Tag: Houndstooth

free to choose my world

I told Tim I wanted to go into his apartment and photograph something that proved he was back home and he was all suspicious and said like what and I said I don’t know, anything, please, and he said okay. So I photographed these beautiful chests of drawers that replaced the ones that were drowned in the flood and that had once belonged to my parents and I’m sure that makes some people feel sad because after all, it was my late mother’s furniture but I just can’t hang on to all that and anyway, these are beautiful and have metal legs that keep them off the floor which I think you’re going to start seeing as the theme of replacement furniture in all the Houndstooth Hall dwellings.

Then I was going to let Penny help me take a photo of Tim’s groovy new coffee table that also has metal legs but something distracted me and when I later told Jim about the distraction he said Robert Pattinson, is he even a thing anymore, and I said I have the choice of living in a world of mythical vampires or a world of Trump which should I choose and he said point taken.

The End.

And sometimes it’s the big things

Remember that thing about how I’m NOT SUPPOSED TO BUY ANYTHING because the goal is to empty, not fill, the house right now?

That shit goes right out the window when Tom and Tim find a one-of-a-kind piece of furniture that is going to fit right in with my new decorating scheme when I set up my home office again. But I swear, this is the LAST DAMN THING that comes into the house until all the repairs are done.

In fact, four pieces of furniture are about to leave the house to go to an upholsterer for recover and repair. As soon as I can find an upholsterer. Are you in Houston? Can you recommend one?

Couldn’t resist

I’m supposed to be moving things OUT of the house in preparation for the crew to come in and begin installing insulation and sheetrock. But ultimately, I just couldn’t resist this little tin trike. I don’t even know why, but it could be the first whimsical purchase I’ve made since the flood.


It has a really smooth ride. Jack is not impressed so though I’d like to photograph him on it, HE WILL NOT HAVE IT.

it feels like it will never be clean enough

Some of the things you end up getting after a flood.


An industrial mop bucket to go with the massive mop Jess and Pete brought when they came to save the day.


An I’m-not-even-kidding-I-will-conquer-that-bayou-flooded-tile floor cleaner to use in the apartments.


A new Dyson to replace the one drowned in the flood. It’s pretty and skinny and fierce like Heidi Klum.

Update

I don’t have photos to prove it, but:

Tim and his dogs are all back in Fox Den. There are still some touch-up things Keith and Crew need to do, but he is home and slowly replacing his furniture and unpacking. This is a great step to recovery from the flood!

Work continues in Fairy Cottage, and soon Debby and her dogs will be moving out of our larger guest room and back home. Maybe by Thanksgiving? This is my favorite holiday, and though we may be celebrating it in the chaos and mess of Houndstooth Hall, still, we’ll be together.

Both Tom and I have now replaced our flooded cars. Another advance toward normalcy.


Random crap from my old car (“old” being a weird word since I only had the car for a year and two months and was sad to lose it) that hasn’t been moved to my new car (and that means “new to me” because it’s a 2015) because I move through life in a fog of too many work hours and an unhealthy dose of insomnia and too much caffeine and not enough vegetables. I’m a mess. Not a hot mess, just a mess.

picturesque but bound for the debris pile


That’s my kitchen window and that’s my view of the ruellia growing there. I love the purple flowers and I like this time of year when I can see the light changing. The light is one of the reasons autumn–even in Texas–is my favorite season.

The ruellia lines a fence which is in a sorry state of repair, and I’ve liked that about it. It has an abandoned countryside feel to it. But some of the rails have already crumbled to nothing, so Tom says it’s headed for the debris pile today.

Once we decide on a different backdrop for the ruellia, I’ll share photos.

Making it pretty

This is the corner of the yard I see from my desk when my desk is in my office, which it is not at this time and won’t be for quite a while. But when I do get my office back, I’ll be looking out at where we’ve covered the ground where no grass can grow with pretty river rocks. And by “we” I mean Debby, because I did none of this. She gets my Landscaping Hero of the Season award.

homecoming draws closer

Progress is being made!

There are doors and trim to be painted, cabinets to stain, and a bathroom sink to remove from the middle of the kitchen floor…

You can tell things are happening because it’s the RETURN OF THE DEBRIS PILE ON THE CURB!

The mayor says Phase 1 of debris removal is complete. We need Phase 2 to reach our neighborhood, because all the houses whose curbs weren’t full are full now, and almost all of us who had stuff removed now have more. Also, our streets are full of nails and other tire-unfriendly things. Now that Tom and I have replaced both cars, we’d like to keep our tires. (In the Yes I’m Bitter Department: we BOTH bought new tires for our cars just before Harvey came and drowned them.)

Also back with us are two Lambert dogs (Pollock is sticking with Tim in the secret Unicorn Sanctuary).

Here’s Penny gazing at the door to Fox Den. She wants to be there so much with Tim and her siblings.

And Pixie’s not impressed by the current Houndstooth Hall decor.

It won’t be too much longer, P Dogs. Then at least half of this will be out of what used to be the office.

The rest will go when Debby’s place is finished. They don’t have any furniture, but they’ll have lots of boxes!

some progress

What you may have gathered from previous posts is that Tim is not back home with his dogs yet. But yesterday his return journey officially kicked off. Let me give you a little perspective.

This is Tim’s apartment right after it was finished and ready for him to move in back in 2015. Keith our contractor and his crew made it so pretty, right?

The photo below is after the flood. If you look at the towel hanging on the stove, you can see the water got at least as high as its bottom, and it began soaking up the water that makes part of the towel darker blue. It was just under fifteen inches deep in there. The water opened the cabinet under the sink and stuff began floating out of it. Here, the water has receded to only about two to four inches deep.

About five days after the flood, thanks to the return of Keith and Crew as well as Jess and Pete, Tim’s apartment looked like this.

After yesterday’s installation of insulation and today’s hanging of drywall, things are looking a little brighter in Fox Den!