The Rabbit Hole: A Texas Roadtrip

A small, stone rabbit peers through a rabbit hole in the side of the Parker Corn Crib Cabin in Chappell Hill, Texas.

In Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice follows a white rabbit through the Rabbit Hole into Wonderland, a place inhabited by strange and wonderful sights and characters. Tall Husband and I fell through such a portal this weekend, finding sights and characters every bit as wonderful as Alice's entourage.

Click on any photo to enlarge.

John Beland in Historic Downtown Brenham, Texas.

At lunch at Ernie's American Bistro in Brenham, Texas, we found John Beland, the legendary session guitarist. Tall Husband, who plays classical guitar, immediately informed me that this guitarist is "scary good." After lunch, we sat awhile, listening to John's wonderful stories and more music.

We found a beautiful little shop on Main Street in historic Chappell Hill, Texas. The shop has been thoughtfully restored, retaining its original ladder and board ceiling and walls. The shopkeepers had great stories about the renovation and a family friend who hand weaves all their baskets.

We discovered a wonderful historic church, also on Main Street. The keeper there told us of how people always want the bell to ring at events, however, she says that she refuses to climb up to the 18 foot ceiling, crawl through the small opening and replace the rope. Tall Husband is bothered by anything that doesn't work, so he has come up with solutions, which I suspect he will foist upon the Baptists of Chappell Hill.

Parker Corn Crib Cabin. Please notice that the little two-burner stove is by Wolf...first Class for this little jewel of a cabin!

This little corn crib turned guest cabin has more stories to reveal than most libraries. We met John Zimmerman who told us the story of how he and his crew engineered moving the old fireplace, along with it's chimney, from a nearby town and installed it in the middle of the rebuilt cabin. The owner, Kathy, had found the fireplace and it's chimney standing sans house in the middle of a field.

A precious little trinket embedded in the chimney.

Though we had visited this cabin before, we had not discovered the old tiny china dolls embedded long ago in the surface of the fireplace by an unknown whimsical soul. This time we found them! Fellow Bloggers, could that magical person be our soul mate?

Have a look at Maryanne's Beadboard UpCountry posting on The Country Homes of Chappell Hill Holiday Home Tour.

Plumbing at the Bungalow

Tall Husband says that building a structure is like making sausage: The sausage may turn out to be delicious but you don't want to watch it being made. Above is proof: we learned that our 1920 bungalow has it's original underground plumbing...which has to be brought up to code. Codes or not, the old pipes aren't functional. The pipes which are visible were updated, so we did not suspect that they connected to antique pipes underground. Surprise!

We cannot wait until the next surprise. But there is good news to report: we have a great team of architects, builder and plumbers.

White Wednesday: A Fine French Hen for Saara

Whenever we take a roadtrip to see Tall Son and his family, we always stop in historic Brenham, Texas to visit with Maryanne and Robespierre at their French flavored shop, Beadboard UpCountry. On our Thanksgiving trip, we were looking for hostess gifts for our daughter-in-law Saara. Saara (who should write a book...schooled by nuns in a Mexican convent, married a Mexican diplomat who mysteriously died in Denmark) loves chickens. In Beadboard that day, sat this wonderful hand carved wooden hen. So, this fine French hen now dominates Saara's kitchen table.

The Sartorialist at Houston Coffee and Cars?

Click on photo to enlarge.

This chic couple, spotted alongside their Ferrari at Houston Coffee and Cars, look as if they belong on the pages of The Sartorialist Blog. But I got the shot!

Note: Until January 2010 you may see the December gathering at Houston Coffee and Cars in the slide show in the right column.

There's a Cat Tearing up my Back Yard

As you may know, Tall Husband and I have two homes in Houston and due to pending retirement and the economy, we have been faced with making a choice. It was a long and tough decision process but thanks to the encouragement and advice from so many of you, we have chosen between My Ranchburger and our weekend house, The Bunny Bungalow. The Bungalow will be our full time home. Since it is so tiny, we hired great architects and a builder to design and build a garage/studio out back. We did not want to add on to the bungalow, as we want to keep its original 1920 beautifully simple design.

You can follow our progress and adventures via a slide show right here on this blog, in the right hand column. Meanwhile, we're both bugeyed!

A Light Touch

Click on any photo to enlarge and study how Aaron Rambo and Ruth Davis of Found have added sultry lighting.

As promised in a previous post, here are some more views of the recent party at Found for the Home, a Houston shop that is chockfull of antiques and repurposed industrial chic. Plus, these wonderful gray suede pumps which Tall Husband spotted...hmm, do you think he has a foot fetish? No, he just knows how I love great shoes.

White Wednesday: Antique White

All photos taken at Found for the Home in Houston.

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