Bickleton, Washington may only have 113 human residents, but it bills itself as “The Bluebird Capital of the World.” When the bluebirds’ homes in the trees succumbed to logging and farmland, residents began putting out birdhouses for their feathered friends. There are around 2,000 bluebird houses now and they are occupied starting in mid-February through to October. In the fall volunteers clean and paint the houses white and blue, ready for next year. Birdwatchers arrive in the spring during the active nesting season.

Garth Williams’ illustrations for “Charlotte’s Web” are as much a part of the book as the words, bringing the animals to life with personality and gentle humor. Williams’ daughter Fiona was the model for Fern. His family put up 42 of his drawings for “Charlotte’s Web” for auction in October. The results exceeded estimates. The familiar cover drawing of Fern holding Wilbur under the web-draped title sold for $155,350 and the illustration of the web “Terrific” went for $95,600.

After a two month break we need to catch up on a few traditional topics, one of which is the usual over-the-top offerings in this year’s Neiman Marcus Christmas book. Their 50th His & Hers gift is a Luxury Houseboat (sorry, you have to share it, you don’t get one each) tricked out with a high-end media center, luxury kitchen appliances, and a washer/dryer all for $250,000. For $15,000 you can buy your kids a gingerbread house, life-sized made out of 381 pounds of gingerbread and 517 pounds of icing. If you’ve got $1,500,000 and a boring swimming pool, Dale Chihuly will come over to fix it up with an art installation. It’d be cheaper to buy the houseboat to float in it.

In what has become an annual sleuthing event for me, I’ve tracked down the original location of the tree now presiding over Rockefeller Center. The 74-foot Norway Spruce grew up in Mahopac, New York and was donated by a New York City firefighter. The Rockefeller Center folks prefer to cut down a tree that is distressed or getting too large for its surroundings, and this one was getting too close to the house. After its service, the branches will be turned into mulch and donated to non-profit organizations, and lumber from the tree will be used to build a house. The New York Times checked in with the owners of trees from previous years to see how they made the decision to donate and if they had any regrets. Some reluctant families are courted with gift baskets and others offer up their tree willingly. Some plant a replacement sapling, some leave the spot empty.

The 48th annual Cable Car Bell Ringing Contest took place in San Francisco on Tuesday, but the gripmen and conductors did not show up to compete. Their union is battling the city about several issues. Union reps deny organizing a boycott saying it was up to each individual to decide whether to compete. The media representative contest took place, but the real bell ringers stayed home and on the job.

Anthony “Tony” Maglica, founder of the Mag Instrument company, is 79 years old and still goes to work every day. In a time when most products are made overseas, Maglica has resolutely kept Maglite’s manufacturing in California. Over the years he has actually increased the number of components made in-house, and the only foreign item is the tiny bulb in the Mini Maglite.  Thanks to automation, the wholesale price of a Maglite has stayed the same since it was introduced in 1979. The company aggressively defends its patents, taking legal action against imitations.  Despite losses and layoffs last year, Maglica stands strong on keeping it all in the U.S.

How do you make a corn maze? With a tractor or with weed killer.  For the design you can hire Brett Herbst who has designed over 1,800 mazes since 1996. Some maze creators use GPS when they’re cutting the paths, but Herbst’s company says their methods are more accurate.

Tanja Maduzia’s mother sent her to an auction to bid on sconces for their antique store. Tanja returned, $15,000 later, with an unusual piano and no sconces.  The piano, a “giraffe” model from 1865, was built in Kentucky and has the upright curved lines of a wide harp. The Maduzias spent $10,ooo to restore it over the years and now, with the store closing and Tanja needing to pay off emergency room bills, it will go on sale for about $30,000.  Appraisal value is $50,000.

It’s nearly 3 acres in Yountville, across the street from Thomas Keller’s famous French Laundry where its bounty is put to use.  Gardener Tucker Taylor starts by providing seed catalogs to the chefs and eventually informs them of the results in their nightly menu planning meetings.  In addition to vegetables, he grows herbs and edible flowers.  The chefs are not allowed to repeat the same ingredient in more than one dish of the menu so they appreciate a variety of fresh choices. (Related article: a day/night in the French Laundry kitchen)

Photo by Jen Scheer

Space shuttle Discovery rolled out of its hangar into the Vehicle Assembly Building last week, ready to be attached to its fuel tank and rocket boosters.  It is scheduled for a November 1st mission to the International Space Station. After that, the final shuttle mission on the schedule is a February trip for Endeavor.  But NASA has proposed that the Atlantis crew training for an emergency rescue of Endeavor’s crew take on an actual additional mission.  The fuel tank and boosters that are being prepped for a hopefully unneeded situation can then be put to use and more supplies can be brought up to the ISS. The rescue plan for that proposed mission would be to house the 4 person crew on the space station until they can return on a Soyuz craft. But Congress and NASA need to determine if they can fund one more final mission.