Mouse House Inc.

Chocolate Mice

2012-01-02T11:59:00.004-05:00

Although this blog is really "Steve's blog" ... sometimes I have to post on it because some of the pictures I've taken just belong here! Such is this post.

We received two chocolate mice this Christmas. They were made by one of my youngest sister Sonya's talented friends. Steve really, really wanted to eat these Hershey kisses/chocolate-dipped-cherry mice. I saved them from this intended fate. I knew I wanted to find some special, permanent space for them at Mouse House. Today, I took them all over the shop for photo ops ... and to determine exactly where they should stay on display.

Although they look really, really cute on the Mouse House sign on the porch. I decided they'd probably get eaten by some of the homeless people who sometimes stumble through the neighborhood.

I considered gluing them to the sign on the door ... since I already had to glue the almond slivers back onto their heads ... which assures that Steve isn't going to eat them.

They looked really cute in the container of business cards ... but it might make it difficult for clients to get the cards ... or they could get further damaged in the process.

They could bring attention to my matted and shrink-wrapped artwork ... but they'd probably get knocked off when people browse through the images.

I'm sure they would have liked staying with Mickey and helping with the credit card machine ... but there's too much motion in this area ... another source of possible danger.

I know these chocolate mice would gladly assist in showing off some of my other art in the "gallery" ... but they also just might upstage it.

They seemed perfectly happy beside the computer mouse ... but too few people would see them there.

Steve's work room for assembling custom picture framing was out of the question. Steve might be tempted to eat them (glued ears and all) or they might accidentally get hammered.

The mice could help show off moulding samples or sell mirrors ... but, again, a precarious situation.

They'd melt with the heat from the VacuSeal.

Although I'm sure they'd add a touch of joy for the people whose framing bills are stored in the files, this didn't seem to be a good place either.

My new "home studio" was interesting ... and obviously as dangerous as Steve's room ... please note another hammer!

They almost sat on the top of one of my "In Box" series pieces ... but one fell off and now has a crushed ear.

So, in the end, they've found a home on the mantel in the "sales room" where everyone can see them ... along with the photos of Mathias and Alex. I think they look just like Steve and me ... the two Mouse House mice!
Susan
Guest blogger!

Changes in 2012

2011-12-30T14:01:00.002-05:00

2011 is coming to an end. It has been an interesting year at The Mouse House. We have not missed our move out at Terrace Oaks Mall. We have been surprisingly profitable in 2011 and I hope this trend continues in 2012. Susan and I are in the process of converting the back room into her new 3-D artist studio. We will officially launch this new addition during Open Studios in April, 2012, but the studio will be finished way before then. We are continuing a downsizing of our antique print collection to make room for more of Susan's artwork. We have great deals on existing framed antique images and loose prints, and we continue to have a great selection of framed beveled and non-beveled mirrors. Our next big trip is to NYC to visit with Mathias and LJ on January 5-8. Alex still occasionally comes around but still is afraid to call his mom! Hopefully their relationship will improve next year (I'm the eternal optimist!). He can really work if he wants to.

Best wishes to all for a safe and healthy 2012. Please come by and visit!

Pictures of Dover and Rochester, UK

2011-10-24T14:40:00.002-04:00

Greetings to all. Susan and I just returned from Arizona where she had her art show at Vision Gallery in Chandler. I have posted a link to my pictures and videos that I took during the week of October 3, 2011 when I went to the UK to watch Mathias and his girlfriend, Laura-Jane (LJ) dance in several ballets with Birmingham Royal Ballet. Click here to watch. I'll be posting some pictures of our trip to Arizona shortly.

Ravenel Bridge Bike Trip

2011-08-21T14:33:00.017-04:00

Self-portrait of yours truly at the top of the Ravenel Bridge across the Cooper River in Charleston, SC.

View of the Ravenel Bridge from the docks adjacent to the SC Aquarium. You can purchase tickets to Fort Sumter here, as well as take a water taxi to Patriots Point. I thought of taking the water taxi back from Patriots Point, but I rode back!!

Yesterday I went to Charleston, SC to attend the wedding of Lauren Slocki and Captain Matthew Verdin. As I posted on Friday, Lauren is the older sister of Mathias's roommate and best friend Philip at The Kirov Academy of Ballet. Since the wedding was at 5PM, I spent the morning and early afternoon on my bike and rode to Mount Pleasant from the SC Aquarium over the Cooper River Bridge (now named the Ravenel Bridge) to Mt. Pleasant. Needless to say it was a blast and not as strenuous as I thought (maybe I am in better shape that I thought). I was smart, however, to start in Charleston and ride to Mt. Pleasant and back instead of the reverse. The uphill climb toward Mt. Pleasant to the top of the bridge is longer, and since I just started my bike run, I was pretty well rested. Once I crossed over the bridge I rode around Patriots Point and Mt. Pleasant Memorial Waterfront Park. I rode out on the fishing pier that lies below the bridge and went into the visitor's center. I have posted some pictures from my journey. Click on any to enlarge.

Here is the sign that greets bike riders and pedestrians before they cross the bridge. Note how wide the path is so that both walkers and bikers have their own paths. For the most part pedestrians stayed on their path, although one idiot almost stepped into my lane!

One of the many cruise ships that frequent Charleston Harbor. Their dock is just down the block from the Aquarium. This photograph was taken from the top of the bridge.

A view of Mt. Pleasant from the top of the bridge. The Battleship Yorktown is in the distance.

Another view of the Yorktown from the bridge.

This is a nice view of the bike path on the bridge looking toward Mt. Pleasant. The public fishing pier lies to the left of the bridge support pilings.

This is the view of the public fishing pier at Mt.Pleasant Memorial Waterfront Park. There were a few people fishing, but in general, it was not too busy. The fishing piers extends about 1/4 mile out into the Cooper River.

I have also posted two short videos taken from the top of the bridge. I especially like the second one, although you cannot really appreciate the scale unless you are standing where I filmed.

Off to Charleston

2011-08-19T09:25:00.002-04:00

Susan is still in Hot Springs National Park as their Artist-in-Residence for the month of August. I will fly out on a one-way ticket on the 31ST, and we will drive back over the Labor Day holiday. Saturday, August 20TH, I have the pleasure of attending a wedding in Charleston at St. Philip's Church. Lauren Slocki, who is the sister of Philip, Mathias's roommate and best friend at The Kirov Academy of Ballet, is getting married at 5PM with the reception at The Old Exchange Building. I will be leaving bright and early Saturday morning. Since Susan took the car, my mode of transportation has been our moped. Although it would be quite an adventure to take the moped to Charleston, sane minds prevail and I will be renting a car for the trip.

One of the things I've always wanted to do is to ride my bike across the Cooper Bridge Bridge. Thanks to a very generous upgrade from Enterprise, I will be able to take my bike in the Ford Explorer they rented to me for $19.99/day! I plan on driving to Patriot's Point and ride to my heart's content or until heat stroke sets in. I am hoping that I can take pictures from the top of the bridge. I will also take pictures at the wedding. If I survive my trip I'll post some next week.

Changes on the horizon

2011-07-11T14:10:00.005-04:00

Max, King of Park Street, posing as a dead cat at The Mouse House (click to enlarge)

On August 4, Susan leaves for Hot Springs Arkansas and a one month residency at Hot Springs National Park. From August 4-September 4, there will be limited framing services available at The Mouse House. The gallery will remain open for sales of Susan's artwork, mirrors, and framed prints. All framed artwork will be 20% off the entire month. During this time I will be doing many things around the Mouse House which will include exterior painting, lap siding repair on the workshop with my buddy and Susan's art mentor Stephen Chesley, and other assorted chores. My hours may vary, but I can always accommodate anyone wanting to come over and shop.

Last Wednesday afternoon at the spur of the moment, we decided to reduce our stock of antiquarian prints. We have collected hundreds of prints over the years which we successfully sold as framed items, predominately at Terrace Oaks Mall. Since we are no longer there, we decided to free up some space in the gallery by consigning some of our collection to Quinn's Auction House in Falls Church, VA. We took a trip to DC on Friday and brought 16 boxes of prints and some assorted plate books to the auction house. We hardly made a dent in our collection! I also have some much needed floor space in order to better show our mirrors and Susan's artwork.

Here is Max in all his glory. Enjoy!

Life after Terrace Oaks

2011-05-30T16:09:00.006-04:00

We moved out of Terrace Oaks Antique Mall in Charleston as scheduled. We had rented a small Ryder Truck for the move. I originally thought we could move everything out with a cargo van, but Susan refused to listen to me. She teased me the whole day as we filled the truck up with all our merchandise! There was little fanfare; just a few comments wishing us luck in our new endeavors! We never felt that we were special, and that is probably a good thing and done intentionally by the management. It alleviated any charges of favoritism in the mall. I don't think our work was ever really appreciated in the mall in the last months. Susan and I will not miss the trips to Charleston. We still have some fine pieces on consignment at Merrill Benfield Interiors at 28 Hassel Street in downtown Charleston; we'll see how long this will last. In the meantime, we have some great merchandise for sale. To name a few items, there is a nice selection of framed antique birds from Bree, History of the Birds in Europe, 1863; framed 19Th century botanicals from Curtis and others, and other mirrors and framed antiquarian prints. For anyone mentioning that they read about this sale on my blog from now through June, I will give 20% off on all framed prints, mirrors, and loose prints. Selected original artwork by Susan Lenz will also have this discount.

One of Susan's art installations has also been installed at The Mouse House. The doors contain many framed keys that have been shown in Charleston, Salisbury, NC and at her studio. These make wonderful gifts and I encourage all to come over and see this wonderful installation.

Below is a picture of my beloved dumb cat, Shadow, in all her glory!

A New Addition to the Memorial Garden

2011-04-09T11:34:00.004-04:00

Mouse House, Inc. moved to our present location Thanksgiving weekend, 1994. The backyard area was overrun with weeds and an old and poorly maintained asphalt parking lot. Quite honestly it was a jungle back there. One of the first things we did (after the garage was built in January, 1995) was to replace the asphalt parking lot with a nice cement one which has held up very nicely over the years. The second thing we did was to contract Woodley Garden Center to do some rudimentary landscaping. One of the things they did was to plant a few small dogwood trees to replace the overgrowth of weeds, as well as a few azaleas, bushes, and other assorted plants. The palm tree has flourished very well and the oleander blooms every June.

We added an 8ft by 10 ft by 15 in. pond later that summer which is still as beautiful and relaxing as ever with an assortment of multi-generational gold fish and the occasional bull frog. It is completely self-supporting, although I occasionally feed the fish.

Last Sunday I noticed that one of the dogwood trees had no blossoms or buds. Upon further inspection and pruning it was quite apparent that the poor dogwood did not survive the winter. I removed all the limbs and cut the barren tree down with a hand saw. What remained was a one ft stub of a tree. After excavating the soil around the root system and using a sledge hammer I was able to remove the root ball of the dogwood. It now stands proudly with the tree stump which marks Siren's grave. The remains of Blackie, our former black cat, are buried nearby.

Now for some other news, the moving out of Terrace Oaks Antique Mall in Charleston sale is going strong. There are some real bargains to be found. The sale will end on May 3.

A pair or vultures (buzzards) in front of The Mouse House.

Moving Out Sale at Terrace Oaks Mall

2011-03-31T15:48:00.002-04:00

The details of our move out from Terrace Oaks Antique Mall are complete. Our last day will be May 3, 2011. Starting tomorrow, April 1 (or when the sale signs are posted.. probably later that day), everything EXCEPT one item is 30 % off. The one exception is a fine framed West-African textile which is 15 % off. There are books, prints, mirrors, linens, and framed antique prints and framed Audubon prints available. Please come and shop for some wonderful bargains. Note that bookcases are not for sale.

Leaving Terrace Oaks Mall

2011-03-26T11:37:00.003-04:00

The decision was difficult but necessary. We have decided to leave Terrace Oaks Antique Mall. Our tentative move out date is May 5 but could change. We expect to have a significant clearance sale during April and more details will follow when the exact move-out date is set.

We have had a great relationship with Camille over the years, but unfortunately, times have changed. We are not selling our framed antique pictures with great consistency. Our big reproduction Audubon birds are not moving. There is a abundance of cheaper pictures available in the mall that are not the quality of our work, and we cannot nor do we choose to compete with this merchandise. We do not sell enough mirrors, books, linens, prints, etc. to justify the weekly trips to Charleston necessary to rearrange, clean, add and shuffle our merchandise. We cannot "work" our booths the same way as the local dealers. We do not want to run a continuous "sale". We are working on other options to continue to have a presence with our wonderful antiquarian artwork in Charleston. I'll keep you posted.

Going to England

2011-01-19T11:40:00.002-05:00

Since there's no possibility that my elder son Mathias reads this blog.....I can announce that I'm flying to Manchester this afternoon to see Mathias and Laura-Jane dancing in BRB's new production of Cinderella. I am also bringing a specially built crate for a collection of framed picture. I will miss my cats but am sure that Susan will take care of them!

Videos of Shadow and Snow

2010-12-26T09:07:00.004-05:00

Happy holidays from the Mouse House. Today, Sunday, December 26, we are having a rare snow event. Below are two videos taken this morning. Whenever it snows in Columbia, I generally take Shadow, out long-haired cat outside just to torture her. Today is no exception. Enjoy the videos. Mouse House is now on Facebook. I will be utilizing this social network to advertise sales and special events in the near future.

Below is a video of Shadow in the snow.

If you can't beat them....

2010-11-17T11:59:00.005-05:00

I was hoping to post some of my recent pictures from my trip to Plymouth and Cardiff, UK with Susan, but alas, they were lost when our hard drive in our computer blew up on November 6. Luckily for us we had backed up nearly everything else the Monday before because of a strange error message from the computer. Our computer Guru, Ben, told me this was probably a message warning us that the hard drive was bad (that is an understatement!). I thought we were having an electrical fire downstairs without the flames because of that unmistakable smell from the computer. I had just corrected my pictures the day before and erased the camera disk. I had not had a chance to put them on our external hard drive. Oh well... Susan has some nice pictures on her family blog for everyone to see. Since I lost my pictures and videos of the Eddystone Lighthouse, I will not bore you with the many links I found of the song "Eddystone Light". My favorite is the version by The Brother's Four which I have on vinyl, and I sung to Susan, much to her dismay, at the top of the lighthouse. Both of our boys were tortured by me and my love of folk music when they were little.

Last Friday and Saturday Terrace Oaks Antique Mall celebrated their 22ND anniversary. Every year the mall's owner, Camille, waives her commission charge for all sales by dealers during this two day sale and encourages all dealers to have great sales. It is a very generous thing that she does (since she loses income), and the shopping public also likes the great deals that they can get. We sold at least 4 large pictures (including two signed Elizabeth O'Neill Verner reproduction etchings) during the sale at 20% off their original price.

Sales cause a dilemma with our pricing structure. We have always priced our prints and mirrors and framed items at what we want to net. We have never really believed in sales because we always thought the general public would realize that our prices were fair to begin with. Unfortunately the times have changed because it seems that everyone everywhere expects a markdown or discount when one goes shopping. "You should never have to pay full price for anything" seems to be the philosophy of today's shopper. Even Camille has been encouraging dealers to have another sale during the "Black Friday" weekend after Thanksgiving. I know that the best solution is to price up and mark down to give the illusion that the shopper is getting a bargain. This has always been the S.O.P for antique dealers, car salespeople, real estate agents, etc. I just hate to play the game! I will resist as long as I can.

In the meantime, we have framed over 40 coloured antique bird prints from Bree's A History of the Birds of Europe, 1863, in four different moulding styles and are priced at a non-inflated price of $49.00 each. Discounts are available for quantity purchases only! They will be available at Terrace Oaks Mall next weekend and at The Mouse House now. They look great. I will probably be open next Friday and will pay the sales tax on all purchases made at The Mouse House.

Merchandise Reshuffling at Terrace Oaks Mall

2010-09-30T09:50:00.000-04:00

One year ago we expanded into an upstairs area at Terrace Oaks Mall. The extra space allowed us to bring more merchandise like framed mirrors, books, vintage linens (a passion for Susan), and other unusual items for sale. Susan has often shopped for anything she could use in her art at the Tuesday night table lot sales at Bill Mishoe's Auction House. For those who do not know about table lot auctions, when you buy a table lot you get EVERYTHING on the table, and it is your responsibility to remove it that night. Generally the prices on these lots are quite inexpensive, but you end up with "stuff" that you don't want. She keeps the best stuff and tries to give away the rest to the "flea market" dealers. It is the best of both worlds (as long as she can get rid of the stuff she does not want; we got rid of our dumpster years ago!) when she can buy "found object" art and sell the other merchandise to pay for the lots. In essence, she pays nothing for her art stuff (at least in theory). This is where Terrace Oaks has benefited. The dealers love to pick through all the unusual stuff we bring to the mall, as well as her extremely reasonably-priced linens.

Over the past weekend I examined our sales for the year and discovered some interesting statistics. We do sell a lot of "stuff" and for the most part we have been able to pay "booth rent" and even make a little money. The problem is the word "little". Mirror sales have not been what we hoped for. Sales of framed antique pictures and Audubon birds have been way off since April. This could be a cyclical phenomenon or a change of shopper's buying habits or people just looking for inexpensive wall art for their rooms. As Susan and I discovered at our last visit to the mall (she's known this for awhile), you can find a lot of that at Terrace Oaks Mall. Please note that I am not whining about this, but it is a fact. There is a lot of reproduction framed prints and NEW original art at affordable prices. I know that in the ideal world Camille, the owner, would like to eliminate a great deal of this "new" merchandise, but it is impractical and probably not "cost effective" during this recessionary period. This has created a quandary with our framed merchandise. Here is our solution.

We will still only sell antiquarian and special vintage framed and unframed prints (with the exception of the Audubons) at Terrace Oaks Mall. We will maintain a nice, albeit, a smaller selection of fine larger framed antique images and will introduce more one-of-a-kind antique pieces at great prices. We have not given up on mirrors; instead we (actually Susan who is infinitely better at this than me) are going to rehang the stairwell area and saturate it with more mirrors. We both believe that shoppers do not properly see our mirrors in the upstairs room. This will be a different look on the stairs and we hope a positive one. The walls in the upstairs room will be hung with our Audubon birds. The bookcases, prints, and non-linen related items will remain in this booth.

The upstairs bathroom will be converted into the "linen closet" where all fabric related merchandise will be displayed. Many of the antiquarian prints in the room will either be rehung downstairs or returned to the Mouse House. Additional mirrors will be used to generate more light in this room.

The reshuffling will begin on Friday, October 1. We hope this will become a successful change with our merchandise. At least it will be different, especially the "wall of mirrors" on the landing.
We'll give it a few months and then reevaluate our decision.

Max Stalking and Shadow Hiding

2010-09-30T09:19:00.002-04:00

As promised here is another video of Max and Shadow being cats! Enjoy.

More Pictures of Max and Shadow

2010-09-29T12:11:00.008-04:00

Here is a picture of Shadow in all her glory sitting in her "unposed" Buddha position. I still laugh every time she sits like this. (click on image to enlarge)

Below are some more pictures of Max, "King of Park Street" and Shadow, our beloved "Buddha" cat. Max is getting bigger everyday and stills tries to play and torment Shadow. He almost plays too hard at times and we have to throw him outside to calm him down. Shadow usually forgets about the harassment within a minute of the abuse. Max is also smart not to mess around with Sissy, our tiny rescue cat, who would claw off his ears if he started something. I have also posted a video for your enjoyment. Another will be posted soon.

Here is a picture of Max sleeping on a bed of vintage textiles and decorative mats. Max is so cute, especially when he chases Shadow around the house. (click on image to enlarge)

The above picture shows Shadow sleeping among the antique prints and Susan's fiber art in our main gallery. (click on image to enlarge)

Below is a cute video of Max. Enjoy.

Here is a picture of Max and Shadow hiding under a vintage dress. I have a video of their escapades and will post it once I figure out why it barfed when I tried to upload it.

An overdue post

2010-08-16T10:08:00.003-04:00

A photo of Max, our new shop cat (click to enlarge)

The summer has flown by with amazing speed. We are still muddling along through the bad economic climate and making a living. Exciting things are on the horizon for Susan and her art work. Hopefully she is on a plane heading back to SC from a week-long family reunion in Udvari, Hungary with her parents, sister Wanda, and many other old family friends. Her father was born and raised in this city and his family members were deported (along with all the other Hungarian Germans) by the Russians to East Germany after the end of World War II. She has been out of contact with me and her cyber friends for a week and I expect her to report about her trip in detail on her blogs. She has a new website (click here), a show in Florence, SC, and the real big show in Charleston opening in September. All the details can be found on her blogs and website.

The Mouse House also has a new shop cat, Max, "King of Park Street". He is jointly owned by Jerry Finney, our next-door neighbor and defense attorney, and us (although he really lives here and is MINE). Max loves people and trills like a "Tribble" in the classic Star Trek TV show. Max chases "Shadow" around the house but is smart enough to stay away from "Sissy", our rescue cat, who hides during the day and sleeps between Susan and me at night. Sissy lived a miserable 9 months in the wild and was probably tortured by its former owner. She is actually sweet, but is afraid of everything. More and better pictures will be posted later.

This is a rare picture of Max and Sissy actually sleeping on the same couch upstairs. We were experiencing a pretty sever thunderstorm at the time and I think they had a truce during the storm. They have not sat together since!

On a final note, I am going to break down and finally get a Facebook account. The Mouse House will be going social. I'll let everyone know when Susan creates my account. I might even "twitter"!!

More Pictures From London

2010-05-16T16:14:00.008-04:00

The weather has cleared (no more thunderstorms) and now I'll post some more photographs. One thing I noticed on this trip was how low the Thames River flowed. I don't know if it was because of a lack of rainfall, but it was low. I saw several people searching for artifacts along the river's edge and even a few people sunbathing! (please click on any image to enlarge)

The view in this picture is of Southwark Cathedral, located near the London Bridge underground. It is one of the oldest churches in London. I toured the church but did not take any interior photos. There is an archaeological site nearby that shows an old Roman street and various remains of 12-16Th century ruins. A very cool place.

Entrance to Southwark Cathedral

Above is your basic view of the Thames looking toward London Bridge, taken from the Millenium Bridge.
As I walked along the Thames toward the London Eye, I saw a make-shift skate park. I took a video and is posted below. I wished I spent more time here as there were a few pretty good skaters and some kids just having fun.

I will conclude this post with some pictures from the Portobello Market in Notting Hill. Mathias suggested that I venture out to this market on Saturday morning before the ballet performance. He thought I would like it, and he was right! All the tour books suggest that you arrive early Saturday morning in order to get the best deals in antiques and flea market stuff and to beat the hoards of people who come out to browse. I was not too interested in buying so I arrived later in the morning with the rest of humanity. You could hardly walk down the street because of the crowds, but it was an incredible people watching place and prices on antique prints, maps, etc was actually pretty reasonable. One of the best things about this area were the street performers, ranging from a two-woman portable puppeteer theatre, excellent jazz musicians, a classical quartet, and one special guitar hero jammer (see picture below). I will definitely come back here again; there is something for everybody here.

Portobello Market on Saturday morning (click on image to enlarge)

One of the many interesting and unique Portobello vendors. One of my favorite pictures appearing below is of an antiquarian print dealer. His signage was "special" and his prices were pretty reasonable. The butterfly engravings shown in the picture were approximately 30 pounds each ($47) before bartering; I had the same set of images a few years ago and sold mine for about $20-25 plus framing.

Below is the "guitar hero" player with two fellow jammers. I couldn't resist taking this picture. I have a video but I think this picture is better.

London, April 2010

2010-05-16T12:46:00.005-04:00

I love to try to take self-portraits of myself. Most of the time they never come out or are awful. However, even I get lucky sometimes. This is yours truly on the Millenium Bridge which spans the Thames between the Tate Modern and St. Paul's Cathedral. Notice the weather. It never rains when I go to England! I'll be cursed for that statement one day. (click on image to enlarge if you dare!)

I was fortunate enough to be on one of the first Trans-Atlantic planes to arrive in London (April 21) after the flying restrictions were lifted due to the recent and ongoing volcanic eruptions in Iceland. I cashed in my Delta frequent flyer miles for a ticket months ago that corresponded exactly (lucky me) with the time when Mathias and Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) would be performing The Sleeping Beauty at the London Coliseum. A year ago in April, Susan, Linda and I saw Mathias perform in Sylvia at the same venue and we stayed (thanks to Linda and her Marriott points) at the very swanky Marriott County Hall. Mathias was scheduled to dance the principal role of Bluebird twice, and Susan had already seen him perform in Birmingham last month. On the morning of my flight the air space over the UK was still closed, but my flight from Detroit to London Heathrow had not been cancelled. I flew to Detroit not knowing whether I would fly to England or back home to Columbia later that night. Mathias called me at the airport with the good news that UK air space was suppose to open at 10PM GMT. Our flight time was delayed about two hours but we made it over without any problems.

Mathias on the Millenium Bridge. Note the weather. This picture was taken the next day after my self-portrait. I could not have asked for better weather the whole week I was in England. I think it only rained for 20 minutes one night. (click to enlarge)

I met Mathias late Wed. morning at the Coliseum stage door to obtain my ticket for the performance that night, and then caught a train to my hotel in southeast London. The Bexleyheath Marriott, where I stayed for 5 days (on my Marriott points for free!), is located within a 15 minute walk or bus ride from the Bexleyheath train station which in turn is about 35-40 minutes from London Charing Cross Station. This station is within an easy 5 minute walk to the Coliseum. It could not have been more convenient. If you are not in a hurry, one can easily stay in the suburbs and save lots of money in hotels. Normal rates at this pretty nice Marriott (has full sauna, steam room, indoor pool, health club, etc) were 50 pounds/night cheaper than staying in London. The award nights also require significantly less points than the London Marriotts. In addition, for 7.50 Pounds you can purchase an off peak day pass that lets you have unlimited bus, underground, and train travel all over Greater London. You only have to start your trip after 9:30AM. On the weekend the passes are good anytime which is important as you probably should go to the fabulous markets (like Portobello) early. Trains run till midnight and they even have an all-night bus service to this area (although I don't think I ever want to be that adventurous in my old age!). I was able to see and do everything I wanted to do in London and the train ride back to the hotel were relaxing after all the walking I did. I would definitely do something like this again if (when) I return to London. Below are a few pictures that I took on this trip. By the way, Mathias was wonderful as Bluebird.

Here is a view of the Borough Market, one of the oldest markets in London. It was not too crowded that day (the busy day is Friday). The food was incredible and the views of the vendors were excellent.

Here is a view of St Paul's Cathedral taken from the Millenium Bridge.

We are having some weather issues here in Columbia. I will add more pictures and talk about more adventures in London later.

Books moving to Terrace Oaks Mall

2010-03-13T16:40:00.002-05:00

Our participation in the South Carolina book festival at the Carolina Coliseum proved to successful and enjoyable. The move-in and move-out was easy, and the events hosted by the book festival staff were excellent. Our first venture with the book festival in 2008 occurred within one week of Alex's departure from our home, and thus the event was filled with depression and sadness. Susan kept her mind and hands occupied by wrapping rusty nails with thread, much to the amusement of the visitors to our booth. These nails have found their place in several art installation and pieces and have been accepted into a number of national juried art shows. Pictures of her nails and related art pieces can be found on her blog. By the way she wrapped more nails this time (cool rusty square-head nails purchased at Bill Mishoe's auction) and generated the same curious looks from bystanders and book dealers alike.

The main difference between the book festival two years ago and the last one (excluding the emotional trauma) was the merchandise that I brought. Two years ago I only brought antiquarian prints and Susan's altered books. This time I actually brought books and only a few antiquarian prints, as well as many nice 19Th century plate books from my collection. Susan was one of the featured artists at the festival and again brought new altered books. Since she let people touch and examine them, they became a hit at the festival. Most of the books were on gardening, music and art; these books had been purchased from shelf-lot book auctions in Falls Church, VA at great prices. Accordingly my prices were very reasonable, and I sold enough to nearly break even for the weekend. I probably could have sold more if I made it more obvious that most of the books were priced as low as $1.00. These sales also have justified my trips to the DC area, and I am looking forward to upcoming shelf-lot auctions as great deals can be found. I also sold several nice plate books at the show and several more after the show, and thus the show actually became financially successful. I have noted in my last post of the books that sold and if anyone is interested in the others, just let me know.

Beginning next Thursday I will be bringing to Terrace Oaks Mall in Charleston all remaining books that did not sell (plate books, however, will remain in Columbia). I hope that they sell so I can continue to shop and buy bargain books. Please check the out the next time you are in Charleston.

Some book offerings at the SC Book Festival

2010-02-16T13:32:00.005-05:00

The South Carolina Book Festival opens on February 27 and continues on Sunday, February 28. Book festival hours are 9AM-5:30PM on Saturday and 11:30-5 on Sunday. There is NO CHARGE for admission. I am planning to bring a selection of art and gardening books priced from $1.00-$40.00, and some of my antiquarian prints . I am also bringing a nice selection of fine 19Th cent. plate books. Some of the titles that will be included in the sale are listed below. Please come and visit me that weekend. Click here for the latest information on the book festival.

Selection of Fine plate books to be offered:

Sartain’s Union Magazine of Literature and Art, Vol. VII, July-Dec. 1850. Includes second known publication of The Poetic Principles by Edgar Allen Poe. All plates intact. Cover nearly detached. $65.00

The Naturalist’s Library. Vol 9. Pigeons by John Selby. 30 hand-colored plates by E. Lear, complete. $165.00

The Naturalist’s Library. Vol 24. Pouched Animals. 1855. 34 hand-colored plates, complete. $165.00

The Naturalist’s Library. Mammalia (Dogs). 1839. 33 hand-colored plates, complete. $165.00

William Daniell. Interesting Selections from Animated Nature. 2 Vols. London. Ca 1810. With aquatint engravings of animals and fauna, small to moderate foxing on plates.Original boards, front cover of vol.1 becoming detached. SCARCE in complete two volume set. $925.00

Friendship’s Offering. London. 1834. 12 steel engravings, complete. $35.00

Peterson’s Magazine. Various volumes bound together. 1865-66. Numerous woodblock and steel engravings. $70.00

The Ladies’ Repository. Vol. 26. 1866. 17

steel engravings, 9 portrait steel engravings. $75.00

SOLD The Poetical Works of Thomas Moore. 2 vols. New York. 1851. 37 steel engravings, binding of vol. 1 loose. $75.00

Jones’ Views of the Seats, Mansions, Castles, etc. in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. London, Ca 1810. Frontispiece and 39 full-page engraved plates (later colored). $200.00

SOLD The National Gallery of Scotland. Edinburgh. 1910. 50 photogravures. No. 41 of only 350 published. $60.00

Picturesque Russia and Greece. Boston. Estes and Laurant. 1886. Numerous woodblock engravings. $40.00

Godey’s Magazine and Lady’s Book. Vol. XXXV, July-Dec. 1847. Numerous steel engravings and hand-colored fashion plates. $70.00

Swiss Pictures Drawn with Pen and Pencil. The Religious Tract Society, Ca. 1880’s. Numerous woodblock engravings, 2 chromolithographs. $45.00

The World of Science, Art, and Industry Illustrated from Examples in the New York Exhibition, 1853-54. New York. Putnam. 1854. 500 woodblock engravings throughout book and 1 early chromolithograph. $150.00

Tallis’s History and Description of The Crystal Palace and the Exhibition of the World’s Industry in 1851. 3 Vols in 2, ex lib. Approximately 140 steel engravings, some foxing to plates. Binding worn, front spine of vol 2 chipped. $175.00

William Beattie. Switzerland Illustrated. 1838, Vol. 1 only. 57 steel engravings by William Bartlett. Most plates fine with minor foxing. Binding worn, front cover nearly detached. $165.00

SOLD P.T. Sandhurst and James Stothert. The Masterpieces of European Art.

Philidelphia. Gebbie & Barrie, Ca. 1886. 101 steel engravings, plates clean with no foxing. Fine copy. $350.00

Owen Jones. The Grammar of Ornament. London. Bernard Quaritch. 1868. 112 chromolithographic plates, all fine with strong colors. Cover scuffed and discolored, binding tight. $350.00

James de Kay. Zoology of New York, Fish and Reptiles. Albany. 1842. Ex lib, plate volume. 79 B&W lithographs of snakes, fish, turtles, frogs, etc. $150.00

The Keepsake Annual. New York. ND (ca 1840’s). 11 plates. $40.00

The Odd-Fellows Offering for 1848. New York. Edward Walker. 11 steel engravings. $40.00

The Memories of Home, an Illustrated Annual. New York. 1860. 8 steel engravings. $40.00

The Snow Flake. 1846. Philidelphia. E. Ferrett & Co.. 10 steel engravings. $40.00

The White Veil, a Bridal Gift. Philidelphia. E.H. Butler. 1854. 11 plates. $45.00

The Ladies’ Repository. 1876.13 steel engravings. $40.00

Sowerby’s English Botany. Ed. by Boswell Syme. Vol 4. London. George Bell & Sons. 1902. 192 color plates, all fine. $350.00

SOLD English Art in 1884. Ed. by Henry Blackburn. 1895. 10 full page steel engravings. $50.00

SOLD Gems of Design From The Crystal Palace. London. ND (Ca. 1850’s). Plate Vol. Sm Folio. 204 steel engravings on 117 pages. Moderate foxing on most plates. $175.00

Charles Wilson. Picturesque Palestine, Sinah & Egypt. 2 vols. New York. D

Appleton & Co. 1883. Sm. Folio. 42 steel engravings, numerous woodblock

engravings in text. 1^st Am. Edition. Covers scuffed, tight binding. $325.00

Sir Richard Colt Hoare. The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin Through Wales. 2 vols. 1806. 32 plates in Vol. 1, 27 in vol.2, missing large folding map. $175.00

The Art Journal. London and New York.Virtue. 1849-50 and 1852-1868. 19 vols. Sm. Folio. Approx. 657 full page steel engravings of all genre' of painting and sculpture of the era. Almost all plates are fine. Bingings tight but several volumes have worn or cracked leather. Text filled with thousands of woodblock engravings. An incredible insight into the art world of the British Empire during the Victorian Era. Offered as a set. $1800.00

SOLD The Art Journal. 1867. London. Virtue & Co. Sm. Folio. 29 steel engravings and numerous woodblock engravings in text. $110.00

SOLD The Art Journal for 1878. New York. D Appleton & Co. Ex lib. 36 steel engravings, all clean, numerous woodblock engravings in text. $125.00

SOLD The Art Journal for 1879. New York. D Appleton & Co. Ex lib. 36 steel engravings, all clean, numerous woodblock engravings in text. $125.00

SOLD The Art Journal for 1880. New York. D Appleton & Co. Ex lib. 36 steel engravings, all clean, numerous woodblock engravings in text. $125.00

Mouse House in Book Festival

2010-01-17T16:40:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year to all. I am proud to report that I am participating in the South Carolina Book festival to be held at the Carolina Convention Center on February 27-28, 2010. Click here for a link that covers all the events that will be occurring that weekend. One of the new ventures to this show is the inclusion of artists for the event, and Susan is one of the participating artists. We did the show two years ago and brought only antiquarian prints and her altered books. For the upcoming show I plan to bring more antiquarian prints, but more importantly, I am going to showcase some of my plate books that I have collected over the years. I am also planning to bring really cool art books and whatever else I can find around the Mouse House for sale. I will provide more details later.

As an antiquarian print dealer I am often frowned upon by other booksellers because I sell prints that have originally have been extracted from old books. I would be lying (along with almost every other antiquarian bookseller) if I said that I have not gutted an old book for its art plates. The sad truth about plate books is that generally you can make more money selling the plates as framed art for home decor than selling the book itself. A notable exception are pre-20TH century atlases which command premium money if all the maps are still intact in the book. Book rebinding is expensive and has to figure in the equation when trying to decide to save or gut a book for the plates. I can, however, honestly say that a vast majority of my antiquarian prints have been purchased at auctions in print lots where someone else has already raped and pillaged the books.

Another sad truth about plate books is the simple fact that old copper and steel engravings, both colored and uncolored, are often wonderful examples of art that remain unseen in a closed book. I have a twenty-three volume collection of The Art Journal, published between 1849-1880 with fabulous steel engravings of the art of the era. I have no need to "break" these books for the plates because I already have a nice collection of similar plates for sale; however I know that if I sell them to someone else, this person can acquire a really nice print collection for decoration and framing. At one of the last book shows I did years ago in Durham, NC, I sold a nice Ca 1880 art book with uncolored steel engravings to a book dealer who told me, upfront, that he was going to send it to his hand-colorist for breaking and coloring. Such is the business of selling old art books with wonderful plates. I am actually excited about bringing these books to show and sell since they generally sit in my closet unseen by anyone but me. If I sell any and they are gutted, so be it. I hope the people that end up with the art in these books enjoy the images as much as I have.

Carolina Ballet's Nutcracker and old friends

2009-12-06T15:52:00.004-05:00

I am now over the long grueling drive to Denton, TX and back in the Penske rental truck for Susan's art installation, and I'm almost ready for another road trip. The next one will occur after Christmas when Susan, Mathias and I will visit Slippery Rock for News Years. I wish I could say that Alex will join us, but unless something drastic happens (like an apology to his mom for past ill deeds), it will just be us three. We did see him after Carolina Ballet's Nutcracker Thanksgiving Weekend. The conversation was pleasant and almost lengthy; however it is quite evident that he is not ready or does not want to right the wrongs that have occurred in the past. Enough said on this.

This performance of the Nutcracker will probably be the only one we'll see this year. For those who do not know Carolina Ballet, they are a civic company whose performances are composed primarily of students and very few professionals. Because of renovations to the Town Theater, their performance was on the larger Koger Center stage. I wish they could always perform here, but due to cost constraints it is impossible. Alex appeared in his 8Th Nutcracker and is generally cast as Mother Ginger. This year he was only a party gentleman and rode the Rat King onto the stage on a bicycle. He looked handsome on stage (as usual). The production, for a civic ballet, was quite good, with only the Snow King, Head Spanish male, and Cavalier Prince and Princess danced by professional or former professional dancers. I will fight the temptation to review the ballet and just say that Susan and I really enjoyed it. For professional productions it is hard to find a better one than Birmingham Royal Ballet in England, and this is the first one I've missed since Mathias joined the company.

During Thanksgiving week a received a video e-mail from my very old friend Robert Owen, who now lives in Jacksonville, Florida with his wife and "three legged" cat. We grew up together in Norfolk, graduated from Norview High in 1973, and spent a lot of time together during our DeMolay years. About 4 years ago when Mathias was still at The Kirov Academy of Ballet (his senior year), I received a very unexpected visit from Robert on New Years Eve. He and his wife were returning to Jacksonville and decided to drop over for a visit. Susan and I have not heard from him in over 25 years and we had a nice visit. In his video he showed several pictures of both of us in typically wild 70's style tuxes which made me howl with laughter. I promised Mathias that I would save the video so he could get a good laugh too. I e-mailed him back and invited him for a visit the next time he is in Columbia.

I also called another old friend and former DeMolay member, Reid Howard, on Thanksgiving. He had e-mailed me when I was visiting Mathias in England in September and I finally sat down and called. He was surfing the net and found my blog (yea someone actually read me!) and sent me a e-mail. Reid was in our wedding and I have not seen him in almost 20 years!! He actually lives in Northern Va. but moved in 1994 and I never attempted to find his new address. I incorrectly assumed he moved out of the area. We had a nice chat, and Susan and I plan to visit the next time we go to DC (which I thought was going to be this past Thursday, but we had to cancel our trip... too many things going on here.

Finally, I sat down and wrote to my old buddy and best man Ron Rill and his family that weekend. I have owed them a e-mail for at least a year or more. I have not seen Ron or Teresa since December, 1996, the last time The Ohio State University went to the Rose Bowl. We paid them a visit before Susan, me and the kids flew to LA out of Columbus for $110 per person!! Boy do I wish I could find more travel bargains like that today (thank you Anna at Lenz Travel Service). One of these days I will venture back to Columbus and OSU. This will be the first Rose Bowl Game involving Ohio State that we will not attend since 1977.

In conclusion I have attached some pictures that I took during our trip to Oregon. Susan wrote a great post on out trip on the family blog. Check it out here.

This is a view at Umpqua Dunes. You can rent ATV's and drive all over these dunes.

Here is a picture of Susan standing on the Jetty at Winchester Bay (click to enlarge)

One of many pictures I took on the John Dellenback Dune Trail at Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area

A view of Crater Lake from the Rim Center (click to enlarge)

Mouse House to be open after Thanksgiving

2009-11-15T16:37:00.002-05:00

Mouse House will be open on the Friday after Thanksgiving from 9:30-5PM and Saturday from 10AM to 2PM. All sales of mirrors, prints, Susan's original art work, and framed antiquarian prints will be sales tax free (i.e., I will pay the tax for you). These hours will help make up for the days that we are closed (Wed. Nov.18-Monday Nov. 23) because of our trip to Texas to install Susan's Blues Chapel at the Denton Arts Center. Please visit her blog to find out more about this exciting artistic opportunity.

Twenty-First Anniversary Sale at Terrace Oaks Mall

2009-11-09T10:13:00.002-05:00

On November 13-14 (Friday-Saturday), Terrace Oaks Antique Mall will be celebrating their 21ST anniversary sale. All dealers will be offering special sales during this two day event. Mouse House, Inc. is pleased to celebrate this event by offering 21% off on EVERYTHING on our booths this coming Friday and Saturday. There are wonderful bargains to be had, including framed Harper's Weekly engravings from 1861-65, Blackwell's Complete Herbal engravings from 1780, other antiquarian prints (both framed and unframed), large decorative Audubon reproduction birds, linens, mirrors, etc. Mall hours are 9:30-5:30 Friday and Saturday. Susan will probably be there most of Friday afternoon. Come out and take advantage of this unique sales opportunity in Charleston.

Salisbury Cathedral

2009-10-26T10:08:00.006-04:00

(click on images to enlarge)

During my last visit to see Mathias, I went on an overnight trip to Bath. One of the English cathedrals Susan and I have wanted to see since our first trip to the UK way back in 2001 was Salisbury Cathedral. However, it is too far away from Birmingham to be a reasonable day trip by train. I discovered, however that it was only 50 minutes away from Bath. So in the morning of my Bath trip I went to Salisbury to visit the Cathedral. What an incredible place! The Cathedral construction began around 1320 and finished approximately 30 years later! This is astounding for cathedral construction and explains why there is so little change from its original structure. I will not ramble about the Cathedral, but please go to this link to read more about the Cathedral. The Cathedral showcases one of 3 original copies of the Magna Carta and a medieval clock that is the oldest operating clock in the world. I spent over five hours during my visit which included a tour of the construction of the spire, which is over 440 ft. above ground. The tour itself lasted over two hours and was by far the best guided tour of a building's history and construction I have ever been on. We even ventured outside the Cathedral at 220 ft above ground for some incredible views of the city. Of course, I had great weather again and took many pictures. Here are a few. Later this week Susan and I leave for Oregon for a long weekend (real cheap airline tickets) and will be spending the nights in very interesting accommodations. These will be posted in Susan's family blog.

A view of the interior of the Cathedral for the organ level. This view is only available for those who go on the tower tour and is a MUST!

This is a view of the Cathedral's spire which climbs 440 ft. above ground. The tower tour takes you to the 220 ft. level.

Here is a picture of some of the support beams used in the construction of the church's upper levels. Many of these beams are over 600 years old

This photo shows the support beams of the spire which extends over 200 ft higher than the point where this picture was taken. Unfortunately we could not go higher which is probably a good thing since all ladders extend vertically and look really scary.

Here is a view of Salisbury from 220 ft above ground.

The picture above is a view of the Cathedral's spire which towers over 200 ft above this position. The walkway outside the church is barely 3 ft wide which makes taking these types of pictures a challenge and not for people that suffer from vertigo.

Please look at my very amateur video of Salisbury.

Bath

2009-10-25T18:25:00.005-04:00

A view of a neat old building along the River Avon in Bath (click to enlarge)

This picture is of Bath Abbey taken from the River Avon. What a glorious day! (click to enlarge)

One of the neat things about Mathias living in England is the fact that Susan and I get to travel to many wonderful places in the UK when we visit. I finally got to go to Bath last month and visit Bath Abbey and the Roman Baths. Like Susan did earlier, I stayed at the YMCA in a single shared bath for 20 Pounds with a nice continental breakfast included. What a deal!! The location is great and close to all things to visit. While I was there, I went to the Roman Baths, Bath Abbey, and the Bath Spa. The Roman Bath self-tour is excellent with headphones included in the price. Make sure you listen to Bill Bryson's commentary. The Abbey is almost next door and is quite beautiful. I unfortunately did not take the tower tour (sold out) but saw a wonderful needlepoint and collage exhibit that Susan would have loved. I took pictures for her. Later in the afternoon I went to The Thermae Spa for a two-hour swim and steam adventure. The rooftop pool is quite spectacular when the sun sets (I had great weather.. it never rains in England when I visit! well most of the time). The only thing wrong with this visit is the simple fact that I was by myself. Since I was not there with anyone, I felt like an old creep, trying not to galk at the younger women who were there in pacts of 3 or 4. However, the steam rooms were to die for and worth the visit. Here are a few pictures that I took in Bath. I'm getting better with my hand-me-down camera!

One of the stores in Bath featured some of the best looking sausages ever. Check out the ingredients and different varieties. (click to enlarge)

This is one of the standard views of the Roman Baths that people see in the travel magazines.

Here is a view of Bath Abbey taken from the Roman Baths. (click to enlarge)

Here is another view of the River Avon. You can take boat tours up the Avon from Bath. If I had more time I may have done it since the weather was so good.

Hill Botanicals Framed

2009-10-19T16:21:00.004-04:00

The Mouse House is proud to offer a wonderful set of 18Th century botanicals framed and ready to hang. The botanicals are from The Vegetable System by John Hill which were published between 1759-1775. A total of 24 were framed and two sold this past Saturday. All are hang-colored (early) and framed identically with acid-free mats with fillet and acid-free backing. The price for each is $225.00 which is a great price; it is not uncommon to find these prints unframed at this cost or even greater. These botanicals will be at The Mouse House for at least one week and later several will be offered at Terrace Oaks Antique Mall in Charleston. Below are a few sample pictures of three botanicals from this set. The image size measures approximately 10 X 15.5 inches with the frame measuring (outside dimensions) approximately 23.5 X 29.7 inches. Please contact me if interested.

(click on image to enlarge)

Gallery Representation for Susan

2009-09-23T09:25:00.005-04:00

(Entrance to the Grovewood Gallery in Asheville, NC. Click to enlarge)

As most of you know, Susan left for Austria last Wednesday to attend an embroidery workshop with her Swedish friends at Sara Lechner's farmhouse north of Vienna. Details of her adventures will be posted on her blogs when she returns on Sept. 28. Approximately 30 minutes before I took her to the airport, she received a phone call from Karen Kennedy at the Grovewood Gallery in Asheville, NC. Susan had been trying to obtain gallery representation with this prestigious fine craft art gallery adjacent to the Grove Park Inn for some time. She had sent up two pieces (a small In Box and an Elements of Architecture example) several weeks ago and was hoping to receive favorable reviews of her work. A promise of serious consideration and representation around November was mentioned. These pieces were not hung in the gallery but were evidently placed outside Ms. Kennedy's office and stirred quite a lot of interest. Needless to say that when she called and asked for more work, Susan was beyond excited! However, they did not want to wait until October, the earliest time Susan could personally deliver pieces to the gallery, so therefore, I delivered a car-load of wonderful images to the gallery on Friday for their perusal. I had not been to this area since our Easter, 1997 visit to the Grove Park Inn with Henry, Linda, Aunt Janet, and the boys. The gallery is visually stunning with fine furniture, glassware, pottery, textiles, etc. Ms Kennedy took 3 large In Box pieces, 6 Elements of Architecture, and 4 smaller In Box pieces. A large In Box sold while I was there to a couple from Oregon who came back after learning that more pieces were being delivered. Mary and Gordon Langston, our friends and long-time framing customers (they own a large piece of Susan's work) were staying at the Inn on Saturday. Mary had no idea that Susan had pieces in the gallery and called me with great excitement when she saw their hanging location. So Susan now has proper gallery representation and is not allowed to show her work anywhere else in the Asheville area!! Yea!! Susan doesn't know this, but we will be going up in Mid Oct. during the Southern Highlands Craft show so she can meet everyone associated with the gallery. Below are some pictures of the gallery.

A view of the Upstairs portion of the gallery with fine hand-crafted furniture (click to enlarge)

Another view of the upstairs with beautiful quilts and furniture. Susan's pieces will probably hand in this upstairs area. (click to enlarge)

A view of a small portion of the downstairs area of the gallery. I purchased a new coffee mug created by Robert Crystal and a cool glass ornament for our wrought-iron Christmas tree. (click to enlarge)

Terrace Oaks Mall Move-in Complete

2009-09-09T13:00:00.004-04:00

Above are views of the new upstairs space that we have rented in Terrace Oaks Mall. Yours truly is standing and marveling at the wonderful hanging job by Susan. (click to enlarge)

We have officially moved into our new space at Terrace Oaks Antique Mall. Originally the move was planned in October when I returned from England, but due to a scheduling snafu on my part, we moved in last Friday. We now have a room where we sell framed mirrors, antiquarian prints and linens. The move-in frees up wall space that will allow me to feature more of Susan's artwork. The "sales area" room is to be painted while Susan is in Austria and will be a focal point for her artwork. We will still offer a fabulous selection of framed beveled and unbeveled mirrors, as well as more framed antiquarian prints. Updates on available framed prints will be posted in the next several weeks.

A view of our upstairs former bathroom area. In Susan's former life as a more than full-time framer, she actually took picture framing orders and even had a nice selection of mat corners! Now it is a nice storage area filled with antique framed art.

Above is a view of the stairwell area at Terrace Oaks Mall which is filled with our framed art.

Mouse House Expansion

2009-08-27T14:16:00.002-04:00

Susan and I have decided to rent additional space at Terrace Oaks Antique Mall in Charleston. We will offer for the first time in this mall a nice selection of decorative mirrors, as well as matted and shrink-wrapped antiquarian prints, linens, and other assorted goodies that we find at estate auctions. The room will be upstairs near our existing bathroom space and will greatly expand our wall hanging capacity. The move-in will occur on October 3 after I return from England. The downstairs sales area at The Mouse House will be painted in September when Susan is in Vienna and before I leave to visit Mathias and LJ. We are going to feature more of Susan's original art work, but we will still maintain a large selection of mirrors. We hope to have more framed antiquarian images, including the Hill botanicals and Culpepper herbals. A better use of space will occur at The Mouse House, as well as offering more of our merchandise in the Charleston area. We are very excited about our move and encourage everyone to visit Terrace Oaks Mall when your travels take you to Charleston.

Another Biking Adventure

2009-08-27T13:28:00.004-04:00

Entrance to Mount Vernon, home of George Washington (click on image to enlarge)

Last Thursday Susan and I traveled to Washington, DC and attended another book and print auction at Quinn's Auction Gallery. We purchased some interesting items, including 4 shelves of Swedish books by Strindberg which she is going to use in her grave-rubbing quilt show next February. I'm not sure what she is going to do, but I know it will be incredibly cleaver. On Friday, Susan had her Artist's Way art day while I ventured with my bike on the Mt. Vernon Bike trail. She dropped me off at Dunn Loring and I rode all the way (finally) to Mount Vernon and back to Old Town Alexandria where she picked me up, had lunch, and visited The Torpedo Factory. Later I collapsed from a splitting sinus headache in our hotel room but made a complete recovery and drove back to SC on Saturday. The bike ride was approximately 30 miles in 90+ degree temperatures, and the weather was glorious. I have included some pictures of my journey. I still want to ride the complete W @OD trail from Purcellville, Va to DC., and Susan still refuses to ride with me!!

View of the boat launch at Mount Vernon taken from the bike trail (click to enlarge). You can catch various Potomac River cruises from Alexandria to Mount Vernon and visit the estate. I am about 1.5 miles from the terminus of the trail. The last .75 miles is all uphill and very challenging, especially when you have already rode 20+ miles!!

Another view of the Potomac River with Mount Vernon on the right side (click to enlarge)

This is a charming! self-portrait of yours truly taken at the end of the Mt. Vernon Trail. Notice the red face! I did use a lot of 50+ sunscreen as ordered by my doctor.

Hill Botanicals, Ca 1759-1775

2009-08-09T13:27:00.003-04:00

At a book and print auction many months ago, I acquired a wonderful selection of late 18Th century botanicals including 20 from John Hill's The Vegetable System. This monumental work was published in 26 folio volumes containing about 1600 copperplate engravings and was published between 1759-1775. The plate size for these botanicals are approximately 9.13 by 14.75 inches printed on beautiful laid paper approximately 11 by 18 inches. All plated are early hand-colored with very little foxing. Similar prints from other print dealers range in price from $300-400 each. My botanicals will be offered already framed and ready to hang using acid-free mats and backing at a similar price. Finished framed images and prices will be posted when they are done. Several images of the Hill botanical prints are shown below. Please click on images to enlarge. If anyone has any interest in purchasing these botanicals, please e-mail or call me.

My Pictures from England

2009-07-14T10:50:00.005-04:00

Susan has safely arrived in Minnesota and is in her second day of "school" at the Split Rock Arts Program at the University of Minnesota. She returns on Saturday. Instead of painting I decided to clean out the attic of old Mouse House records, throw out old cans of various paints that have been stored under the downstairs sink, and creating small frames with mouldings that have been collecting dust in the garage since before the downsizing of the business, which, by the way, began 8 years ago today (Bastille Day!). Happy anniversary to us and especially to Susan! I have also decided to give the Mouse House a thorough cleaning. The downstairs gallery will be painted in September when Susan leaves for Vienna. Mathias leaves for Japan today for 12 days to guest dance with one of his "mates" at BRB. Dusty Button, the other SC connection at BRB, is also joining them. We also had an "Alex sighting" last Friday when Erica and Alex came over to the house to retrieve his air-compressor and attachments for a project he is involved in at CMFA next month. He had a chance to see the pictures of Mathias and LJ as a pirate and gypsy, respectively, which were taken in England. Susan and Alex did not talk much, mainly because Alex will not talk to his mom, but it was nice to know that he is alive and appears healthy but unemployed

Below are several pictures that I took on our last trip to England. Please click on these to see them larger. I think I'm getting better. Enjoy.

Here is Susan in all her glory posing on the pedestrian bridge that links Salford Quays with Trafford. It is a short 10-15 minute walk to Old Trafford where Manchester United plays their football. The bridge actually goes up when large ships enter this area via the Manchester Ship Canal. You can catch a cruise from Salford Quays (pronounced "keys") to Liverpool through this ship canal.

Susan is sitting on an outdoor art installation that celebrates the historical importance of Manchester and Salford Quays as a shipping mecca.

Susan is now posing with a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers that she picked during out stroll to Old Trafford. I hope it was not illegal!!

This picture is another view of the pedestrian bridge. The tall building on the left is where our rental apartment was located. The place could not be more convenient to The Lowry where BRB performed. If anyone ever goes to Salford Quays or to Old Traffford to see ManU play, this is a great option to stay; but book early. A link to the website that I used to secure this apartment can be found by clicking here.

This is a photograph of part of the Roman Wall that surrounds the city of Chester. Chester is unbelievably charming and has wonderful architecture. Susan has other pictures of Chester on the family blog, but I do not know if she has this shot.

Here is a typical shot of the shopping district in the walled area of Chester

Here we have Susan taking a grave rubbing from an old tombstone dated ca 1680. She writes in detail about our visit to Eccles and their charming Norman church on the Family blog.

Here is an interior shot of St Mary's Church in Eccles. Not a bad photograph.

Off to Salford Quays

2009-06-28T09:24:00.002-04:00

Susan and I leave for Manchester, England today to visit Mathias and Laura-Jane and to watch them dance at The Lowry. We shall return on July 6. I will take pictures and hopefully post some beauties when I return. Susan leaves for Minnesota on June 12 for her quilting class at the Split Rock Arts Program at the University of Minnesota (on full scholarship!). She will be gone one week. This means the possibility of another room to be painted in her absence and considerable discounts on mirrors and framed work by Susan. I will make the decision after we return from England. In the meantime, I hope everyone enjoys the 4TH of July holiday.

Biking and The Boat Club

2009-06-14T13:37:00.007-04:00

View of the Washington Monument from the Mount Vernon Bike Trail (click on image to enlarge)

Over Memorial Day weekend, Susan and I recently went to one of our favorite cities, Washington DC, to a book auction in Falls Church. I also packed my bike and went bike riding on Friday on the wonderful bike trails in the area while Susan went to Arlington Cemetery and contracted poison something. I guess she put her hands on the wrong tombstone for a rubbing for her ongoing grave rubbing quilt series. Northern Virginia is the Mecca of bike trails. You can travel the whole length of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (145 miles!), ride to Mount Vernon, transverse the 44 mile Washington and Old Dominion trail from Shirlington to Purcellville, bike into DC via Georgetown and up to Bethesda, MD, and so on. These trails are automobile-free, paved or hard gravel and are safe for just about any type of all-terrain bike. I try to stay on the paved trails as I have smaller racing tires on by bike (yea right, racing tires!). In the past I have usually stayed at a motel in Virginia that is near to the W & O trail and have attempted to ride all the way to Mount Vernon (about 22 miles or so one-way, depending on the location of the hotel). I have never made it all the way (real close one time- within 2 miles), but I will real soon. On this trip I rode from Dunn Loring down to the Custis Trail which leads to Rosslyn and the beginning of the Mount Vernon Trail. I took this trail through Old Town Alexandria (note that this area does use public roads for about 2 miles but I have found it very safe in the past), past the Wilson Memorial Bridge to a park near Belle Haven Marina and turned around. I then biked into Crystal City and wussed out and took the Metro back to Dunn Loring. The total biking distance was about 30 miles. Not bad for an old man but I've done better! Next month I planned on being in VA at another book auction when Susan is in Minnesota at the Split Rock Arts Program. My hotel is adjacent to the W & O Trail in Herndon and I am going to try to ride to Purcellville. Wish me luck! Below are a few pictures I took along the way. Please visit this website for a complete listing and links to the bike trails in the DC/VA/MD area.

View along the Mount Vernon Bike Trail at Mile marker 16. The bridge in the distance is The Memorial Bridge (US 50) into Washington DC. (click on image to enlarge)

Same location looking east. Note how nice the trail is paved! (click on image to enlarge)

Downtown Richmond, VA, on the other hand, is not bike friendly. While Susan was visiting historic Hollywood Cemetery, I ventured down toward the James River to find the location of the old Virginia Boat Club or as I remembered it as a child of 5 and 6 (Ca 1960), The Boat Club. This private club was located on Mayo Island but was abandoned and eventually bulldozed or destroyed by the Floods caused by Hurricane Agnes in the early 1970's. This is where I learned to swim, fish for catfish, and play handball. I am not sure if my father was a member or whether General Motors Insurance Co. had a membership, but we spent a lot of time here. As I remember it was a pretty swanky place. According to some rudimentary research this was a real society club. He obviously was moving up in GM; they actually provide him our house in Richmond in 1957. I always believed "something" happened between my parents (actually I know something did happen and it wasn't good), his work situation, etc. that caused my dad to take a lateral move to Norfolk in 1961. I was too little to remember the details but I know my older brother was never the same after we moved.

The bike ride was challenging as Richmond is very hilly and some of the roads lead to Interstates where bike are not allowed. The fabulous Richmond Canal Park forbids bikes on their trails so I had to ride on sidewalks and cobblestone streets to Shockhoe Bottoms to Hull Street (US 360) and cross over the bridge to Mayo Island. I parked and walked the former site of the Boat Club and the old baseball field. As a child I remembered seeing a railroad trestle from the pool. Today there is some building (vacant I think) on the original site and I roamed over to the train trestle and took some pictures. I later discovered on the Internet some old pictures of the site Ca 1956 which probably show the old Boat Club Ballroom. I have also learned that the Valentine Museum has over a million photographs of Richmond and they have other pictures of the Virginia Boat Club. One day I am going to return and do some more research on my life in Richmond. Richmond is a great city and one that Susan and I would like to live in if the right opportunity occurs. In the meantime here are some photographs that I took of the James River and Mayo Island. Susan and I may actually be back in Richmond this Friday (she needs to return to Hollywood Cemetery for more grave rubbings!).

A view of the footbridge over the James River that leads to Belle Island. I don't know why I did not venture over this bridge! Next time I will do a little more exploring of this area. (click to enlarge)

A photograph of the train trestle over Mayo Island. I found a really cool bent rail tie and cast iron washer for Susan (click to enlarge).

Another view of the railroad trestle. In the background is an abandoned building where I think the swimming pool of the Boat Club was located.

Vintage photos of The Mouse House

2009-05-20T15:39:00.004-04:00

Recently, my next door neighbor, Gita Larson, found these wonderful pictures of The Mouse House grounds in some of her deceased uncle's photos. She was kind enough to allow me to scan and post these photographs. Her uncle, Ed Sampson, grew up in the house next door and the house has remained in their family since it was built (Ca 1908).

(Click to enlarge.)
The picture above shows Gita and her brother, Jarry Richardson, taken around 1949. Gita's mother married the Reverend Jarrett Wood Henry Richardson, Jr. The couple was appointed Baptist missionaries to Nigeria. Thus, Gita grew up in Africa but also here in Columbia, next door. Ed Samson never married. When he died, Gita moved into the house. Earlier this year, her father passed away too. Still, extended family comes to visit often. The house is still the "family house". In the background of the photo above is the front of the current The Mouse House with the original columns and a small upstairs baloncy. Presently, the area inside the balcony is our master bathroom. The pecan tree in this picture is still here and a lot bigger.

(click to enlarge)
This picture was taken in the back yard of Gita's house (ca 1949). The current Mouse House appears in the background. Note the stairs and awning covering the back door that does not exist anymore. I believe this area was closed off when the house was renovated in 1988-90.

(click to enlarge)
This picture was taken on December 26, 1957. It shows Gita's house and the current Mouse House. Gita is still searching for more photos of the neighborhood and has promised to share them with me.

Back from England

2009-04-25T10:43:00.006-04:00

Susan and I returned last Monday from a week in London with Linda (my wonderful and generous mother-in-law). We had the pleasure of watching Mathias and Laura-Jane perform at the London Coliseum. They were wonderful, especially Mathias who danced the role of McGog in Sylvia. He and his partner in the dance, Kit Holder, (also "straight") stole the show when they danced. A picture of the charming couple in costume backstage appears below. Mathias also danced in Enigma Variations and Penguin Cafe and was wonderful, as was LJ.

Kit Holder and Mathias as Gog and McGog in Sylvia (click to enlarge, if you wish!?!)

Courtesy of Linda's generous contribution of 130,000 Marriott Points, we stayed at the swanky London Marriott County Hall in an upgraded (thanks to me) two room suite with an incredible view of Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. A photo of our view taken from Linda's room also appears below. I actually took this picture and it turned out pretty good.

View of Westminster Bridge and Big Ben from our hotel window at the London Marriott County Hall

We could walk to the theater in 15 minutes, as well as St Martins in the Field and Covent Garden, which we did several times. The weather was generally pretty good with only a little rain. Susan and I seem to bring better weather to England when we visit. I will also post some more of MY pictures below, but I'm sure that Susan will post more in her blog.

View of the London Eye from Westminster Bridge

Susan, Linda, Laura-Jane, and Mathias on a river boat going to Greenwich.

A nice picture of Susan on our ferry boat

Mathias and Laura Jane at Greenwich. Did I actually take this fabulous picture? Yes I did!

Now for some other news. Susan and I are leaving for San Francisco next month for a long business related weekend (May 7-10). We are going to visit graveyards and Susan will attempt to make more clandestine grave rubbings for her grave rubbings series. By the way, it is illegal to be buried in San Francisco (except at the Presidio and you must be military) and almost all of the historic cemeteries were moved to the city of Colma, south of San Francisco and north of the airport. Please see Susan's blogs for more information on this interesting part of San Francisco history.

We just found out yesterday that Susan was awarded a full scholarship (tuition, room and board) to attend the Split Rock Arts Summer Program in Minnesota. She will be taking the Art Quilt Class from July 12-17. She will be announcing this later on her blogs. This really cheered her up since she was rejected from Penland. THEIR LOSS!!

Business is still a little slow, but the weather is wonderful and I will attempt some more landscaping in the back yard. Until next time.

Some April news

2009-03-28T15:18:00.003-04:00

I am lonely at The Mouse House. Very few people are coming to visit and shop. Maybe it's the 11% unemployment in South Carolina (8.7% locally and growing). Maybe it's because our real estate property assessments have increased over 20% in the last five years while average housing purchase values have decreased 15% in one year. Maybe people are just too scared to spend their money on artistic luxuries because they fear that they are the next ones to be laid off and will need their money for food. For whatever reason, we have noticed this trend, not just at the MH, but at charity fund raising auctions where donations are down, turn out is down, and purchases are down. One exception was the recent Light The Way charity art sale (Susan and the Mouse House were proud participants as were over 20 other artists) which netted over $4400 for the Midlands Housing Alliance homeless shelter during a three hour one day art sale. I am sure that other businesses have felt the same pinch as us, and I hope that in April and the comimg months things will improve. We'll see.

During the month of April, we will be closed from April 13-20. We will be visiting Mathias in London and watching him dance at the London Coliseum. Grandma Linda (Susan's mom) wil also be travelling with us, and we will be staying at the plush London Marriott County Hall, courtesy of the 130,000 Marriott points that Linda cashed in for the trip. Thanks a bunch!! During this month, for anyone reading this blog and telling me so (an internet-only sale of sorts), I will pay the sales tax on your purchase of existing framed mirrors, framed artwork, and antiquarian prints. I hope to be inundated with sales from my loyal readers.

The Dixie Motel in Emporia, VA

2009-03-06T16:24:00.008-05:00

Susan and I are approaching a very interesting anniversary in our lives. Way back on Good Friday, 1987, we were on our way from Columbia to Norfolk, VA to visit with my parents (both are now deceased). We had just recently moved from Ohio (January) where I had just graduated with my PhD from The Ohio State University, and I was just beginning my short-lived career as a Coastal Engineer. I think this trip was our first road trip from Columbia. We left Columbia after work Friday and drove up I95. It was late and we needed a room for the night but there were no vacancies anywhere. We decided to go off the main highway and look for anything, aka Janet Leigh in Psycho. What we found was The Dixie Motel. It had vacancies and a diner/truck stop that was actually open and even served pretty edible food. Our room had paneled walls, probably as thick as the paneling, a bed that bowed like a joggling board, and a bathroom so small that two people could not fit at one time. Numerous people before us had carved their names in the walls and left other graffiti that I wish I had photographed( no digital cameras for us then)! We could hear everything in rooms that were way far from us! It was the most dirty, scary, and at the same time, charming place I've ever stayed in my life. We had always joked with our kids that we would all stay there one night during one or our many road trips from SC to Va to DC.
In all the times over the last 22 years I've passed by this area, I never stopped.

The entrance to The Dixie Motel

While Susan was in England I went up to DC (Feb 16) for my fix of good ballet - ABT at the Kennedy Center. This could have been Mathias' company if he had chosen this path (he was offered ABT Studio at age 16 and he has many old friends that dance in the company). On Friday I went to the National Art Gallery West Wing to see the Robert Frank photography show. Needless to say it was great and it probably inspired me to return to SC on Saturday via back roads. Specifically I traveled US 301 from Emporia to Rocky Mount, NC to see the national juried show at the Rocky Mount Arts Center that Susan is in. What a fabulous arts center!

I finally stopped at The Dixie Motel and took these pictures. Who knows how long this motel has been closed and abandoned (probably years). The old diner was also closed and falling apart as was the motel. I could not remember what room we stayed at (we were to the right of the main office), but I'm sure they were all the same as the one I took pictures of. I even found a room key on the cement floor adjacent to Room 4; I don't know if it fit the door; I was a little paranoid of the no trespassing and hunting signs, the possibly of vagrants attacking me or the ghosts of patrons past. I am sure that if Susan was with me, we would have probably entered the room for better pictures. In any event, I had a blast.

Close-up view of the Dixie Motel Office

Accommodations in Room 4

Natural air-conditioning at The Dixie Motel

I drove the next 55 miles or so to Rocky Mount and lost count at the number of abandoned motels, businesses, and buildings I passed along US 301. They are, of course, the result of progress and Interstates. I wonder how much it would cost to purchase one of these bulidings and renovate it - probably too much - I guess that's why there are so many buildings standing as momuments to yesteryear.

Pictures of the Front gallery

2009-03-06T14:05:00.006-05:00

The front hallway in the Mouse House is finished and all mirrors have been hung. Here are some before and after pictures. The walls were in incredibly bad shape. This is not surprising since nothing had been done to the walls since we moved in in 1994. It took a full day to patch, sand, and also to Kilz the ugly upper wallpaper border. My next job will probably be Susan's sales room with the ugly grass-covered wallpaper walls. Good luck to me!

A photo of the front hall stairway before painting (click to enlarge). Note the wallpaper border near the ceiling.

One wall with many of the nail holes plugged and sanded. The other picture is a view of the stairway before painting.

A view of the stairway area after painting. Such pristine walls!

The freshly painted stairway with mirrors.

2009-02-24T17:01:00.002-05:00

While the head Mouse is in England, I am tackling another painting job. So far so good. The room should be ready for Susan to hang the multitude of mirrors that I took off the walls. In the meantime, all framed mirrors and artwork are 15% off this week. I will be posting my recent adventures in DC and my visit to the Dixie Motel in Emporia this weekend with some interesting (I hope - I have not look at them yet) pictures. Take care.

Lake Murray via moped

2009-02-09T16:21:00.007-05:00

On Thursday the 3RD I drove the moped to Palmetto Power Sports on St. Andrews Road for its 500 mile tune-up. The temperature was 36 degrees F. and windy. The drive was 5 miles (one way). Needless to say it was cold!! I retrieved it later that day and drove it home (with more layers of clothes than before). I turned 54 on Friday the 6TH without much fanfare (thank god!), and the air temperature was beginning to moderate. I decided to be a little adventurous on Sunday and took the moped out for a little spin to Lake Murray and back (approximately 30 miles round-trip from The Mouse House). If anyone would have told me a year ago that I would be riding a moped at 50 MPH and cruising with the Harley guys and gals over Lake Murray, I would have checked their temperature! But that is what I did, and I had a blast!! I only got passed once and that was on the right by a Harley who wanted to prove he was more of a man than me! I took some pictures to prove that I actually did this.

The first picture is the Saluda River looking downstream at Gardendale. This is a take-out spot for canoes and kayaks coming upstream from Saluda Shoals and the Lake Murray Dam. We've used it many times in the past. Its location is off Gardendale road which intersects Bush River Road. To reach the river access you must pass Gardendale Swim club. This is where Mathias and Alex learned to swim many years ago. They have spiced the place up a little bit and it brought back some nice memories.

My adventure continued up Bush River Road to St. Andrews Road to Bush River Road and toward Saluda Shoals and Lake Murray. Bush River Road is two lanes and has posted speed limits of 45 mph which no one obeys!! (including me at times). Bush River Road runs into Route 6 where there is a large parking lot and boat launch. I have to admit that I've not ventured out to the Lake Murray dam since 2001, and boy has it changed!! The place is wonderful, filled with boaters, fisherpersons, picnickers and bikers.

The road across Lake Murray is a 4 lane highway that sits atop the dam. There is a bike lane and a separate, safe pedestrian lane (toward Lexington) where one can walk across the dam.

The road toward Irmo sits between the original dam wall and the newer wall built several years ago. I've included a picture taken from the moped that shows the dam walls.

I've already told Susan that we must return and walk across Lake Murray. I'll suggest that she rides out to the dam and become a "motorcycle mama" like her old man! I'll meet her in the Scion. I'm not quite ready to ride double!

Mouse House News

2009-01-25T13:09:00.005-05:00

The Mouse House has survived the winter blast from last week. My fish pond froze over for several days and we actually had some snow this past Tuesday. I took pictures and videos but they were terrible, even to my standards, and not worthy of publication. I inserted one for your enjoyment.

In typical Columbia fashion, they closed all public schools due to a threat of snow. Susan was entertaining a visitor to her Cyber Fyber show from California who was quite amused with the panic of Columbia residents when inclement weather approaches. Her flight left on-time during our snow event.

Yesterday we entertained Seia Rassenti and Joseph Watson (her boyfriend), who are ballet dancers with North Carolina Dance Theatre in Charlotte. Seia graduated with Mathias at The Kirov Academy in DC. They were best friends at school. They came down at our invite to watch Columbia Classical Ballet's Lifechance Gala, and they had a chance to meet several invited dancers including Brooklyn Mack, who dances with Orlando Ballet. He also went to The Kirov, is from Columbia (Elgin) and graduated a year before Mathias and Seia. Seia had not seen Brooklyn for several years, and he did not know she was coming. Susan got some great photos and will be posted on her blogs in the near future. Maybe she will write a review of the evening?!?

Mathias should be returning to England from China today. His company, Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB), has been on a three week tour and have danced in Shanghai, Beijing, and another city. Susan will be visiting next month for 9 days and will get a chance to see their opening performance of Sylvia at the Hippodrome Theatre in Birmingham. Susan, her mother, and myself will be travelling to London in mid April to see their performances at the London Coliseum.

As in the past, whenever Susan is out of town for a week or longer, I make an attempt to paint another room in The Mouse House. This time I will tackle the front hallway. This will require a lot of prep work on the walls. Therefore, all mirrors will be removed and then be rehung when she returns. As it has been customary in the past and since the gallery will be in shambles, I will offer a 15-20% discount on framed mirrors during this time period (February 16-28). Please come by and visit and see what new things are hanging (or not hanging)at The Mouse House. Note, however, that I will be closed on February 19-21 due to a prior engagement

Happy New Year From The Mouse House

2009-01-03T10:24:00.004-05:00

Greetings from The Mouse House. My goal for 2009 is to post on a weekly basis the goings-on of The Mouse House. Susan is now consumed in the final planning stages of her International Fiber Arts Exhibition show to be held from January 8-20 at Gallery 80808, 808 Lady St. in the Congaree Vista. Please visit her Cyber Fyber blog for all the details of the show.

The Mouse House is please to announce that we now have a source for antiqued mirrors. They can be ordered both as either heavy or light antiqued, beveled or unbeveled. They have a wonderful 3-D effect when examined at close range. The mirror shown below is a heavy antiqued example and is priced at $360.00 (frame size is 20" by 39"). Please call, or better yet, visit us for estimates for other sizes and frame styles.

Please remember to visit Terrace Oaks Antique Mall in Charleston where we offer a wide selection of framed antiquarian prints and large Audubon reproduction birds. Also remember that if you trust Susan's selections of frames and matting choices, we can frame your pieces.

Festival of Trees 2008

2008-11-19T09:50:00.003-05:00

(The Tutu Tree before it was accidentally knock over!)

Twenty years ago Susan and I faced one of the most difficult times in our lives. Our little baby Mathias required skull surgery. Two of the four plates inside his head had prematurely fused together. The bone was still growing and forming a ridge. By right of nature, he would have grown up with a deformity. It was scary. The operation took hours. There are no words to accurately describe the swelling from such an ordeal, but the recovery went very, very well. So well that our little baby was released two days early....on Christmas Day, 1988. This was his first Christmas on earth, our first as a family, and an unparallelled blessing. Everyone at Children's Hospital had been gentle and kind, understanding and reassuring, and cognizant of the holiday and its additional emotional impact.

Above and below: Susan working to re-install the tree!

At the time there were only five beds in the pediatric intensive care unit. Children's Hospital was just one of the floor in the larger Richland Memorial building. Today it's an entire building. For years Susan and I have donated to the annual fund-raiser FESTIVAL OF TREES. In the past this also meant we attended the black tie gala. This year, however, the event has moved from the spacious State Museum into the smaller lobby area of the newly opened Children's Hospital. Tickets to donors have been eliminated but we were able to talk to several anxious parents and many recovering kids as we installed our tree. This kept our focus on the true meaning of giving.

(Above: The re-installed tree!)

Our tree is called "The Tutu Tree". It is a "slim" tree....the size needed to keep the fire marshall happy about hallway space! It is covered with various pink tulles, several used pointe shoes, silver lame and pink satin ribbons, glass balls, and lots of shiny gold curly ribbon. It includes a framed poster advertising the upcoming Carolina Ballet's Nutcracker, tickets for four to this production's Sunday matinee, and a $125 gift certificate for an in-stock mirror here at Mouse House. Unfortunately, the tree was knocked over after we installed it on Sunday. We took it home and re-installed it yesterday evening. It looks even more tutu-y!

Festival of Trees is open to the public on Saturday and Sunday this weekend. Susan and I hope the event raises awareness and much needed funds.

Above: The Irmo Women's Club "wine" themed Christmas tree

(One of the ICU Children's Hospital nurses working on a tree)

A beach themed Christmas Palm Tree.

More decorating!

(Below is a view of the lobby at Children's Hospital.)

Blooming Azaleas

2008-10-21T18:38:00.003-04:00

We have some strange azalea plants in the front of The Mouse House. They do not bloom during the early spring. They sometimes bloom in May, July, and occasionally a lone blossom appears out of the blue in the fall, like the one I saw today and photographed. The picture does not do the blossom justice; its solitary existence is quite striking, surreal, and beautiful.

(click to enlarge)

This past week I had the pleasure of creating three hugh mirrors for the Forest Lake Club in Columbia. They were picked up on Saturday and probably hung today. I took pictures but they turned out awful. As everyone knows in my family, and they don't let me forget it, I am generally a lousy photographer. But practice make perfect so I continue to snap pictures in hopes of creating one good image. I am leaving for Hilton Head on Friday to spend the weekend with Linda, Henry and Ann Feller. I am also delivering a framing order to the island, and thus the rental car becomes a business deduction. Nice!! We are going to Magiamo's on Saturday to hopefully watch our beloved Buckeyes annihilate the Nittny Lions of Penn State. This restaurant is a must for all Ohio State fans visiting Hilton Head. The head Mouse returns from her island paradise in Maine in nine days. We expect to be quite busy in November.

Results of Utility Van Auction

2008-10-12T15:18:00.002-04:00

As you know, Our utility van recently died. Specifically, the transmission went kaput. No one I knew wanted to buy it, although I probably could have junked it for several hundred dollars. I decided to give it to ETV as a charitable deduction and have them auction auction it off. Yesterday I received a letter with the amount that it sold at their auction. It went for $1800.00!!! I am amazed! Maybe I should have tried to sell it; however, I have no regrets. I don't have to give them any money for awhile, and I like to support their organization. Hopefully, I'll see it around Columbia in the near future.

I have finished all the inside painting that I wanted to tackle. Weather permitting, I'll move outside and do some touch-up painting around the windows and side of the house. Linda and Henry and close family friend Ann Feller are coming to Hilton Head this weekend and are planning to stop for a visit. The following weekend I will be joining them in Hilton Head. I've rented a car since I am not quite up to a road trip on a Moped. Maybe someday!

Katie's Room is Finished

2008-10-06T19:26:00.006-04:00

A view of one of the walls before the painting. Notice those sexy legs in the mirror!

I've spent the last week painting the left back gallery room. Before we downsized, this area was a work area where employees cut fillet and applied powdered panels and French lines to mats. We have affectionately called this room "Katie's room" in honor of our last employee. The room became a nice viewing area for mirrors, Susan's Fiber Arts, and antiquarian prints but really needed an update. The walls had not seen fresh paint since the gut restoration of 1990. The room is really bright now and complements the right gallery room (Susan's work area). I hate to put holes in the walls and hang mirrors and artwork. I conned Susan to help me hang the gallery completely when she returns from Maine (if she comes back!).

A view of the same wall after painting.

The little room near the back door is next. I'll let the next owners of this building clean and replace the counter tops and sink area. Fourteen years of washing paint brushes, cleaning rapidograph pens, and other such artistic horrors have taken its toll on the poor stainless steel sink.

AS A REMINDER, ALL FRAMED MIRRORS ARE 20% OFF THROUGH OCTOBER 30.

Rare Sale at The Mouse House

2008-09-28T18:59:00.004-04:00

(click on image to enlarge)

I can count on one hand the number of times The Mouse House has had a sale in its 20 year existence. We don't believe in sales. We price our merchandise at fair and reasonable (we think) prices. We don't discount, except to licensed retail dealers with a valid resale license, where we offer a complimentary 10% discount on framed mirrors, artwork, and antiquarian prints. The few times that we did have a sale were in conjunction with unusual events: first time we opened up on a Friday after Thanksgiving (a bust!); the month we moved out of Terrace Oaks Antique Mall in July, 2002 after 12 years ( a real merchandise liquidation sale... we have sinced returned to Terrace Oaks in 2005 when the mall changed owners with framed antiquarian prints and large Audubon reproduction birds. Terrace Oaks Mall is a wonderful place to shop for antiques and, of course, our merchandise in Charleston.); and when I paint downstairs gallery rooms. While Susan is in Maine, I am going to tackle a few more rooms that have not seen new paint since 1990. So until October 30, all FRAMED MIRRORS in the gallery will be DISCOUNTED 20%. You may have to walk around drop clothes and ladders and breathe in paint fumes, but there will be some exceptional values to be had. Normal business hours will be maintained as best as possible, and I may not be answering the phones regurarly. Please leave messages as they will be returned and times when you want to come and shop.

Bye Bye Van

2008-09-26T12:40:00.004-04:00

Since 1989, The Mouse House has owned a white utility GM van. In our first van the passenger seat had to be added as an option, and we had to install an old Blue Bird Bus bench seat in the back to transport our infant children legally (at least sometimes). We even took my mom (deceased in 1998) to Charleston in June 1989, who volunteered to sit on a pillow in the back (the bench seat only had one seat belt for Mathias' car seat). I found out later that she was not too happy with me (another long story!).

We went through 4 utility vans over the next 18 years and drove each one of them until they fell apart. They were perfect for our business. Susan and I decided this year that the one we owned was going to be our last. I was hoping that it would make it until Susan returned from Maine at the end of Oct. (check out her blog), but the transmission decided to fail in Charleston two days before we left for Maine, with Susan driving. She did managed to drive back to Columbia without reverse and 1st gear (a "Little Miss Sunshine" moment for sure). No one wanted the van, and therefore I decide to donate it to ETV/NPR. This relieved my guilt of not donating any money to this wonderful organization in the last two years. I hope it sells and will let you know what it brings. My mode of transportation for the next 5 weeks is Susan's blue moped. I hope it stays dry.

A sad day at the Mouse House

2008-09-23T18:29:00.003-04:00

Siren. 2002-September 23, 2008

Siren showed up on our doorstep, rather the back patio, sometime during the late spring or early summer of 2002. Siren was skinny, emancipated, nothing but skin and bones. He decided to make his last stand in our back yard. Katie Caggiano, our last employee and confessed "cat hater", could not stand the howls and siren screams (hence his name) that came from his mouth and decided to feed him outside. We had recently been given another cat named Shadow, a beautiful black long-haired part Persian but dumb as a board, who constantly tortured Katie at work. This is just what Katie wanted - another cat at work!! Katie, however, fell in love with this cat and we all nursed him back to health. For the next six years this cat, who had no chance of survival, lived in and out of The Mouse House and even taught Shadow how to beg and scream for food and Pounce. Siren was a loving friendly cat, my lap cat, who knew how lucky he was.

Last night I tried to get Siren to come in, but he was more interested in chasing a small frog in the driveway (I think the frog got away). He often stayed out all night and crashed inside during the day. I had noticed over the past few weeks that he wasn't as active as before. He had gotten a clean bill of health from the Vet except for a front tooth that would probably come out naturally. Siren never showed any signs of pain around the mouth. This morning I heard my front doorbell ring at 7:10AM. When I investigated I saw that I left the "open but in workshop" sign on the door and thought a kid rang the bell for a laugh. As I was walking to the back door I heard a strange sound and discovered my neighbor with a shovel trying gingerly to pick up Siren and placed him in a box. He was the one that rang my bell. Siren looked peacefully asleep, but there was a puddle of blood near his head. I do not know what happened; to say the least I was heartbroken.

Siren was buried beneath this wonderful portion of a tree in a garden at the rear of my lot that Susan and I found several months ago after a bad thunderstorm. We kept it untreated so it could decay naturally. The beautiful decaying tree now has company.

Visit to Dingman's Falls, PA

2008-09-21T20:55:00.002-04:00

Welcome center at Dingman's Falls, located in the Delaware Water Gap National Park.

View of Dingman's Falls, PA

Another view of Dingman's Falls. This view is very similar to the woodblock engraving that appears in Picturesque America, published in 1874-5.

Steve in front of the road sign at Dingman's Ferry. Andrew Dingman may be a long-lost relative!

The Mouse House

2008-09-13T17:51:00.004-04:00

This is The Mouse House. The house is an old victorian approximately 3900 Sq. Ft. built in 1907 and renovated to load bearing walls in 1990. The Mouse House is located in Historic Elmwood Park, a nationally registered historic neighborhood. We have been at this location since 1994.

The columns on the front porch are not original but exact replicas of the ones that adorned the house when it was built. The originals are located on a building nearby.

The photo shows the foyer and some of the many mirrors for sale. The baskets in the rear of the photo are original fiber vessels created by Susan Lenz, Fiber Artist and co-owner of the Mouse House.

More mirrors in the foyer of the Mouse House.

Gallery and Antique images

2008-09-13T17:46:00.001-04:00

The Mouse House specializes in custom mirrors, original FiberArts by Susan Lenz and antiquarian prints. We have a assortment of reasonably priced botanicals, birds and assorted animals, architectural and landscape engravings and decorative arts from the 17th-20th century.

A photo of the front gallery.

A selection of framed antique herbals from Elizabeth Blackwell, A Curious Herbal, Ca. 1780.

Another photograph of the front gallery. The oils in the rear are by Stephen Chesley, a nationally recognized artist from Columbia

Outdoor photos of the Mouse House

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The 8 by 10 foot pond in the back yard of the Mouse House, home of many fish and a few frogs.

The rear of the Mouse House looking toward Park St. The lot is nearly 160 ft. deep.

The workshop is in the rear of the photo.

Siren, one of two shop cats.

My first post

2008-09-10T22:12:00.002-04:00

In July, 1990, I resigned my position as a coastal engineer and tossed away 13 years of college to work with my wife and build picture frames. She was seven months pregnant with our second child and running her custom framing shop by herself. She needed help; I hated consulting engineering and was miserable at work. I needed a change in my life. We both have always had a love of antiques, especially linens, books and old prints. We occasionally sold our wares in Charleston at the monthly local antique show and flea market. In August, 1990 we purchased an antique print collection with all our money with no guarantee we could sell them at a profit or survive on our own as small business owners. This purchase changed our lives, and we were thrown into the world of the antiquarian print business. Throughout the 1990's, the picture framing business that started out as a hobby for my "wife of an engineer" grew into one of the largest and successful framing businesses in South Carolina. I spent most of this time in the garage building picture frames and occasionally traveling up north to various estate and antiquarian book auctions. We employed 8-14 people and worked all the time. On August 7, 2001, we began a intentional, forced downsizing of our business. Now the business is just Susan and myself. I actually received a promotion to gallery manager. I hope to use this blog to introduce what I now do in the business and show what we sell. We have consistently been a place where one could purchase reasonably priced antique prints and custom mirrors. I hope that in the near future I can show the cyber world what is available at the Mouse House.