We closed the doors at 12:01 Saturday WOW do I feel great!

More help! Going to the barn on Thursday - we had more than a couple of arm loads of vintage clothing to hang, and a few assorted boxes of items.

 Ginna and Kristin were troopers again. Because it was supposed to get hot we started at 7 a.m. and then planned on finishing on the earlier side.

We tried out the dart board, and made piles. 

A pile for the barn, a pile for It's Bazaar,

a pile for St. Mary's Attic Treasures tables, a pile for the Town Wide Tag Sale, a pile to donate.

 And boxes to sort inside. We cleared off 6 or so shelves on this side of the room - those goodies went into the 'adoption' room. Now we had shelves to unpack boxes on to!

These shelves also got cleared off - and redone. The shelf on the left is filled with garden items to be listed, the glass front cupboard is filled with an assortment - all to be listed.

Because we know what is going to happen in the 'adoption' room, we just shoved anything in there that was listed. This room I can handle by myself - and I will revel in putting each piece in it's place. We did not finish on Thursday as we had hoped - but we did get an assortment of smalls up to It's Bazaar. We didn't get done on Friday (it was just two of us). But we felt confident with all of our progress, that we could be done on Saturday.

The shipping counter is also my baby - anything shipping related just got piled here - I will need to tackle this in the upcoming week.

This is what was left under the canopy at 11:35 a.m. on Saturday. What was remaining went back into the shop in a very organized fashion. Then we tackled the shipping boxes that had their own pile at the back door of the shop. 

Time to bring the truck around, load it with what was left to go to the barn, the cardboard and boxes to go to recycling, and the load of items to be donated. 

12:01 - we closed the doors and took the canopy down, hopped in the truck to do our three drop offs - and a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders. Now I feel as though I have control over my active inventory versus my latent inventory, as well as my tools and equipment to work on things. 

Yes I still have the adoption room (active online inventory) to finish up, and the shipping counter to clear off, and the shipping room (where all the boxes are kept) to organize once more - but WOW! this is a huge step and such a great transition from active, displayed shop space to a very organized 'warehouse' like space. 

A huge thanks to Ginna and Kristin for their perseverance and opinions/insights as we were trying to make sense of this new space.

I felt so relaxed on Sunday I didn't know what to do with myself!

When I finish up my remaining three spaces - I'll give you another peek at all of it.

for now, good night, Liz 

A little help and always ready to take a dare

For the most part - I work by myself. Sometimes, OK more than sometimes - you need some help.

Because I sold a sofa table at the barn this past week (very nice of the couple to buy it - you could hardly see it for all of the vintage shoes on it...) Anyway - I had to replace that with something - so I hauled the steamer trunk out of the little room of the shop to use for display. Cali came with me to the barn for company. She loves a car ride!

 One of my favorite fields - the view from the end of the Loyalty Red Barn Sales drive. Isn't it lovely?

One thing leading to another...getting that steamer trunk out of the way in the 'little' room meant that maybe I could get the rest out of the way. Then one of my helpers Kristen texted me and said she could work today and tomorrow. BINGO!!!

I have needed a better way to control my online listed items for quite some time. My thinking was to put all of the listed items in the smaller of the two rooms of the shop. Then I wouldn't have to wade through other stuff - like new purchases, painting supplies, etc... to find them. 

 The listings were all neatly organized on shelves - but when the shelves got full - then what? Items would get stacked in boxes - and then they would get mixed in - well you know. It was just an adrenaline mess when I would go out there to look for something - and I didn't have a clear picture in my mind of other items I had listed it with. So we moved everything out of the smaller room, cleaned it, emptied 4 shelving units in the bigger room, cleaned them, and put them in the smaller room.

Then all of my online listed items found a new, happy home in the little room. YAY! Here are some of my pretties in the new room. Did I sell a piece of milk glass or china? No problem - it's all right here! How about a hand knit scarf - those are in the bottom cupboard.

As you can see - we still have a pile of stuff under the tent. Hopefully we will finish this up tomorrow. We got SO much done today!

Ok now for the dare... The girls (yes I had help!), were commenting on how huge this suitcase was and that you could probably fit a small child inside. I said I could fit and my daughter said "No way, I'll give you 50 cents if you can fit in there".

 The gauntlet was thrown. So here I am trying to be my smallest and win that 50 cents.

 Kristen says it's close - but not quite.

My smarty pants daughter decides to see if she can help by sitting on the suitcase lid.

Oh well, always eager to accept a challenge, but I don't always succeed.

Come back tomorrow and see what we have accomplished. I am so excited!

Until then, xo, Liz

It's getting closer!!

Loyalty Red Barn Tag Sale is over for the month. For several days last week we scrubbed and cleaned and polished and buffed - yes we were there at 7 a.m. to try and beat the heat before the heat beat us.

 2 beautiful piano fronts came my way, courtesy of my talented and musical friend Bobbie Carmitchell (World Domination Bobbi - oh, sorry, private joke...). The one above is a Sterling from 1898.

This one is much heavier - and possibly a Mason/Hamlin.

 Also from Bobbi, a mahogany pie crust table.

A very exciting yard sale find while in Lancaster County - a milking frame from Carl Diller. What I saw was another great industrial rack to hang more vintage clothing!

One of my best recent finds... I got this set of seats from a local contractor that was moving away. These beauties came out of the balcony (which was the 'colored' section) of our local movie theatre the Tally Ho when the unsafe balcony was demolished in the 1980s. In all vintage seller's dreams this is how it works: you buy something and sell it right away. That is what happened to these beauties. 

 This is Bob and one of his summer workers, Sydney. We had the honor of being invited to church to hear her give a talk prior to leaving on an 18 month mission trip to Brazil. Her words were wise beyond her years and I will remember them always. 
The gist being: imagine the people around you not as they are; but how they could be - moving towards 'perfection', moving towards their fullest potential. You could love them then, why not find the good in them, and love them now?

 Now that the busy weekend is over, I am using the time to slow down and get caught up on other projects.

My back log of jewelry repairs for one, and getting my website closer to a selling site, another.

Here's hoping we can keep it low key this week...

Talk to you soon! Liz

The Work will Teach you How to Do it

 is an old Estonian proverb. And so very true. These are just a few pics of of the work we have done on house in the woods.

 Our nephews' Kenny and Rusty, replaced the wood board walk from the drive to the steps, with flagstone. The sloped wood walk was too slippery for a house in the woods.

These two talented young men also put in this rustic flagstone path from the boardwalk to the shed so the owner would not be walking through dirt.

The boardwalk connects the side and front porch with the deck.

Bob, Kenny and Rusty replaced the front door.

A closet - exciting, I know!! Ginna and I spent some quiet time in here on July 4th. We were the only two working at the house this day. Amazing what a fresh coat of paint will do isn't it?

Friday the 5th was really crazy. We had people everywhere.

Sydney and Bob in the kitchen/dining room. I was there too - painting quarter round.

The plumber and his helper were here.

Bob and Kenny replacing a piece of plywood with heartwood pine. 

Bob teaching Sydney how to use the nail gun.

Saturday the 6th was quiet again. It was just Sydney, me and Ginna working at the house today. Look who was here to greet us!

Ginna stained the new flooring to match the existing. Once we clean all the joint compound dust off of the old floor it will look great!

And matched it by the steps as well. Where's Sydney? Outside hosing down and washing all of the first floor windows.

Putting the finish down in the laundry area, kitchen and dining room. I fail to remember the exercise in isometrics this is - I always find muscles I had forgotten about. The kitchen area had stick down tiles that we peeled up to reveal the very same floor that is in the dining room. We used a pad sander to take up the leftover glue and some crud. 

Amazing what a day makes. Hectic and crazy busy the day before, stuff everywhere. Today - quiet and an empty room with a pretty floor. A tenant will be moving in shortly. He will truly enjoy living in a rustic house in the woods.

It has been a long couple of months getting this place ready. There are a few details that still have to be taken care of - but that will come.

Time for bed, 
I am one tired girl! Until later, Liz