Visitors and Projects

We seldom have company in winter. Living as far from a main road as we do, and with no other place that might be called a destination out here, people have to be coming specifically to visit us, not stopping along the way to somewhere else.

It's nice when people come out. The past month or so we've had the physical therapist and the nurse coming to see Larry through his rehab frm knee surgery. It's nice to see them--they're young and they like this place. I think many young people would not like it, honestly; it's old-fashioned, far from any urban attractions, and bascially far from much of anything, cable, good internet and cell service included.

Last week some young neighbors came over on Valentine's Day evening, surprising us with ice cream cake, a bouquet of candy and some of their home-raised meat. What a treat that was, and such a surprise. This year I hadn't done much for Valentine's Day beyond put out some decorations. To tell the truth, I was still kinda hurt that my husband had not given me a Christmas gift, and was childishly "getting back" at him by not giving him a valentine. Well, wouldn't you know the man came through this time with a beautiful card and chocolates! I felt like a heel, as I should have.

So the surprise treats was extra special. Add to that a lovely handmade card from my sister and the day turned into a happy one, and I felt well-loved by the end of it.

This weekend I posted this photo of a chest of drawers we'd just finished refurbishing. It came out so well, considering the poor condition of its veneer when we started. It's heading to our Ravenswood booth.

A friend saw the photo and said she was looking for something like that, but with no paint. As it happened, we had one waiting to be worked on in our workshop. I sent her photos, and she said yes--exactly what she was looking for. So Sunday they drove out to get it, a distance of about 2 1/2-3 hours. I made dinner, they arrived with wine and beer, and we had the best visit before loading up the chest. It was in really good shape and I was not going to paint it; all it needed was a few pieces glued back in place and some pulls replaced. There were a couple pieces of trim missing, but thank goodness my friends agreed that it was too beautiful for a paint brush to be put to it.

I finished this little table this weekend too, and posted a photo. Another friend wants it and at first considered coming out to get it, but we've found a way to get it to her without her venturing out here.
This one will leave today or tomorrow for its new home. We had to put a new top on it, as a dog had chewed up one corner, and I replaced the pulls with some that just looked better--which inspired painting the little flower trim on the back white to match the pulls.

Later this week more friends will arrive, this time to work on stories. My storytelling friend Judi and I will begin presenting our Celtic stories and songs in a couple weeks, so we wanted to get together to go over the details and get our powerpoint of photos tweaked. I am really looking forward to this. I've been reading stories and folklore and choosing photos from my travels for the slide show. So I'll be cooking up some soup and such for these visitors. My books are piled high for research on this program.

I am enjoying this unexpected flow of people through here. The old house seems to come alive, and benefits from a little extra attention as far as cleaning. Nothing like visitors to get us hopping on the dusting.

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