Merry Christmas!!!

I absolutely love this graphic!

 A warm your heart scene from days gone by. 

I hope the scene that plays out in your life today is a happy one.

Merry Christmas to all of you!!!

Barb

We bought out a Crafter

We bought out a crafter.

Five simple words that don't begin to describe the work involved!

We have been busy. Very, very busy.

I wish I had taken pictures, but it was one of those moments when you don't even think of that. There is too much to do.

The crafter had 4 rooms of a house stuffed full. I lost count of the number of truck & car & trailer loads we took out of there.

We stuffed boxes here. We stuffed boxes there.
For a few weeks, we could hardly walk in the back rooms.

And most of it wasn't even in the back rooms. Most went upstairs to the apartments above the store that we use for storage.

Let's just say I had my fingers crossed that the firemen didn't come do a surprise inspection!

The back rooms are totally somewhat under control again.
The upstairs? I haven't even touched it yet.

The blog had to wait. Pretty much everything had to wait.
I did finally break down and run the vacuum & clean the bathrooms at home.

And, even though I threatened not to decorate for Christmas at home, I did.
And I'm glad I did.

As for the store, I have lots and lots of new inventory. And even more supplies.
I feel like I'm smack dab in the middle of a treasure hunt, because I haven't even seen what's in many of the boxes yet.

Busy times, but fun too!

Country Life = Pumpkin Pie

That wonderful Thanksgiving meal must have done something to my head yesterday. I tried to post last night before going to bed, and it wouldn't accept my password. Possibly because this morning I realized it was the wrong one. HA!

I had a request for my moms Pumpkin Pie recipe, so here it is:

PUMPKIN PIE

Beat together in large bowl:

3 cups pumpkin (large can)
2 cups brown sugar
5 eggs
2 cups evaporated milk
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Pour in 2 pie shells. (9 inch)
Bake in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes, then turn heat down to 325 degrees.
Continue baking until set, about 35 - 40 minutes.

Check for doneness my inserting knife just off center. If it comes out clean, the pie is done.

You can use frozen pie crusts. Or, we prefer our own:

PIE CRUST

Stir together:
2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt

Cut in:
3/4 cup shortening (we use the butter flavor shortening)

Sprinkle with:
5 - 6 Tbsp. cold water, adding 1 Tbsp. at a time
Stir the water in with a fork, until the dough sticks together enough to be rolled out.

Roll out dough on a floured surface, put in two 9 inch pie plates.

After the pie is baked, cool on wire racks. Then keep in fridge. The pie is much better cold!

Enjoy!

(I do!)

Lobster trap

 

Do you know what this is? It's a lobster trap.

 

Several people have asked how we ended up with a lobster trap in landlocked WV.

The answer? An auction, of course.

 

How the people who sold it at the auction ended up with it is another question.

The answer? We have no idea.

 

Our original price on it was $50. No takers so far, and it's taking up valuable space, so it's in the clearance corner for $20.

 

I was offered $15 for it, but we won't go that low. Instead, if it doesn't sell now, we will add casters to it and turn it into coffee table.

 

Where did that idea come from?

Pinterest. Where else? Ha!

 

I suppose we could use it for what one little fellow in the shop called it: a bad people trap.

 

Nah, better stick with the coffee table idea.

Snowman dishes

I picked these dishes up at a thrift store last summer, and tucked them away in my stash for future projects. The future is now so to speak! It's that time of year when anything & everything becomes a base for a snowman. A little paint. A little time. A whole new look.

I'm not sure what the dishes would have been used for originally. Baking? Serving?

I've been watch some cooking shows while I paint.
Shows like Chopped.
And Restaurant Impossible.
And Cutthroat Kitchen.

And the more I watch these shows, the more I realize how little I know about cooking!

I consider myself a pretty good cook.

Cook. Not chef.

Ahhh. Maybe that's the difference.

Let's just say I don't think I'll be competing on any of these shows anytime soon.

Country Life = When Life Gives You Lemons...

 

Did you ever learn a new word or phrase, & then it seems like you hear it ALL the time?

 

That's the way I feel about this phrase. I don't remember hearing it, until I started carrying it in the shop. Now I not only hear it all the time, I also say it all the time!

I suppose it was always there, I just didn't notice it.

We're dealing with some big situations in our lives right now that are out of our control.

We live in the heart of the Marcellus Shale gas & oil drilling. We feel like we've been plucked out of our nice, quiet, peaceful countryside, and thrown down into the middle of an industrial zone.

That was bad enough.

We found out a few days ago that the plant George works in is shutting down at the end of this year.

Well.

It is what it is.

And we don't like it.
Not one little bit.

But, we're trying hard to find the bright side.
We are debt free.
We have a safety net.
We have a can do attitude.

We have each other.
And... we have a God who we have a deep faith in.

Things have a funny way of working out, and we believe they will this time too.

We plan to bring lots of new things into the shop. We need it to go from being a little extra money to a lot of extra money!

Another old saying applies here....

You is kind.

One of my favorite quotes from the movie The Help.

One of the things that really struck me from this story is how recent it was.

It took place in the early 60's, which is when I was born.

It saddens me that racism was so prevalent that recently.

I will never understand why anyone thinks

skin color makes us unequal.

In the story, the children were brought up to believe that.

I'm so thankful that my own parents knew better.

My sister and I were raised to abhor racism.

I had this old cupboard door, and it seemed like a good spot

to feature Aibileen Clark's wise words to little Mae Mobley.

You is kind.

You is smart.

You is important.

Yes indeed. And so is you Aibileen.

So the chair fell apart. Now what?

What do you do with old chairs that are completely falling apart? You give them to your son, and say, "see what you can do with this".

And then, he brings them back to you, with old boards attached as signs. And you realize once again that he has that same "junking" vision as his parents, and you're not sure whether that is a blessing or a curse.

Ha!

 

After he attached the old wood to them, he brought them back to me to paint the words on. I was a bit nervous - he did such a great job on them, I didn't want to mess them up!

 

I also had a chair seat to do something with. I made it into a sign too......

 

 

It looks a bit like it's on attached to the porch post in this pic, doesn't it? Ah, those crazy photo angles. Can't trust them. heehee

 

We have some more of the chair pieces - we'll get to them as soon as we can find time.

 

And inspiration!



Addy Grace vs. Autism

I recently met a little girl named Addy Grace.

Her family came in my shop.

Mom & dad & big sister shopped.

 Addy sat in her stroller, making a noise in her throat.

With any luck, that noise in her throat will become words. 

You see, sweet little Addy Grace has autism, along with other medical issues. 

She was a normal baby, until one of her vaccinations went horribly wrong.

Her mom told me that Addy's health went downhill rapidly.

She became very, very ill with many problems.

You may know that many autistic children don't have the ability to connect.

Eye contact and smiles are not part of the equation.

But as you can see, little Addy is a fighter, and she has her smile back.

She has parents who are doing all they can to help her.

And she has therapists & doctors who are helping her as well.

I started following For the Love of Addy Grace,

a facebook page about her progress.

I encourage you to follow it too.

It's an inspiration to watch her progress.

Look at her above mastering a spoon!

And using a slide all by herself!

She's had lots of milestone moments lately.

They are hoping that noise in her throat is her attempt to talk.

She uses an ipad to communicate now.

Her mama said Addy is very bright.

But it's all locked inside.

Let's pray that soon changes, and she can talk!

Besides prayer, there is another way you can help.

Addy's care is very expensive.

She is currently entered in a contest through Generation Rescue.

If click on the Generation Rescue link, you will see this photo:

If you will kindly click the LIKE button there,

it will count as a vote.

The child with the most votes will win a prize package.

The prize?

Digestive enzymes crucial to Addy's recovery.

A worthy cause, wouldn't you agree?

Again, the link is: Generation Rescue

The last day to vote is October 30, 2013.

A very simple way to help a child, 

and it won't cost you anything but a minute of your time.

Addy with her big sister Abigail.

I'll repeat the facebook link you can follow 

to watch her daily journey:

For the Love of Addy Grace

If you want to help the family with other medical expenses,

you can message Addy's mom Brenda through that page.

Thanks for letting me share Addy's story.

School desks

Any idea what this is?

Does this help?

Note the hole in the desk top.

In a classroom, the desks would have been set up like this...

The hole was for an inkwell.

Imagine a little girl with pigtails sitting in a seat.

And an ornery little boy in the seat behind her.

Wonder how many times ornery little boys

dipped those pigtails in the inkwell?

I found the classroom photo on the internet. It is:

 White Pine Village Marchido School in Ludington, Michigan

We have several of these desks in the shop right now for sale.

A great decorating piece for your home.

And if you have kids, they may love to play school with them! 

Along with the desks that we picked up at various auctions,

there was also a top that was missing it's desk.

I made a sign out of it, using a quote from a beloved children's author...

Dr. Seuss.

Oh, to have an imagination like Dr. Seuss!

A Crock Surprise

See the crock on the left that says Enterprise? I have had it for a couple months or so in the shop. It was sort of hidden under a table.

I bought several crocks yesterday from a customer, and decided to display them all together in a new spot. When I reached under the table to pull out the Enterprise crock, I noticed it has something white all over it.

It was on the inside, but even more on the outside. Crystal like, and practically covering the whole thing. It looked like salt, but I wasn't sure.

I got a wet paper towel, and wiped it off. I got up my nerve, and tasted it, barely touching my tongue to a spot on my hand that had touched the white stuff. Yep. Definitely salt!

You can see a crack in the crock toward the top by the letter S. My guess is that this crock was used to make sauerkraut, which was made by layering cabbage and salt.

The salt must have soaked into the crack, and as the crock sat there under my table, it oozed out. Or grew. Or did whatever salt does.

It's a bit of a mystery to me. Why exactly did it happen? Did it only happen because the conditions were just right? What were those conditions? Will it happen again?

I guess time will tell!

Gossip bench

Are you old enough to recognize this?

 

I admit that I am.

 

It's a phone bench, AKA gossip bench.

 

Back in the day, before cordless phones and cell phones, most homes had one phone. Imagine! And that one phone was either attached to the wall, or had to stay close to it. I'm sure the young folks can hardly believe that. lol

 

The phone would sit on top of the desk part, the phone book would fit neatly inside. And the person would sit in the seat and gossip chat.

We picked this up at an auction, and I gave it the prim treatment. I forgot to take a before picture, but it was plain brown. The original seat must have gave way at some point. When we bought it, it had the piece of plywood you see in the photo for a seat. But, it was unfinished, just a plain piece of plywood.

This brings back memories of party lines, and long and short rings. And the days before answering machines. I remember many times when everyone was outside, either in the yard or garden. Through the open windows of the house, we would hear the phone ring. Someone would go running to the house to answer the phone. More often than not, the caller would hang up just as you were breathlessly running through the door.

Ahhh, the good ole days.

Owls

Isn't it funny how a certain thing will take off and be all the rage?

Right now, it's..........

Owls!

 

These guys are locally made

by a very talented mother/daughter team.

 

So adorable!

 

They're a hoot!

 

Sorry, I just had to say it.

Hee, hee.

 

 

The 70's cupboard

I bought these 2 book cases at an auction. I know you're looking at it, and saying, "I only see one piece". It's actually 2 pieces, stacked on top of each other.

They were plain jane brown. And very 1970's looking.

I dubbed it the 70's cupboard.

And when I called it that on my facebook page, a friend from high school said, "what's wrong with the 70's?"

Why nothing, nothing at all!

We both graduated in '80. The 70's were some good times.

But the bookcase/cupboard? The 70's weren't doing it any favors.

I wasn't sure anything I did to it would help. I didn't want to put much more money in it.

I found a can of sorta bluish/greenish paint in my paint stash. I put one coat on the whole thing, then went over all of it with the orbital sander.

A coat of wax, (or was it varnish? I forget now what I did) and it was done.

Not bad, but I still wasn't sure anyone would want it. It got a decent response on facebook, but I still wasn't sure about it. I didn't bother putting a price on it, thinking I would just use it for display purposes.

Then someone sent me a message asking if I still had the 70's looking cupboard. "Yes I do", I said.

And within a month it was sold.

Shows how much I know about what people want!

Trash to treasure pumpkins

I've been missing in action on the blog lately. It's been a busy summer! Again!

Between the summer harvest and the shop doing very well, (thank you!) I haven't had much free time. And, besides keeping up my own facebook page for Country Lane Crafts, I'm also helping with one for the street my shop is located on - Jefferson Ave.  Feel free to check them both out, especially if you live in or are from our area in Moundsville, WV.

I'm trying to squeeze in some fall crafts. 

A good place to do that is with some trash to treasure projects!

The two square ones are the ends off a large crate.

The one in the middle is a slab off our sawmill.

While I was painting pumpkins, I grabbed a couple old chairs........

Pumpkins are one of my favorite things to paint!

And to eat!

Love pumpkin pie!

A painting under the dust

I don't know anything about this painting. Who painted it? Is the scene depicted real or in the artist's mind? Was it painted for the artist's own home, or maybe as a gift? Was it sold?

We'll probably never know the answers. But, this painting has a completely different story to tell.

I bought it at an auction. It was filthy. Covered in dust and cobwebs. So much so, that I couldn't even really tell what the painting was.

I had bought it for the frame. Once I got it home, I picked it up to take the picture out to throw away. But, I started looking closer at the painting under the dust.

I could see potential. I wiped off what dust I could with a dry rag. Ah yes, definite potential.

I carefully cleaned the frame with a damp rag. The painting was still too dirty, so I actually used a damp rag on the oil painting as well. With a very light touch.

I'm sure there's a proper way to clean an original oil painting. I'm sure a damp cloth isn't it.

But, it worked.

As I was cleaning it, I thought about what a shame it was that this beauty ever ended up in a shed, or basement, or barn, or wherever it had spent enough years to accumulate so much dust.

I'm going to throw some advice out to whoever will listen: If you don't want something anymore, sell it. Or give it away.

Someone will want it. Someone will enjoy it.

I've bought some pieces this summer from a few different folks who had more vintage pieces than they could use. Pieces they liked, some were even family pieces. But, they simply didn't have room for all of them.

When they called me, they said they didn't want to just store them away, they wanted someone to enjoy them.

The painting has already sold to a man who bought it for his living room. I hope he gets years and years of enjoyment out of it!

Country Life = A Special Night

Something very special happened at our fair the other evening. I shared it on my facebook page, because I thought some of my local customers and followers who weren't at the fair would enjoy reading about what happened.

I never dreamed it would get the response it did! Many, many folks were touched by it. So, I thought I would share it here as well:

I had the honor of being a part of something last night that I wish you all could have witnessed. We were at the Marshall Co. Fair Livestock Auction, which is made up of 4-H & FFA kids. One of those kids, Matt, is 17. And in the hospital with leukemia. During the auction, a girl showing a lamb said that 10% of the sale of her lamb would go to Matt's family for expenses. Accessories Ltd. from Moundsville bought the lamb, and the owner announced that he was donating $100 to Matt's family, & he challenged the audience to do the same.

What happened next was beautiful. The bidding cards started going up in the air. The auction of livestock stopped, and the donations started pouring in. The ringmen simply stood there, looking around the arena & calling out the numbers, while the announcers took the numbers, then called out the name of the business or individual who was donating. In 10 minutes or so, $6200 was raised! And it didn't stop there. The donations kept coming the rest of the evening, and several more kids donated a percentage of their sale to Matt. 

The Livestock Sale is always a special time. Those kids work so hard, and it shows. They have lots of support from adults who teach them all about raising animals, and later from adults who buy at the sale. Every year, lots of money is donated to their Scholarship Fund. But this year, the Sale truly went above and beyond. It was a great night to be a member of the Marshall County, WV community.

One of the ladies who commented said that the same thing had happened at the Goat and Rabbit Auction, and that they had raised $3000 for Matt. How wonderful!


If you listen to the news, it's easy to think that there's no good people anymore.

Don't believe it.

If you listen to the news, it's easy to think every teenager is hooked on drugs, and doesn't care about anyone.

Don't believe it.

The kids that are involved in the fair are amazing to watch. We watched a little girl pushing a wheelbarrow full of bedding for her animal. It was quite the struggle to make a turn. The wheelbarrow was much bigger than she was, and when George saw her, he jumped in and helped her get it around the turn. But then off she went, full of determination.

We watched the college kids humbly accept scholarships set up for them through the Livestock Club Scholarship Fund, which gets it's money in part from the many donations from members of the business community and individuals who want to support them.

I'm sure we aren't alone in this. I'm sure it's repeated in many counties across rural America. 

May God bless all of them.

May God bless all those who so generously donated money to help Matt's family with expenses.

And most especially right now, we pray for Matt himself.

Amen.

A desk no more

A couple posts back, I showed you some drawers I painted that had been part of a big desk. You can see them here.

I decided to tear apart another one of the drawers and make signs......

The 2 long pieces were the side of the drawer, Going to the Chapel was the back, and the Office sign was the front.

While I was at it, I painted the board that slides out above the drawers for an extra flat surface. Does that thing have a name?

The blue on the board was the blue that was on the desk when son Kevin brought it home from an estate auction. I'm sure you've been dying to know where the drawers and slide came from. (ha!)

Well, they came from this....

A large desk, maybe a teachers desk? Very cool, very shabby. But, too big for me to hang onto for very long. I just don't have that kind of room in the shop anymore. (that's a good thing!).

So, when it didn't sell in 2 or 3 weeks, it had to go. Lots of new stuff has been coming in, and I needed that space.

The top piece is one solid piece. Heavy! A friend bought it  - she already had a set of cast iron legs. She is going to mount the top to the legs for a unique dining table. She also bought a couple chairs, and is going to find some more, so that she will have 6 unmatched chairs to go with the table. Unmatched in style, but her plan is to paint them all the same color to unify them. She's a woman with a vision! She has booths in a couple antique shops, so the newly finished table and chairs will make a public appearance sometime soon.

Sometimes the key to saving old furniture, instead of sending it to the landfill or a burn pile is a simple little thing called creativity.

And a vision.

Quilt treasure

For the last month of so, our internet service at home has been horrendous. If we were lucky, we could get online for a couple hours in the early morning. After that, it might come in for a minute or two here & there, but never long enough or strong enough to do anything.

To top it off, we found out we were paying WAYYYY too much compared to what others around us were paying that provider.

Great big bill. Itty bitty service.

Not happy.

Couldn't update the blog. Or facebook. Well, once in awhile I could update facebook. If I had the patience to try to load one picture several times. I'm not exaggerating when I say it could take 20 minutes or so to upload one picture. If I could at all.

To keep facebook up to date, I did most of my recent posting at the store. Where my old computer is dying. There was a "blue screen" moment the other day. But it came back. Albeit it slower than ever.

It was enough of an effort to keep facebook updated. My blog had to wait.

DISH internet to the rescue! It was installed today, and so far.............. it's working great! It's actually high speed like it's supposed to be! Yay! And for considerably less money per month! Double Yay!!!

So, let's get this blog rolling again!

We'll start with this quilt we bought at a recent antiques auction. There was a note on the quilt that said it was made in 1869. By a 9 year old girl! Her name was also on the quilt, but I won't include that for privacy reasons.

Can't you just see the girl working on this, with her mama sitting beside her, guiding her and teaching her? It makes me smile.

I seldom buy for myself at an auction. Just about everything goes to the store to sell. But not this quilt. It's a keeper!

Country Life = A Quiet 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!

It's quiet here today. Brian & Jessica decided not to make the trip home to WV since they are going to the beach for a few days soon with Brian's family.

Kevin & Katie are spending the day with her family in PA.

George was supposed to have the day off, but ended up working a double!

We planned to go to fireworks last night at Oglebay Park in Wheeling, but those plans fell through.

George & I had hoped to go to our favorite fireworks show tonight in downtown Wheeling, but as I said, he's now working. And besides that, it's raining. And thundering.

I did grill some burgers for our lunch before he left for work, but I burned the burgers. We were able to salvage them, but they weren't the best we've ever had by any stretch of the imagination.

Does it sound like I'm complaining? I'm really not. We've had lots of great 4th of July celebrations in the past, and Lord willing, there will be more to come in the future. And I'm truly thankful to be living in this great nation, today and every other day of the year.

So, for this year, at our house, the chickens ended up with the biggest celebration. Any day they get watermelon is a day to celebrate!

And we still may get to see fireworks for the 4th. They are supposed to have them this Sunday night in Moundsville. Though I'm not entirely sure that will happen either. The fairgrounds there along with the surrounding areas had some severe flash flooding a couple nights ago. A baseball tournament had to be cancelled at the last minute. So maybe there will be fireworks, and maybe there won't.

But if there is, Kevin and Katie would appreciate it. It's not every one who gets to see fireworks for their first anniversary!

Upcycled drawers

When we pick up a piece of furniture that can no longer be used "as is", we take it apart. There's usually several pieces that can be used for signs and other projects. I was starting to get quite a collection of drawers, and they were taking over my work space. It was time to come up with some ideas.

 

These were the first ones I painted........

 

After painting them, I added hangers to the back.

They can now be used either on the wall as shadowboxes or shelves, or on a table.

 

 

This one was from a desk, and it was already a pretty bluish/gray.

For something different, I turned it into a sign of sorts.

I left room at the bottom for some of those precious memories.

Perhaps a picture, or a treasure memento.

 

 

While I was at it, I did another one the same way.

These can either hang or sit.

 

 

For this one, I got out the chalkboard paint.

The whole thing is now a chalkboard.

Even the top and sides.

It too will either hang or sit.

 

I've got more to do something else with.

Might be time to go to Pinterest for inspiration!

 

Cleaning antiques one way or another

I picked these flags up at an auction the other evening. They are very fragile........ so why are they spread out on my deck? They smell! VERY musty. I wouldn't normally recommend cleaning something like this, but these need air. And rain. And sunshine. I'm letting nature take it's course, and we'll see what happens!

Some of the antiques we buy are beyond "normal" cleaning techniques.

• Never use water on wood.
• Never use a water hose on wood furniture.
• Never lay fragile flags on a deck to get rained on.
• And sunned on.

(I am aware that "sunned" isn't a word. Work with me)

But some of the antiques we buy are beyond "normal" cleaning techniques.

(I am aware I'm repeating myself. Work with me)

Sometimes we use whatever technique will work. It's that, or throw the nasty, dirty, smelly "yuk, no one wants to touch that" item away.

Please don't judge us.

Country Life = West Virginia's Birthday

Yesterday was a big day here in West Virginia. It was our birthday. Not just any birthday either. Our 150th!

There will be celebrations all weekend, but the one that got the most attention around here was in Wheeling yesterday. Wheeling is the birthplace of West Virginia, and they pulled out all the stops to celebrate.

George went to Independence Hall at noon for some of the events. I was working then, and couldn't go with him. In the evening, Kevin and I went to Heritage Port on the bank of the Ohio River for a concert and fireworks. George couldn't go that because by evening, he was at work.

 

I realize you can't tell who is singing, so I'll tell you. That is the very talented Kathy Mattea, who hails from West Virginia. Before her, we enjoyed another big West Virginia talent,  Landau Eugene Murphy Jr., who won America's Got Talent a couple years ago. We really enjoyed the concert. And check out that cool curtain backdrop. Love it!

We West Virginian's are very proud of our state, and our heritage. Every WV student has a year of WV history in 8th grade, and our history is drilled in. We carry that with us the rest of our lives.

Facebook was alive with that pride yesterday. It did my heart good to see all the WV pride shining bright. My favorite two posts were from my own children....

From Jessica, who currently lives in VA.: 

There's a land of rolling mountains, where the sky is blue above. And though I may roam, I hurry home to those friendly hills I love.
Happy Birthday, West Virginia! 150 years young.

And from Kevin:

Proud to be a native son of the Mountain State on this historic day, 150 years strong. Montani Semper Liberi!

Kevin also wrote this on his facebook farm page:

 

Farming is hard anywhere, but especially so in West Virginia. We have hillsides so steep our legs are shorter on one side, blazing hot summers so humid you could wring the air, and winters so cold Jack Frost moves south. It can be a challenge, but on this historic day 150 years into statehood we would like to say Happy West Virginia Day! We are beyond blessed to achieve our lifelong dream of farming and to do it in the majestic, wild, and wonderful hills of West Virginia. Thank you everyone for supporting us!

Love my kids! Love my state!

Montani Semper Liberi!

Mountaineers are Always Free! 

A door no more - is that a sign?

When we replaced an old door, we kept it, and cut it up into 4 panels. The door was green on one side, and white on the other. I kept those colors, and then turned them into signs.

First the green side:

 

And then the white side:

 

 

 

 

 

That was all of that door, but I've got more door panels to work with.

Hmmm........



Long views of the shop

 

It's been awhile since I took "long view" pictures of the shop.

 

 

I tend to focus in on particular items, so I decided to stretch out a bit.

 

 

I didn't get it all, that's not an easy task!

 

 

But, I tried to get enough shots to get an overall feel for the shop.

 

 

These were all taken a few days ago, and things have changed already.

 

 

New treasures come in pretty much daily.

And, I'm happy to say, things go out daily as well.

 

I'll try to get more "long views" to show other areas from time to time.

 

We're constantly changing it up so to speak.

Rearranging is just part of the game.

 

The heavy part.

 

Thank goodness for those little plastic sliders

that make moving furniture on carpet a piece of cake!

 

So to speak.

A table with a unique feature

This table from a recent auction seems ordinary enough.........

But it has a unique feature...............

It rotates! It will turn all the way around.

Not sure why though. Our guess is for playing cards or some other game. But that may not be right because it's more end table size than card table size.

The legs were pretty distressed looking, but I liked that. I just cleaned them and put a wax sealer over the old varnish. The top was more scratched up than distressed, which made it rather ugly. A coat of black paint, some sandpaper and more wax solved that problem.

What do you think it was used for originally? Why the rotating top?