Here we go again...

Power outages! Panic in the streets! Pandemonium! Didn’t we just do this a couple months ago? Around six inches of snow here, so not quite that bad. The store got power back late Sunday afternoon, which is really good. I was worried for our namesake the willow, but it’s still standing, thank goodness.

Our pear tree at home wasn’t nearly so lucky, unfortunately. But we didn’t lose power there at all, so I suppose we dodged a bullet with that one.

But if this is a preview of what this winter’s going to be like, then the birds have the right idea – migrate south!



Some minor changes to the blog layout today as well. A couple new things in the sidebar, a couple things moved around. I've also stuck my Etsy banner at the top here just to give it a bit more color. I need to find something a little less glaringly white, I think.

So now we're into the real stretch of fall, with cooler temperatures and turning leaves...unless you're here, then the leaves are just falling right off the trees without the pretty colors:

You can't tell from the photo, but one whole side of the tree is pretty much bare. The poor thing's really kind of sad.

Lots of new things in lately. First off, here's our new entryway display. I love these shutters - got several from an old house in Lebanon. The owner told us they were original to the house, which was built in the 1820s. The paint's newer but still very cool. Some neat things on the table, including these little leaf-shaped salt dish things. Such a great color.

From the same house call as the shutters, a really neat old tool box with a great curve to the front.

And old blue paint inside!

And we have a heavy-as-all-heck crock. I could move this thing, oh, about five feet at a time. Better than the #12 we had a few months ago - that one I couldn't pick up at all!

Also a great #6 with the handles in tact.

Lastly, Debbie's brought us some glass in these great seasonal oranges. My picture doesn't do the color justice - they're really quite neat in person.

Long time, no post

Between cloudy weather, battery mishaps (did you know they make batteries that you can't use in digital cameras? Now I do!), etsy, and new displays, I've been getting behind here. Oops. Recently new to Etsy three neat old architectural pieces. The first one there is huge - almost four feet long! Also eight vintage tin noise makers. Frankly, taking pictures of those wasn't exactly fun; I felt like the clowns were staring at me the entire time. They'd be good if you want to scare small children.

As for new displays, the Hitchcock set from the previous post has sold and been replace with a lovely 1940s drop-leaf table.

The light in this room is wonderful, but boy does it reflect in pictures! Around the table are a pair of black ladder back chairs and a set of four chairs probably from around the 1940s. I love the combo of the coppery colors and off-white bowls on that shelf.

Here we have a 1920s solid mahogany drop-front desk. It's got some really nice detailing on the legs, an urn pattern. To the left is a 1950s three-drawer chest. Great size for a nightstand, and it has a really neat tan and brown leafy lining in the drawers. And yes, we've got a touch of Halloween here with black cats and an old sugar bowl that looks like a caldron.

Just in, a vintage round pine-topped table. On it we have a vintage shelf decorated with a Red Wing Bob White casserole and plate and a variety of Country Fair/Country Fare/whatever we're calling it today pieces. I love how the two patterns look together.

To the right of the table, an upcycled vintage mirror frame has been turned into a huge chalkboard. I like putting seasonal quotes on it, and inflicting my attempt at art on my customers. ;-) The chalkboard reads, "For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together. For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad," quote by Edwin Teale.

Happy Fall!

Well, not officially, not for a bit yet. But schools are back in session, so it definitely counts. We've been busily working on getting more Fall colors in, and trying not to make a grand mess while doing so. Things are a work in progress, as always. But I snapped a few pictures for Craigslist earlier and figured I'd throw them up here as well.

A Hitchcock dining set, just recently in. Includes a table with two leaves and six chairs. This thing is big - just over 7 feet long with the leaves in. It's set with Johnson Brothers Indian Tree pattern plates, some clear Depression glass dessert cups, vintage embroidered hand towels in place of napkins, and a set of Supreme silverplate silverware.

The main piece of this display is a cabinet handmade by a carpenter from East Hampton. I got it from his daughter, who said he'd made it somewhere around 1900 - 1910. It looks to us like he'd put it together from pieces of other things - the front is flame mahogany, the shelves are walnut, and the top is another kind of wood entirely. To the left of that is this great old stand. In person, it's this neat green-gray color.

Debbie brought us this vintage hutch refinished in a neat shabby white. 'Tis the season for apple picking!

And the fireplace. That old barn beam mantle is still one of my favorite parts of the building. :) On the right, we have a wing chair, not old, but in great shape and really comfy. The hearth is full of crocks, a pair of old andirons, and a copper and brass fire extinguisher (which I think still has some of the liquid inside...). We've done the mantle in leafy reds and ambers along with these pretty muted teal-blues. And in the never-ending saga of me and photography, of course I took about twelve pictures of the mirror that ended up with the emergency exit sign reflected in them. ;-)

Rain, rain, go away, don't come back anytime soon please. Really.

Post-Irene and things have returned to normal for those of us who were lucky. I was without power at home for a little more than 5 days, but the store thankfully had power, phone, and internet all back by last Tuesday morning. The basement did apparently flood with about a foot of water, but I had nothing down there and as the basement's shared between units, I didn't have to take care of the clean up. So in the end, the only damage was a broken storm window and some branches lost from the willow.

Still, I'd rather not do that again, okay? Thanks for your cooperation, Mother Nature.

Blurry Photos & Back to School

Blogging would work much better if I started posting regularly, wouldn't it? So let's see how it goes.

I've been busy lately trying out Etsy. Opened the shop at the end of June and already sold a few things. It's much, much more time intensive than it looks, though. Mostly, it's the pictures. Because you get things set up and snap dozens of photos, and you think you're done, but then you upload them and they've all come out like this:

Ooops. Went through two batches of pictures like that before I realized I'd had the camera set for distance photos instead of close-ups. But I've gotten the hang of it since then, thankfully. So here's some of what I've got up on Etsy now, with more to come soon.






I've also been working on a back to school display for the entryway over the last few days, and I've finally called it done.

What was I saying about getting the hang of photos? ;-) (The camera was on close up instead of distance that time!) Actual decent photos now:

Featuring a vintage school desk and chair and a large standing classroom abacus, among other things.

A close up of the desk.

One of my favorite parts is the shoe-tying toy with the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe. Though I'm not sure it was wise to give kids a big chunky wood toy good for hitting each other with. ;-)

I'm starting to get more interested in old books. Here are three Bobbsy Twins hardcovers, and a 1920s copy of Tales from Shakespeare, along with some vintage flash cards.

A cute little push-cart full of blocks.

The window, with vintage Strawberry Shortcake lunch box, some wooden apples for teacher, and some science-y equipment.

I love this old labratory box, likely for a microscope.

On the left, a copy of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe puzzle, and a little chalkboard. To the right, a handmade hanging chalkboard.