Tag: Houndstooth

In the trenches

This is how things have looked at Houndstooth Hall for the last few days. Trenches deep enough for dogs to get lost in. Concrete jackhammered into rocks. Oh, plumbing woes. But it’s almost over now. So far with no dogs playing combat.


The boards are covering the tunnels. The plastic is covering mounds of dirt. Good thing, too, because it’s Houston, therefore: torrential rainstorm.

Photo Friday, No. 539

Current Photo Friday theme: Macro


This may not look like much to anyone else, but to me, it’s the affirmation of hope. This is one of my scheffleras that was so damaged by the winter weather. Lynne cut them back for me, and one showed new growth immediately, but everyone was sure the other was dead.

The second one has proved them wrong, and reminded me never to give up hope. And because Debby saw it, she gave her own presumed-dead schefflera another look and found tiny leaves on it, too. Happiness is the best kind of contagious.

It took four months, but…

Back in September, one of the Photo Friday challenges was to post seven days of photos. I used those seven days to post undone projects. I’m happy to report that two of those were ACCOMPLISHED and one is ongoing.

Ongoing: We have actually used some Craft Nights to sit around the table and color together from my vast collection of adult coloring books. I’ll share photos of some of those in a later post.

Done: I actually mailed all the Christmas cards I’d intended and included not only 2016’s Houndstooth Hall photo, but 2015’s for those people who I never sent cards to. I feel so much better now that I’ve touched base with a lot of people I would never want to lose contact with! I’m not sure I ever shared the 2016 photo on here, so this is what went out. Thanks, Lindsey and Rhonda, for making the photo happen.

I’m holding our former foster dog Chaya and Jack; Tom’s holding Delta and Anime; Tim has the three Ps Penny, Pixie, and Pollock; and Debby has her two, Stewie and Harley.

Done: Thanks to Lynne’s skills and Tom’s assistance, the fabric on our kitchen island went from this:

to this:

I like getting the houndstooth theme firmly established in at least one room of the Hall.

There are still things left undone, of course, but I’m making progress!

Photo Friday, No. 531

Current Photo Friday theme: Winter


We had an unexpected freeze, and I was trying to take a photo of my poor damaged sheffelerra. I’ve had two of them for many years–one since the mid-1990s–and now both are probably lost. What I didn’t realize when I shot this was that I had a little photo bomber, if you can see him. Thanks, Lynne, for identifying him as a stink bug. I’m sure he is a stinker who doesn’t care a whit that my beloved plants are gone.

Button Sunday

Keeping with the theme of the button, here are some of our Peanuts ornaments.

We received this from George, our realtor, when we closed on our new home in late 2014.

Hmmm. That angel to the upper right happens to be a casualty of Jack. But I digress.

Tom’s parents collected Peanuts ornaments through the years and gave them to Tom and his siblings. That’s how Tom has Linus and Snoopy.

One-Armed Lucy came home with me after I discovered her injured and marked down after Christmas last year. I couldn’t just leave her to suffer–though that wouldn’t have been in silence. Nobody can suffer louder than Lucy Van Pelt.