~DayTrip and a Decision~

Saturday morning, we stopped at All About Home. I wrote about this wonderful shop on Main Street, in our town, last November. After visiting with shop owner, Lori, we drove north, to Bowling Green Missouri, home of Bankhead's Chocolates. Bankhead's has been providing our part of the world with delicious hand dipped chocolates since 1919. I often give Bankhead's Chocolates as hostess gifts and to guests visiting our home. I even took a pound of Bankhead's along on a train trip to Chicago, for a weekend with my daughters and granddaughters, in May 2005. We left St Louis Union Station at about 4 AM. At just around 6 AM we couldn't wait another minute to try a sample! You can buy the chocolates by the piece or by the pound. Saturday, we selected a variety for the road.

As we left Bowling Green we turned east and drove toward Louisiana Missouri and the Mississippi River.

At Louisiana we drove south on Highway 79, the Great River Road, toward Clarksville Missouri. At the edge of town, we spotted this fellow and a few of his friends. We missed being in Clarksville for Eagle Days, last month and thought we didn't have a chance of seeing these magnificent birds, the symbol of our beautiful country.

We parked on the banks of the icy Mississippi and what a show, these gorgeous birds provided. We were also pleased to see Pelicans on the river. An amazing sight! We counted over 60 American Bald Eagles. I'm sure there were many more. There seemed to be countless numbers of Pelicans.

A view of the Great River Road, from the passenger's seat.

This home is located in Clarksville Missouri.

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~The Decision~

We used the day trip, to clear our heads a bit, concerning the "Decision".

Many of you know, last Wednesday we received an e-mail, telling us our room was under consideration for inspiration on a new show at HGTV. I've posted three rooms on HGTV's Rate My Space website, since the middle of January. I've posted spaces, at RMS, in the past, left them up awhile, then deleted them from the site. A year or so ago, I featured our Hosta garden, back porch and dining room. Last month, on a whim I decided to post our living room, then later our guest room. A week ago today, I posted our master bedroom. J and I were both surprised to see this room on the first page of Top Rated and Most Viewed, for as long as it was. I believe it's still there this morning. We had no idea the room would receive so many views, since our other rooms quickly faded into the sunset, shortly after posting.

We assume it is the master bedroom, the show producer was interested in. When I opened the first e-mail, I couldn't believe it. Is this real?? Of course, I ran right over to my online decorating boards and asked my friends there, what they made of it. Quick research by one of my friends revealed the site for the new show, Rate My Space. The premise is to use elements from three successful makeovers, shown on the Rate My Space site, to makeover a low rated space from the site. I believe it's an exciting concept and hope the show does well.

The first e-mail contained e-mail info for the show field producer. I e-mailed him a quick query as to what is involved for the homeowner. When I hit send, I turned to J and said, I believe they will want to come here, to which he replied, "I hope not!". The producer replied to my e-mail, quickly. J and I knew this was going to take careful consideration. I was in touch with online friends and in person friends via e-mail, my boards and the Back Porch. I called our daughters and got their input. At the suggestion of one of our friends, we drew on our experience of opening our home for a Christmas tour.

We considered our age and health. This health thing is a huge unknown, especially at this time of our life. That was at the top of our list to consider. We figured we could get passed our shyness in front of a camera. That was the least of our concerns. Could we do this show and remain anonymous? Would we be subjects of ridicule? You can't imagine the thoughts that ran through our heads as we pondered this wonderful invitation.

In the end, I kept going back to J's initial reaction. J has supported me in every decorating idea that has popped into my head for over 25 years. He learned even before we were married, I had a bit of an addiction to decorating and redecorating rooms. He told me he has no worries if a magazine wishes to come here for a shoot. But he truly does not wish to do this show. Since I love him, and he loves me and indulges me in every way, I agree with him on this latest proposed adventure. I sent an e-mail to the producer, yesterday morning, declining the invitation and wishing him the very best in the new production. We are so pleased that he believed our endeavor worthy for use as inspiration. The invitation is something we will never forget.

EDIT: Since posting this, this morning, we received a lovely reply from the producer. All in all, this has been a pleasant experience with the HGTV people, from the beginning.