Saturday

Forgot to check the temperature, but much warmer overnight. Clouds brought rain (yay!) and cooler temps.

This morning I had my tea and watched the day creeping in. Although the sun lit up the trees at 8am, by 9 we had clouds and wind.

Yesterday I had a day on my own. L arry had promised our milk girl that he would help with building rafters for their new barn/home. I guess it's going to be a barndominium, a new thing around here where barn and house are attached, much like in older times.

I had promised to be somewhere too--in Marietta to pick up a set of china. Since I was driving that far, I arranged to pick up some other things too: a brick red velvet bench, a floor lamp, a McCoy pottery pitcher, and a dropleaf table. So I went one direction and he went the other.

I passed these buildings that I have passed hundreds of times without taking a photo. There used to be a nice old house here, and a barn. 

You can't tell from my photos, but these buildings are stone, and the larger one used to be a mortuary.  There is a sad story here. What i have headd is that this was a good family, a mother, father and 2 sons. The father was a mortician and was well respected. Across the road and a little ways up a dirt road was an abandoned quarry that over time had filled with water and was very deep. Well, you probably have guessed what happened. The boys went swimming, and the oldest dived off the rock that everyone dived from, but he didn't resurface. Apparently his head struck a rock, and he drowned. According to what i have been told, his death was a horrific blow to the family and the community because the boy was personable and quite popular.  They say that father began drinking, and the business gradually fell apart. The family quit taking care of their home, and after the parents passed away, the youngest son continued to neglect the place, letting weeds grow up around the house so that there was just a two-track driveway visible in summer. Someone told me that all the old mortuary implements were still in the building for years.

Recently the son sold the place, which had quite a few acres with it. The buyer tore down the old house after selling off the sadly neglected antique furniture inside, and has been logging the acreage. I don't know what his plans are for it, but I hope someone happiness returns to this forlorn old homeplace.

Well enough sad stuff!

The No Kings rally was taking place so of course I stopped and joined in. I didn’t know about the rally before we made our plans for the day, but at least I was able to attend one.

In Marietta it was a beautiful day and many people were out for the rally as well as enjoying the river and the town.

There was this new store in town I wanted to check out:

Dead People's Stuff? Well, that's pretty blunt, and descriptive! 

In the window, these swung vases are an eye-catcher. Swung vases used to ve sneered at but these days they are in high demand and bring unbelievable prices. The taller the better!

I was really intrigued by this lamp. I have never seen one like it.

And these stairs! They dead-end at the top. I would love to be back in that corner at night. Spooky!

I came home with the van loaded. Larry was already here as he was unable to find the place he was supposed to go even though i loaded up the map for him and gave him their phone number. Ah well. He had Pip with him, and the poor baby got carsick so he just came home. As it turned out, they had more help than they needed anyway, and Larry had a good day working on bonding with Pip. Things continue to improve in that area, thankfully!

The day wasn't over yet. We went out to dinner at a restaurant that has an outdoor patio and firepit. A favorite waitress had come from another restaurant to work here, so it was nice to see here. I told Larry I think she liked me better!

Actually, he had tried another sample of their fall beer, something with pumpkin in it i think. He didn't like it, and i tasted it and didn't like it either! But it was a good, relaxed evening, and a nice end to any busy day.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.