Window Display and Booth Update

57°f/about 14°C, raining. Rained a good bit yesterday, most of the night, and will continue today. We need it. Gardens are shooting up! 

We restocked Ravenswood booth yesterday, and I finally got my Memorial Day window done. 

I will leave this display through July 4th, then change it out, possibly to an early Fall theme, blending in some of the red/white/blue items to carry through to Labor Day. I am not feeling all jazzed up about the 250th anniversary, but on the other hand, I feel like we should acknowledge and celebrate it, even if we have a crew of morons running things for the moment. History will not be kind to these idiots, of that I am certain.

Besides the window, I made only minor changes, shifting things around and adding a few new items.

I had quilts on this rack but they all sold, so I put runners and tablecloths on it, and will bring more quilts next time.

The table and chairs are still there. I am thinking about bringing those chairs home and putting two white ones with the table. I would like those chairs in my own kitchen, actually.

I had a huge stash of framed art and mirrors which I have been bringing in and putting in crates to display. They have been selling very well. I don't know why I didn't bring them in as I bought them, but oh well.

I had 4 of tbese folding chairs in the booth, and sold two. Again, I had these stored in the workroom and never got around to bringing them in. Getting all this stored-away stuff into the booths has really boosted our sales this year.

I thought someone into camping would buy this old cast iron gas stove top, but no bites so far. 

Just an overview of our front booth here (we have 4 at this store).

I took no photos at Ripley because by the time we had lunch with our friends and got to that location I had only an hour before closing to get everything done! I didn't make any big changes there anyway, but will probably do that next week.

Today we will most likely be home all day. It's pouring rain and I don't feel like hitting the city-wide yard sales in Ripley in this weather. I am still in my nightgown as I write, and it's 10:30 am! Poor Larry will have to go out in the rain to trim some branches on a mulberry tree so that the Lowe's truck can get through to bring our fridge tomorrow.

The van is full of boxes to strip of tape so we can put down the load of grass clippings Larry picked up Wednesday, which are still in the truck, covered with a tarp. So I guess I will get those boxes ready today, and maybe start on that wardrobe, my next painting project. Maybe.  We shall see what happens. Right now, I want to finish my coffee and get dressed!

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

And Done

54°f/12°C, raining. Rain all night, the world here is thankful!

It felt good to get two pieces finished up yesterday. 

I am really pleased with this cabinet. I would have preferred old glass knobs for it, but couldn't justify the cost. Maybe its next owner will do that. This is a nice piece, but probably less than 15 years old. Still, it's Amish-built and sold wood, and I feel good about reclaiming it from its damaged condition.

This chest of drawers has taken me a while. Although it was only $10, it has exacted a lot more than that in aggravation, sweat, and work. It needed structural repairs, was missing the bottom of one drawer, and had a gazillion coats of paint. I am not thrilled with my decal choice or the original pulls either. The decal was supposed to be blue, but it sure looks purplish to me...and I painted the chest a dark blue. The pulls are cool, but not quite right. Again, glass pulls would be awesome, but finding them the right size and price was impossible. So I am calling it done, and won't price it too high. I am just glad to get it out of my house. Note to self: do NOT buy anything that has layer upon layer of old paint!

Today is booth day, but I am not sure if we can take either of these pieces in because that big, heavy, rustic cabinet I bought Saturday is still in the van, and neither of us feel motivated to unload it in this weather. Procrastination, much?

On the refrigerator front, I decided to just buy another one.  I am tired of fooling with this one. The new one is about the same as the one we have, just a different brand. I would have liked to buy something better, but right now cash is too tight for that. So I expect in 5 years, we will be buying yet another fridge,  since these new ones are not made to last.

Meanwhile,  this big ol' guy is waiting for me. Now to decide on color. I'm thinking maybe green? If Catalyst was still with us, he'd be teasing ne about that,  since I do seem to paint a lot of things green!

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

Random Wednesday

64°f/17.8°C, cooler and cloudy with rain expected today. I sure hope that happens!

A few random pics today.

Cherries are getting close! We covered what we could reach. It looks ugly but maybe we can keep the birds out. The new tree we planted last year also has a few cherries on it.

My current project. A dog (not ours!) chewed the top and one side of this cabinet, so we replaced the top and used body filler to repair the side. It's now in the process of getting painted, white this time with a natural finish on the top. We picked this up at Goodwill for $2.99. I guess they thought it was not fixable.

I am painting it white because this black was the style a few years ago when everyone was into the "prim" decor, but now I have trouble moving black furniture. I am still planning on the distressed finish though.

The herb garden is all planted, but still needs a little mulch to finish it up.

This bank is planted with oregano as a ground cover, with some wild yarrow, red clover, daylights and asparagus that self-planted there. There are also black raspberries along the fence that I planted last year.

I let the wild daisies stay too.

A little miniature rose that made it through the winter. I have one that is 10 years old.

I can't remember the name of this plant. I put in two of them last year, and only this one survived. I really like it.

Coreopsis also self-seeds around here, which makes me quite happy!

The grape arbor that is in the herb garden, and drift roses, which I still need to trim to get rid of winter-kill.

Last night was open mic night, and I had agreed to be the guest host this time. We had a great evening with 10 performers, three of them spoken word, plus the featured artist. A local preacher joined us and read the Gettysburg Address and Lincoln's inauguration speech, both fitting reminders for this Memorial Day weekend. 

This guy was passing through, on his way from Maryland to the Midwest, and found our event online, so he came and joined us. He did some fun rockabilly-style songs that invited singalong. His name was Dino Delray--- wonder if that was just his performance name?

The featured presenter was interesting but I couldn't understand a word of her songs! Beautiful voice but she needs to learn to enunciate, in my opinion. 

I always find it intriguing that most women tend to dress up when performing, while most men show up in whatever old thing. Why is that, I wonder? I did the same when I was storytelling, or even just doing workshops. 

Today is a much slower day. I did some watering since the rain has not yet appeared, did laundry, and tidied up in the cellar a little. It will soon be time for the annual cleanout, not a job I look forward to but necessary. The only other thing on my radar for today is to finish up the dresser I have nearly completedcx, and work on that cabinet above.

Larry is working on the fridge, again. That evaporator fan stopped working, again. We put in a new one Monday but it has already failed. Not sure if it was a defective unit or what, but it worked for a day and then quit. Fortunately these little fans are less than $20 and easily replaced, but we seem to have to do this every 6 months.  I ordered another one Monday and it should be here tomorrow. Time to be on the lookout for another fridge, I think. I hope it is just the fan and not some other issue right now.

Onward and upward! Stay well, friends.

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