across the state in order to keep the power on to Texas. The longest Dan spent in the dark was 15 minutes. He finally got the frozen slush in the pipes melted and we dripped BOTH faucets after that - actually more than a drip, a light flow.
Wednesday night our son called and his cold water was frozen in the kitchen sink. It sounded as if he needed a little moral support, so Dan and I went down to assist. I began using a hair dryer under the sink, but the cabinet back was solid and I didn't get any water flow. Dan and David were under the house for about 1 1/2 hours and had heated all of the pipes in the kitchen area. We finally figured it must be frozen in the wall behind the cabinet.
David used a sharp knife and cut a piece out of the cabinet, then through the Sheetrock and it didn't take but a couple of minutes to get the slush defrosted in the line so water began flowing - hooray for hair dryers!
A friend wasn't so lucky. He called his wife in a panic - water was running through the ceiling onto their brand new mattress. She called some friends from church to help him bale water and do some preliminary clean up until the insurance company could get someone to help. They had to carry the mattress outside and by the next morning, it was a huge ice block!
David is a Georgetown PD motorcycle officer. The first day, he rode the motorcycle in to work - just so he could say he'd done it. His legs, hands and feet were frozen by the time he got there and got into a car! The rest of the cold days he took the truck in then got a patrol car. I think they all stayed inside the PD except when working accidents, which there were a lot of once the snow got packed and became ice. He called us and told us to stay home, which we gladly did.
We spent about 3 days camped in front of the fireplace enjoying it.
Dallas was virtually shut down for 3 or 4 days. I really felt sorry for merchants and businesses and sports fans attempting to get into Dallas and enjoy the pre-Superbowl festivities! Thankfully Sunday was much better and the game could go on - and what a game! Of course, most of the fans were from climates that have very similar weather all of the time and they can deal with it and drive in it - they just had to worry about crazy Texans that did NOT know how to drive in it!
Wednesday we had about 1" of snow and it was beautiful. The snow was very dry and powdery. The three granddaughters got a snow day from school and enjoyed playing in the snow. They tried building a snowman and all they got for their efforts were cold hands! They did make snowballs and had snowball fights.
The plumbing in my Mom's house is in the attic very close to the eaves. We had left cold water dripping in the bathroom and when we checked Wednesday morning, the hot water was frozen at the sink and the shower in that bathroom. Dan spent 2 hours in the attic with a hair dryer. Some of the time was spent in the pitch black waiting on the electricity to come back on - we were experiencing rolling blackouts Ercot was doing across the state in order to keep the power on to Texas. The longest Dan spent in the dark was 15 minutes. He finally got the frozen slush in the pipes melted and we dripped BOTH faucets after that - actually more than a drip, a light flow.
Wednesday night our son called and his cold water was frozen in the kitchen sink. It sounded as if he needed a little moral support, so Dan and I went down to assist. I began using a hair dryer under the sink, but the cabinet back was solid and I didn't get any water flow. Dan and David were under the house for about 1 1/2 hours and had heated all of the pipes in the kitchen area. We finally figured it must be frozen in the wall behind the cabinet.
David used a sharp knife and cut a piece out of the cabinet, then through the Sheetrock and it didn't take but a couple of minutes to get the slush defrosted in the line so water began flowing - hooray for hair dryers!
A friend wasn't so lucky. He called his wife in a panic - water was running through the ceiling onto their brand new mattress. She called some friends from church to help him bale water and do some preliminary clean up until the insurance company could get someone to help. They had to carry the mattress outside and by the next morning, it was a huge ice block!
David is a Georgetown PD motorcycle officer. The first day, he rode the motorcycle in to work - just so he could say he'd done it. His legs, hands and feet were frozen by the time he got there and got into a car! The rest of the cold days he took the truck in then got a patrol car. I think they all stayed inside the PD except when working accidents, which there were a lot of once the snow got packed and became ice. He called us and told us to stay home, which we gladly did.
We spent about 3 days camped in front of the fireplace enjoying it.
Dallas was virtually shut down for 3 or 4 days. I really felt sorry for merchants and businesses and sports fans attempting to get into Dallas and enjoy the pre-Superbowl festivities! Thankfully Sunday was much better and the game could go on - and what a game! Of course, most of the fans were from climates that have very similar weather all of the time and they can deal with it and drive in it - they just had to worry about crazy Texans that did NOT know how to drive in it!
January 2, 2011
Pecan Crop 2010
The pecans have been a big disappointment over the past 3 years - through no fault of their own. First we had the extreme drought that caused the trees to have no production in 2009 and 2008. In 2010 they received some rains, but not at the right times. The trees really need a of of water in August, or the "water stage" for pecans. This allows them to grow rapidly and fill out.
We had a decent crop this year, but because it was not a bumper crop, we felt we could not justify renting the 60' boom machine we use to thrash the trees from. My sister, Susan, came and thrashed the lower limbs of several trees that had a fair amount of pecans on them, but it was really slow going doing it from the ground. The trees have grown so tall, she could reach only the lowest limbs, and 90% of the pecans were in the higher limbs.
Nature has a way of taking care of things. The birds REALLY enjoyed the pecans this year! Not the crows as you might expect, but medium sized black birds - grackles, I assume. They came by the thousands! They would feed off the ground, then fill the branches of a tree. I had seen and heard them - very noisy with that number of birds!, but I didn't really think they were large enough to eat the pecans. Then I saw them in the trees in profile with a whole pecan held in their beaks. We drove through the orchard yesterday and I saw only 3 or 4 trees with many pecans left on them. The good thing with the birds, they took the hulls and pecans off at the same time, so the trees look nice and clean.
They ate many pounds of acorns from the trees around the house this fall. I thought someone was trying to tear up the metal roof on the warehouse one day. I quit working in the yard to walk over and check. It was the same medium size black birds, hopping on the small limbs and branches, eating the clusters of acorns.
Hopefully we will have a normal weather year next year as far as rain goes, and the trees can get back into a regular routine and cycle of production. All of our freezers say we need them!
We had a decent crop this year, but because it was not a bumper crop, we felt we could not justify renting the 60' boom machine we use to thrash the trees from. My sister, Susan, came and thrashed the lower limbs of several trees that had a fair amount of pecans on them, but it was really slow going doing it from the ground. The trees have grown so tall, she could reach only the lowest limbs, and 90% of the pecans were in the higher limbs.
Nature has a way of taking care of things. The birds REALLY enjoyed the pecans this year! Not the crows as you might expect, but medium sized black birds - grackles, I assume. They came by the thousands! They would feed off the ground, then fill the branches of a tree. I had seen and heard them - very noisy with that number of birds!, but I didn't really think they were large enough to eat the pecans. Then I saw them in the trees in profile with a whole pecan held in their beaks. We drove through the orchard yesterday and I saw only 3 or 4 trees with many pecans left on them. The good thing with the birds, they took the hulls and pecans off at the same time, so the trees look nice and clean.
They ate many pounds of acorns from the trees around the house this fall. I thought someone was trying to tear up the metal roof on the warehouse one day. I quit working in the yard to walk over and check. It was the same medium size black birds, hopping on the small limbs and branches, eating the clusters of acorns.
Hopefully we will have a normal weather year next year as far as rain goes, and the trees can get back into a regular routine and cycle of production. All of our freezers say we need them!
November 9, 2010
A History of the Pecan Bottom at C. P. Montague's Farm
After mama and daddy bought their dream place, my brother went to Tarlton University and talked to them about putting in a pecan orchard. He told mama and daddy about it and they decided to use about 20 acres in the river bottom that had deep "made" soil. This was rich, fertile soil that had been deposited in the bottom through many previous floods.
By this time, Mr. Barho had purchased his place across the river and it had many huge native pecan trees. That fall we picked up hundreds of pounds of pecans to use as our seed. Daddy totally cleared the 20 acres and we planted the orchard. This was done by someone sitting on the back of the tractor just above the ground and dropping the individual pecans into the furrows one at a time! My dad drove the tractor, insuring that he had straight rows.
My brother's wife, Lou, was very pregnant at the time with their daughter, Tamra, and we've got a picture of her riding on the back of the tractor. Thus the pecan orchard was "born"!
By this time, Mr. Barho had purchased his place across the river and it had many huge native pecan trees. That fall we picked up hundreds of pounds of pecans to use as our seed. Daddy totally cleared the 20 acres and we planted the orchard. This was done by someone sitting on the back of the tractor just above the ground and dropping the individual pecans into the furrows one at a time! My dad drove the tractor, insuring that he had straight rows.
My brother's wife, Lou, was very pregnant at the time with their daughter, Tamra, and we've got a picture of her riding on the back of the tractor. Thus the pecan orchard was "born"!
November 8, 2010
A History of The Palette Pad
The Palette Pad was built during a very hot, windy summer in 1969. Mama and daddy had about given up on finding their dream piece of land. My dad wanted fertile land where he could farm; the artist in my mom yearned for a stream and rocks that she loved to paint. On the last day they had to look, they found what is now Scurlock Farms. My dad quit his job and they moved to Georgetown. That summer, they lived in a tent, cooked on a grill while daddy began working on the studio or Palette Pad and my mom painted many paintings.
The plan was to build the Palette Pad as mama's art studio and a place to live while they built the big house, their retirement home. The temperature was over 100 and the wind blew over 30 miles per hour for over 30 days that summer. Mama fought the dust and tried to prevent her easel from blowing over.
They were both thrilled when daddy got the windows up in one corner and she was able to take cover behind them to paint! They had no running water or place to bathe except for the river. Each evening they would take a broom and a bar of soap down to the river. Daddy would sweep any moss of the rocky bottom and they would have their cooling baths!
Mama and daddy hand picked up EVERY rock that is in The Palette Pad walls and fireplace wall, as well as every rock for the big house. They had no idea at the time of the number of rocks that would be required to complete the job!! Every rock was laid by hand by them and you'll notice all the lines of rock are straight.
The plan was to build the Palette Pad as mama's art studio and a place to live while they built the big house, their retirement home. The temperature was over 100 and the wind blew over 30 miles per hour for over 30 days that summer. Mama fought the dust and tried to prevent her easel from blowing over.
They were both thrilled when daddy got the windows up in one corner and she was able to take cover behind them to paint! They had no running water or place to bathe except for the river. Each evening they would take a broom and a bar of soap down to the river. Daddy would sweep any moss of the rocky bottom and they would have their cooling baths!
Mama and daddy hand picked up EVERY rock that is in The Palette Pad walls and fireplace wall, as well as every rock for the big house. They had no idea at the time of the number of rocks that would be required to complete the job!! Every rock was laid by hand by them and you'll notice all the lines of rock are straight.
Interesting Furniture in The Palette Pad
I wanted to tell you about two specific pieces of furniture in the Palette Pad. One is the coffee table shown in front of the sofa and the other is a desk/chest that is not shown. The coffee table was made by my dad. Before Granger Lake was filled, people were allowed to go into the area and cut down large trees that would be covered when the lake filled. My dad cut down a HUGE pecan tree. He had the wood from the trunk milled and made mantle pieces for the big house they built. He cut a broad section from the trunk near the base, had it dried and made the coffee table top from it. He used limbs for the legs to the coffee table. It is a unique, one-of-a- kind table, and gorgeous!
The top drawer to the chest folds down and makes a desk top. It has cubbyholes at the back of the drawer and an ink well that was obviously well used. The very old chest came from an old hotel that was being torn down in Houston TX back in the l960's. The remaining two large drawers make great storage space for clothing or games.
The top drawer to the chest folds down and makes a desk top. It has cubbyholes at the back of the drawer and an ink well that was obviously well used. The very old chest came from an old hotel that was being torn down in Houston TX back in the l960's. The remaining two large drawers make great storage space for clothing or games.
October 26, 2010
Begin a Holiday Tradition
Begin a holiday tradition that you and your family will enjoy for many years to come. Join us December 4th in Georgetown, Texas for the 30th annual Christmas Stroll. This open air holiday market displays some of the most unique handmade merchandise available anywhere. Whether it's jewelry, pottery or fine art you're interested in, stop to talk to our vendors who are anxious to share information about their craft, and take home an item that will enhance your home, wardrobe or garden. Stroll-through Bethlehem Village, meet the Grinch in Who-ville, and visit Santa in the North Pole! Events kick off with a parade at noon. There are lots of fun things to do in Georgetown this time of year, and visiting The Studio at Scurlock Farms tops our list!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)