A Mystery at The Bunny Bungalow

I tell you boys, those two are up to something. They've been sneaking off and returning with these strange rolls of paper. This is the latest one.

I can't make out anything from here. Let's unroll it!

Well boys, you're in luck...I've seen this sort of thing before.

Those two are about to build a giant Bunny Hutch out back! What!?

Tall Husband and I are quite excited. We have made the decision to live full time at The Bunny Bungalow in the Houston Heights. As the Bungalow is tiny and has no garage, we found wonderful architects, Rogers + Labarthe Architects, who have designed a magical Arts & Crafts style carriage house with studio for The Bunny Bungalow. Reports from the structural engineer and the soil survey were received. All was well, so the requests for bids went out to builders late last week.

We have also been busy completing upgrades and exterior painting at My Ranchburger, which will be put up for sale early next year (the same great real estate agent who found the Bungalow for us will handle the sale.) Our plans are to then live in the new studio at The Bunny Bungalow while the kitchen and bathrooms are remodeled in the Bungalow proper.

I'll be posting about the progress from time to time.

Heights Station Antiques

Have you ever seen a more precious face? This is one of the custom-made babies used as props in the musical Ragtime, on Broadway and on national tour. Now they await another curtain call in Heights Station Antiques.

Saturday when Tall Husband and I were at Heights Station Antiques, one of our favorite antique venues, we met these cuties (all six of them.) My heart melted and I immediately asked permission to return on Sunday to do a photo session. Permission was graciously granted and we were back on Sunday with camera, tripod and big smiles.

Above are two more baby dolls, who were also props in Ragtime. Note that precious little hand. I wish that I could tell you who the dollmaker is...such exquisite work. These babies seem so real that leaving them makes one sad.

Along the same theme is an antique doll pram.

Below, enjoy a few of the wonderful antiques that we found at Heights Station Antiques:

Heights Station Antiques, housed in an old 1895 carriage barn at 121 Heights Blvd., Houston, Texas, USA (713) 868-3175.

Note: Heights Station was featured in Martha Stewart Living magazine August 2008.

Remembering

September 11, 2001

Links:
Remembering the Victims of 9/11-Project 2,996
September 11 Digital Archive: Saving the Histories of September 11, 2001
National September 11 Memorial and Museum

Where were you that day? Was a dear one taken from you?

White Wednesday: The Birds and Beads

Above necklace of cultured freshwater pearls is by Paloma Picasso for Tiffany.

All pearls from Tiffany & Co.

Above: 96 inches of cultured freshwater pearls from Tiffany & Co.

Don't you just love that pearls come in so many whites? I am amused when I wear pearls and someone tells me that they look so real.

White Wednesday is hosted by Faded Charm Cottage, where you'll find links to more white stuff.

Say No to Candle Soot

This smokeless, environmentally friendly candle is from Beadboard UpCountry in Brenham, Texas.

Thanks to Maryanne and Peter of Beadboard UpCountry, we are replacing our smudge pots (old candles) with environmentally friendly candles. Maryanne and Peter told us about the soot damage that candles made from petroleum by products cause. Even if you don't keep shop in an historic building, as they do, you still don't want candle soot on your ceiling or carpets. And you don't want to be breathing candle soot.

Beadboard Upcountry now carries only the clean burning candles, including battery-powered candles that flicker with the elegance of the real candles. So, no candle soot shall touch our old bungalow.

Kids Still Say the Darndest Things

If you were to ask me to name my favorite television show of all times, I would tell you that has to be Art Linkletter's House Party, which ran on CBS from 1952 to 1970. The segment of the show in which he interviewed children, Kids Say the Darndest Things, was what kept me and the rest of America watching. Art knew that a kid's perspective on life was important and entertaining. He taught us that what kids have to say is important and that we should listen.

Following Art's example, I've been listening to kids my entire life and I can tell you that the really important stuff I've learned in life, I have learned from kids. Here's just a few of the things they have taught me:

• Babies don't fall out of their mommy's tummies because they are tied in by a string.
• You can repair anything with a hammer and some tape.
• A good story for you to read is about a girl named Cinderella and her Fairy Guard Mother.
• Boys think that the Bogeyman is in the closet but girls know that he is really under their bed.
• Every citizen in the United States has silver rights.
• All fairytales should begin with the phrase, One piece of time and end with, I don't remember the rest.
• If your pants are too short, wear a pair of highheels which will push your legs up into your pants, making the pants look the right length.
• Mama couldn't possibly be Santa Clause because she's not fat enough and doesn't have much of a beard.
• The main cause of fires is the Dalmatian dog that rides on the firetruck.
• If you still have checks in your checkbook, you still have money at the bank.
• If a new sibling has over stayed his welcome, ask Mom if she's going to return him when she takes the library books back.
• Jello should be served at every meal.
• If you go to a foreign country and don't learn their language, you can't eat or use the bathroom.
• If adults speak a foreign language poorly, you should laugh at them so that you don't have to listen to bad language.
• If your mom makes you clean your room, don't hide your stuff in the closet, 'cause she will look there...pile it on your bed, then make the bed.
  
• You shouldn't eat any food that has eyes that look at you.
• Always take a grandparent shopping with you in case you don't have enough money, 'cause this won't work with a parent.
• If someone is boring you, tell them you have to use the restroom...then don't come back.

What are some of the things children in your life have taught you?

See Art Linkletter and his kids by clicking on the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im58XcqDu9M

White Wednesday #6

The mushroom's stem or stipe.

The mushroom's gills or lamellae.

The mushroom's cap or pileus.

A mushroom is a work of art by Mother Nature.


White Wednesday is hosted by Faded Charm Cottage, where you'll find links to more white stuff.