The Local Landscape Thread

[Wildcat]

Amazing tractors. I grew up with a Ford Jubilee and a Ford-Ferguson. Both are still running and worked today by two of my uncles.

[Wickerman]

Ran a Fergie 35 (1954) a good few years, ran on diesel (gas oil) started with a squirt of paraffin onto heater plug. Mainly for camping, could turn up at any small farm in the hills
and ask if I could camp for a couple of nights,when they'd stopped fawning and patting the Tractor " ee they were a good scraping Tractor me old dad had one, I yer right lad if you
go through yon gate you'll see a stand of trees up hill go round them and there's a small stream and waterfall, some nice little brown Trout if you want breakfast,
come up to farm in morning for milk and eggs"

[Whalehead King]

I spend most of my days within a mile radius of these houses.



2212, 2216, and 2222 Esplanade Avenue in New Orleans, LA. Mrs. King and I are the caretakers of these colorful local landmarks. It's not as glamorous a lifestyle as many imagine but it has its satisfactions.

[Whalehead King]

Someone sent me a photo of paintings that he made of them last year. Nice work. He didn't want to sell. His wife likes them too much to part with them.

.

[mrpipster]

I spend most of my days within a mile radius of these houses.



2212, 2216, and 2222 Esplanade Avenue in New Orleans, LA. Mrs. King and I are the caretakers of these colorful local landmarks. It's not as glamorous a lifestyle as many imagine but it has its satisfactions.

I didnt know you had 3.
Are they connected somehow?

[Whalehead King]

I spend most of my days within a mile radius of these houses.



2212, 2216, and 2222 Esplanade Avenue in New Orleans, LA. Mrs. King and I are the caretakers of these colorful local landmarks. It's not as glamorous a lifestyle as many imagine but it has its satisfactions.

I didnt know you had 3.
Are they connected somehow?

They were all built by the same man in 1883. They were just investment properties for him. I've read his autobiography and there is no mention of these houses. While they are important to Mrs. King and I, they were just a ledger entry for him, apparently.

We bought the blue house initially and that is where we spend most of our time---unless I'm in the shed out back smoking a machine made cigar and reading the Wall Street Journal like the capitalist fat cat I'm not.

For clarification's sake: I am a capitalist, but I'm not a fat cat by any stretch of the imagination. Mrs. King is a dog person. I'm a lucky dog.

The orange house is La Belle Esplanade, if I may include a link to our website, it's the #1 place to stay in New Orleans, etc., etc.... https://www.labelleesplanade.com. I don't do this for promotional purposes, but there are pages on our site about the history and the neighborhood and whatnot if you are interested. You can waste a lot of time there. I know I do.

The green house is four apartments that we rent out full-time.

We didn't intend to own all three but when we heard the orange one might be for sale, after living in the blue for a year and a half, I wrote to the owner and learned he did want to sell it----and the green one, too! It was more than we wanted but he is a real preservationist and amateur historian, and he liked the idea of all three houses being under one ownership again (he always had his eye on the blue house but he never got along with the lady we bought it from). Anyhow, he was very nice to work with so we bit off more than we should be able to chew and now we're the stewards of these three historic properties.

We just happened to be in the right place at the right time, five years after Katrina. We could never afford these houses now in this real estate market. We count our blessings and do the best we can with the opportunities God has given us.

Not to seem too promotional, which I am not trying to be---I don't expect a spike in reservations from this forum nor am I looking for it---La Belle has an Instagram account and a FB page where I usually post a picture a day of "Another beautiful New Orleans morning." Mostly it's pictures of clouds that could be taken anywhere, but I like clouds and they are a part of the local landscape, too, just more ephemeral, like daydreams and good memories.

[Thelonious monkfish]

Patch of woods I spent some time in yesterday

[Preacher1611]

Patch of woods I spent some time in yesterday

That there is a truly nice cob!

[Whalehead King]

A duck in City Park, New Orleans:


People will watch anything, and they'll like it--- on Facebook.

[Kevin Keith]

A duck in City Park, New Orleans:


People will watch anything, and they'll like it--- on Facebook.

I watched the whole thing and I loved it. I was transported..I laughed, I cried. I'll be watching that one a coupla more times, fer shur.