Fall Display, Collierville Town Square

If you are near the Memphis area during the fall season, be sure to drop by the Collierville Town Square. The city employees do a wonderful job decorating the entire charming historic area each year, and it will certainly get you into the fall spirit. I will be sharing more photos of the Town Square area soon.

Once again, thank you so much for the kind messages! I didn't realize that CityDailyPhoto had added me back onto their link pages, and it is so nice to see everyone again! Work is overwhelming this week, and I will try to catch up on my correspondence in just a few days.

Old Barn, Spring Creek Ranch Golf Club...and a favor...

Thanks to those of you who wrote me for such a warm welcome back! I have a new job which takes a bit of time each week, but I hope to be blogging as regularly as possible. I enjoy sharing the Memphis area with you, and I'm glad that you enjoy seeing it, too!

Spring Creek Ranch Golf Club, which was designed by Jack Nicklaus, was formerly a cattle ranch by the same name. Some of the recently-developed residential streets surrounding the club are named after the bulls that resided here when it was ranch land. This is one of the old barns remaining on the Spring Creek Ranch property, and I'm not sure that preserving the barn structures is on their long-term plan. I wanted to have a photo to serve as a record of this property's history, and I thought that the barn looked especially pretty with the goldenrod (and ragweed...achoo!) in full bloom.

And now for the favor! Do any of you have any photos of the artists' life-size horses that have been around the Germantown area since the Germantown Charity Horse Show? We came back from the MS State/Vanderbilt football game tonight and passed through Germantown, and they're gone! We were going to take photos of them on Sunday and Tuesday this week, when we had some extra time to visit each site, and share them here. SO disappointing! If any of you have photos (of the horses, of anything else in the Memphis area) that you'd like to share here, I'd be glad to post them and credit you for the photo. If you do, please leave a message here. Thanks!

Goldenrod, Spring Creek Ranch

Goldenrod found blooming this past week on the naturalized property of Spring Creek Ranch Golf Club on Collierville-Arlington Road. Yes, I know that some consider it to be a weed, at best a wildflower...but no matter its classification, it's an awfully pretty one!

Railroad, Collierville

Railroad tracks in historic Collierville, just to the south of the Collierville Town Square.

A photo? Why, yes, of course...

We stopped by the annual Collierville festival, "Fair on the Square", for some traditional spring fun with lots of food, talent acts, arts and crafts, and of course, lots of animals.

When we stopped to take a photo of this mule hitch team, the mule on the left was looking right at me, and the one on the right was looking the other way. As soon as he spied my camera, he leaned his head in and posed, perfectly. Every time I raised my camera, he did the same thing...what a pro! Is this not a sweet pair? They are 20 and 21 years old respectively, and the sweetest animals you could meet.

This weekend has been very busy, but fun...I hope that yours has been the same!

Spring Creek, Spring Creek Ranch Golf Club

This is Spring Creek, for which Spring Creek Ranch Golf Club is named. This Jack Nicklaus-designed course opened in 1999, and is rumored to be the possible future home course for the annual Stanford-St Jude golf tournament.

This course is also a member of the Aububon Conservation Reserve with 330 acres used for wetlands and a natural habitat and ecosystem for wildlife.

Spring Creek Ranch was once a very large cattle farm, and the course design (by Jack Nicklaus) has made wonderful use of the natural beauty of this land.

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Collierville...One of 1000 Churches

Memphis is often called "The City of 1000 Churches" or the "City of Churches". There are many beautiful places of worship in Memphis, and one of those is St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in the Collierville area.

St Andrew's is located on the rear west side of the historic Collierville Town Square. The cornerstone of this lovely Gothic Revival church was laid on April 22, 1890, and the original bell, made in 1891 by by Meneely Bell Co. in New York, is still being used today. The medallions in the stained glass windows, as seen in the detail photo, have red borders and deep blue backgrounds, and are of French origin. All of these stained glass windows were part of the original church construction. As you can see, this property is currently undergoing a bit of work...it is a beautiful, well-maintained historic structure.

Thank you so much for such nice birthday wishes! You helped make my day very special.

Mitchell's Barber Shop, Collierville Town Square

This barber shop is right across the street from the fire station posted yesterday. I just love the old-fashioned barber poles. If this doesn't seem like Mayberry RFD and small town USA, I don't know what does. :) I'll bet that some good stories (and some fine tall tales) are told behind that door....

Collierville Fire Station #1, on the Town Square

Collierville's Town Square is one of the most charming spots in our area, and visiting there is almost like stepping back in time. It has won several preservation awards, all well-deserved.

This is Collierville's Fire House, or Fire Station #1. It is on the east side of the Town Square, and is one of the oldest structures in Collierville. It was originally built in the 1880s, and in its early years housed a blacksmith shop, and then a flower shop. It has been a fire station since the mid-1940s, and was renovated a few years ago. I think that they did a wonderful job...it seems quite current while still retaining its vintage good looks. You can see part of the water tower just behind the building.

"Keeping Watch" Angel in Sunlight

I posted a front view of this angel here last month, and some people felt that she was a bit foreboding. I wondered if that might have been partially due to the dark, cold weather that we had when we took those photos, so we took a few again on a clear, bright winter day. Does the difference in the atmosphere change how she looks to you?

Annie asked if I had missed posting yesterday due to despondence resulting from the Tigers' loss to the Vols on Saturday night. *grin* Not at all :), although it was a disappointment. I hope that they see it as an opportunity instead....sometimes a loss can be the best thing that happens to a team. And the Vols deserve kudos, as they really did keep it together---the Pyramid was loud with an abundance of Tigers' fans.

We spend quite a bit of time with my father, since my mother passed away in October. He's 82 (and a lot of fun!), and we often visit with him, or take him out on the town with us when we are going someplace fun. So, if I occasionally miss a day at the computer, it is usually due to that type of family time.

My father is having surgery tomorrow, so please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. I will try to post regularly, and hopefully I will have good time to visit all of you, too!

xo

McGinnis Oil Company and Service Station, Collierville

You've seen these types of places before...old, charming service or gas stations that have been preserved just as they were years ago. They are often now used as antique shops, or sometimes fun, quirky little diners. The thing I love about this one, located on the Collierville Town Square, is that it is still in use as a service station.

This building was built in 1927 by the McGinnis family as a service station, and also became the office for McGinnis Oil Co. (as a distributor for Sinclair Petroleum Products) in 1939. Every time I pass this building, or visit Collierville's town square, I am able to take a little trip back in time...at least for a little while.

Stonewalled...

This is a detail view of the lovely old stone wall that surrounds the Magnolia Cemetery in the Collierville area.

"Keeping Watch" Angel, Front View

Joy asked what the angel posted yesterday looked like from the front, so I am sharing that view with you today. DH, my son and I found her to be comforting and peaceful. What feeling do you get when looking at her?

Keeping Watch...

An angel, dating back to the late 1800s, at the historic Magnolia Cemetery, Collierville, Tennessee (just outside Memphis).

Historic Collierville Train Station...

This is an evening photo of the old train station in Historic Collierville, all dressed up for the holidays. Collierville is a bedroom community (and Civil War battlesite) just outside Memphis, and is full of history and charm.