Get better soon Tammy!

I just wanted to start this post by letting you know what's going on. Our patner and friend Tammy has been batteling cancer for a while now. Unfortunately she's not doing well and is up in Chapel Hill and will have sugery and will most likely be spending the Holidays in the hospital. Toni and will go up and see her over the next few days. Please keep Tammy and Ronnie and her family in your thoughts and prayers. We love and miss you Tammy and can't wait until you are better and back at the shop!

Prim Cupboard

I also found this prim cupboard, the boards I think are old barn wood they are over an inch thick and when I tell you this little cup board is Heavy I mean it! I really wish I was the ANTIQUE WHISPERER and the things I touched would tell a little story about where it lived or who owned it and the love that went into making it or using it!

Primitive Grain Box

I also found this great grain box, I really think it would make the most perfect trash can or laundry hamper. Actually the possibilities are endless but, it's sure cool!

Hog Trough

I found this hog trough, it has a beautiful red patina and the worm holes are just perfect. When I told my sister that I bought a hog trough I could tell by her face that she was a little horrified of my purchase but, once she saw it quickly changed her mind. How perfect it would look on a farm table full of Holiday decorations or really anything. Check out the pic and really it looks better in person.

Toni's Prim Cupboard

Toni and I have been out shopping and between the two of us, have really found some cool prim stuff! She got the neatest piece that has been married but looks like it's been together for a 100 years! The bottom is an old Farm table and the top might be a Hoosier or some kind of cabinet. If i had any wall space at home I would buy it today. Toni also got in some great candle they are Warm Glow and they smell so yummy and are so grubby I just love them!

We did it!

Hello everyone! The weather held out for us, there was a little rain throughout the day but over all our Open House was a success. We had a lot of new faces and plenty of familiar ones. We actually have some empty spaces with Tammy's Hall tree and Toni's Hoosier selling, you know what that means? SHOPPING! That's the best part of the business. We are so blessed to be able to do what we do and love it as much as we do!

Christmas Open House

Hello everyone, we are so excited about our Christmas Open House! We have been busy making things and have ordered some great stuff and Toni and I played "hookey" today to hit a few of our favorite antique shops to look for some goodies and we found a few. Toni got the coolest primitive cupboard, I just love it and it looks so good in the shop. I hope you are able to come down and spend some time at the shop and watch the parade. Everything will be 10% off and we will have refreshments and of course a great time!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and hope you all have a wonderful day with family and friends. We are so thankful for the past year and all of you!

I Survived the Yule Mart!

I forgot how much work it is to do a big craft fair, actually I think I blocked it out of my memory! I had a great 4 days and it was a good turn out. I was able to reconnect with some old customers that didn't know where we moved, plus I passed out hundreds of flyer's to future customers. It was nice to sit back and enjoy myself especially since I had been so busy making so much and the stress of not knowing what was going to sell, the things I thought would do great didn't, my Christmas wreaths didn't sell but my Americana sold right out.Which will be fine because of our Christmas open house on December 5. I also lucked out by having an end booth and I was able to extend my booth by at least 3 feet.I had a great time and I am looking forward to spending a good 5 days with my family. Tammy, Toni and I would like to wish everyone a "Happy Thanksgiving!"

Christmas!

Christmas is peeking around the corner, with each year it approaches faster and faster. We have decorated our back room for Christmas and now I have the itch to pull my Christmas decorations out from the attic. Even though the weather doesn't quite feel like fall. I really want to try and enjoy the Holidays and not let the business of life take over. I love the traditions that my family has, like getting the tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving, baking cookies and going to see the Nutcracker. I find it a challenge to feel Christmas cheer while Dana's deployed but, I find it more important while he's gone to try and keep our traditions going and keeping things normal for the kids. I hope these Holidays finds everyone safe, healthy and happy and keep in mind the soldiers and families that will be apart.

Pictures of the new shop

I have finally had a few minutes at the shop to sit down and work on the blog, and to get some pictures on. so, sit back and enjoy, there's a lot. I fyou see anything that you would like to purchase, just drop me and e-mail. This first picture is a great Hoosier that Toni has brought in.

Long time no blog

Boy, has it been a long time since I have blogged. Sometimes it's so hard to get a balance and with the move it feels like we haven't caught up. I will post pics this week of the new shop. We also have our Fall open house this Saturday. I was able to get out some Christmas things last week and have the back area almost ready. We have all been bringing new things in every week. And will have new Holiday hours after this weekend, Monday- Saturday 10-5. Please stop by and checkout what we've done to the place.

We opened on Saturday

We officially opened on Saturday, the front area looks great, The back area needs work but, fortunately we can shut the door until we get to it, I will post pictures soon. I really can not believe we had all of our stuff in our old little shop. But, now you can see everything! We have a lot of new items Tammy brought in a Hall tree and the cutest little black cupboard, Toni brought in a Hoosier, a really heavy oak desk and the cutes set of drawers, I brought in a really prim cupboard and a small Hoosier style cupboard. There is really too much to mention so you'll just have to come down to see us.

Update on our move

This is just a quick update on our move, We got a lot done today, I just love productive days. We probably moved 3/4 of the shop today, don't you just love the power of women? I'd like to give a quick shout out to Thelma and Jeff, THANK YOU SO MUCH! It's so nice to see the kindness of people, and with out your help getting our new shop up and running would have been that much harder for Toni, Tammy and I and everything you guys have done for us is appreciated. We are schedules to reopen this Saturday September 19th, the power is turned on tomorrow so we should be able to get in and get the place cleaned up and ready to decorate, our favorite part. Well, I am signing off for now and will let you all know what's going on.

We are moving!

It is official, Tammy, Toni, and I went and looked at a new location on Saturday. We have out grown our tiny little shop a while back and especially now that we have taken Toni on as our third partner. I have so many feelings going on now but most of them are good and excited feelings. We will be located on Main street just up from the lake and just having a store frot property on Main street it's a big opportunity for us to do bigger and better things. We will take over the rent on September 15th so we will have a lot to do before our Fall open house October 17th but, we are all up for the challenge and really can't wait to get move in and settled.God has really blessed us the past few years and can not wait to see what is instore for us next. The space that we got in roughly 3,200 square feet and our old space is 800 square feet...Yikes we need to go shopping.

Dear Prudence

Taylor wanted me to post about our newest family member, We have actually had Prudence for almost a year now. I wanted to name her a sweet name and my daughter wanted a tough name and started researching Roman and Greek names and the girl names just weren't cutting it. Taylor loves the Beatles so she came up with Prudence and we all agreed she was a Prudence. I had been holding out on getting a dog for 17 years but, Dana and the kids wore me down and we all love her so much. She's the first one in the morning to get a kiss and the last one at night to get a hug and for the most part the kids have taken to all of the responsibilities of having her.

Busy week at the shop

This has been a great week at the shop, August always seems to be a slow month. It looks like I have to go shopping soon. I really love the hunt of finding new treasures for the shop.Not having any expectations of what you might find and the thrill of finding something so wonderful you question selling it or keeping it for your self. For years I pondered what I should do as a career and now that I have found something that I love so much, it is such an amazing feeling know that I am doing something that is calling my name and leaves me feeling fulfilled.

Just another Manic Monday!

Just another Manic Monday... Well Dana left on Saturday for Iraq (4th year long deployment) I haven't heard from him since Saturday so I am assuming that he's still in Kuwait. The kids are OK, it hits us all at different times, my breaking point will be when I am overwhelmed but other than than I try to live in denial and act like everything is OK.It's just a year of missing so much, Taylor will be a senior and Tyson will be in the 3rd grade and the idea of everything that he will miss over the next year just breaks my heart. My friend Nicole and I got together today to discuss the Yule Mart on Post and will let everyone know dates and times. She will be doing her "Sew darn cute" she does sewing and embroidery and will be doing her Stampin" Up. I of course will be making wreaths, Christmas Trees, signs, boxes, lamps and tons more primitives we hope to see you all out there it is the end of November.

Decorating Dilemma's

We have lived in our home for 2 years now and even though I love our home, the open floor plan makes decorating a challenge. I have been so busy with the shop and with family that I have sort of neglected my home. I have been itching to dig in, I always get like this when Dana leaves, it help the time pass if I am really busy. I have been thinking of redoing my dining room and sold my "Hoosier" and bought a nice grubby cupboard, I loved it but I could tell by Dana's eyes when he helped me get it off the truck he was not sure, of course now that I have it in and decorated he loves it. I now have most of my kitchen (I want to get new counter tops) and dining room finished. The real dilemma is that our kitchen, dining room and living room is really one big room and my living room only has 2 usable walls but, I am always up to a challenge.

Modern conviences

Please pardon my blogging ADHD, My daughter Taylor says that I bounce all over the place. But, anyway, I was thinking about how awesome the Internet is, I can keep in contact with friends in Germany and family and friends from Washington to Nevada to New Hampshire. It is almost too easy, what did we do before all of these conveniences that truly make life so much easier. Do I have more to do than my mother did or her mother or her mother. Absolutely not, but why does it seem like we can not juggle all of the responsibilities. Now we have so many options and distractions that it feels like a chore. I dread laundry and the thought of what's for dinner makes my head spin. The pride that my mom takes in just her ironing, I have such fond memories of the smell of baking bread at my grandmother's house which she did weekly. My partner, Tammy, her mother, Anne finds so much joy in little things. She is so grateful to mow the grass, I can actually imagine her skipping to the trash can as she takes the trash out. The pride she takes in her home, it is contagious. Do we spend all of our time wanting and planning what we want that we can not appreciate what we have or really enjoys ourselves.I challenge you to be mindful of the little thing and find joy in the day to day.

New things at the shop

Tammy and I would like to welcome Toni to the shop, she's a country girl and has a great sense of the primitive life and will be an asset to the shop. We are already starting to think about our Fall Open House, it is scheduled for Saturday October the 17, we will have light refreshments and of course 10% off. It is hard to believe that summer is winding down with only a few week left until school. I must admit I am looking forward to the weather cooling off a bit.

The life of a military family

As I laid in bed last night blogging myself to sleep. I could not help but think what a wonderfully colorful life we live as a military family. The different place we have lived, the variety of friends we have made along the way. We try hard not to take things for granted, we really can't afford to. I sit and I admire Dana, thinking back to the boy I fell in love with and the man that I am still head over heals in love with. With another deployment looming over our head , there are a few questions that always seem to come up. The first being: How do you do it? How do you answer a question that you truly don't know the answer to, and really only anther military wife understands. For me I try to keep to a routine and try to keep things as normal as possible. If you dwell on the things you have no control over it will just drive you insane. The second question being:Why doesn't Dana just get out of the Army?My answer to that is obvious, if you know Dana or has been blessed by receiving one of his inspirational e-mails you know he's extremely patriotic, he being a third generation soldier, he lives for his family and his country. I believe I have it pretty good, I have wonderful distractions like the children, family, friends, my shop, big and small events that I get to experience. While he has missed countless Holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, proms, soccer games and even the smallest of things that most people take for granted like, tucking Tyson into bed or possibly missing Taylor graduate from High school. After Dana gets home he will have been roughly deployed for 1,460 days, that is 4 years of being away. How do you do it? You just do! Don't thank a soldier keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

My first blog

So, this being my first blog, please bear with me. We just returned from are great trip to Concord, to The Great Wolf Lodge. We all had a great time playing at the water park, putt putt, video game and of course mine and Taylor's favorite... shopping. I only found a few things for the shop, but that is OK, Dana and I are heading out for a day of shopping today. On our way home I stopped by a wonderful shop that I had been to before on our trip to Charlotte. It's a beautiful shop in Marshville, NC called Olde Tyme Marketplace. Beth the shop keeper was so helpful and we talked a little shop and she encouraged me to start a blog. I was a little doubtful that I could create a blog, especially after the mess of trying to do a website with Dana. But, with a lot of help from Taylor, we are up and running. Thanks Beth and Taylor!