About Houston's Prestonwood Forest

One of the truly priceless additions to the house we now call home, is the backyard.

Yes, most homes have yards. This one however comes with all manner of artful flower beds and unique sculpture. Many of the sculptures were not apparent when we purchased the house.

Finding these little treasures has provided us with an ongoing treasure hunt.

The pictured tree appears to be made out of peacock feathers. It isn't! Each of those is a wire creation. It is difficult to move around. In fact moving it is not recommended for your general hand health.

The sculptures original home was under a make shift shed at the edge of the yard. We believe the shed was the workshop used by the artistic previous owner. Perhaps we should have spent time out there soaking up his left over creativity?

The butterflies were an added find from the second bedroom closet. Together these sculptures have added feelings of tranquility and beauty to one of the outdoor patio spaces.

Most of the stuff acquired with the house will remain when we leave. Somewhere out there in the great and diverse universe is a person who will love this yard as much as we have.

We feel that it is special privilege to have been allowed to carry on the legacy of love started by the original owners.

Depersonalizing hopefully is not a requirement that extends to the yard. Something's are not personal, just soul food!

Just in case you have a hard time getting revved up in the morning maybe you need one of these!!

I think this thing holds something like a half gallon!

A friend told me that one of her friends went to the doctor who told him to cut back to one cup of coffee a day so he went out and got one of these things.... Problem solved!!

Some day I'll probably buy one of these things!

Two weeks ago the purchase agreement on our personal house was terminated .

The reason given was that it would cost $24k to bring the house up to "code!" They would continue the purchase if we would come down 12k to help with those costs...

After already discounting the price 10k from what we paid and putting around 19k into updates, we were not interested.

The fact that the house was built in 1973 and has galvanized piping and a "Federal" breaker box were two of the major objections cited by the potential buyers inspector.

Last time I looked it was not necessary to bring a house up to current code. If systems are working, even if they are old, replacement is not required. (As a side note we had previously had a Master electrician look at the panel and verify that it is not a problem.)

Wonder just how many homes in our area also have galvanized piping and Federal panels. Wonder how all the antique homes all around are plumbed. The answer is probably 90%.

Wonder turned into a need to know. Yesterday I googled "galvanized pipes".

Replacements are still available and there are lots of folks who work on them. Soooo, there is no reason to replace serviceable systems...

It appears that the potential buyers were simply exercising their right to try to steal! What a surprise!

Although I wish we could have worked that offer out, giving the house away that we have worked so hard to make better, still does not appear to be a good idea.

The hit it would have given the neighborhood comps was also a consideration. Not a nice thing to leave with your friends or neighbors!

The galvanizing facts seem to be that even when your house is priced below market and in good condition, clean as a whistle and attractively staged... Some markets are slow and sometimes it simply takes more time to effectively conquer a sale!

Natural art is always such a treat! This is another example of that which was left us with the yard that came with our current house.

Ralph thinks it looks like a water bird. To me it looks like a dinosaur.

The previous owner carefully affixed this elegant piece of wood to the ground accenting the planting space and adding visual interest.

The sculpture has taken on personality over the years. The more I study the lines, the more realistic it becomes.

We could look around for something else to add drama to the yard, but it is doubtful we would find anything as unique!

When we set up our house for showing, we really did not take into account the comfort of our pet cat.

I admit we should have spent more time and effort to accommodate her needs. I am truly ashamed at the oversight.

Many of her favorite nap spots had to be eliminated in the staging. Her blanket on the back of the den chair had to go due to its unsightly appearance. The scratching post was relegated to a hall closet. Poor kitty!

She never complained to either of us about our negligence .

We really did not come face to face with the facts of the staging. Then today we found that this forgiving and adaptable animal has made the best of the situation.

Here is "jazz" curled up snugly with her head on a pillow. To think that we had thought the room was actually set up to be a guest room. Lucky for us that we have such an accommodating pet who can educate us as to the error of our ways!