Galveston Victorian House, Part Deux

A few days ago I took you on a tour of my friends beautiful home in Galveston. I'm back with myore pictures of James and Jody's house and other pretty homes on their street. The picture below is a framed poster showing the front of their home, advertising a Historic Home Tour several years ago. This beauty is the home across the street. As you can see the tree on the far left is dead. Here in Houston/Galveston we still have MANY green leaves on our trees this time of year. This tree died because Hurricane Ike brought SO MUCH Sea water onto the island that many of the old oaks, pecans, pines, etc died. There are red "X's" all over the island on trees that are being marked for removal by the city.

Step into the big, beautiful kitchen. The ceilings are really tall (don't know the exact height). Check out the cabinets....they are original

This is a small 1/2 bath off the kitchen. The stained glasses is original to the house...in person, its a vibrant purple, green and gold! Check out the deep, crackled sink....

I love the fun little touches. Check out the "girl" in the corner of the stair landing. And check out the winding, beauty of the stairs.

And more stained glass on the next stair landing, heading to the third floor! This place is HUGE!

Thank goodness the big oak tree you see out of this stained glass survived and will NOT be cut down! YEAH!!

On to the backyard.....a Carriage House that is tiny but cute. A Houstonian leases the place and comes down on the weekends.

This is me and my long time friend James. He's one of the owners of the home and has absolutely wonderful taste and can do much of the work himself. What a skill, huh?

Here's another view of the back yard. Most of the plants had to be replaced and the soil amended because of sea water. Check out the cool walkways he and Jody created out of the old bricks they found through out the property. I'm always amazed at their ingenuity! THEY ROCK!

Since I figured you might want to see more of their neighborhood, I took some pictures on my way out. Get ready to ooooohhhhh and awwwwwww.....they are stunning. Galveston has come a long way since Ike but there are still tarps on roofs, trees needing to be cut down, etc., but "they've come a long way baby". Looking good!!!!

Thanks for coming along with me to Galveston....next time I go I'll take more pictures. :)

Visiting a Galveston Victorian

Last weekend I went to a visit some dear friends in Galveston, TX. They actually live down the street from me in Houston, but bought an old 100+ year old Victorian about 5 years ago and have been working hard on re-furbishing it. They did such an awesome job that their fantastic house was on the Galveston Historic Home tour back in May 2006. They have a frame picture of the tour poster in their kitchen.

Isn't this a pretty front entrance. All the leaded glass and stained glass are original to the house. Not one piece has broken during any of the major hurricanes. The only damage they got during Ike was the water came in and was up to the bottom baseboards. It ruined the electrical outlets and the baseboards needed refinishing but that was about all the damage to the house.

This pretty little sitting area is in the foyer. Both homeowners have a great eye for the fun and unusual pieces. The tropical looking artwork behind the chairs is actually an old screen door that my friend had ogled for years as he drove through a ritzy part of Houston, River Oaks. As any good "junker" he noticed the house was for sale, knocked on the door and cut a deal right then! I think it's a wonderful and unusual piece, don't you?

This is a short of the front living room. Most of the fireplaces were boarded up and had been unused for years, but James and Jody (Homeowners) were successful in making this look like it would have been in days gone by. Also, check out the cool curved walls and high ceilings.

Here's a cute little window looking out onto the front yard. I'll post more on the yard, but it's obvious that they have a green thumb too!

The reason we all got together was a Wildtree Party. Have you heard of it????http://www.wildtreeherbs.com/Products/AboutProducts.aspx My friend Rebecca has become a distributor for Wildtree Products which includes a wide array of very tasty, organic and natural seasonings, oils, mixes, etc. This is a sampling of the products we got to taste And check out the HUGE gourd used as a centerpiece.

This is one of the four bedrooms in the house. I love the beachy, cool colors they have used in the house.

When they bought the house, it was pretty much FULL of stuff from the previous owner. Isn't that cool....very "IF WALLS COULD TALK", right? All these little clocks were found in the house to create a really great collection.

And how about this for a great way to display old post cards?

At one time this house was subdivided into several small apartments. This would have been my favorite. It's a bright sunny space at the front of the house. A little bedroom was off to the left, along with a good sized bath. There was a large community kitchen, but they all has small hotplates in their room too.

This is another one of the re-worked fireplaces (In the dining room).

And another sitting area, right off the dining room and looking out the beautiful big front windows.

Sorry, these pics are out of order...but here's a shot of another pretty blue bedroom. Isn't that a relaxing color.

One more view............I'll be back in a few days for more of this beautiful house and some pictures of the kitchen, yard and carriage house.

Fun in the Sun--Houston Style

A longtime, dear friend of mine Susan A--YES another Susan!) had a birthday on October 25. As is our custom, we try to do something different and fun to celebrate. Susan A. has a flair for outdoor decorating. Below is a shot of her front door. http://bigsticksblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/funky-and-fun-trees.html You can also tell by these pictures she has a green thumb...actually, she's a certified master gardener!

She lost her precious 14 year old tuxedo cat, Lily this year and made a shine of sorts! RIP Lily....

So now onward to the celebrating.....Susan opted for several close friends to join her at a relatively new venue in Downtown Houston. It's called Discovery Green. http://www.discoverygreen.com/art/ They took raggedy old parking lots and buildings and turned the space into something beautiful and fun for Houstonians. There was a Recycled Globe exhibit and it was fun to walk around and see different artists interpretations.

That big building in the background is the George R. Brown Convention Center. Discovery Green is situated in front of the Convention Center, so when the weather is good the convention go-ers, craft fair lookers, quilt show peeps, etc. can overflow into the park and enjoy the almost year round outdoor weather Houston has to offer.

The Mist Tree is a 15-foot-high-by-22-foot-wide stainless steel structure that is sited to attract people to the park. Visible from beyond the park’s boundaries, the rain curtain and mist streams generated by the tree will entice children and adults to refresh themselves in its delightful shower.

"Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet." The public art exhibit features 50 super-sized Cool Globes that each convey a different message about what ordinary citizens can do to combat global warming. The five-foot diameter, seven-foot-tall globes were decorated by local, national and international artists.

RE-USE, RECYCLE, ETC........a theme that most of my blogging friends understand....we re-style, re-purposed, re-paint,.....so we are the ULTIMATE GREEN PEOPLE!

In honor of The King of Pop AND Halloween, locals were asked to come out early and learn Michael Jackson's dance routine in "Thriller". We were there mid afternoon and over and over again, throngs of people (Some dresses in character---Zombies!) practiced Thriller. It was a great people watching place. Later in the evening, Houston would be linked up via live satellite to "perform" thriller with other cities around the globe. Thus breaking the record of the MOST people simultaneously dancing Thriller! Pretty Cool, huh?!!??

These two pooches were enjoying all the dancing and crazy people watching!

Nationally acclaimed artist Margo Sawyer’s installation graces both exits of the underground garage, with accents interspersed through the "Green". The 151 panels hold 1,500 aluminum boxes in 65 colors. The paint on these boxes is also used in under water applications for oil rigs and was gifted by International Paint.

So, ends our wonderful birthday celebration--girl's day out! The weather could not have BEEN any better. And as we took one last look around, here's a sight we haven't see as much of in Houston, as in years past. In the BOOM time of Houston, everywhere you looked a new building was going up. It's good to see that we are building again...which mean....dare I say....maybe the economy is getting a little better. And Happy Birthday, dear Susan......I'm looking forward to spending many, many more fun girl days together!

Texas Hill Country Shopping

Recently I spent a lovely, fall weekend with my cousins in Georgetown, TX. Aren't those pumpkins great yard art!!!! That pumpkin patch would lasts forever......

My beautiful and brilliant niece, Emily, is a student at Southwestern University in Georgetown. Emily is a huge dog lover and always finds a new friend when we are out and about.

The Poppy is the official flower of Georgetown, TX. Isn't this a great graphic on the side of the antique shop?

Sweet pumpkins and ghostly gourds are a fun decoration at the front door!

I loved this clever silk poppy and black feather centerpiece. It's sure to look "fresh" the whole season.

Hollandaze Gourmets is a shop we always drop by. This store has the most interesting gadgets, coffee/tea, pottery, food items, etc. The lovely Laurie Holland is the shop owners and is a friendly, smiling face there to greet at the door and point out the latest fun products.

This is a great shop for gifts for friends and well as gifts for yourself. Check it out here.......http://www.hollandazegourmet.com/

And this is Jerry Pizzitola....chef to the stars, personal chef and party guy. http://kitchenduty.net/ He has the coolest business.....He will shop, cook, serve with flair and clean up for a party in your own home. Everything I've had that he's made is delicious....and it's not a bad deal that he's charming, witty and handsome, right?

He MAKES mozzarella cheese....YES....MAKES it! In Hollandaze there is a full kitchen on site and Jerry, and great chefs, hold cooking classes there. This particular day was a Hawaiian Theme.

Can you guess what's under the tarp!??!!? It's a roasting pig....Hawaiian Style! See the coconut on top and the huge knife stuck in the ground (left)? We didn't stay long enough for the luau because we had more shopping to do, but I can guarantee, it was delicious.

And finally....Laurie Holland (left) and my sweet, fun cousin, Marsha (right)! Thanks for a great weekend and hope to see you soon!

Check back in a few days....I'll be celebrating my ONE YEAR Blog-a-versary with a give away with some goodies from Laurie store and a some other holiday surprises!!