The Culver Hotel…a Historic Gem!

Historic for sure, built in 1924…

Some of the cast stayed at the Culver from the Wizard of Oz so there is an interesting display in the front windows…

even the ladies room was to Die For!

My 2 friends I was visiting, Deborah V and Deborah P chatting in the lounge area at the Culver

Upstairs, Heidi gave us a tour of the banquet rooms and told us a little about the history of the hotel….

heading up the stairs to the guests rooms, you see a small reminder of Dorothy’s Red Shoes…

I loved the etched glass doors and beautiful calligraphy labeling all the rooms…

Next to the small check in area was this vintage inspired sitting area…

heading up the stairs to the hotel…enjoying the recent upgrades to the whole building!

I’m partial to black and white checked marble floors so I couldn’t get enough of the dining area…

The 3 banquet rooms can all open up to flow from one to the other if needed!

On my next visit, I hope to stop in for happy hour and some tasty treats!

Since Deborah V and I are former classmates from our photo classes at Collin College, I got her to pose for me on the beautiful velvet sofa that for some reason matched the blues in her dress. Needless to say, we giggled at ourselves for our impromptu photo shoot and wondered what the people sitting nearby thought!

Just off the entry and lounge area is this doorway leading to the dining room with black and white checked floors….

Above the dining is this small lounge area, I supposed if you were having a party, this would be a fun retreat!

This banquet room was actually Mr. Culver’s private office!

The ornate stairway leads to the private lounge area above…

The Culver Hotel

Fredericksburg…Oh how I love Thee….

A few weeks ago I attend a Wet Plate Collodion workshop in Johnson City at the
A. Smith photo gallery and stayed in Fredericksburg at an Air B&B…needless to say,
I was in Heaven!

Johnson City, Tx.

Garden Gate, Fredericksburg Style!

Sleeping Goats…abound in the Hill Country

Crazy sky day in Johnson City!

Johnson City Courthouse

One reason it’s called The Hill Country…view leaving Luchenbach.

Just about all there is to Luckenbach…. a few buildings but ton’s of Music!

Sunsetting in lush Fredericksburg

My new most favorite store in Fredericksburg! Hollie was kind to let me peak in before she was really ready for the public!

Johnson City Library

and of course there is Homestead or what is now called Carol Hicks Bolton Antique….another all time fav!

The feed store next to Carol’s place was packed for lunch…next time!

Farmhaus…

Farmhaus

Johnson City….

Luckenbach

Luckenbach dance hall…

I wish I had a living room that looked EXACTLY like this!

              

My Country . My Flag . My Thanks

In honor of all those who have served and given….

How did the turtle cross the road?

 

Well, if you must know, a crazy, City lady snatched him up from ultimate doom

to relocate him to his new, forever home! Yes, driving home from Bonham

where I had gone to view a bunch of  “Old Photos from the 1940’s”  that a lady in

an antique store had called me about I spotted Mr. Turtle on the small, 2 laned road,

a different road than the one I took going to Bonham, a new adventure, I thought!

I spotted something appearing roundish on the road ahead, a turtle I thought,

for sure it must be… Yes , of course it was, and when i passed I could see he was

not yet harmed. Now, a normal country girl would probably just drive right on by.

But no, not City Girl I had to rescue him of his certain fate. So, turning around and

perching my car ever so carefully on the edge of the grassy roadside, with it’s steep

decline, I hoped I wouldn’t flip over … I guess I should have been more concerned

with the approaching auto coming from around the curve in the road! I waited

and then made my descent upon Mr. Turtle. Yes, he was untouched and landed

on the floorboard of my passenger side. Now all we had to do was find a

creek nearby. Driving along, I saw plenty of small creeks, but nowhere else to park.

Then as fate would have it, I saw my favorite sign, Cemetery with an arrow pointing

down this road. So, what could be more perfect a road to explore, with a cemetery

and a home for Mr. Turtle?  Just a few hundred feet down the road, I spotted the

most beautiful field with several lakes. A home also sat across the pond with this

fabulous view. “This is it!”, I thought, a perfect abode for Mr. Turtle. I got him out

and deposited him just inside the fence hoping he too could see the pond ahead.

Maybe a bit too much to ask of one sitting down on the ground and who knows

what kind of vision they have but there was a little creek down the hill as well

so I hoped he would be pleased. Then I drove on down the road looking for

the sign of the cemetery. Never seeing a sign or graves, I spotted a young gal

jogging of all things, in the country? Do people really jog out here in the country?

Anyway, I finally stopped to see if she would talk to me and she pointed me

in the direction of the cemetery. You can see it in the image above, overgrown,

old markers and no fence to surround the property. Had I really been adventurous,

I may have climbed into the brush to read the markers but that might cause a snake

bite of some kind which City Girl is not at all interested in entertaining! I guess I

could tell you of my next adventure this past week, trying to rescue a dying horse

in a field but that story may go untold…

There’s no place like Patina Green!

or McKinney for that matter!

In case you haven’t heard, Patina Green is getting ready to start

serving dinners! They’ve rearranged the store to make room for

lot’s of dining visitors with fun, little seating areas, tucked into

corners or divided with their great furnishings! Come April…

Downtown McKinney will have another great place to hang out

in the evenings… Thursday, Friday and Saturdays come enjoy

Robert’s great, special treats, made with local ingredients and

the freshest of the fresh!

 

Patina Green

 

 

Old . . . is the New Black

Around every corner, there is something just about at it’s life expectancy…

It’s all in the details…

We had major fog the other day so I went exploring! This is my
neighbors, 29 year old horse… a little diversion from the remodeling
photos!

Going with the “cottage” look, I decided the walls needed to be covered in
ship lap wood to resemble an old cottage who had had it’s wallpaper and
backing gauze stripped off to expose the old, wood walls behind. Any
(normal) person would have just replaced the cabinets and painted the
textured walls. But no, not ole Kate, I had to make it special! Since it was
not too expensive I was able to do this one little detail that I think will
really make the kitchen unique and true to a cottage look. Adding the
French doors for light and also just general updating also adds to the charm.

I closed the door that was on this wall, from the dining room leading to
the “Master” bath. Later, I plan on remodeling the Master bath and will
be removing the existing linen closet to install a French door leading
outside, hopefully to my Outdoor shower!

So I needed a new linen closet and my contractor came up with the idea
to take a little space out of the dining to create a linen cabinet. I had
talked about making a cabinet floor to ceiling just on the other side in
the bath but it would have stuck out into the walkway coming from the
bedroom making it awkward. So this little cabinet was a good solution
in this little cottage! Thanks Joe!

I have a sideboard that will just fit into the little alcove we created, just
for my cozy dining room! You can see what a beautiful change the
French doors made from the old high up, rectangular window
that was there!

Now looking down the kitchen to what used to be a wall with the
full sized laundry area behind it, you see the new closet built to house
the stack units and the existing hot water heater. I really wanted to put
the HWH  in attic, but Joe and my brother, Clay, who is also a plumber
both thought it best to leave it down rather than up!

Here is the laundry closet the other day before they built the wall to
close off the hot water heater and divide the little area in two. There will
be some small shelves in the corner for detergent, towels, cat food, etc.

Friday, they will prime the walls which now resemble a hunting lodge:)
nice and warm and cozy to a nice, clean white! Crown molding, and then
a larger cap over the doors and window to make the room extra special.
I know Joe wishes I would quit looking in all my binders, with photos
collected over the years of my favorite homes and rooms. Most of them
are white color schemes, I must say… a definite look that I prefer.

After some primer, trim and everything else is finished, the cabinets go
in as well as my beautiful, yet totally impracticable white, honed
marble counters!

Heading out of town…Van Alystyne in Spring

Today was a good day for a drive especially with my new LensBaby!

I’d rather be here . . .

than in Dallas and the ice storm of 2013! After a trip to
Watercolor Beach in October, I think the beach sounds
heavenly about now!

Watercolor’s perfectly planned parks, walkways, streets and water
make it a wonderful place to visit or live. Along the coastal
highway of the Emerald Coast in FLorida, 30A, to be exact, are
beautiful, planned communities from Watercolor, Seaside, Rosemary
and my other favorite, Alys Beach. Everyone has a bike to ride
when you rent a place here, and all the bike and walking paths
just about everywhere along this stretch of beach make for a
wonderful place to vacation or LIVE! I might just be tempted…

Bluebonnets!

glorious views along the North Trail

Texas!