Small Town in a Big City

Right smack in the middle of Houston is a small town, West University Place, two square miles, 16,000 residents.  West U, as it is commonly known, started to develop in the early 1900′s.  Though it is only about 5 miles from downtown Houston, at that time it was largely prairie, and Houston was very slow to get city services to the area.  In response, some very forward thinking folks decided to incorporate, thus creating a new city with its own government, services and amenities.

The city’s name is easily explained as it’s a couple of miles west of Rice University, one of the country’s premier universities, and many of the early residents were employed there.

West U was a working man’s community zoned to be single family residential.  From the outset, strict zoning ordinances  limiting business development to the city center and the perimeter were in place. This was quite a contrast to Houston which to this day pays a price for lax zoning restrictions.

Most lots in West U were small, 50 x 100, with a smattering of plots twice that size. Early homes were bungalows

or modest two story structures.

One school opened in the neighborhood, and today West U Elementary is one of the state’s shining stars.

There was a neighborhood grocery that was a gathering place for moms as well as a favorite after school stopping place for kids.  It is gone now, replaced by a trendy and popular restaurant, however, the owner was sensitive enough to keep the original sign atop the building, so much a part of the history of West U.

Over the years Houston grew, people had to live farther from the center and suddenly West U, because of its convenient location, took on new life .  Young people moved in, first remodeling homes and then, wanting amenities of newer ones, tearing down the old and rebuilding.  Despite the improvements, much of the city’s history was lost as has happened in much of Houston.

 Initially, new houses were Georgian style brick.

Then came more diverse materials and touches of architectural interest.

The  look was typically traditional, but here and there someone dared to be different.

The houses grew larger, so big on the small lots that a size restriction had to be imposed.

Youth sports organizations were created, parks got facelifts, young parents poured energy into the school, all of which changed West U into an energetic family community.  As things improved, the city began getting national attention and over the years it has been named consistently as a most desirable small town in which to live.  You can imagine what that kind of publicity has done to real estate value!

So, why am I telling you about this small town surrounded by a big city?  It is where I have lived, reluctantly at first because it was old and most of our friends were in new developments, for most of my adult life.  It is where our kids grew up and where most of our long time friends still live.  It is where I have volunteered and given much energy, even serving four terms on City Council.  (Now, that is fodder for another story.)  Very simply, it is home, it has a  feeling of community that is often missing in urban areas and it is what makes living in Houston a pleasure.

So, what do you love about where you call home?

i love your thoughts, so jump right in and share yours

Joining Seasonal Sundays

Something’s Fishy

Fresh haddock from Maine is the featured menu item for the gourmet group’s dinner this week, so it seems appropriate for the tablescape to reflect something fishy.  With that in mind, I began shopping the house.

The first thing I spot are these fish stemmed goblets sitting on a watery tray.

 They  work great as a focal point, and their height is varied by placing some on glass candle holders.  Filling in the spaces between the goblets are flower filled small vases from the Dollar Store.  I’m thinking it would be nice to have some more of these, but they are probably gone by now.

Continuing the search for something fishy, I find these glass fish plates. Gosh, I haven’t seen these in a while, and they are a perfect fit.

Etched stems from the 30′s and 40′s sit side by side with funky shaped clay glasses that were bought years ago at an outdoor art show.

Brightly colored napkins folded accordion style and fanned out are added to complete  the table.  They may not be fishy, but they do pick up the colors of the vases, flowers and goblets.

With the table all set, it’s time to think about the menu that will feature seared haddock topped with crabmeat and served atop sweet potatoes mashed with butter and maple syrup and surrounded by roasted brussel sprouts.

A word about brussel sprouts.  They are not the hubby’s favorite, and I’ve had to experiment to get him to eat them.  I’ve found that by cutting them in half, blanching in boiling water for a minute or two and then placing them in ice cold water until they are completely cooled takes the bitter taste away. After they are well drained on paper towels, I roast them in olive oil and bacon drippings with diced, cooked bacon or pancetta in a 450 degree oven for about 20 minutes.  The tasty result is one that not even the hubby complains about.

Joining Tablescape Thursday, Foodie Friday and Friday Food.

i love your thoughts, so jump right in and share yours

Out With Pumpkins & Gourds

Once the calendar hit December, I knew it was time, time for the pumpkins and gourds to be bagged and put out with the trash.  I could do that without too much regret because I got a lot of mileage from them.

Next, it’s out with the traditional Spode Christmas dishes that  only appear during the holiday season.  Taking them from the cabinet where they hide for the better part of the year is like finding an old friend.  I am going to use these or other seasonal tableware every day from now until the end of the year…really!

Let’s start here at the bar where most nights the hubby and I share our evening meal.

Simple it may be, but with a touch of holiday flair, it’s a pleasant place to enjoy dinner at home.

And, if you want to come by before dinner, I’ll pour you a glass of eggnog, plain or with a little spirits.   Come in the morning and you’ll be invited in for an eggnog latte.  Tis the season!

i love your thoughts, so jump right in and share yours

Joining Tablescape Thursday

Creating A Table

Turn some people loose in flowering spaces and wonderful things can happen as did recently when a visiting friend came inside with arms loaded with what she had found in my yard.

Said she, “Do you have something I can put this in?”  ”Sure,” says I, “just look in the mudroom and see what you can find.”  And so began the makings of a lovely table for that night’s dinner.

She used several different  containers, ranging from pint sized sprinkler cans to small vases with interesting shape or color.  Each was filled with the garden’s brilliant colors and greenery snipped from different bushes and trees.

Thinking these arrangements sitting atop an antique crewled fabric were not enough, she looked around for more things to mix with them.

There were these adorable lunch boxes from the VanGogh Museum in Amsterdam,

a few stones from the beach and some little fake fruits from a bowl in the pantry.

She even incorporated a lulu designs necklace, a perfect complement to the hydrangeas.

By itself, this was a wonderful table, but we carried it one step further and set the table for dinner using white, floral design plates recently purchased from TJ Maxx, known around these parts as the Mother Ship.

The little girls chose multicolored napkins and, again, colors from the centerpiece were repeated or complemented.  The girls were very excited to learn an easy napkin folding trick that creates a pocket for the silverware.

Chunky glassware from the 50′s in tones of pink were perfect additions.

In our house, tablescapes are simple and add a special something to our time together around the table.  They are all the more fun when hands have joined in the preparation.

Come back tomorrow for the yummy swordfish salad that we had for dinner.

Joining the fun at Tablescape Thursday 

i love your thoughts, so jump right in and share yours

Ode to a Foggy Day

Cool and gray it is today

with fog drifting on the bay.

All but lobster boats are securely moored

and sailors hope for  better weather, that’s for sure!

Staying inside means laundry to do

and beds to make,

but I’d rather be boating.

How about you?

Joining Seasonal Sundays

Browsing Houston III

The Heights is Houston’s oldest organized neighborhood.  Over time, as many of the houses became rental property, the area deteriorated, but in the last few years it has undergone a rebirth becoming a very eclectic and hip neighborhood.

New homes built in the traditional craftsman or Victorian style associated with the Heights are springing up on every street, young families and empty nesters are moving in, restaurants and shops are locating there, residents enjoy camaraderie with neighbors.

There is much to see and do in the Heights, and the place to start is West 19th Street where you can actually spend the better part of a day.  Here you will find

art

and antiques,

cafes

and bakeries,

home goods

and accessories of all kinds.

When you’re tired of walking and overwhelmed by all there is to see, you can stop at Shade for the best ever coconut cream tart.  It’s so good I had to take a bite before snapping the picture!

i love your thoughts, so jump right in and share yours

In the Pink

Here you will find a blog post by a gal who really likes pink.  I know this to be true because she is my daughter, and she is making up for being pink deprived as a child.  She ends her post by asking if pink can be found in your house.

I would have thought my answer to be no, at least for the most part, but take a look around and you will see pink, not the soft, pretty pink but PINK!

Pink is the sofa in the breakfast room,

the handwoven pillow

and throw in the living room

the ceiling that runs the length of the gallery

and the cabinet over my desk.

Pink is in this painting that has such a story to tell,  in the funky pottery piece that sits close by

and in my favorite needlepoint rugs.

It is on and below the piano.

Yes, there is quite a lot of pink in my house and you know what?  I like it!

What are your feelings about pink?

i love your comments, so jump right in and share your thoughts

This post is liked to Seasonal Sundays,  Pink Saturday and Open House Party.

 

Ordinary Nights

I don’t know about you, but most of our nightly meals are at home and the table is anything but fancy.  In fact, most nights we don’t even eat at a table but remain at the bar where we have just played gin rummy or backgammon.  It’s a comfortable place to eat and close to the kitchen which means hubby doesn’t have to walk too far when he clears the dishes.

No matter how simple, I do pay some attention to how we receive the food, meaning that I want it to look good on the plate.  I’ve been known to throw a whole meal down the disposal because it didn’t look appetizing.  Now, is that carrying creativity too far?

OK, back to the bar where tonight’s dinner is a salad which has tuna in it, making it a good time to use the fish plates.  They need a little color so the turquoise placemats and purple napkins will help out there

as will a gaily patterned bowl for the crackers and the adorable bird salt and pepper shakers.  It’s impossible to resist buying such eye catching little things at Anthropologie.

Hmmm, it’s also a good time for the fish goblets.  We just have to be careful not to fill them with too much wine because they are mighty big.

When all is said and done, the bar is just the right place for Thursday night dinner

no matter how humble.

For dessert, there’s buttermilk pie, so come back tomorrow for the recipe.

For a look at creative tables, check out Tablescape Thursday.

i love your thoughts, so jump right in and share yours

A New Look

Do you ever have a room you just can’t get right?  For me, it has been our bedroom which is a really wonderful space, but somehow it has never come together.  I’ve tried different colors on the walls, changed bed coverings, rearranged the art and always there’s something not quite right.

Here I had in mind a crisp gray and white room, but when the Venetian plaster was done, the walls were not as gray as I envisioned.  The white  bed set is nice but, again, the look left something to be desired, and adding the red pillows from a past color scheme didn’t help.    When all is said and done, the room strikes me as cold, and I like a friendly, comfortable bedroom.  In addition to the colors not working, there is another problem.  Do you see it?

If you guessed the long bank of window, you are right.  I love the windows and the light, but the shades don’t do anything to warm up the room, and I am not a curtain person.  So, what’s a girl to do?

A slightly altered color scheme just might work.  Here we go, add more of the not quite gray wall tone along with some new accent colors.

And what about a soft, sheer curtain, just enough to soften the starkness of the window.  Maybe I could live with that.  OK so far, but once I honed in on the changes, there was another problem.   The painting over the bed is totally out of place so I went shopping in the house and found another piece of art which works surprisingly well.

Not only are the colors complementary and the dimensions right, it gives the illusion of a headboard, an unexpected bonus.

The real test comes when the hubby walks in.  He’s used to my changing things around and usually just shakes his head, but this time he said, “Hey, you know this really looks good.”

Sometimes a little tweak here and there makes a big difference.

Linking today to Metamorphosis Monday, Blue Monday and Show Off Your Cottage.

i love your thoughts, so jump right in and share yours

A Do Over

When you were a kid, did you ever have a do over, a second chance to run faster, hit the ball farther, make a foul shot?  Well, that’s what I’m taking now, a do over.

A couple of weeks ago I posted this table.

The various elements were OK, but as I sat through dinner it occurred to me that something wasn’t quite right, and it was worth trying to improve.  First do over, the pitchers.  Good idea, yes, but they seemed a little blah.

So, let’s add some flowers that just might also enhance the colors in the Peruvian fabric.

Speaking of the fabric, it’s another do over opportunity.  Just a little fold back at two opposite corners of the table gives it a little snap.

Though  the Italian handpainted dishes used in the first table worked fine, we might as well do over and introduce Tracy from the Octavia Hill Collection gotten several years ago at Target.

Oh, and how about these orange tinted stems which can also serve as a napkin holder, at least until the wine is poured!You may remember I love fooling with napkins, and this accordion folded one is a very simple trick.

Now, those were pretty uncomplicated changes.  Thanks for allowing me the do over.

Take a look at Tablescape Thursday.

i love your comments, so jump right in and share yours