A Saturday in April

47°f/8.3°C. Light showers overnight, cloudy morning, then clear. Beautiful day.

Is there anything like an April day when the Sun is shining but not too hot, a light breeze is blowing, and the air feels fresh and clear? I had intended to go to a writing workshop at a state forest this afternoon, but could not bring myself to leave home. And anyway, a young friend, daughter of a friend who passed away a few years ago, wanted to come over and get starts of perennials. And there was that patio revamping we wanted to start on. And I needed to finish painting the deck furniture. And Larry wanted to cut some more grass.

So we did all of that after a quick run to town for sand to level the patio blocks and gas for the mower and truck. But who-weee! Gas! $92.50 to fill the truck and a 5 gallon gas can! And yesterday, $60 to fill the van. Maybe staying home was a good idea. But tomorrow we are going to a Tulip festival and I am so looking forward to that. And we will pick up auction winnings on the way home. Still, I think we will be curtailing travel as much as possible while prices are so high. Our budget cannot withstand such pressure. 

Maybe that is why our booth sales have been so good recently. Maybe people are staying local? I don't know, but so far this year has been great. I hope i didn't jinx it by saying so, but it has been rewarding to see stuff flying off the shelves. We put this little dinette set in yesterday, and it is already spoken for.

Same with this chest of drawers.

We did a pretty thorough restock at both places yesterday. I am sure sales will soon slow down as they usually do this time of year, with weddings, graduations, and vacations coming up. But it sure has been nice.

A few more photos from our restock. I didn't take any around home today, except for this one of this evening's firepit.  (Buddy wasn't really in the fire, although it looks like it!)

But back to booth photos:

I bought this dog puzzle box because I couldn't figure it out! It is really quite simple. The teapot is one of a dozen I won at auction, all new and exactly alike---but they have the coolest built-in infuser. 

That green fan vase glows in black light, a sign of uranium in the glass. There are people who collect uranium glass. The quart jar is a "crow jar", something new i am trying. It's filled with i teresting bits and bobs, like a crow might collect for its nest. I made a few, but none have sold yet 

A recent auction win , this actually works, but needs a new ribbon.

I have had this copper kettle for a while, and it's priced reasonably so I am surprised it hasn't sold.

I have had these wood folding chairs for years, just now getting them into the booth. I am putting a lot of framed art and frames into this space too, with pretty decent sales so far.

The old fan works great. I thought yhe explosives box would sell fast, but nope. Hard to judge such trends, but old wood boxes seem to have slowed down, at least for me.

Off to bed now, as we need to get an early start tomorrow. Have a great Sunday, friends!

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

Outside Work and Kitchen Work

56°f/13 3°C, mostly clear, light clouds

Yesterday's apple pie

It has been a weekend of outside work here, for the most part. Spring brings a load of things that need tending to, doesn't it? We dodged the threatened freeze, thank goodness, and everything is growing very quickly.

We put down 8 bags of mulch and now have just the herb garden to do, which will wait until I get it dug up and replanted. I am hoping a few more perennials surface before I do that.

I finally feel like it's time to get seeds in the ground! We planted lettuce, radishes, carrots, kate, chard, spinach, leeks, peas, onions and potatoes this week.

I tilled up a good bit of the garden for later planting, and set out some gladioli bulbs. 

These last I planted in my vegetable garden because I will have extra space since Larry decided to add another garden space this year. I think he missed having "his" garden last year. I usually tend the regular garden, because he does not like the way I do it, with mulch and close planting.  He prefers the tradional tilled garden, although he will probably mulch the tomatoes.

Then there was the mower with its pesky problem that made it keep quitting. Larry finally figured it out and now everything is mowed. It was getting a little dire around here! I did my usual stringtrimming and he did his so at least those parts looked neat. Now, thankfully, all is mowed!

Inside, I worked on getting some small pieces ready for our booths. We have a formica table with two chairs ready to go today, along with a small folding table and 4 or 5 totes. So today will be restocking day. I did some ebay too, listing and packing up sales, and tidying up up room a bit more. It is nice to see more spacevm opening up in there. My goal is to be able to put a bed and dresser in that room, but I still have a ways to go to accomplish that. Meanwhile I continue to downsize my stock, which feels very good!

Yesterday I spent some time in the kitchen.  I had cut some sage while cleaning up the herb garden, so that is now drying. 

Then I made an apple pie, and prepared 4 avocados for the freezer. I package each mashed avocado in individual bags, then put those into a larger bag to freeze. It keeps very well, no discoloration,  and it's ready to use as I need it.

Dinners have been simple this week, sandwiches or spaghetti,  and of course asparagus, as it is coming in regularly now.

And that's about it. My granddaughter Sarah is on her month-long Colorado River rafting trip, my two oldest sons are on their way home from 3 days watching the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia, and son Aaron is in Mexico again, I think, for his work. I enjoy seeing my busy family out doing the things they love. 

No poem yet for today. Maybe one will occur to me later. 

Garden: planted potatoes, onions 3 k I nods, peas, carrots,lale,chatf,spinach leeks,lettuce. Tilled, 8 bags mulch 

Dried sage  pie, avocado 

Painted mirror,  waxed table

Listed on ebay

Auction

Writing

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

Road Trip: Folklore Pizza

47°f/8.3°C, clear.

Where State Route 16 meets US Route 33, the intersection is called the Y. There is a building there that has been a restaurant off and on, but now it is a combination grill and Amish food store. I took no photos there, but came out with a 5 pound bag of brown rice, 5 pounds of cornmeal, shelf milk and honey. They had such a variety for a location that is really out of the way. We will be stopping there again qhenever we pass that way.

Last stop was Spencer, WV, which is just 24 miles from home. There was a place I have been wanting to see since I first heard about it 6 months ago: Folklore Pizza.

We weren't hungry,  but Larry had a beer and I had a glass of wine while we talked with the owner, Chad. I was surprised to learn that they have been open for 3 years. How did I miss that? I mean, Spencer is a small town, and not that far away. But this place is tucked up in a holler on the outskirts of town, not visible from the main road; in fact I had to use the GPS to find it. 

My wine was this Chardonnay from Vampire Vineyards in California. It was good, and the last in the bottle, so I asked if I could have the bottle. Just because, you know.

The building used to be a roller skating rink. After that it was a t-shirt printing shop, and a couple other businesses located there before the current owner bought it (for the third time, he said! He had the t-shirt shop and something else there, I forget what). 

Chad's goal is for this to be a famiky-oriented place. It's huge! There are several pool tables, the beginnings of a future games arcade, and plans for an outside patio and a couple air bnb's.

They also host trivia night, bingo and singo, a game based on clips from songs. There's live music on the weekends, and an occasional open mic night.

The lights! I loved the variety of lighting. Chad admitted that he was the instigator, because he thinks lights really make a place.

Skates hanging room the ceiling give a nod to the building's past 

This light flashes different colors. I think i need one...somewhere.

Bigfoot got his pizza!

It was pretty quiet while we were there, but Chad said people really start coming in a little later. Still there were a few families dining, and half a dozen people playing pool.

We checked out the menu before we left, and we will definitely be going back to this fun place. It's a great addition to the town. 

Today's poem:

Tobacco

Freshly cut, stalks hang in rows

on poles, breezes stir the yellowing leaves,

the barn filled to the rafters .

It was money, then, enough

to pay the annual payment

on land, equipment, cattle, 

but it was work.

Early Spring it started:

burn off the bed,

all night out there, minding

the fire, stars

wheel overhead, quiet except

for the occasional owl, a mouse

stirring in dry leaves.

Tiny seeds planted, covered,

pinpricks of green that soon pushed

against white netting.

By May the plants were ready to pull,

plant, water, worry over

all summer, watching 

for enemies—blight, bugs, drought.

 In August, glorious spikes of pink

blossom against a blue sky,

bees heavy with pollen, the scent,

oh the scent! No manmade fragrance, this.

With September came yellowing bottom leaves,

“the trash” below the lugs and tips,

And time to cut, stack, hang,

And wait

until November’s cool, misty weather,

conditions just right for stripping, sorting

into grades, packing into bales,

hands cold and sticky, laughing,

coffee and stew on the brew

on the campstove, no time 

Tto go inside to cook and warm.

And that was it. Done, the barn empty

of its golden hoard, the bales

loaded on the truck,

sold at auction. 

Bills paid, a tiny bit

left for Christmas,

and next year’s seed.

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