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Monday, June 8, 2026

Over in Ohio, and Other Things

72°f/22°C, again. We seem to be stuck in a rut! No rain, humid, in the 80s again.

I am resting and trying to rehydrate after pressure washing the patio. You would think with all that water...but when I sat down my blood pressure was low and my pulse high, so I am drinking my third bottle of water! And feeling better.

Anyway, here's a few photosvfrom our jaunt over to Ohio on Saturday.

Not the most desirable route number! But unfortunately we had to go that way. Fortunately there were nothing untoward happened. Whew.


I wonder if this town, like Gay, West Virginia,  decided to keep its original name despite the changed meaning of the word gay? My bet is that it was named after a local family surname. We traveled on Ohio Route 60 on the way home,from Zanesville to Marietta,  and the road follows the Muskingum River the whole way. Back in the day, this was a major steamboat route.


An abandoned bus stop won't last long now that the roof is starting to go. What a pity.


In McConnelsville, the town center is a circle, and in the center is a sculpture of a Union soldier from the Civil War.


Such a pretty town. We wandered around a bit, just to see what was there.



The Bluebird Cafe is a coffee shop. It was too late in the day for coffee, so we didn't go in. Maybe next time, because it looked very inviting.


That long red brick building is a hardware store! It goes right around the block.



Outside, painted rocks made an eye-catching display.


And on the window of the hardware, the entire family genealogy, tracing back to the first owners of the store. Amazing. It stretched over several display windows. 


Inside the hardware store. I think they have everything you could possibly need, from paint to kitchenware, garden supplies, power tools... you name it.


Larry checked out more of the store's history. 

On the street, large hearts invite "locks of love'.


Then it was on to the Chatterbox Tavern for dinner. This was pretty much a dive bar, as it turned out. The town does have a brewery but the name of this place caught our attention.

Look at all those beer taps! Just for display, of course, but they stretched a lot further than I could capture in a photo.


Nice people, but the food was meh, and a little pricey. 

Larry being good dinner company 🙄


Back on the road, we passed this amazing place. So many barns, silos, buildings, all seemingly connected to each other!

Further on, yet another barn complex.


An old feed store in Beverly, Ohio. There was a bad steamboat disaster here, which I wrote a little about about in this blog post. I need to post the whole story sometime.


And finally, here is the cabinet we went after! 
Not bad for $40. Doesn't need a thing done to it.


Sunday we stayed home.  I rested and cooked--- spinach and bacon quiche, pasta salad, and raspberry banana bread. Larry cut grass and grilled chicken, so we are stocked up with easy meals for a few days!  Only remembered to take pictures of the quiche! 




I do like my colorful pie plates!



Today, besides working on the patio, we finished mulching the garden. And that was enough for this hot day.

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

Sunday, June 7, 2026

Books

72°f/22°C, again. Humid, light overcast. North of us had heavy storms yesterday, but nothing here, sadly.

When you think you're going to stay home and recover from a few days of hard work, then someone advertises a Hoosier-style cabinet for $40, what do you do? You get in the van and drive to Zanesville, Ohio. That was yesterday. Today? Getting that rest, I promise! 


I finished my book, Circle of Grace, by Penelope J. Stokes, when we got home last night, and today I've started When We Believed in Mermaids, another by Barbara O'Neal. 

Last week I read The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman, an eerie tale, as most of hers are, about three sisters who invent an imaginary land and their own language as well. Reality in the form of an abuser and a tragic attempt to save a horse push the oldest and leader of the sisters deeper into her imaginary world, which becomes a dark and painful place, and creates divisions between the girls. Their single mother tries and often fails to control her daughters as the girls go through their teen years. Drugs, promiscuity and self-hurt dominate the older sister's life as her two siblings each try to cope in their own way, watching helplessly as the oldest spirals deeper and deeper into chaos. I like Alice Hoffman's books usually, so I plowed on with this one even though the story was for the most part not a happy one. There were enough flashes of light and hope to keep me going. In the end, I was glad I had stuck with it. It is not a story I will soon forget. 


Circle of Grace also explored relationships between women who met as college roommates and tried to continue their bond with a journal that passed from one to another. The four friends go separate ways and record their lives in the journal, but each keeps the truth of their lives out of the journal, and instead give a rose-colorded and often fictional accounting. When Grace discovers she has terminal cancer, she invites the group for a weekend at a luxury spa, where she plans to tell the sad truth of her life, and ask forgiveness for her lies. But each of the three others also has secrets, and each comes to the retreat intending to come clean. This was a good read, often touching, often reverberating with the truths of the lives of so many women. 

I have noticed that I seldom read any book by a man. Why is that? It's not a conscious choice, but I guess I find the female perspective more relatable. I think the last book I read that was written by a make author was A Gentleman in Moscow, which i enjoyed very much. Maybe I should try to find others by me that I would enjoy. 


Meanwhile, I am enjoying When We Believed in Mermaids so far--another tale of sisters' relationships with an intriguing plot: the unexpected sighting on TV news of the sister who was supposed to be dead. 

I think I will spend most of today just reading. Sounds like a fine idea!

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

Saturday, June 6, 2026

Work Day: Booths

72°f/22°C, breezy and light overcast.  Need rain.

Heavy work the last 2 days! On Thursday, we drove to the Parkersburg area to pick up a couple pieces of furniture, and met some really nice people. At the first place, the lady said, "So you live in Ripley?"

"Well, not exactly," I said. "Between Ripley and Spencer." 

"My daughter is married to a man whose parents live out that way, on Joe's Run.  Do you know where that is?" 

"That's our road! Well, the one we take to get to our road."

"Their names are Randy and Carla. Do you know them?" 

"They're practically our next-door neighbors!" I said. (They are about a mile from us, but that's next-door up here.)

Small world. But I always say West Virginia is just one small town. Talk to anyone long enough, you will know someone in common.

When we got home we had to unload that evening, because Friday was booth day. We skipped it last week, so we had plenty to do. Friday morning we loaded the white cupboard and 4 totes. At Farmhouse we took out the possum belly cabinet and put in the white cupboard. Loaded the possum belly and took it to Ravenswood since a green cabinet we had there had sold. A solid 5 hours of work, no lunch break, and we were done. And done in! But all looks good now.

I didn't take photos at Ravenswood,  but here's some from Ripley. 

I tried to echo the scene in the framed print, and got a little bit like it.


Crystal is selling again, if I keep prices low, and put lights around it. Not a fast mover, but some sells each month.








Linens also sell, but I need to tidy up this display. 
Not attractive!


Dollies sell too, but again, I keep the price low. Most are below $5.




No plans for today, except do some wateringvand put in a few plants.




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