Rita Rose Has a Fan

Imagine that girl’s surprise yesterday morning, finding this little love token tacked to the store wall!  It seems that Chance, a charming and quite bright seven year-old whose mother owns Sarida, has taken a shine to Miss Rita Rose.  With this kind of adoration, that pug is going to have a devil of a time pouring herself into her newly acquired  swimwear .  Now the girl does not swim but she knows how to lounge with that little hind leg curled around with just a bit of ankle showing.  It is the very same pose she uses at the store, which brings most clients down to her level.  She is shameless!

My Idea of Perfect Daffodils!

Last weekend, Diane and I were overjoyed with writing in the very same room these divine daffodils live in.  They are on my friend John’s mantle and make me appreciate the gift of a flower gone by.  It was a rainy weekend with gale force wind…just the sort of weather for a tuck in, some hot sweet dark tea in one of John’s white mugs, a blank journal, a bottle of Havana brown ink, my favorite fountain pen, and a few prompts to get that pen moving.

Same Mantle Six Inches Away

Swear to God…John is a genius and a generous genius at that!  I have written about the house in Provincetown a number of times so try not to snooze off.  But the more I visit, the more I am in love with its quirky owner and its lovely light and its delicious silence.  Were it possible I would move right in and those of you who visit my store in Roslindale could stop by for tea.  Of course, you might have to travel some, but I assure you it is worth the journey.

A Man At My Feet!

Last August, just as hurricane Irene was about to visit Provincetown, I went to Victor Powell’s Workshop for a sandal fitting.  Now truly, dear friends, wouldn’t each of us love some nice man at our feet?  Flash forward…last Sunday, I went back for my final fitting and within hours, I had the treasured sandals in my suitcase.  Now all I need is a little vein stripping, some toenail polish, and a few hot days for the maiden voyage of said sandals!

Best Door Found at Todds Farm

Todds Farm was a bit of a bust two weeks ago.  But a girl can always find something after an early morning drive if for no other reason than to justify the insanity of an addiction.  That addiction being an open field and a couple hundred dealers with tables loaded down with items you truly do not need.  Each time I expect to find a treasure that slipped out of the grip of Sotheby’s.  This day, when the sun was just about to heat things up, I trudged through dusty fields looking for the odd bit that jumps off the dealer’s table into my waiting granny cart.  Slim pickins for sure!

It is during these early morning spring and summer jaunts on any given clear Sunday that I question it all.  Maybe it’s the long drive…maybe it’s the age I have become.  While the miles click away and Big Jane (my Honda) moves along, I think about folks I have known and loved…the few I have married and divorced and the ones that are no longer of this earth.  I also ponder the animals I have known, loved, and said good-by to.  So on the drive to Rowley, any given Sunday morning, I often do a little meditation on life just as if I were listening to some fantastic church sermon.  Once I pull into the big dusty field, I think to myself, yes it is so…. life is good!

Rowley's Finest!

This is not a portrait of a harried shop owner at 6:30 AM on her way to Rowley…though it could well be!  I would never let my horns show like this unless I pressed my hair shirt.  Last Sunday was opening day at Todd’s Farm.  Do I need to tell you I had the car all gassed up the evening before?  I had the chic black granny cart in the way-back of Big Jane and the assorted bags all tucked into the back seat ready for the big purchases…Rita Rose went along for the ride.  She has been mastering her French these days so we took along a French pastry or two for the long journey.  One for me, one for Rita Rose, and I don’t even speak French, but I know a good pastry when I taste one.

As expected, there were treasures and sights galore.  Fewer dealers…but the coffee and doughnut folks were there, and all the venders who give you their story on just where that gem of an item was found.  Seems there are lots of old ladies dying off these days with big cellars filled with family “treasure.”  A few dealers had new stories on the source of their “finds.”  Lovely, clever stories of the maiden aunt who traveled the world and died at 110, leaving all her worldly goods in the hands of this unshaven, hung-over dealer.  Maybe the 110 year-old auntie brought back this sizable boar!  Either way, I loved the thing, though he was a bit shocking to find in an open field on a crisp early  April morning .

Nothing Finer!

There is just something about a bundle of twine that I cannot resist!  I shopped the Gift Show in New York, the Gift Show in San Francisco, and then, yesterday, the New England Gift Fair, which is a bit of a joke.  But, trust me, I can always find something.  And, if that “something” is twine in any shape or form, you will find me writing up an order.

I keep twine in the catch-all drawer in my kitchen and in the faux potting shed in my basement.  I keep twine, at the ready, near the recycle bin out in the garage.  I adore twine!  Makes me think of bundles of money or yesterday’s stacks of old newspapers or my friend John and the way his kitchen twine trusses up a chicken just before he pops it into the oven.  John’s roasted chicken is something to savor.  Those loose chicken legs never splay from side to side when he has finished with his wrapping of white kitchen twine.  For me, my chickens always look as if they spent one too many rounds on the barnyard dance floor.  Oh, they are tasty, but I have yet to master the John method with the white twine.

So what I am asking you is this…looking for twine?  We have twine enough to wrap the earth twice.  We have braided twine from India, thin linen threads from Japan, beige twine, brown twine, taupe twine…Honey, we got all the twine one little store can handle!

Boston Magazine

Boston Magazine’s style blog “Roost” paid us a visit and a lovely compliment by posting with 6 pictures of the store. You can see them all here and read the delightful things she said about us.

We adore Kara Butterfield from Roost and it was a pleasure to have her in the store!

Chairs On a Wall at Flora Grubb

Two weeks ago, I ventured off to my old stomping grounds…sunny California.  San Francisco to be more exact.  There was the Gift Show to attend and  several dear friends to check up on  and the need to see what the other Coast is up to.  Our first stop was Flora Grubb.  This, my dears, is a jaw-dropping experience.  We just don’t have places like this in New England!   There were palm trees galore and succulents and vibrant pink-air plants and odd bits of sharp leaves growing on moss and chairs on a barn-board wall.  My heart could barely take it all in…there was no question that, after Flora Grubb, I would need a salted carmel ice cream cone from Bi-Rite.  I mean, really, what better way to revive oneself than with a hit of salt and sweet!

Copper Rocks...Load Those Up Please!

Whenever I return to California, I wonder about life on the Snow (or lack thereof) Coast, and then I remember my little store and all those dear friends and my own little corner house that could sure use a copper rock or two.  That is when I know more visits are in order out West.  I do love this four-season world of New England…we could just use a bit more whimsey and an air plant or two!

Janette's Little Garden at Stinson Beach

My old friend Janette has a fine life, a lovely get-away at Stinson Beach, a superbly elegant flat in the city, which she shares with two dogs and a dear husband.  Janette and I go back more years than I care to recall.  We have shared divorces, births, deaths, wine, a wee business adventure, and endless pots of tea.  She is English, which naturally makes her a dog lover and an exceptional gardner.  I know, I know…not all English folks garden nor do they own dogs, but bear with me here, she does both quite nicely.

What I must tell you, in between all the  waxing on and on about friends and California, is this…the show in San Francisco was terrific!  I bought many unusual things for the store, including a remarkable Teak Spirit House from the late 20th century…which will reside in the store for years to come.  Arriving soon will be a few antique items from an importer I rarely get to visit.  Watch for the antique carved carp that may have held up the roof of a business in China many years ago.  Oh!  I had such fun!

No Long-stem Red Roses For This Dame!

Well, Darlings, while most of you were being feted on Valentine’s Day, the rest of us singletons did what single folks do…we get through it!  I, who love to cook, steamed up a bunch of organic carrots, tossed in a brussel sprout or two, and baked a sweet potato, which I served with a pound and a half of butter.  I downed the whole ugly meal with the better part of a bottle of Malbec.  I will say that some dear Cupid scattered small glittery hearts on my door mat and left at my front door a sweet little nest of chocolate truffles.  They were beyond delicious!  Thank you, Cupid!

Dino borrowed the red Aston Martin I keep for special jaunts.  That willful pug took our little Miss Rita Rose out to the local Dine And Dance.  Guess they had quite a time.  Rita Rose dropped layers of her frock (a fine red satin ball gown with little cap sleeves and a red tulle shawl edged in gold charms of dog biscuit shape), as she headed upstairs to bed.  Dino wore the tux that I know you have all seen him in.  Miss Rita will need a new pair of dancing slippers, judging from what I gathered off the floor.

It is just lovely that two out of three of us had a proper Valentine’s Day, and I do hope you did too!

One Night In New York City

Well, the Gift Show came along, as it does every January/February, and once again I was caught up in miles of displayed goods…most of which none of us need.  The first day of the gift show is always a blur of those goods, as I whip up one aisle after another, head turning at a rapid speed just to attempt an overview of all this merchandise!

I wonder, on DAY ONE, what in the world I am doing owning a store.  I think of all the things I thought I might become when I grew up and not one of those fantasies (years ago) had me as a shopkeeper.  I was going to be a country/western singer (can’t carry a tune in a bucket) or a sporty type who played tennis and skied down the Sierras (don’t like to sweat, hate the cold. and once ran into a tree while wearing skis), a wife with a country home and a city house and a big car and big hair and two kids (I did some of that…ended up with two fine daughters, two divorces and no houses).  Now one might think the store is a default item or a booby prize, which is not what I feel.  This little store is the love of my life, but damn it is hard to find goods on day one at the Gift Show!

So, after the long days of walking the Javitz, I dine with friends I rarely get to see.  I eat divine meals…one of which featured the above menu.  John Derian, once again, treated for dinner at il Buco.  We dined by candlelight in il Buco’s wine cellar just as we did last August, and the place, the people, the food was simply magic!  Thank you, John!

I ate another amazing meal at Frankies Spuntino on Clinton Street over on the lower East Side.  Now that is a neighborhood to investigate!  In all of this food, wine, and evening conversation, the goods for 6 Birch surfaced during the day in booths I rarely visit.  By day two, the store had a direction, and I had written some healthy orders for merchandise that will delight all of you.  Who needs the skis, the big hair, the two houses, or a microphone and country band when you can own a store!

A Wee Corner of John's Studio

I am forever charmed by the bits of inspiration this man surrounds himself with.  A visit to any artist studio is a peek into his or her soul.

LOVE...Need I Say More?

A nearly unbelievable thing happened last week!  We, with the help of two talented people, finally launched the on-line store.  Swear to God, it was like giving birth or marrying the third and (one might assume) final time.  I believe this little caper will be a whole lot more fun than another marriage and maybe less work than a new infant.  I hope each of you visit the store a time or two…let me know what you might be longing to see/buy or dream to buy.  The products will shift and change like the weather and with luck, I will learn to navigate this baby myself!

Provincetown... Race Point Beach... January 2, 2012

Is there anything a gal loves more than handsome company for New Years Eve?  We headed off to P.Town (we being Rita Rose, Dino and I) for a few days with John in his remarkable house.  The two pugs loved the beach.  I loved the white sofa that sits just under the big side window at the far end of John’s dining room.  I loved the bed on the second floor with its blue Kantha cover and I didn’t find the beach half bad either!  We dined exceedingly well for three days.   On New Years Eve, John and I went to three (count them!) parties.  Each one a delicious experience and I don’t “do” parties easily.   I looked at a small cottage for sale that would require deep pockets of bucks  for its restoration.  I toy always with a move to just such a cottage (totally restored, of course) with the dunes at my back and a small sliver of that blue water at my front.  Dino insists that I buy the two of them a little “something,” but he doesn’t seem to be coming up with the down-payment!

This wonderful old block of ancient wood has been the support of many a fine meal at John’s.  One hot summer evening, John’s friend Bill prepared a salmon for grilling and then like magic he fried up a black skillet of capers to toss over the salmon.  I have watched John do wonders with the prep of an organic chicken on this fine block of a table.  There have been glasses of wine poured while we all stand around and eat cheese and olives from dishes placed on its worn surface.  I love this table!  If I bought that cottage in P.Town,  this table and I could become quite bonded!

The Ninth and Final Pajama Party!

This is it my darlings… our final pajama party.  We have had a long and wonderful run with this event, and it is time to find another adventure.  I have a plan that will treat all of you who have supported my little shop throughout the year.  It is a doozie of a plan (no, I am not taking you all on a cruise nor are we heading off to Venice, and it isn’t even a fine meal out at some fancy dive).  I will keep it secret while working out the pesky details.  Trust that you shan’t wear your pajamas for the next caper!