Crazy, Busy Weekend

My kids left for a Florida vacation and left Elsa with me. The first couple of days she has to settle in after that things are good.

My Guard Dog. She’s keeping watch while I take care of chores in the yard.

Friday the neighbor kids were off from school and were bored so they came looking for work. The oldest has been very sick, hospitalized most of this past year and isn’t allowed to do any work but asked if I had wood he could build a bird house.  I provided him with wood, he then needed nails and asked if he could work at my house. Why not?

I moved him to a better location so I could have access to the house.  Soon after his cousin and another girl stopped by and decided my deck was the perfect place to play with a gear set they have.

The other two boys wanted to work. This is the youngest boy who started with the weed trimmer then saw me with the mower and wanted to mow.

Those weeds were out of control.  We’ve had a very wet spring and every time I tried to trim that section I would get stuck.  Anyway, as soon as he handed over the trimmer the middle boy showed up wanting to work and asked for the trimmer.

The two boys worked here on any chores I could find for seven hours and asked if they could come back and work in the morning.

In the morning they were back ready and eager to work. The parents were thrilled because they told me the kids were driving them nuts with nothing to do.

In the afternoon the boys went to a nearby swimming hole and I tidied up then decided to check out a new store in town.  I was very impressed! This is the type of shop I had missed since moving. It’s a combination of handmade items, repurposed and upcycled goods, and antiques along with a coffee and real fruit smoothie bar.

My favorite piece was this hand-carved hummingbird house.

This recently upholstered antique chair was reasonably priced.

You can see a piece of a drop cloth in the above photo. The shop owner was painting an old cabinet to hold chalk paint she recently ordered to carry in the store.

There are lovely wreaths

You can see some art work in the above picture, the art is on every wall. Each piece is unique yet all are gorgeous.

While I didn’t take any pictures of the coffee bar, there were too many people to get a shot without people, here is the view to the right of the coffee bar.

The neighbor boy wanted the Steeler Guy made from various sizes of aluminum cans. You can see him to the left in the back (look for gold and black).  On the round table is handmade jewelry, in the back are soy candles and hand tossed pottery pieces.

It was a nice break from the yard work and I can see checking off most of my “bought” Christmas gift gifts from this lovely shop this year.

I do hope this store encourages more people to start investing in this town and bringing back the vibrant economy it once had.

Since we are expecting thunderstorms tomorrow I should leave you there and head back out to finish a few things.

If we are looking for insurance against want and oppression, we will find it only in our neighbors’ prosperity and goodwill

~~Wendell Berry