Blogging Business

Kirk Baxter's Designage Card
(Click on photo to enlarge.)

Recently I met with Kirk Baxter, owner of Designage here in Houston. Kirk will be designing a blog card for The Bunny Bungalow. He understands all things bunny as he has always had house rabbits. He currently lives with Pepper, a two-year-old black rabbit. The day of our appointment, Pepper was hiding out so I did not get to meet her. Perhaps at our next meeting she will make an appearance.

Can't wait to see what Kirk and Pepper come up with for the design!

Weekend Life at The Bunny Bungalow

Arts & Crafts Table with Antique French Book and Specimen Ants

The best weekends are those that are unplanned. This has been such a weekend. There was early morning coffee with biscotti in bed on Saturday and again Sunday; Saturday breakfast at a French style cafe with friends, Linda and Mac; all other meals eaten out also; antique shopping on Saturday in the neighborhood; reading; watching the video, Becoming Jane; then Sunday afternoon projects.

Projects: Tall husband repaired a nasty assault to our grass and sod by some workers who apparently had been looking for a utility line on the city easement in front of The Bunny Bungalow. I finished stripping and sanding a child's vintage chair which is now ready for a dark stain.

Antique finds: We found a wonderful leather-bound 1776 French book at Jacques Antiques. Then we could not resist the whimsical magnetic French ants at Thompson+Hanson. Our final find was an Arts & Crafts lamp table from Heights Antiques on Yale.

Madeline the Shop Girl

Madeline the Shop Girl

Madeline is a hard working girl who greets and assists customers at Chippendale Eastlake Antiques in the Heights (Houston, Texas.) She certainly doesn't let her looks go to the dogs, as this girl dresses for success. The day I was in her shop, she was wearing an adorable T-shirt with her large pearls which were tied with a shocking pink bow (eat your heart out Barbara Bush.) She graciously took a break from her duties to pose for a few shots. Being told, "You're a pretty girl, Madeline," was the only thanks she required.

Note: Madeline is a Pug but don't tell her that. She thinks she's a people.

Ding Dong Bell, Who's in The Well?

Daylily blooming in the well at The Bunny Bungalow

Old Well

At The Bunny Bungalow we have an old well that someone filled with dirt and removed its hand pump. Flowers we never planted appear in such profusion that we joke someone who loved flowers is buried there.

So, who's in the well?

Evidence of Life

Egg Shell of a Mourning Dove

What is so endearing about finding a small, empty bird egg in the grass? I think the charm lies in knowing that you are holding evidence of a beginning of life in your hand. Such a realization unleashes poignant memories: Memories of your own newborn's tiny nose that looks like yours; the first day you had to send that child out into the world; the first time you held your new grandbaby. Yes, I think that little broken shell reminds us how fragile, exquisite and painful a new beginning can be.

Sitting Pretty

Apple in a Child's Vintage Chair

Apple

Tall Husband and I were not shopping for antiques. We were merely driving by, on our way to breakfast when we spotted this tiny child's chair sitting in front of a shop. We ignored it. The next day there it was again. Tall Husband pulled the car over and said, "You know you want it."

Can't you just imagine a tiny child sitting there his first day of school, missing his mom, fighting back tears, wondering what this is all about? Then later he sits in his little chair and learns a new song; makes friends with other boys and girls who are sitting in their identical chairs; learns to correctly hold a pencil and trace letters; then finding himself out of paper he decides that the back of his chair will do just fine for his large scribble. So he makes his first mark on the world.

Painting Tip: In Search of the Right White

The Bunny Bungalow Balustrades in the right white

The Bunny Bungalow fence painted the right white

As Robert Frost has written, "...good fences make good neighbors..." and I say that if the fence is not the right white, it can be unsettling to a bungalow dweller. When we purchased The Bunny Bungalow (known as Toad Hall at that time) it had just been repainted but there was something slightly off about the look. The tan with green trim was very Ralph Lauren, which pleased the eye but the balustrades on the front porch did not seem to go with the house. One could tell that the balustrades had been painted white in an attempt to make the white picket fence go with the bungalow but there was still a visual discordance. As Tall Husband and I discussed this, he pointed out that the white was a bright, blue white that actually clashed with the bungalow colors. (Here, I must confess that we took two years to select the right white for the interior of another home.)

It was during this discussion that I recalled reading a design tip in a magazine that went something like this: If you are painting the ceiling of a room white and the walls a different color, start with adding a cup of the wall color to a gallon of white ceiling paint to arrive at a white that coordinates with the wall color. So Tall Husband mixed some of the tan paint left from painting the body of the bungalow with the white fence/balustrade paint. We painted various combinations on the fence and balustrade and looked at them during different times of the day. Voila, we found the right white! As we had put a numbered sample of each on wooden paint stirrers, we simply took the stick with our color choice to our local Sherwin-Williams for a computer match.

Then the fun of painting a picket fence began! This was my first fence job. Not fast, not fun. As I live on a corner with lots of foot traffic, I had plenty of job offers, advice, comments and questions. Most were civil and helpful, however, one man informed me that I had to get a union card!

Although, you cannot tell the difference in the above after photographs, believe me the right white is so soothing to the soul.