Everything old...

My love of vintage things came from my dad.  As a kid I loved to listen to my dad tell me stories about New York City in the 1930's and 40's, the places he and his brothers used to explore and the crazy things they used to do that we would never let our children do today.  Things like riding the subways and jumping on to the back of trolly cars, stealing pies from the pie shops and selling fake raffle tickets to earn a little cash.  My dad was a scrappy little hooligan, but with a heart of gold.  

Dad loves to hold on to things, so I was surprised when he called me up saying that he wanted to sell some of his fishing reels.  These reels were still in the original boxes, most never used, and were made in the 1940's.  The biggest of the reels was a Penn 16/0 Senator reel.  It was the same sized one that was used in the movie Jaws.  I've never seen a reel that size!

To sell it I had to take all of the line off the spool.  One and a half miles worth of string- not even exaggerating...

My boss is renovating her mother's townhome and this lovely piece was sitting on the back porch.  It is a hard wood and from Oklahoma vintage 1890's.  When she asked if I'd like to have it I jumped at the chance.  It now sits on our little back atrium patio and holds all of my gardening supplies.  I adore this little piece...

As I get older I think more about the things I am thankful that my parents passed on to me.  I love that I have such a deep appreciaton for the beauty of old things and that these pieces are used to create this little home that means so much to us. 

tiny Tudor history...

One of my neighbors passed on some history about our town homes and it lead to me doing a bit of digging myself, and I found out that our home built as a part of the Gold Medallion Electric Home Campaign.  You can read more about the history of that campaign here

Originally, our town house community was supposed to have 290 homes, but instead we are just a small community of 64 homes.  The homes were showcased in a "Galaxy Home Tour" in 1966.  They were built across from the Johnson Space Center as "homes of the future" and completely electric featuring all GE appliances.

I spy The tiny Tudor...

Ronald Reagan, and his wife Nancy did several ads for the Gold Medallion homes and it was a huge ad and print campaign...

Most of the homes that were in the program featured a medallion that was placed outside of the door. Being the house history geek that I am I found one on ebay and ordered it.  Yep- that is going to be mounted outside the door of our tiny Tudor.

I love to know the stories behind buildings and homes.  Knowing the story behind our tiny Tudor just makes it that much more special...

One Year Later...

It's been one year since we moved into our tiny Tudor.  I have always been in love with whatever house we've lived in, but I have to admit to this one being my very favorite.  Maybe it's the smaller size, less upkeep, or centralized location, but it really is our best house yet. 

A year ago we were picking out flooring, finishes, paint, appliances, cabinets, countertops and everything else that goes into a remodel.  I'm happy to report that a year later we still love all of our choices.  

wood floors, bathroom floors and interior doors...

 I love our open and light entryway.  Yes, people walk by and look into the windows- some even wave, and that's okay by me.

Our tiny kitchen is the hardest working room in the house.  I love to cook, so this room has seen a lot of meals over the past year.  I get a lot of questions about our honed Cararra marble countertops and how they are holding up.  They are showing signs of scratchign and etching and I adore them. This was precisely why I wanted marble, for the aged patina they will create over time.  

Despite our lovely kitchen, we aquired The Big Green Egg and I am now an offiial Egg Head!  We cook out a lot on our little patio area even though it's 1,000 degrees outside.

It's been really nice to have a proper dining room.  Our kitchen was too tiny for an eat in area, and I really thought I'd miss that, but I don't.  This is the homeschool area, eating area, bill paying area, game night area.  It serves so many functions.  

Our living room is well lived in.  Evenings are spent watching our favorite shows, or just sitting around talking.  I can't think of anything I'd change about this room...

I love that this neighborhood is small enough that the kid's friends can ride their bikes over and then take a short walk over to the local shops or frozen yogurt place...

Our little city was voted one of the most fun places to live.  I couldn't agree more, but then I grew up here so I know I'm a bit biased.   All I know is that there is no place like home.  

Happy One Year Anniversary to our tiny Tudor!

Limbo...

We are entering week 11 of the strike.  This was not something we saw extending much past a month/month and a half.  It's been stressful, but like every other storm we have weathered- we are making it.   Negotiations continue, and we are hopeful that they will come to an agreement very soon. He should be hearing about an interview with another company next week- we are definately not going to be sitting around waiting for the next strike in four years...

In the meantime we have been working on small projects around the tiny tudor as well as contract jobs for some of my clients.  Travis has been hard at work in his workshop...

The laundry room wall is tiled and we are calling this project finished...

Spring has made for a lovely courtyard garden...

As soon as the strike is called off we will have two weeks before Travis returns to work.  I think we are going to take advantage of the time and go ahead and start revamping our atrium.   French doors are going to be added to the atrium room leading to the little atrium outside, and we are still debating what to do in the atrium itself.  Right now it's a half and half hot mess of tile and dying grass...

Funny story behind that rock- it's a POND.  Yes, underneath there is a pond.  

I've started a new part time job.  I really can't give the specifics out yet, but I am very excited about the possibilities this may have and the opportunity to combine my love of learning, children, organization, creativity, and design.  I am giving it a test run for 2-3 weeks to see where it may go...


Thank you for all of your emails and messages about Hunter.  We are waiting on the return of health insurance to run all the needed tests.  Until then, he is busy with learning and just being a happy kid.

Have a great week...

Around the tudor...

We are entering week 8 of this bloody strike.  Travis is going to test and hopefully interview with another company this week.  Fingers crossed that something will happen, because Travis doesn't do idle time very well.  In saying that he has not been idle at all since this whole thing started.  Thankfully he has had a steady stream of small woodworking jobs.  He is happiest in his workshop, so along with making a little money his mind is occupied.

The laundry room is finished except for the tile on the opposite wall above the sink and washer...

Travis is usually here in the garage working on something...

Hunter celebrated his 14th birthday...

  It's amazing to me that just 13 years ago he looked like this...

like father, like son...

We have kept up with our traditional Tuesday night date night with these two...

Rodeo and Blake Shelton

 We celebrated World Down Syndrome Day...

at our GHFEDS party...

Created a new joke in the family about what it feels like to kiss my husband...

wokka, wokka, wokka...

Spring has sprung in Texas...

Back in February I was elected to our HOA board.  I was elected as VP, so my neighbor gave me this comic...

Hopefully this next week will bring an end to the strike or a new opportunity for Travis.   Good juju...