Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween



I just wanted to add a quick blog to say Happy Halloween to all!
Whats not to love about Halloween?? You get to hang with friends, and you get to eat candy and you also get to dress funny! How can it get any better than that????









I found a few pictures celebrating Halloween and all its kookiness!


Hmm I think I saw her in the shop today.....hmmmm



Too cute reminds me of Charlie Brown....














Hope you have a safe and Happy Halloween!!!


Thanks skullblossom and friends for the cute pics!!!
















Thursday, October 30, 2008

Pumpkin Juggling - Tentative New Sport in the Olympics

I hope looking at the "Live action" shots below of the exclusive pumpkin juggling that took place in the parking lot at my shop make you laugh as much as they did me tonight!!!


My daughter had her arms full of mini pumpkins and was wired for sound and as you can see hilarity soon ensued...


I think the fast action pics should show you just how fast she was juggling the pumpkins and how silly the whole thing was! They aren't blurred because I shook the camera, they are blurry because she was moving so darn fast!!!!! You can see the lights of traffic moving behind her too!




Kinda looks like the cat that ate the canary don't she????



What can I say, I love the kooky crazy spontaneous kid!!!

Trick or Treat at the Shop



The sweetest lil trick or treaters visited us today in the shop!!!

Three adorable lil gals are pictured below......



The first picture is my adorable lil grand daughter Emmy Jo. She is just the cutest lil witch I think I have ever seen in my entire life! Not prejudice at all am I??? She even posed below sitting in a pile of our prim pumpkins in the shop! A lil punkin in the punkin patch! I dont know about you but thats so cute its just about perfect to me!!!!




Her Daddy and Mama brought her by the shop to see her Grammy before she went out trick or treating! I heard she ate her fill of Pez candies and such while out...

I bet she was wired up from all the sweets!

Wonder what time they went to bed tonight??? tee hee



" Miss Dorothy Gayle from Kansas and her lil dog Toto" - is our own

sweet little Ryleigh Paige!

Ryleigh is one of our favorite little people that visit the shop with their mama! Getting her to pose for a picture was like trying to stop Jello from wiggling in an earthquake but with her mama distracting her I managed a few sneak pics!

This lovely candy clad doll baby is Miss Tiarah.
Her mama owns a local beauty shop.
She is just a sweetie!
She is so cute you wanna pinch her cheeks!!!




Tomorrow I hear there will be more trick or treaters in to see us so I will publish more pics later!!!


Happy Halloween my friends!!


Deb

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Crazy Week, Costumes, and Clearance Sales

So far this week has been as crazy if not crazier than last! It has been very busy, and lots of new customers have popped in the last couple days that saw our half page full color ad in one of the local papers! It was a very nice ad even if I do say so myself! And it looks as though it reached quite a few new folks who are interested in shopping with us!! Yeah!!!!


Tomorrow I get to see my beautiful and amazing grand daughter Emmy celebrate her 2nd Halloween being an adorable witch!!! That will be a special treat for me! And being Trick or Treat locally it promises to be a fun day too! I might even have to sneak out front of the shop and treat a few trick or treaters myself!!! Sounds like too much fun to miss!



Friday I believe my sis and I have decided to work in the shop in costume!!! Yep I told you it was a crazy week and getting crazier by the moment! You will have to stop in on Friday just to see what our costumes are like!



Saturday my sis will be in the shop and I will be working a booth at the Town of Eleanor's annual Craft sale. Its always one of Putnam counties best shows and I do it every year! I will have homemade chow chow, salsas, relishes, sauces and my Dads locally famous peanut butter fudge! Stop in and say hey and bring a few non perishables for the local food pantry while your at it!



Ohh and did I mention that our Annual Fall Clearance Sale begins tomorrow in the shop??? I didn't???? Well let me just tell you about it... Do you like drastic deep discounts on cute Fall merchandise???? Do you like mind boggling discounts on vintage and antique furniture??? Well then you best bring your lil ole self in and quick like before all the deals are gone!!!!!


Ohhh and I also watched the Phillie's win the pennant tonight too!
Congrats Phillie's!!!

Hope you are having a wonderful week too!
See you soon!!!

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Bountifully Blessed but Blissfully Exhausted


Oh my goodness am I tired and nearly slap happy! Late in the day I felt as though I might be soon qualified to hide my own Easter eggs I was so tired!!! To say our Open House was a success would be like saying the Beatles sold a few records!!! LOL just gave away my age didn't I??? ;)


My goodness the new faces, the repeat customers, the new and old friends we recognized and have grown to love, the laughs, the hugs, the ideas shared and all the fun that has been going on for two days is just awesome!!!


My sis Terry, our friends Lisa, Tina and Tammy, my nephew Drew, my daughter Miranda and our Mom all spent some part if not most of the last two days in the shop. There was stocking of shelves and wrapping of gifts, and decorating, and writing up orders, and demonstrating techniques, and assisting customers in picking just the right touch for their homes....wow wow wow......


I would just like to say a huge thanks to my Sister Terry ( my left hand ;)) , Mom, Lisa (our "best" friend/honorary sister), dear friends and consigners Tina and Tammy for demonstrating their crafts and helping in other ways, my nephew Drew for running the register and lifting and toting, and for Miranda my daughter for her lunch run to feed us all today!!! Thank you...thank you....You are all more valuable to me than can be measured! I am honored to have you all as a part of my life!!!!


You know the most important thing that happened wasn't the huge volume of sales we made, even though it was wonderful both days.... nope... and one would was interested only in making a buck or two might have looked at that part and said it was the most important thing.


You know what I find over and over again to be most important most satisfying???


Things like:


  • The customer who said she comes back again because I'm a Christian and I run a Christian business, and she also sends other Christians my way because of it too...

  • The lady who gets teary eyed saying how much she enjoys spending time with my sis and I because she loves the atmosphere we have created in the shop and how homey it feels.....

  • The new dear friend who says we always manage to teach her adorable preteen son some other funny mischievous thing before he leaves the shop...who also got friends to come to the shop now too..

  • The customer who says we have gotten her addicted to our quality handmade items and she wont shop anywhere else now for special items for gifts or her home.....

  • The child who knows if he is good again on this visit to the shop with mom that he gets to dig in the goodie basket for a treat.....

  • The lil girl who couldn't wait to excitedly share her newest news about her new puppy with us.....

  • Watching my family and friends laughing and hugging old and new friends and enjoying my dream as much as I am.....yeah those things are important to me.

And more things like:



  • The new customer who just got transferred to this area and feels like she is home when she comes into the shop and wants to just stop in and enjoy wandering through the shop when she feels homesick...

  • The mother who knows we welcome her well behaved child with open arms and will even take time to visit with them and let them know we value them too...

  • The customers who "get" my humor and insanity and laugh right along with me....
  • The look on the new customers face when she walks into the shop the first time and discovers how amazing it is.....and she realizes she will have to come back...again...and again....and again....she is hooked....

Yeah those are some of the things that matter to me!!!!


What continually amazes me is that God blessed me in allowing me to fulfill a lifelong dream of owning this shop but in doing that it is also blessing others too... like dropping a pebble in a pond, one ripple creates another ripple creates another ripple........


...and knowing that this is my "job", my occupation is "Shop Keeper", "Proprietor", "Owner" and I love it and I wouldn't trade it for any other job anywhere that pays any amount of money....


Yeah that's such a satisfying feeling I cant even put words to it to describe it...


...Our God is truly an awesome God!!!! And with family and friends and the shop in my life I would say I am way more blessed than I will ever deserve to be.


To those of you who came and visited and shared a cookie, some cider and some laughs during the Open House I say thank you my friends new and old!


And to those of you I haven't had the pleasure of meeting yet I say the door is open... you are always welcome, come as you are.....we hope you feel at home! Come shop with us, its like no place else you have ever been!


God Bless!!!!


Thursday, October 23, 2008

IM BACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

HOLEY MOLEY ...what a crazy last few days it has been!!!!!!


The hubs and I went to the mountains over the weekend to celebrate our wedding anniversary...


... and view the Fall foliage......







and get a bit of rest and relaxation at our favorite B & B Breath of Heaven.... http://breathofheavenbb.com/ and visit our friends Geri & Ed Moser the marvelous proprietors...



We stayed in their separate cottage called the "Go Ahead Inn".....tooo cute....





The cottage was lovely, very warm and inviting....



The colors of the foliage were just breathtaking!!!!



As you can see in the pics above the color really was amazing! It was at its peak in Petersburg and surrounding areas! Just awesome!

While on this trip we drove to the top of Spruce Knob, the highest point in WV.




As denoted by our GPS below you will see just how high we really were........





Wow was the view ......over the top...... spectacular!!!




Well worth the drive and the climb to the top of the observation tower!!!!!!!


After we got back home and slipped back into our regular work routines our Internet and phone service went out at home leaving us without phone or Internet access!!! Geez how frustrating that was....me with no way to blog??? I mean really...whats the world coming too???


In the shop this week we have managed to cram several shipments of goodies, and three new consigners items for our customers to discover at our Open House on Friday and Saturday!!!!!



You just cant believe all the neat merchandise we have had shipped in and more is due to arrive tomorrow morning!!!! It promises to be a completely over the top crazy kind of day tomorrow! We will have extra hands to help us and there will be tons of items on sale and apple cider and cookies to enjoy!


Two of our artisans Tina, decorative painter, and Tammy, prim doll maker will be sharing their gifts during the open house. They will be set up "on Lydia's Porch" in the back room. It promises to be a lot of fun having these two ladies in house!!!

These guys are all hand made and chilling out in the big ole bath tub in the back room!

I'm sure a great day will be had by all!!!!!


I have added the few new shop pics above to get you chomping at the bits.....:) You better stop in soon!!!!!

Friday, October 17, 2008

Happy Fall Y'All

Fall.....Autumn...harvest time.....whatever name it goes by certain images come to mind for this time of year ..... things like colored leaves, pumpkins, fodder shocks, Halloween and its Trick or Treat night custom, jack o lanterns, Turkey & Dressing, Pumpkin Pie, Thanksgiving and reflecting on all of our blessings...

Its no wonder we all seem to enjoy this time of the year. It seems to slow us down a bit and helps us to remember sights, sounds and smells of times we have enjoyed with family and friends!

See if the pictures below, taken from the shop don't help you think of Autumn and all its blessings....















Almost all of the items pictured are handcrafted, and a few are still available for purchase. Maybe some of them will assist you in enjoying this wonderful season!
Happy Fall Y'All!