Tag: Houndstooth

Whimsy and the spin cycle

Over the last year, I’ve done a LOT of laundry. So when we moved into Houndstooth Hall and I began unpacking boxes and finding things I hadn’t seen in a while, I decided to create a fun wall in the new laundry room. (Well, I thought of it. Tom made it happen.) This is the first time Tom and I have ever had a laundry room inside any home we’ve lived in during our marriage. In our apartments, they were in exterior rooms; in our houses, in the garages. It’s kind of awesome.

The wooden paper towel holder was a gift from my brother back in the 1980s and has been in all my kitchens since. But because of the tiled backsplash in the new place, I couldn’t hang it. It’s perfect here, though! The cross-stitched pig is from my mother, and probably the pig couple and the Welcome pig are, too. The pigs with bells were finds at an antique store and are made from 1800s quilts. And the other pigs pictured here are probably all from Lynne.

Most people think pigs and dirt go together. But let me tell you, precious dogs and cats can create a LOT of dirty linen. I’ve been their laundress for over a year because I love them all.


A week’s worth of transport laundry. Now it will be done at the rescue clinic by kennel techs and volunteers and I LOVE THEM as much as dogs and cats! =)

Happy Earth Day!

Here are offerings from the grounds of Houndstooth Hall.

There are plants that came with us from The Compound, too.


Everything is keeping the bees busy.

The dogs are enjoying nature, too. Sometimes, they’re enjoying it a little too much. If we’re keeping score, it’s

Hounds: 2
Squirrels: 0

and

Hounds: 2
Birds: 0

The latest fatality was yesterday, when I found Anime on the office couch with a dead bird bigger than her head. I disposed of the bird (RIP), then texted Tom.

Tom: It’s fu*king Wild Kingdom.
Me: It ain’t Disney.

Button Sunday

I recently read Daphne du Maurier and Her Sisters: The Hidden Lives of Piffy, Bird and Bing by Jane Dunn, and though plenty of the details of the sisters’ lives were fascinating, what struck me was that almost every page mentioned a residence of some kind–townhome, cottage, mansion, castle, farmhouse, villa–and each of these had a name. These homes were scattered over England, Scotland, Canada, the northeastern U.S., France, and Italy and became, for me, characters in the du Mauriers’s lives as significant as their families, lovers, and friends. In fact, the brooding, decaying Menabilly, perhaps the greatest love of Daphne’s life, was the model for Manderly in her novel Rebecca.

Each night as I powered down the Nook after reading a while, I’d lie awake waiting for the name of our new home to come to me, considering and rejecting so many possibilities. The only thing I knew is that when Debby retires and moves here, her home on the property is to be the Fairy Cottage. And Tim’s temporary name for his apartment is The Storage Unit (he hasn’t unpacked because there are renovations in the near future, so he may as well wait and endure living out of boxes. Lots of boxes.).

I was in that dreamlike state just before sleep finally takes over one night when I heard the name in my head. I became wide awake for a while, trying to think of any reason I didn’t like it. When I woke up the next morning, it was still there. It’s one of my favorite tweed patterns. It references our love of dogs. It pays tribute to Coach Bear Bryant and the University of Alabama, alma mater of my father, Tom, me, and several of Tom’s siblings.

I introduce you to our new property, Houndstooth Hall. Tom and I live in Houndstooth House proper. I’ve already created the new guestbook (it’s a good thing we sold The Compound, as that guestbook was almost full!), though our first guests have to sign their guest cards still (I was an absent-minded hostess and forgot to print them while they were here).

My little hound helper in the photos is actually a pen that was in my birthday presents Geri sent me. Meanwhile, for those family members and friends who support Alabama’s arch rival and are shaking their heads about the houndstooth, I’ll share a photo of a new family member with you. Daniel’s mother Terri adopted him from a shelter and named him BoCam after two of Auburn University’s legendary football players. We love you BoCam, and you are welcome at Houndstooth any time!

Quiet Corner


Other than when it was full of boxes as we were moving in, I didn’t take “before” photos of a quiet little corner in the library of the wall opposite the fireplace. It’s nestled just outside the kitchen, and I’m not sure anyone will ever use it but me.

My parents’ roll-top desk is there. In one of our moves from house to house in Alabama, they bought furniture in the store where my first boyfriend worked as a high school student. I think the only things left from that shopping trip are the desk and a glass ashtray. Even though that boyfriend was lifetimes ago, when Mother started giving away her stuff, she said I should have those two things because Tim G sold them to her. How could I argue with such logic? And I do love sitting at that desk to write letters.

The paintings over the desk are watercolors my father painted in Germany. Once again, I scored possession because I was born there. I’m pretty sure this is where my siblings believe our mother’s logic broke down. It was kind of fun at my birthday dinner, with the two of them sitting at the table with Tom, Tim, Lynne, Rhonda, and Lindsey, to try to negotiate trades of things that used to belong to our parents. I don’t think any agreements were reached.

On that other wall is the painting I once talked about here, and under that, a photo taken by James in Montgomery Woods, home of the Sequoia sempervirens redwoods near Mendocino, California. This is where he scattered some of my friend/his boyfriend John’s ashes in 1997. James had the photo framed with a poem I wrote, “Montgomery Creek.”

Speaking of James, he was in town a couple of weeks ago and came by to visit and check out the new place. Anime fell completely in love with him and stayed glued to him his entire visit. I’m not surprised. As long as I’ve known him, James has always had an adoring fan base (I’m by no means a founding member, but I am a devoted one).

The bookcase in that corner holds a lot of reference books–technical, grammatical, metaphysical, geological, spiritual, astrological–as varied as any lifetime of interests can be. It also holds two drawings our niece Toni did when she was a little girl and found out our dachshunds Pete and Stevie had died.

Those will always have a place of honor with the dogs’ ashes. The little monk was my mother’s and reminds me of Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals, and next to him is a tiny carved wooden dog that my mother talked Cousin Elenore into giving her. Then there are photos of the dogs through the years.

I probably should be at the roll-top desk writing thank-you notes right now…

That House: The Sunroom

The sunroom is where I have my office and the sewing and craft areas and supplies. Originally it was a patio, and previous owners had it built in. At first I planned to take out the vertical blinds, but now I’ve gotten fond of them. They make me think of Florida houses in the 1960s, appropriate since the house was built in 1960 and Houston’s climate is generally similar to Tampa’s.

How it was:

Indoor/outdoor carpet.

Floor being leveled, excessive and unnecessary cables being removed.

Current:

Note the dog beds scattered around the room on the new floor. Note Guinness on the floor. Note Anime on the sofa.


I bought those old tavern tables and stools many years ago after my mother moved out of the apartment at The Compound and I needed some furniture in there. Tim didn’t want to use them in his new place, so they now serve as a “computer bar” where guests can use my PC, if needed, or set up their laptops or other devices. I need for Lynne (HINT) to make new stool covers for me. I have fabric!

That stained glass window is one my mother gave me. It was propped in a window of the room at The Compound that was at different times my office and a guest room (aka “Lisa’s suite”). If you’re in the kitchen, the sunlight coming through the office illuminates it. At night, light from the kitchen brightens it from the other side.

My desk is a mess because I was in the middle of organizing a lot of paperwork when I shot these photos.

But you can also see my sewing machine, a work/craft table, Margot in a crate… Those filing cabinets were all different sizes and colors and were beaten up from years in our garage. Tom repainted them to match my black desk, and now when I need to find something, I don’t have to be devoured by mosquitos to get to it. Everything in one place: This is a luxury after twenty years.

When the blinds are open, I have a view of almost the entire back yard, so the dogs can run in and out and I’m always able to see what they’re up to. Here, little foster dog Macho is trying to talk Anime into going out with him. They all love the space outside.

I love the space inside.

For Timmy, because it’s still your birthday month

I think of this shelf on my new built-ins as the Timmy Shelf. Not only are these children’s books (one of them a childhood favorite that you helped me find!), but a collection of some of my eggs sits next to an old chicken I bought 25-ish years ago made of antique quilts, and then I put your “Hen in Hay” collage painting with it. This little tableau makes me so happy. =)

Hall of Angels

For many years, Lynne made it her mission to find what she called “the ugliest pigs in the world” to add to my collection. I no longer collect pigs, so no one should ever send me any, Marika, because they will only be donated to a charitable resale shop, as these will be. Sorry, Lynne, but I think it’s time for them to be enjoyed by more people than just me you us, so they are traveling on now.

However, various gifts from Lynne and others will be displayed in what I’m calling The Hall of Angels. They include this beautiful cross-stitched “Angel of Hope,” finally re-framed, that can be seen from the library, kitchen, dining room, and of course walking into the back of the house. I hope this softens the blow, Lynne.

Ignore the green-glowy-eyed Pollock. Angels have that effect on him.