Beep Beep

The Model A Fords are in town. It is so fun to see them bee bopping around. It reminds me of the Model T my mother bought when I was a little girl. We had lots of fun with it. I remember the "key" was a screwdriver. One time we had parked at a gas station and I took the screwdriver with me inside b/c I was afraid someone would steal the car ha! Good times.

The Model A's will be coming to the Brazos Drive-in this Friday. Come check it out if you can. I am going to go and help out.

Should be lots of fun!

Ice Age

I was laying in bed the other day wondering ...where did ice come from? Not the ice you see during the winter (duhh!)..but during the hot days before electricity. Of course to find this answer I googled it.

When and how did ice come around? Can you imagine drinking a beer hot? They must have done that before ice was introduced..and that is just gross.

Frederic Tudor is the man to thank. He was known as the Ice King. I'll make this story short and sweet as possible. It took ol' Fred from 1805 to 1830s to make the idea work and profitable. He harvested ice from the north and shipped it around the country and even exported it to the Carribbean. They also floated huge blocks of ice down the river to haul it to various ice houses. He started by giving the ice away for free to show people how much better beverages were when cool. He also started teaching people how to make ice cream....they loved it..but needed ice to make it! He worked hard and died a rich man. The industry obviously floundered when electricity came into perspective and refrigerators and freezers became more economical. Still, pre-packaged ice is a big money maker each year. $2.5 billion to be exact. All because of the Ice King.

There is your history lesson for the day... or month... Pass it along while you and a friend are enjoying a nice cold drink during one of our hot (lovely) summer days.

Now, that does not look fun...to icy.

Hexagon House

I'm still thinking about Mineral Wells...so I wanted to share this great story about another hotel...with a sad ending, but nonetheless...very cool (no pun intended)

"The Hexagon House." Hotel Built in 1895..The Hexagon Hotel was built by David Gehugh Galbraith in 1895 and opened December 6, 1897 as a well ventilated hotel some sixty-one years before air conditioning became widely available. Constructed of long leaf yellow pine, the exterior was covered with cypress siding, and the roof was covered with hand-split cypress shingles. The entire interior trim was "Heart of Pine", a hardwood. All of the stone work was done by two English stone masons, the building was constructed with wooden pegs and square nails. Four stair cases started at the top and spiraled down through the five floors. The floor of the lobby was covered with hexagon shaped tiles in tan, brown and blue colors. The rooms were hexagon shaped with a bath located between every two rooms. Even before the days of air conditioning, Mr. Galbraith achieved a maximum amount of air circulation so necessary for the comfort of the guests in the hot Texas summers.



The idea for the hexagon architecture came from the honeycomb. David Galbraith, the owner, was the inventor of the paper clip. It was a great loss to Mineral Wells when the daughters and heirs to the Hexagon decided to have the hotel torn down for the materials in the building. Ira Tawater of Seagoville, Texas started tearing the building down on Monday, September 28, 1959. All of the materials in the hotel were still in perfect shape when dismantling began.



A very unfortunate loss..but wow! The inventor of the paper clip lived in Mineral Wells!! Hahaha. .

The Baker Hotel

Have you seen the Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells? You can't miss it if you have travelled HWY 281. The old lady is the tallest and grandest building in Palo Pinto county. Opening right after the crash in 1929, it hosted all sorts of celebrities, politicians, and the wealthy. The Baker also created many jobs for the townspeople in Mineral Wells. It seemed like everyone was connected somehow to the Baker. The hotel closed in the 70s and has startled to crumble ever since. The poor soul. Who has 400 million dollars to renovate it?


Well..good news..somebody does! Thiel and Thiel Architecture is redesigning and coming up with the plans to renovate the Baker Hotel and make it a spa like destination getaway. There will be about 200 rooms, spa, retail shops, and a restaurant. They will market the rooms at affordable prices. I'm very excited about this! I hope it will follow through. I will definitely take a trip to spend the night at the Baker. I'm not much into spas but for historical places...well you know how I feel about that!

circle circle dot dot

I have to type fast...there is lightening and thundering at bay and it makes me nervous to be around electronics when lightening is crashing down around me. I must go and unplug everything!!

Before I do my unplugging..and I need to take a shower..peeewww...but I'm afraid I may get electrocuted in the shower..can that really happen?? Lightening strikes the house or pump house and find its ground through me??

I am doing a bit of research on a project that consists of a victorian home. I am helping with the roofing and color selection and also maybe color ladyin' it up a little bit more but keep it simple and farmy.

I noticed a particular theme in many Victorians in a book of mine. What do you think?

Lotsa Dotsa!

Happy Birthday Ma

Today is my Ma's birthday.

Happy Birthday Ma~

Ma on a horsie

Ma with me at Jane Craddacks in Granbury

Ma and Me at a Wedding

Ma with Me and Windell the Kitty.

Ma on a different kind of horsie.

Vacation Time is Over...For Now

I had a very nice vacation from the Internet. I am back into the swing of things and am hoping to get all my projects done and my ducks in a row so I can go to Montana and realllly partake in some R&R. Wouldn't you if you knew you would be living there??

yep...I'm about ready!