Lady Chattingly

Welcome to Chattingly Cottage--our little bit of heaven in the Great Plains of the United States.

I am Lady Chattingly. My main claim to fame is that I am the sister of Hypatia. She introduced me to Alabaster House and now I lurk around and post on occasion

You are all welcome to my garden too. Our favorite flower is the bearded iris. We have several varieties. Lord C is great about helping with the heavy stuff.

Like Hypatia, gardening is one of my passions. Since we live in the central plains area, we have adapted our garden to plants that do well here. Among those are the bearded iris, daylilies, gaillardias, black eyed Susans, cone flowers, and most salvias. I love blue in the garden and have managed to add it in the form of Victoria Blue Salvia, May Night Salvia, Veronica, and ageratum. One of the shade gardens contains large hostas, Japanese Knotweed and ferns. We have added white impatiens to the area for brightness.

We collect antique bottles and depression glass. Our main bottle collection is of antique bitters bottles, with the emphasis on Hostetter's Bitters, a very popular bitters during the War Between the States.

Lord C is very handy with a hammer, saw, etc. He has completely remodeled the basement. It is as liveable as the ground floor of the house. He has a workshop down there, but has it closed off from the rest of the space so that the dust is kept to a minimum. His last project in the basement was to build a bar. It is fashioned after an antique back bar, complete with a painting of a nude over the bar, and is really quite spiffy. It is also a good place to store the wine he makes.

Lord C is the in our household. The small building he constructed last year has been turned into a studio for his painting endeavors. Right now he is working on a series of paintings that are representative of the town we live in, as well as the town where Hyp and I grew up. The paintings are set in the late 1800's and early 1900's. I encourage his painting. It keeps him off the streets and out of the bars.

There is something else you all may not know. Hyp is quite an accomplished painter in her own right. She is absolutely the talented sister. However, I sing better than she does.

Come on by. You may find a or a piece of . For the adults, a or . Our door is always open to friends.