a little visit from Gertie...

I had a wonderful dream about Gertie the other night. In my dream Gertie came bouncing into the house, ran and found her favorite blue Kong then happily plopped down for a good Kong chew on her rug. Gertie had a cute way of sprawling out when she was in a particularly good mood... she just looked so pleased with herself... like she'd found the most wonderful something or the other... and that's the way she looked in the dream.... just plain happy. I'm taking it as a sign my sweet Gertie is in a good place. It was good to have a little 'visit' from her. Here's another sorta old photo of Gert in her reindeer horns... she didn't seem all that interested in being Rudolph! (wait til you see her in her 'church lady' hat)

Log Cabins

Several thousand acres of the area in which I live were originally owned by large lumber companies... so... as you might imagine ... lots of trees. This falling down log cabin was originally a hunting cabin for one of the landowners. The current owners allowed the cabin to fall down before giving it away. It has been dismantled and logs were numbered to be reassembled at a different site. Plans for rebuilding/restoration have not come to fruition... yet.

I've always liked small homes, but it is amazing to me to walk through some of these tiny spaces and wonder how entire families lived in them. Wouldn't it be fun to have one of these out in the country overlooking a small pond? Wonder if I could be a good writer if I had a little cabin like this? Maybe not... but I bet I could sure get all snuggy with my feet held to the fire.

Birdie Hot Tubs, Snake Sidewalks, Pebble Mosaic, and Mosaic Tree Trunks...

Wouldn't this be a fun sidewalk... specially if you have children. It could be modified by using a plain concrete sidewalk with only the head ... and perhaps the tail... shaped to resemble a snake and trimmed with mosaic.

I love this patio area and thought some day I'd have a similar one, but never got around to it... don't think I could build one today. I collected a bunch of flat pretty colored rocks... though... who knows. Maybe.

These are live trees... Berkeley, CA! It seems the mosaic would not be able to hold up... wouldn't the tree's growth force the tiles off?

Birdie Hot Tub! An old heater married to a bowl to create a bird bath.

Little Mamas, Vintage Photos of Children and their Dolls

The photo to the left is dated 1915 and features a cute Little Mama with her googly doll, Hug Me Tight.

Postal cards featured sweet children with their toys and this Little Mama is particularly fetching as she gives her dolly a ride. Can you imagine the handwork on these 2 dresses?

1950s Christmas dolly... not a lot of black dolls available at that time. This Little Mama looks lovingly at her Mama Doll... we find lots of these heads... arms & legs were frequently made of "magic skin" which rotted... leaving only the intact head.

These two sweet toddlers appear afraid of the camera... note the Little Mama wears a locket, bracelet, and (I think?) a ring. The boy is riding his skin horse and the girl's factory made cloth doll sits on a great little wooden chair... likely painted red.

And... yes... I collect vintage photos... of many different subjects. The first I collected were of little girls with their dolls and I've never stopped adding to the collection. I find them sweet and evocative of a different place in time... a kinder and more gentle place.

My Momma Didn't Buy Me Any Toys...

So... I grew up and bought my own. The first photo has the larger dolls... these are all German antique dolls... Kestner, Hoffmeister, and a few others. The small A&M doll (middle right side) is about 12" and is in her original condition including her pink gauze dress with cheap lace and trip. The dress is heavily sized (and would either disintegrate if washed or become a very limp piece with no body). The hat has been added. She likely had a huge hair bow when originally purchased. The body is a very grainy, rough compo. These dolls were cheaply made and it is difficult to find them in such pristine condition. She is not particularly valuable, but I love seeing her so fresh and new looking with her tiny paper "patent leather" shoes and her crispy clothing. The middle doll... blonde with no hat and a sort of 'baby face' is marked "Herzi". I've found very little information about her. She is about 18" tall on a toddler jointed compo body. The top far right doll is a Schoenau Hoffmeister, about 20" tall on a compo body. She wears her original faux fur cape and gold filled bar pin. My favorite is probably toward the bottom middle... a 12" Kestner 143 wearing her original fur trimmed wool bonnet.

In the px below the top two (red cape & blue sweater) are 10" celluloid. The next row ... all about 6-7" tall, porcelain heads and compo bodies. The front doll is all bisque... about 5" tall. All are German antiques.

The doll to the far left dressed in an off white dress with pink ribbon trim is a favorite. She has sleep eyes and a darling compo body. I bought her at an estate sale.

The small box, the pink ballerina doll shoe, and the doll potty all hold tiny china dolls... sometimes called 'bathing dolls' or 'frozen charlottes'.

These dolls are mostly reproductions of small antiques with a few original artist dolls. Sizes range from about 3-4" to 8".

Yet another favorite of mine! Old Santas! I don't care about the quality, rarity, or material... just smallish old Santas. This photo was shot from the side of a small display cabinet so not the best view.... and it is way too crowded. The Santas need a new home.

I made a few of the snowmen ... the snowmama with her twins and the snowman candy container (bottom right corner wearing burgundy hat).

The snowman at top right corner is an old whiskey advertising piece. The largest snowman in the middle top is a 1940s vintage animated piece with eyes & nose that light up. The smallish (abt 8") front row far right is a beer bottle from Germany. I have another collection of very small snowmen I'll share later.

Spent most of the week wrangling contractors and yard people... resulting in new french doors for the living room and bedroom plus a few new windows to make the french doors fit in the space where the old sliding glass doors stood. Also... new bathroom windows...clear glass... big change from the old frosted glass... and, best of all, with a mechanism for leaving the window open about six inches, but locked so it cannot be opened further. The old windows didn't have this plus I'd added very poorly fitting screens so the windows had to stay closed most of the time. It has been so nice to have open windows and cool breezes all weekend.

I also bought a new bottle tree.... made with welded rebar. It is much smaller than I'd like, but it is a start. I'm hoping it will grow into a big tree by summer's end... and I'll plant the seeds and have even more bottle trees.

PS... My mother did buy toys for me... just not very many... lol... and not the ones I wanted. When I was young girls still played with dolls... and for a long time. At age 13 she told me I was too old to have a doll. I wasn't.

Houston Art Car Parade

Most photos are from summer 2008 Houston Art Car Parade. The first is David Best's and is completely beaded. It is an older entry... don't remember exact date, but I believe it was about ten years ago.

Close up view of front of beaded car.

Another beaded art car entry... again... from several years ago.

Summer 2008 entry... I suppose this one is self explanatory! The Art Car Parade includes bikes, skateboards, roller blades... just about anything on wheels... (plus a free spirit).

Summer 2008... I believe this one was the lego car...

This is the original art car... summer 1984... Houston, TX ... and was called The Fruit Mobile. It was covered with ... duh... plastic fruit. If I remember correctly it was one of two in the initial display at the Lawndale Art Annex in Houston.

Wanna see more art cars? http://www.artcarmuseum.com/ The art car parade and museum in Houston is an annual affair that seems to grow larger every year. Many area high school art departments create entries. You can google art cars to learn if there are any in your area. The next Houston art car parade will be Saturday, May 9, 2009. The annual Art Car Ball is a major fundraiser held among the art cars which are parked for the affair on one or another area rooftop parking lots. I believe the last Art Car Ball had 55,000 in attendance (that's people... not cars).... dancing among the cars. You can bet they raised a bit of pocket change at that affair.

The Houston art car museum has become part of the Orange Show, another Houston eccentric art/folk art showplace which, when the original creator died and the place was falling into disrepair, was revived by a local non-profit. The Orange Show is home today to many fund raisers and the group is an integral part of Houston philanthropy.

The life that shall flourish will be the life that adapts to its environment and its changes.

…unknown author

otherwise known as "life gives you lemons, make lemonade"....

pigs, whales, and bottle houses

I may be spelling her name wrong, but I believe this is the Mrs. Presby folk art village in California. This lady... beginning at a rather late time in her life, built an entire Village of Bottles in California. Last I read it was falling into disrepair as it appears she had been ill. I have better photos saved somewhere online, but don't know where right now.

Good day! Jeannie

only in texas...

http://www.weirdamerica.com/2007/11/05/wacky-uses-pigdom/

don't know where this guy lives, but I like people who get off their duff and keep on creating... all I can say about the "camper"... it IS an interesting piece of folk art...but don't think I'd wanna sleep there. I do like the tree art... http://www.weirdamerica.com/2007/10/15/weird-america-mobys-dock/

Recycled planters and yard art

I love this recycled planter made by one of my gardening junk friends several years ago. She used an old washing machine agitator... turned it upside down and attached it to a pipe sunk into the ground. It reminds me of a big pink lily!

Here's a nice flower bed made using old picket fences and part of a chair for a plant shelf... again, not my yard, but I like it. I have a small collection of 40s potty chairs which I used to hang over the tub in the bathroom but have already hung one on the covered patio and plan to put the others there. They look great with trailing plants in the 'potty' area. (Soon as I get the digital camera... and figure out how to use it...will post a photo. )



It is possible none of you will recognize the origins of this lovely planter.... and instead of telling, I'm gonna ask you to take a guess. I can give you a hint... I'd LOVE to have it in my back patio... and I just love junk.

I did a little impromptu antiquing Wednesday and the devil made me buy a vintage telephone booth... it is huge... solid oak inside and out and has old wavy glass in the door. It really is a beautiful piece. The seat was removed long ago and shelves added to make it a display cabinet... I'll probably leave it like that for a while... until I decide exactly what to do with it... it was such a bargain... I just couldn't pass it up! (i'll need to keep a closer eye out for those antiquing devils in the future)

More bottle trees... vintage & contemporary

The first one is especially neat... note it can be made with
pitchfork! Too easy.

I love this one with so many colors.

Here are a few more bottle trees... some vintage and some contemporary. Because it is hard to find a suitable tree many people are now using welded metal trees. You can find them for sale on eBay or by googling 'bottle trees'. Or... if you're really lucky, you know someone who will make one exactly to your design... you can easily find directions on google. I'll post more photos later showing variations of bottle trees. Hope you all enjoy the bottle trees... I wish I had my tree installed and ready to add the bottles!

Eudora Welty's photo of bottle tree

This photograph by Welty, of a home in Simpson County, reflects a folk belief that "bottle-trees" — trees on whose limbs bottles have been placed — will trap evil spirits that might try to get in the house. Welty used bottle trees in her short story "Livvie," which was set near the Old Natchez Trace, a famous colonial "road" used by Indians, merchants, soldiers, and outlaws between Natchez and Nashville, Tennessee. This photograph, like many others taken by Welty during her work for the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s, appears in One Time, One Place: Mississippi in the Depression: A Snapshot Album (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1996).

Origin of the Bottle Tree & More Photos

The first photo was taken in 2007 in Milano, Texas and is the framework and beginning of a bottle house. I'm not sure if was finished, but intend to check into it. The second photo is, I believe, an older bottle tree, but I can't remember where I found it... so not sure of location. I'm not sure why, but I cannot seem to get the photos to post where I want them... but I suppose this works too. Following is an excerpt from wikipedia giving a brief history of the bottle tree.

The Origin of the Bottle Tree
Bottle trees have their roots in Congo culture. The practice was brought over by slaves who hung blue bottles from trees and huts as talismans to ward off evil spirits. It is believed that the spirits are dazzled by the colors of the bottles in the sun. Once they enter the bottle, they can't find their way out, much like flies. It is just as well, as they would prefer to remain intoxicated by the colorful prisms of color created by the interplay with the sun than wandering about haunting people.According to Wikipedia, "Glass 'bottle trees' orginated in Northern Africa during a period when superstitious people believed that a genii or imp could be captured in a glass bottle. Legend had it that empty glass bottles placed outside the home could "capture" roving (usually evil) spirits at night, and the spirit would be destroyed the next day in the sunshine. This practice was taken to Europe and North America by African slaves. While Europeans adapted them into hollow glass spheres known as "witch balls" the practice of hanging bottles in trees became widespread in the Southern states of North America, where they continue to be used today as colorful garden ornaments.Bottle trees have been featured as accessories in most of the prestigious flower show garden displays all over the world.Additionally, glass bottles, which have long been placed in windows for color ("poor man's stained glass"), are also commonly used to line flower beds."Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottle_tree

Bottle Trees and Mosaic Yard Art

I tried to set up a photo montage of bottle trees... got it set up three times, but always had html error messages... so I've given up for the night... and, instead, I'll just post a few photos of bottle trees. These are not from my yard, though I wish they were... I've collected enough blue bottles to create a decent blue bottle tree which I hope to complete this summer. Gotta find just the right dead tree... or perhaps I'll have someone weld one for me.

Vintage Snowman Collection

I don't have photos of all the snowman collection... but here are the ones I have online. Most are vintage 40's thru 60's with one reproduction.