Taking up Blogging Again after a Long Absence

I see I haven't posted anything since 2019. Yikes. In fact, I'm not sure I've even looked at my blog since then. Double yikes. As best I remember, my laptop had died, and for the next few years, I only had internet on my phone, which is not conducive to blogging, at least to me. I finally got another laptop, so no excuses now. 

I last talked about switching our shop to an Occasional Shop. Best business decision we ever made!! We did that for a few years and really enjoyed most aspects of it. But oh, the work! We were busier than ever, out picking for vintage items as often as we could, (the fun part), and then cleaning and pricing everything (the not so fun part). All that deserves its own post, or several posts. 

In 2023, we decided to close the shop, after being open for almost 21 years. It was time. All that furniture moving was taking its toll. And our son and his family (our grandkids!!) had moved 2 and a half hours away. We were spending more and more time on the road. visiting them and helping them get established on first a small farm, and then later a bigger one. That too will take several posts to cover!

After closing the store, we put the building up for sale. We took one last photo the day of the closing. It was so surreal. So much of our time was spent there, so many friends and memories made. But we had no regrets. We realized that our hearts were no longer in the store, they were at our son's farm. We bought a house just a mile or so from him, and for now, we are splitting our time between it and "back home". 

This was the day we closed on the house near him.

A very exciting day!!

And to make it even more exciting, when we are at this house, we are much closer to our daughter. It cuts our travel time to see her in half. We see her and her husband much more often now, which we love. A couple weeks ago, we met her in the middle just to see a movie, which is something we never would have done when we were 5 hours away from her. But now that we are only 2 and a half hours from her and can cut that in half again if we meet in the middle, an afternoon at the movies is doable. Especially if that movie is Hamilton! Gotta be in the room where it happens!

I'm excited to start blogging again. I look at it as a diary with photos. I wish I hadn't stopped. The last few days I have read all my old posts and have enjoyed that so much. Goodness, there were many that talked about things I had totally forgotten about. How I wish I would have had something like this when our own kids were growing up! And I missed out on recording a few years of the grandkids. 

Every moment is a gift. And I want to remember as many of those moments as I can.

First Occasional Shop Weekend of the Year

I was a little nervous about today. Would our customers come back? Or would they have moved on since we haven't been open since last December?

They came back!! Thank you! We appreciate you all so very much!

Here's a few pics from around the shop. A sampling if you will.

The wringer washer stand is still available. 

It's a 3-piece set; the stand and the two tubs. 

We pieced this together - we had sewing treadle legs with no top. 

We had a top with no legs.

Sweet union!

2 old bikes. A hand push cultivator plow. 

Can you say yard ornaments?

Speaking of yard ornaments! 

This old box fit perfectly on the rusty metal stand. It sold quickly after we opened. 

All through the day, more folks came in asking for it.

It's humble look was quite popular!

This sweet little dresser also sold quickly, as did the barrel and the box.

The wash tub on a stand is still available.

Perfect for flowers, or for ice and some cold drinks.

The black hutch also sold quickly, but a smaller one is still available...

Love it's 2 tone look! 

I'm blaming the cut off pic of this cupboard on my computer problems.

I apparently downloaded the wrong pic.

Since my laptop crashed, I'm working on our desktop computer which is

SLOWWWWWWWWWWWWW as molasses.

So, it is what it is at this point.

But trust me, the cupboard does indeed have a top.

Take me home, country roads!!!

What do you do with an old lawn roller? 

Take the roller part off, and turn the handle into a quilt rack! 

We added the mirror to the desk to make a vanity. 

And the woods matched perfectly! 

Yay!

The hen and her baby were a weather vane with a broken bottom. 

No problem!

We cut the broken part off, and mounted them on a couple pieces of wood.

They walked out the door right after we opened. 

So to speak.

Nice quilts for those chilly spring nights!

As I am posting these, every photo looks blurry.
Maybe because I took them from my Facebook page, instead of from the phone.
This whole laptop being down thing is really messing with my posting skills.

Wish me luck in trying to save it.

And if you can, stop in and see us tomorrow!
We would love to see you!

2019 Schedule

The best laid plans.......

Ha!

We had planned to close for the winter, hit the auctions hard, and open back up in March.

What we didn't take into account though is that auctions in the winter are far and few between. And the few there were didn't have the cool old stuff we fill the shop with.

Ok then, on to

We have a good start on bringing in more of the cool old stuff.

And we have been busy creating and upcycling. 

(The word upcycling makes me giggle)

We are carrying very little over from last year, so we have a lot of space to fill. 

We feel confident we can do that by April.

So, (drum roll please), our 2019 schedule:




We hope to see you on as many of these weekends as you can come!
We are looking forward to year 2 as an occasional shop.
And we promise to make it worth the wait.

October Open Weekend

We are on day 2 of our October open weekend, and day 1 served up another example of this important tip for our shop:

It happened again. 2 people wanting the same thing at the same exact time. If the one who missed out had pulled the tag, she would have got it. As shoppers, we tend to look at something, then wander around looking at other things before we go back to get what we came in for. But with our one of a kind pieces being promoted on our Facebook page, chances are good that more than one person will be coming in for the same thing... at the same time.

So, if you are sure you want something, pull the tag and bring it to either me or George at the counter, and it will be yours to buy.

What was the piece that both wanted so badly this time?
This:

This old primitive cupboard. So prim, so sturdy, so cool.

We set several things outside before we open, and the lesson applies there too. If you are one of the folks who come early and stand in line waiting on us to open, and you see something you want outside, pull the tag.

See that plow leaning against the corner on the right? The customer who wanted it was waiting in line to get in, but didn't pull the tag. She told me as soon as she came in that she wanted it, and I told her to hurry and pull the tag. She was just lucky that no one else pulled it ahead of her, or she would have missed out, even as she stood there in line.

This is the only downside to the unique pieces we work hard to find. Only one person can buy them!

Some of our other cool pieces this month...

A metal dental cabinet. It sold as soon as we opened.

Barn gates, straight out of a sheep barn in Ohio. The corn sheller was from the same barn. The sheller and some of the gates are still available today.

The blanket box is still available. Love it's dovetailed corners!

Some of the ladders have sold, but we are actually bringing more in today.

Still have the iron wheels. This set is in great shape. We have more that are in a bit more used condition.

These chairs are screwed together, making a bench.

The large whiskey barrel with the green bands sold yesterday, but the shorter one is still available today. It still has it's wooden spigot.

We have lots more... old windows, lots of enamelware, signs, wooden boxes, old chairs, kitchenware, goats milk soap, WV decor, the list goes on and on.

Open today (Friday, October 13) from 10-5. Our next open weekend will be November 23 & 24, which is Black Friday and Small Business Saturday. After that, we will be open each Friday and Saturday until Christmas.

Hope you can come! 318 Jefferson Avenue in Moundsville, WV.

September Open Date

We are in the middle of our September open weekend. Whew! Another busy month getting ready! 

The pumpkin sign is painted on a large crate side that we took apart. Love the wire running across it.

These doors! So perfectly chippy!

The first thing that sold? This dresser. I could have sold it several more times, if only I could have twitched my nose and made more appear.

Quilts. Need I say more?

The white mantle went quickly too. We still have the brown one behind it.

Almost heaven!!!

This table is a marriage of an enamel top table, placed on a table that had issues with it's top. That's a post for another day...

Iron wheels. Awesome.

Another marriage. A child's roll top desk, placed on a cast iron sewing machine base. Truly one of a kind!

The black dresser/buffet sold as I was uploading this picture. Love the rockers!

I do believe the coolest thing in this display is the 3D horse picture.

We will be open again tomorrow from 10-5. Actually, we will probably open at 9, because the street in front of us will be holding our towns annual Fall Festival. Always a great day to visit Moundsville, WV!

August Summary

Our first 2 occasional shop weekends are under our belt.
Maybe for our 3rd one I can post blog pictures of it BEFORE instead of AFTER!
Here's to getting more organized!

Our July weekend (the first one) was better than we hoped. We were so excited by a line on Friday morning! The rest of that Friday was much slower. Saturday was slow, but steady, and we were happy with the turnout, with it being the first one.

August? Longer line on Friday, then the afternoon slowed considerably.
Since the July Saturday had been slow, George made other plans and didn't go to the shop with me.
Big mistake.
We had another short line on Saturday, then it slowed for just a bit. But around 11, folks started coming. And coming. And coming. For a couple hours, we were quite packed. I texted George a HELP! plea, and he came. It stayed busy most of the day.

WHEW! It looks like our leap of faith is going to work out! We are humbled and thankful.

Our theme for August was Old School, and we had 2 small classrooms set up.

From the time we made the decision to switch to occasional, I knew the August theme would be Old School. What a fun way to feature old school desks! Unfortunately, we only sold one desk. We plan to take the rest to an Antiques Fair. It's funny, I used to sell school desks easily, but the last few years, they have been a tough sell. But that's ok, they made for a fun theme.

Also fun was the outhouse display. That outhouse was a big hit! Maybe too big!
It taught a valuable lesson... if you want to buy something that is too big to bring to the counter, PULL THE TAG! We had a few people wanting it all at the same time. I won't go into the details, but the lesson is clear, pull the tag, so it's spoken for if you are sure you want something.

The funny thing about the outhouse is that we bought it a few years ago with the intent of using it as a pattern to make more. We put it beside our garden and kept garden tools in it, and never did get around to making more. The tree that was beside it was crowding it out, so I suggested we go ahead and sell it, and George agreed. Since so many customers wanted the outhouse, (I was still getting messages about it that evening), George took several pics of it, along with measurements. Looks like we will be making more after all! We hope to have a few made before the September open weekend.

We weren't sure whether to put out the clay pots we picked up recently or not, but since several customers showed an interest in them when I asked, we did put them out. The remaining ones will now be stored in the back until spring.

Crocks! Enough said. Love crocks!

The chicken wire front cabinet was one of the first items sold.

Vintage kitchenware always brings back memories.

We decided to sell these white cupboards for $10 per piece. Yep, they all sold.

Both the wagon wheels went home with the same customer. They found a great new home!

Another hit was the $2 clearance corner. I got rid of lots of smalls that I no longer wanted. Obviously we can't do that every month (some of those items retailed at up to $20. or so), but we may do it again sometime at some dollar level. For September, I'm planning a jar sale, which will include the old blue ones, as well as jars I have upcycled into various craft projects.

Another lesson learned is that we need to put the things we want to display outside out there BEFORE we open at 10. In July, we were putting stuff out as the line was coming in. That didn't work very well. This time, I had it all out well ahead of time.

Starting today, I will be tearing down the Old School set up, and starting on the next one. The basic theme will be Fall Is In The Air. The main features will be vintage treasures (as always), and lots of fall decor. We are kicking around some ideas for some fun displays and we will try our hardest to make it worth your while to come again in September on the 14th and 15th.

Several customers told us with big grins on their faces that they are loving our new occasional shop status, because of how much new stuff we have every month. (We are loving it too!) We can't begin to tell you how much we appreciate the support. This could have failed miserably, but thanks to our great customers, it is going much better than we could have imagined. You all rock!!!