October 2011 | smallrooms®

Bwahahahahaha!!!

Posted on October 31, 2011No Comments

Too scary to wear on Halloween. Ever since my eldest niece’s first time to trick or treat nineteen years ago (she’s now 21), this mask has been relegated to permanent storage, never to see the light of day or night ever again. I learned quickly that children seven years and younger are scared out of their wits by this kind of thing. Maybe that’s why I see so many “cute” decorations. I don’t go for cute. Since I can’t decorate the way I want to, I do goodie bags that include odd tricks and treats. That reminds me. It’s 3:10 pm, and I still haven’t pulled those bags together. Until next time, Happy Halloween!

Landscape & Gardening

A Prickly Assortment

Posted on October 29, 2011No Comments

For the greenhouse. It’s a start, but hardly a full house. Not only are these cacti low maintenance, but it just occurred to me that rodents may not care to dine on a prickly diet. That’s been a real problem in the past. Why is it that when a plant such as kale is planted outside, it remains untouched, but when placed inside the greenhouse, all foliage will be consumed in less that 24 hours? Maybe it’s just that they prefer to dine in rather than dine out? Ha ha, I couldn’t resist making that funny. I know. It’s lame. But, hey! Why not?

Film: Design & Architecture

Delectable Details

Posted on October 24, 2011No Comments

From Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. While I’m trying to pull my brain bits together after several months of crazy stuff, I wanted to waste some of my time and your’s with this eye candy — a little escape from fixing things. That’s all I seem to be doing these days — fixin’. Fixin’, fixin’, fixin’, and more fixin’. I would like to say “solving problems”, but that’s a way too sophisticated phrase for my string of snags. And what about my goals? Ha! I’d be super happy if I could finish at least one project and have it stay finished. So don’t come around asking me for any favors, because I won’t be in the mood! Rant over. And now for the eye candy…

Landscape & Gardening

Meet the New Greenhouse Whatnot

Posted on October 20, 2011No Comments

What to put in my greenhouse has always been a dilemma. I learned quickly that even with shade fabric, air vents, and a swamp cooler, the inside temperature could never be cool enough to allow most plants to survive during Dallas’ summers. This beautiful greenhouse was functional only for sheltering my summer container plants during our three months of winter and useless during the remaining nine. What a waste.

Now that the backyard’s landscaping has been completed, without plants on its shelves, the greenhouse looks like a storage bin. I’ve decided to collect interesting succulents and whatnots that won’t fry during our summer months. Eventually it will become an extension of my garden.

My first greenhouse whatnot. This oddity, which I purchased from Nicholson-Hardie where the manager admitted not knowing much about this organism and what to expect, has no name and is the creation of a local succulent grower. It looks a bit lonely now, so if any of my local friends have suggestions on where to purchase unusual succulents, please let me know.

Landscape & Gardening

The Big Reveal!

Posted on October 13, 201113 Comments

This view is looking southwest towards the alley.

A longtime dream has finally come true. Thank you Michael Parkey and Hadden Landscaping for the best looking backyard ever! Today the copper path lights are being installed, so you will not see them in this post’s photos. Don’t worry, I will be doing a photoshoot of them sometime in the near future. Except for the front gates, everything has been completed and is now ready for drive by viewings, and don’t be surprised if you spy me on my back screen porch sipping a cocktail and enjoying the view.

Note: You can click on each photo for a much larger version.

Landscape & Gardening

A Teaser Today, But Then Tomorrow…

Posted on October 12, 20113 Comments

Expect the big reveal of my newly landscaped backyard. Above is a detail view of the shade portion of the backyard. The scraggly shrub-like tree you see in the lower right corner is actually one of two Coral Bark Japanese Maples. After they have had a chance to stabilize and mature, we will prune them into prettier shapes. This past summer has been cruel to all plants, and quite a few of them will be less than stunning in tomorrow’s big reveal. Although I’ve already noticed a lot of improvement since their planting two weeks ago, for the next six months, most of the improvements will not be above the ground. It’s the root systems that will be developing — the infrastructure — and a year from now there will be plenty of bodacious Kodak moments. So until tomorrow, let’s maintain loose posture.

Contemporary Art

Celia Eberle at Plush Gallery

Posted on October 8, 2011No Comments

'The Furies,' 2011, alabaster, agatized coral, found objects, 6.5 inches x 3.5 inches — ‘The Furies,’ 2011, alabaster, agatized coral, found objects, 6.5 inches x 3.5 inches

Ohhhh, I wanted to possess The Furies in a bad way, but was too late. Some lucky individual beat me to it, and as I write this, has probably taken possession of them and is in the process of mounting them in their new home. This makes me unhappy.

I first met Celia Eberle at Karen Weiner’s The Reading Room, but my first encounter with her work was at the Beasts and Bunnies show at The MAC. While The MAC’s show was a collection of her past and some present work along with the works of three other artists, this show at Plush Gallery was her most recent creations.

Landscape & Gardening

A Visit from Nazi Troll #2

Posted on October 1, 20113 Comments

The field of contention is the above swale which helps drain the backyard into the alley after heavy rain storms.

Evidently, having the nicest looking alley right-of-way makes me the prime target for University Park’s code enforcers. This second visit was from a different person who spoke to the crew informing them that my river rock was in violation. I never saw the guy, but I was informed that I would be getting a notice in the mail. And this occurred AFTER I had the crew correct the first code inspector’s citation.