Almost Wordless Wednesday

62°f/16.7°C, cloudy after showers during the evening and night. High yesterday of about 65°.

Wicker repair complete:

The lighter areas are where I replaced the wicker. It was a learning experience, but not too difficult, although I would not want to try a curved area! Today I will paint this side so it all matches.

Booth updates yesterday: just one location this time.

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

Daffodils, Thoughts, Booths

60°f/15.5°C this morning, high winds and heavy showers early. Temperature dropped all day as winds continued. Currently 50, and expected low of 28 tonight. Welcome, Spring!

Daffodils are out in force today to welcome the end of Winter and the beginning of Spring.

I haven't worked on this bed yet, but the flowers don't seem to mind. 

I wanted to follow up a bit on yesterday's post about our neighborhood. First, it probably seems odd to some to refer to 11 miles of road as our neighborhood,  and in truth, I would actually include a larger area, but I was sticking to Joe's Run in this instance. I would bet that Westerners

would understand, though, as they have even greater distances between "neighbors".

I hadn't considered that the amount of detail I know about this area was unusual. I suppose part of my interest is my storytelling background, my minor in history, and a neighborhood full of people who love to tell stories and know their family's background. I also think, as I responded to some of you, that having a lot of space between houses is a factor. If people were more crowded up on each other, I it would be more imperative to maintain privacy by not getting too chummy with the next door neighbors---similar to how people in cities avoid eye contact, justbtrying to maintain some personal space and quiet. 

I remember my first apartment; there were 4 units, and it took about six months before I got to know the neighbors in two of them, and I never got to know the 4th couple. When we moved to our first little house, the neighborhood was spread out, a cluster of 5 homes, each on at least an acre of land, so we all did get to know each other. 

Then we moved to West Virginia, and to a townhouse, or maybe you call them row houses---our unit shared walls on both sides with the next unit. But being West Virginia, we got to know everyone not only in our building but all the other buildings on our cul-de-sac, because West Virginians are just like that. Nosy, I guess? But visitors to our state often comment on this friendliness. And this may stem from the fact that, in those days at least, most West Virginians were raised in the country,  in places like Joe's Run.

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Well, on to today's topic: booth updates! We have been pretty busy at both locations, adding new things, packing away others, rearranging to give a bit of a fresh look.

At Ripley:

At Ravenswood:

I finished painting this table this week:

I had decided to paint this dresser, but I liked its original finish, imperfect though it is.

Today we took it easy, a day of needed rest. Tomorrow? Off to pick this up:

The legs are beautiful too 😍 

Til next time, friends!

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

Projects

62 this morning, clear. About 78 as I write at 9pm. 

I have been back to work on furniture this week, trying to push a few projects out to the booths. But in the mornings, I am still out in the gardens a bit, trying to keep ahead of the weeds, and watering as needed. This morning I hoed the little herb garden. I was delighted to see that the Job's Tears and the money plant seeds had germinated. Surprisingly, the chamomile seeds did not come up, but quite a few plants came up in another bed, self-seeded. I pulled a lot of bindweed out of the raspberry patch. It is really a bad weed in there, but I have managed to kill it out of one flowerbed with constant weeding, so eventually maybe I can get it under control.

I picked this little bouquet when I finished. Lavender, rose, coreopsis, yarrow,  and some of those pink primroses. So pretty.

Dinners lately have been easy, cooked on the grill. We ate steak at granddaughter Hannah's the other night, last night Larry grilled chicken, and the other night we did hamburgers, a very rare meal in this house. We keep it simple here, just adding a salad and baked potato or French bread to make a meal. Love this time of year when we can eat outside! Have you been doing the same?

Larry trimmed some way overgrown shrubs while I worked in tbe gardens. Seems like we just did them, but it has been a few years. How the time flies now! We also had to protect tbe cherry tree from marauding Cedar Waxwings and their feathered friends. For the first time ever the birds have found our tree! So sheets, net curtains, a rubber snake and a strip of rubber have deterred the birds, at least for now.

Here are a few of the furniture projects: 

This was my buffet. It is really white, not gray as it looks in the photo.

I have been working on this small desk off an on for a while. It's finally ready to go, I think.

We found this very ugly buffet at a yard sale last week. It is going to take a LOT of sanding and work to make it beautiful again.

Also finished but no photo is a small white dresser. It is already loaded in the van. And a cupboard that I had to do a ton of sanding on is ready to paint, along with a halltree that Larry made from a door. So those are next on my agenda. 

Time to read for a while! I am reading The Silent Wife by Kerry Fisher. Nothing heavy, but her quirky humor is a real treat. And perfect for the tired end of a long day.

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

Booth Talk

63 this morning, so pleasant. A bit cloudy now with a strong breeze.

I've worked at the antique mall a couple days lately, so when there are no customers in the store I have time to work on my booths. I've also been doing a little painting the past couple weeks so there are a few new pieces in the booths. Here's a look. 

This is my latest finished project. This one was fun to do. The veneer on top had to be removed because of water damage, but the wood under it was solid and fine.

Pale pink tea table. This one was wobbly as can be, but Larry soon put that right.

The credenza was dark walnut color, but sat in the booth with no one interested in it for months. So home it came for a coat of a pretty teal color. This is Dixie Belle chalk paint; we have a new vendor in the mall selling this paint, and I like it very much. The table above is also painted with Dixie Belle, but the checked table is my old favorite, General Finishes milk paint.

Another table with a water-damaged plant, this one from someone having a houseplant sitting on it. This paint is Dixie Belle's Kudzu color--don't you love that name?

This is the second of two plant stands Larry made with the leaves of a porcelain top table. The table's base was rotted away, so we used the main part of the top on one project, and the leaves to make these narrow stands.

Fall has certainly fallen in our area--and into our decor too.

Not much fall on this display though, just cottagecore, as they call the shabby chic look these days.

I've been thinning down my glass collection at home, as you can see here.

Some primitive items for the farmhouse/country style.

This little shelf was one of those "why did we bother" projects. A lot of time and effort to try to make this look better than a sow's ear, but I'm not sure we succeeded. Ah well.

Pyrex sales seem to have slowed down in our area. 

Sweet little tea cart, looking for a new home. 

Stuff and more stuff--sales continue to be strong and that makes me happy. I'm at work on two or three more pieces now, so hoping a few things sell so there will be room for them.

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