One Tiny Corner of the Underbelly!
All week I have been crawling around in the basement of my store. Thank God it is blissfully cool down there…getting a photo for this blog of the array of goodies is mighty difficult. I remember once standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon…this was years ago when a friend and I did a Thelma and Louise-type road trip…left the kids at home with our husbands and off we went in her white Peugot station wagon. Our husbands agreed to such nonsense…knowing if they didn’t, we would most likely go anyway. Well, that is another story, but the point is this: I am trying to give you a sense of the goodies in this basement! And I am finding that it is akin to that time I attempted a shot of the Grand Canyon with my Brownie Hawk Eye camera! What I am shamelessly attempting to do here is urge you all to hop on a plane if you live far away or come on your bike if you live close and partake of the wealth of my collecting! This basement is full of unnecessary and irresistible objects (trust me, I know…I bought them all!) that will be curbside out front of the store on Friday July 30th for the summer sale. Lots and lots of good stuff from the store shelves and a great sampling of the props from the basement. I need a good purge before Fall rolls in!
Don’t forget…we will be closed for all of August. I will be going on a few adventures in western New York State seeking more antiques for the store and will post from the road! Happy late summer and don’t forget to wear your sunblock!
A Day of Writing
Diane Hanna did it again! That girl, in all her tulle and flounce, came to the store for two remarkable days of writing. We filled the table with eager and fine writers; we filled the room with life stories! Thank you to all of you who attend these workshops! They would not be possible without you. We will do it all again, for the fourth year, next February 2011!
Roseland Cottage circa 1864
The last Wednesday of February was not only a wet and windy one, it was also the day that had long been scheduled to head out of town for an adventure! These road trips can’t be put off! The Patch boys (Don and John) and I had cooked up a plan for what could only be expensive trouble. We decided to travel to that little hidden corner of Connecticut called “The Quiet Corner.” Oddly enough it isn’t all that far a journey from Boston. The countryside is positively beautiful…even in a driving rain storm. There are hills and fields and estates and lovely winter structures with amazing old barns in their tumble- down state and ancient old and grand trees whose spines were quite naked and bone brown. We went first to Putnam, the home of several antique shops. Most were closed that day but one: a huge collective with some great treasure kept the three of us very happy for several hours! I found nothing to buy and that is most unusual…the guys did just fine! The whole of our time in the collective, the storm pelted the windows and streets. Rain water rushed down the stone curbs joining forces with roadways…giving the whole of Putnam and our not so little antique shop the sense of an island! Almost as if we had washed up there!
We loaded up Big Jane (my car) with their purchases and then headed into Pomfret for lunch at The Vanilla Bean. Now that was utterly delicious…complete with a huge slice of German Chocolate Cake (served with 3 forks)….I hadn’t had a slice of that cake since my Aunt Bella who would have served a huge piece on a brown transferware plate and there would have been one fork!
On our way out of town, we passed through Woodstock, CT, and it is here that we came upon this coral pink “cottage.” This was just plain jaw-dropping, breath-taking splendor. What a gift for a wet, grey day, the last Wednesday in February!
Pajama gams and practical boots!
Five AM Front Window!
This morning, at 4:30, it was ten degrees above zero, the moon was a crescent in a jet black sky, the air still and quiet. A perfect setting for a cozy pajama party. But would the girls of flannel and big down coats come out in this bitter cold? I hit Dunkin Doughnuts for the coffee and sin, wearing woolen long johns under my own pajamas, then a robe, and a coat, a wooly scarf, a hat, warm gloves, a million layers, or so it felt…’Dunkies’ might be the only place on earth that an old girl could stand in line (yes, there was a line!), as if, in this outfit, at this hour, I was perfectly normal! I have come to the conclusion over the years that being normal might be just too dull…the following that this store has is anything but normal! The women arrived, ready for coffee, eager for bargains and in fine spirits! By 5:15 there was barely room to walk through the store. At 6AM the line for check-out snaked around the room…the place smelled of hot coffee and early morning. You know that sort of early morning where something great is in the air, some sensation, maybe it is anticipation, either way, it has an electricity all its own. I have to say, I love you all for coming, for your adventuresome spirit and your great support! You keep the store, and me, going! God love you for even thinking of leaving your beds on a ten-degree day!
Vacant Bed...early morning January 10th!
O.K. Darlings…this might be a bit premature…but I hope all of you roll out of your warm comfort zone this Sunday January 10th at 5AM. Keep on those pajamas, no fancy makeup, throw on a coat, I hear it will be very cold, and come down to 6 Birch…the coffee will be hot and plentiful, the doughnuts will be sinful and the bargains…AMAZING! You can return to your unmade bed by 8AM with all your delicious purchases still in their bags. Think of what a jump you have gotten on your day! Join us, as the sun rises!
The store was filled to the brim the night of our opening!
Thanks to Don & John for a scary and magical window!
Couldn’t resist showing you the store windows for our recent group show…”Art For A New Moons Eve”! Don and John, from PatchNYC, worked their magic into one of the best windows we have ever had! The show was a wonderful success, chocolates and wine and loyal customers as well as many new faces. We want to thank DailyCandy.com for their weekend feature of this event and the store! Thank you, also, to the artists who make the world, and my store, a more joyful place!
