Originally posted October 2007
For the past year, Dennis and Jordan have shown up just about everyday to work on this house.
Aside from electric, plumbing, foundation, interior paint and some dirt work, they have done the work themselves. Framing, roofing, trimming, staining, siding, stairs, windows, doors, and the trillions of tasks in between.
Did I ever [...]
This is Hal Sears. Hal and I used to work together at the Community Mercantile which is a cooperative grocery store in Lawrence, Kansas specializing in natural foods, organic produce, and a vast selection of bulk herbs.
Hal was the herb buyer for the store and for a few years, I was the ‘herb stocker [...]
A few weeks ago, I toured the home of Mary Carol Garrity during her summer open house.
Mary Carol Garrity is the owner of the fabulous Nell Hill’s and Garrity’s stores in Atchison, Kansas as well as the newly opened Nell Hill’s at Briarcliff in Kansas City.
She has also written several books on interior decorating as well [...]
Our first stop will be the urban slums.
Today, the world’s population numbers almost seven billion souls. Close to one billion of these souls live in urban slums.
The number of folks living in urban shanty towns is projected to triple in under fifty years.
So that will be three billion people living in cardboard shacks on [...]
Perched on the eastern banks of the wide Missourah, Atchison, Kansas was once a thriving river port and then the original terminus for the “Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe” railroad. As a result the town experienced more than it’s fair share of boom times and fairly bursts at the seams with gorgeous mansions from [...]
On our recent trip to visit my sister-in-law and her family, I took my camera and walked around their sweet old neighborhood. Their home is the stately mission style house pictured above.
I love older styles of homes and if I ever get the chance, I would love to build another house inspired by a different [...]
Wait!
Not Tipsy in the Garden!
I meant Garden TIPS!
A few Garden TIPS from my father-in-law Joe!
This is the way to Joe’s garden.
Inside there is a bountiful harvest of garden wisdom.
A few years ago Joe started planting his tomatoes and cucumbers inside of these sunken buckets which were placed inside of his raised beds, which were [...]
I am an architecture junkie.
I love houses and well designed buildings.
I love old derelict homes on abandoned highways sagging from neglect and misuse and I always want to hitch them to my car, drag them home and fix them up again.
I love new buildings too… the way they smell… how everything is still so clean… [...]
A recent trip with my bookclub to historic Cottonwood Falls Kansas, a jewel of a small town set right in the center of the Flint Hills, set my pulse to racing and my heart to pattering, as I was able to view some very fine architectural details in the Chase County Courthouse as well as [...]
I have to blame Jean over at Renovation Therapy for my obsession with Grey Gardens. Several months ago she wrote something on her blog about Grey Gardens and it was compelling enough to make me want to know more. Eventually, I had the presence of mind to place both of the Grey Gardens [...]