Weather Again, and Booths

6°f/-14.4°C,high clouds. No snow yet. A pretty sunset last night lied! Red sky should mean good weather ahead.

In town, the grocery store was crazy! It was fun to be in there, just to see what people bought to prepare for thd weather. Flour, celery, and bananas were apparently in high demand as these were all sold out! Sugar, and of course bread and water shelves were almost cleared. I saw many carts piled with soft drinks. I picked up milk, fresh fruit, batteries for a few lanterns we have, zero beer for Larry, treats for the dogs, and potato chips, our people treat! People were in a good mood, no one seeming to be upset at waiting in line to check out.

The sky as we left the store:

And at home:

I guess we are as ready as we can be for the coming Storm Fern. When did storms start being named? I guess it kinda makes sense, but what is the criteria that determines when a storm is bad enough for a name? Fern is my daughter-in-law Jaime's mother's name, so I had to ask Jaime: what did we do to make her Mom so mad??

Anyway, the cold arrive ahead of the storm, and it is not going to warm up for about a week. Larry is bundling up to let the chickens out right now. Those girls, if they are smart, won't stay out long. But then, no one ever accused chickens of wisdom! These hens, though, seem to be smarter than  average and will often stay inside their little coop in very cold weather. And would you believe, we have baby rabbits, born about 2 weeks ago? In winter! That is most unusual,  in my experience.  We have them all in one somewhat larger hutch to stay warmer, which we have done in the past without any babies being conceived. But there are 3 little ones hopping around down there. Larry put a light in the hutch a while back and wrapped plastic and insulating foam around most of the outside, so I guess it was warm enough and felt safe enough to have babies. Now, will they survive this cold weather? I sure hope so.

Beside the weather and critters, there are a few other things going on. My sister Mary had a heart procedure to clear a blocked artery, but it turned out there was no blockage after all. How strange is that! I am glad for her but sorry she had to go through all that. Then our friend Bill, who was to have knee replacement this week, could not have it after all because he had caught a bad cold. I can imagine the frustration both Bill and Mary must be feeling.

We got our booths stocked, and I continued to work on rearranging our "man booth", as I call it. I was pleased to see that one of the two portable sewing machines I had moved to a spot where they had better visibility, sold this week! It had been there for a year, and this was a last-ditch effort to get it sold. It was a really nice old machine, shaped like the old treadle machines, but it was a pretty blue...and heavy! Ladies must had had huge muscles if that was a portable! Now, let's hope the other one also sells.

We took in this enamel top table that I got ready this past week, and put it in the center of the man booth.

The other sewing machine, which is a fairly elite vintage model:

Lampshades sell well, if suppose because new ones are pretty pricey.

More from this booth:

I keep adding to this tablescape, but I think i better quit! This time I added clear Candlewick teacups

 and some red Cape Cod pieces. None of these are in high demand these days, but perhaps people will feel inspired to buy them if they see a way to use them.

Little perfume bottles usually sell well at Christmas and around Valentine's day. 

I added some glass heart ornaments just for fun. At 2 for a dollar, I think they might sell.

A few vignettes from around our other booths in this mall:

That big wagon, all cleaned up:

Some very pretty homemade table runners:

I didn’t take any photos at our other location, so I will have to do that whenever we get back in there.

Have a good Saturday, and stay warm!

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

Weather and Books

28°f/-2.2°C, mostly clear all day. Nice enough to open the doors and let in some fresh air, but chilly in the shade. High was about 44.

It sounds like we all need to brace for a humdinger of a weekend ahead, at least weatherwise. We have been preparing---extra milk, water stored, feed for the animals, snow shovel on the porch, tractor ready to go, generator checked, etc, etc. We have plenty of projects lined up to keep us busy too, so we won't be bored. The only concerning thing in the forecast is the possibility of rain and ice Sunday. That could be very bad indeed. But there is nothing to do about that except be prepared, and hope it doesn't happen!

A friend on Facebook asked about our favorite children's books, and that question certainly stirred some memories.  How about you? Any favorites come to mind?

I found that I had too many favorites to pick just one. Little Women and the other Alcott books, The Little House on the Prairie series, Nancy Drew, Sue Barton (she was a nurse, and the series followed her from her student nurse days and on through her career). Also the Hardy Boys, Trixie Belden, Boxcar Children, Grimm's Fairy Tales....and on and on. I remember that one day in the library, I had read every book I wanted to in the children's section, so I moved across to the adult section. The librarian, Kathryn Connor I think her name was, just smiled at me. The first book I checked out that day was a biography of Anne Boleyn.  I think I was 10. It was an eye-opener for a sheltered Catholic girl!

When I was 11, I found a big stash of books in our attic that had belonged to my grandma. They were best sellers from the 20s, 30s, and 40s. I read them all that summer; that's where I found Janice Holt Giles, whose books I loved.  They were about a city woman ending up in the mountains. I would look out the half-moon window of our attic in Manassas at the distant Bull Run Mountains and dream about living in the mountains myself one day. At 23, I moved here, and have never looked back.

I do not remember any picture books being around. I read all the time, but all I remember is chapter books and story collections. Wait, I remember The Little House, and it was one of my favorites. Also Little Golden Books---Little Black Sambo, The Gingerbread Man, so many others. So I suppose those definitely were picture books! Books in our house were well-used and by the time the younger ones got them, those childhood books were probably in tatters.  

Last Fall I gave my old copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales to a granddaughter. The book was quite beaten up, the spine loose, and my name in a childish scrawl, written in crayon. I loved that book, and still enjoy fairytales. This morning, I had my tea in a "Fairy Dell" teacup, made by Copeland china in England. Just the name sent me back to my young days, and I recalled the happy expectation that perhaps, just perhaps, a fairy might be lurking somewhere nearby. 

Well, enough nattering! Today was a hard one, lots of work so I am really tired, and treating myself to Chardonnay in a very pretty wineglass. Tomorrow is booth day, so I will soon be in bed, and, I hope, sleeping soundly!

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

Wordless Wednesday, Surprise Snow

20°f/-6.67°C, light snow ending before noon.

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