Monday, April 17, 2017

Country Life = Easter Blessings


I do believe Spring is finally here to stay! 
Our favorite little guy is excited to be outside again.
He loves to "Hap."

You know...... Help. Said in a sweet little 2 year old voice.


He thought he was pretty big stuff calling in the cows.


And gettting the flower gardens ready.
I tried giving him a child sized hoe.
No dice.
He wants to use what we use.
"Tool." he says. Our big ones, not his little ones.

I've had a very productive Easter weekend. The flower beds are now mostly clean, and I've been helping George get poles set for a new barn we are building. We had great weather for most of it, though Easter Sunday did end with storms. 

We were blessed to spend Sunday morning with our church family, hearing a powerful lesson about the risen Christ, and the hope that gives us.


One of my favorite signs I've made for the shop lately is this yellow one that says hope and is finished off with a flower cut from an old beat up quilt.

After church services, we had lunch with friends. An Easter buffet, chock full of delicious food. 
Our friends said they were going to go home and take a nap.

What did George and I do? We went home and chased cows. 
Three of the new calves decided the grass was greener on the other side of the fence while we were gone. We pulled onto our lane, and saw them, happily grazing in the hayfield.

Fortunately, it wasn't too much trouble getting them back where they belonged.

It's become a joke around here. When our son and daughter-in-law are away, one or another of the livestock will get out. Happens every time. 

Life on the farm.

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Tricycles for the Garden



Last summer, George went to an estate auction, and brought back a couple old rusty tricycles. I was excited about that, because tricycles (and bicycles) have always sold pretty quickly for us. Usually as a garden touch.

Although one time, a young man bought one of our old school bicycles and added some sort of motor. When he told me his plans for it I thought he was dreaming. But he brought me a picture of it a couple weeks later, and it was really cool.

I digress.
Back to the tricycles.



One went on a table top. Why a table top? Because if I put it on the floor, it's too tempting for little ones who want to ride it. We have no room for that unfortunately.


The other went in the display window. I really need to take the time to refinish the floor in there. A couple years ago, we had some pine trees cut from sawmill slabs on display. They drew moisture, and left the whitish spots you can see under the bike. I suppose fixing it is going to mean sanding the floor down completely, then putting new varnish on. 

That's going to be number 4,624 on my project list.

Again, I digress.
Back to the tricycles.

I figured they would sell quickly, but for whatever reason, they didn't.

Time went on.


I worked one into a gingerbread display.

More time went on.


Christmas display.

Really?

They drew lots of interest, but it was usually along this line:
"So and so would love this, I'll tell them to come look at them."

But apparently "so and so" never came.

Just about everyone who looked at them remarked at the reasonable price.
But they still remained.

In late winter, I put them in the clearance corner. STILL no takers.

I was beginning to wonder if they had a hex on them.

I was about to just take them off the floor for a few months when Pinterest gave me an idea.


Photo via Pinterest, and a blog you can see by clicking here. The blog post has several beautiful photos.

That hot pink is a little too hot for my taste, but I loved the concept. I have seen several 
bicycles painted in this manner, but it hadn't occured to me to give the tricycles the same treatment.

So, I looked through my spray paint stash, and settled on white and a more muted pink.


I love how the white one turned out. As for the pink, maybe it's a little TOO muted. 
Hmmm...


Once I got them back to the shop, I added a little red basket to the white one. I have a little sage green basket in the same style that could be added to the pink one. 

So...... we'll see if they sell now. Here's hoping!

By the way, this seems a good time to tell one of my favorite stories:

Several years ago, we were at an outdoor auction, full of antiques. The crowd was large with lots of buyers. But there was one guy there who was trying his best to sweep the auction. It became increasingly difficult to buy anything, because he was running the bids up so high. 

Two tricycles came up for bid. The guy was eying them eagerly. But so was a little boy, up on his daddy's shoulders. 

The bidding for choice on the 2 tricycles started. The little boy had his daddy's bid card, and was holding it up high. The guy bid against the boy a couple times, but finally stopped. Maybe he felt the pressure from the crowd who was watching, waiting, silently rooting for the boy to get the winning bid. He put down his card, and the little boy kept his high up in the air. 

Going once, going twice, SOLD! 

Daddy set the little boy down on the ground, and he ran to the tricycle of his choice with a big grin on his face. The crowd parted, and he rode off down the driveway on his new bike. I don't think George and I were the only two in the crowd with happy tears in our eyes. 

Sweet, sweet memory. 



Friday, April 7, 2017

A Tisket, A Tasket

Baskets are great in and of themselves.
But sometimes its fun to take them up a notch.


A touch of ribbon and a flower or two give them a whole new look.


The red and white shaker style box also got an upgrade, with a quilted flower and tag.

I just glued the flower to the top, then tied the tag to the button in the middle of the flower. A box as sweet for looking at as it is for storage. 


The heart in the basket is made from an old chenille bedspread, and is also wearing a tag.


Lousy picture I know. Why? It's in the display window, and I was taking the photo through the glass. I should have taken them out of the window for the picture, but my energy level and my thought process level the day I took the photos were not in sync.

The basket on the left is embellished with a burlap ribbon and flower. The one on the right is sporting a burlap ribbon and heart cut from an old quilt.


The wine bottle basket also got dressed up with a burlap ribbon and flower. Burlap dresses up anything these days. There's a certain irony to humble burlap dressing something up, isn't there? 


This is a BIG basket. Close to laundry basket size. 
Pretty cool.

A tisket, a tasket, a dressed up wicker basket! 

First Occasional Shop Weekend of the Year

Our first occasional shop opening started today, and runs through tomorrow. Why am I just now posting pics here on my blog? Because my lapt...