Carole’s Country Store Blog

Saturday I went to an antique show held in Henry’s Field, clinic in Perkiomenville, here Pennsylvania. There was also a house tour of the 1735 Henry Antes house. Henry Antes came from Hanover, Germany and settled in this area in 1725. He was a very ingenious man, building the first grist mill in Bethlehem, PA. in 1743. Grist mills were used for grinding grain into flour.

The house was very small. One of the first things I noticed when I walked in, was a large rye basket on the floor under the table.

There was the sweetest couple in the house, very knowledgeable about the 18th century. I asked the woman about the rye basket on the floor, about what it might have been used for. She told me a basket that large would have been used to store feathers. I suppose that could be true, but who can say, baskets were used to store all kinds of things.

The antique show was one of the best, if not the best show I have been to in a long time. There were 65 dealers and every one of them sold nothing but primitives! Happy day!! Oh my gosh what wonderful things! I didn’t know where to look first. Had to control myself, slow down, stay calm. Taking the time to take pictures was not easy. I just wanted to look at EVERYTHING! Now!

I always ask each dealer first if they mind if I take pictures. Everyone was very friendly and had no problem with me taking pictures, but of course there is always one exception. One dealer asked why I was taking the pictures. I explained that I have a website with a store and a blog and that I wanted to write about my day at the show. She got such a sour look on her face and said, “I don’t think so. Glogs? Why do people do blogs? Don’t they have anything better to do? “Fine with me”, I thought. “Who cares”, but I gave her a polite answer, and moved on.

There was one booth that I have to say was my favorite, Ivy Hill Primitives, located in Yardley, PA. Lynn’s booth was filled with the yummiest things. I could have spent hours in there looking at every single thing! Ok, I didn’t spend hours, but I do think I looked at everything. She had the dearest little early sock cat. I planned on buying it and told her I would be back. I got caught up in the show and didn’t come back for a couple of hours. It was gone! Why didn’t I just buy it right then and there!? I should have known if I loved it, someone else would too! Grrrrr.

It was such a fun day.

Found this last rose of Summer in my garden this morning.
HAPPY DAY
Carole

Yesterday when I visited my mother, cialis she asked me when we were going to Honey Brook. She has asked me several times in the last couple of months to take her, troche and I told her that I promise I would, unhealthy just as soon as the weather got a little cooler. Yesterday I kept my promise. We drove to Honey Brook. It was an hour’s drive and along the way my mother would comment on a area or building that she remembered. Route 322 West is probably my favorite part of the drive. I have written about this area before on this blog, and showing pictures of some of the beautiful farmland. I pulled over to the side of the road and took this picture from inside my car. I didn’t have my glasses on when I took it, so I wasn’t really sure how it would look, I just clicked away. It was hazy in the distance this day, and I love the way it looks, while the corn fields in the foreground look so clear. After uploading this picture, I was surprised to see that there were cows, and 2 houses in the distance.
As we got closer to Honey Brook my mother recognized everything. She was really enjoying herself, that was very obvious and that made me feel good.

I said to her, “let’s go see if the Amish lady that you bought the corn from is still there”. She would often tell me how much she admired this woman for being such a hard worker. She always noticed how rough her hands were. She was there, and she came out from behind her stand to say hello, and what was I doing while they talked? Taking pictures of course.

Her wagon seems to be on it’s last legs, but I just liked the way it looked all filled with pumpkins and gourds. I bought some indian corn for my corn holder and we said our good byes. Next we would drive past mother’s house. She knew exactly where to turn. I pulled into the bottom of the driveway so she could look at it. She commented on how nice it looked and how happy she was to see the old stone wall all fixed. By now it was time for lunch. There is a little Chinese restaurant right up the corner. They have the best Chinese food, so we ate there. Afterwards I wanted to visit my daddy’s grave. The cemetery is right around the corner. It’s a beautiful old cemetery that sits on a hill overlooking the valley. It’s surrounded by an old stone wall and lovely mature trees.

My mother didn’t want to get out of the car. This surprised me. She did before. I love old tombstones and wanted to take few photos. These are just a couple I took. I’ll show more as it gets closer to Halloween.

I could tell mother was getting tired, and when she said, “well, Carole, I guess we have seen everything”, I knew it was time to go. After I took her home and I was getting ready to leave, she thanked me for a nice day and for keeping my promise. “You always keep your promise, Carole. I know I can always count on you”. She asked if I would tuck her in, said she wanted to take a little nap before dinner. I did and left to go home. I felt good. I kept my promise.
Carole

With wonderful crispy Fall weather approaching, illness it put me in the mood for nesting. When I am not working on my website, or taking care of family matters, I love decorating and getting ready for the colder months ahead. I am really looking forward to honkering down, doing lots of cooking, especially homemade soups and pies, but I love decorating too, as I am sure many of you must know by now. One of my favorite things to collect are early wooden bowls.

This is an wonderful large early birds eye maple bowl that I have owned for about 30 years. I still enjoy it’s beauty after all these years. In the Spring and Summer I like leaving it empty, enjoying it’s stand alone beauty, but in the colder months I enjoy filling it with whatever is appropriate for the time of year. Filled with greens and pine cones or old Christmas balls during the holidays, it makes a lovely centerpiece. There are so many ways to display old wooden bowls, and if you are lucky enough to own early painted ones, displaying them painted side up makes a beautiful display.

This picture is one I saved from a magazine years ago. I love the simplicity of this room. I love the painted bowl, isn’t it just delicious! It belongs to Ralph Lauren, who is also a collector of country things. His quote is so true. Always buy what you love and then worry later where you will put it. You can always find a place for something that you love.

I will be offering a lovely old bowl, painted in the most gorgeous red color, in my store today. If you love painted wooden bowls, but don’t want to pay hundreds of dollars for one, I hope you’ll stop by and see this little gem for sale at a very reasonable price.

Take care everyone and remember always have a
HAPPY DAY
Carole

You know how I have mentioned my mother on occasion. Probably the last time I talked about selling her house and how happy I was that it finally sold. So now she has enough money left to keep her where she is before Medicaid will kick in. That means finding another place for her to live when that happens, buy but it won’t be time for that for another couple of years. One other thing that needed to be taken care of was paying for her funeral. This is what I did on Wednesday. I had to drive to Honey Brook, no rx the funeral home is right down the street from where my parents lived. I can’t explain how strange I felt about doing this, especially since my mother is still living, but I had to, it’s required by Medicaid.

I thought I would do some antiquing while I was in the area and my first stop was at the Rusty Gate. It’s been a while since I have been there so everyone gave me a warm welcome. It’s nice to be missed. I managed to find a couple of things I liked for the store. Outside there was a long and very early butcher table.

I thought how fun it would be to have it in your back yard. Perfect for a serving table while entertaining family and friends. It was only $25., but it weighed a ton, and it was very long. How could I get it home? I couldn’t. My next stop was Pheasant Run. I passed one of my favorite old stone barns. I never get tired of looking at it.

I bought some wonderful antiques for the store. They’ll be in there at the end of the day. The basket is huge and just fabulous. The little Amish dolls are early. I’ll have more things so be sure to stop by at the end of the day.

HAPPY DAY
Carole

It’s been way to long since I have posted. Fall is on it’s way, view and it’s bittersweet seeing summer end. I have been way too lazy this summer, ailment and now it’s time to get ready to honker down and get things done around the house. I was hanging clothes on the line yesterday, when I heard a truck come up the driveway. It dumped a huge pile of fire wood. It’s need to be stacked. Yikes! Gotta put my work gloves on. Yesterday was my husband’s birthday.

I baked him an apple pie, his favorite. I had to break off a piece of the crust to see if it was flaky enough. I was disappointed though on how it turned out. I consider myself to be a good pie maker, especially apple pie. I used my convection oven this time. I don’t normally do that. The apples were too mushy. I wonder if it was because of the convection oven. All that work, but it’s the thought that counts, right? Off to the wood pile.
Happy day
Carole