These are a Few of My Favorite Things

These are a Few of My Favorite Things
These are a Few of My Favorite Things

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The Silence of Winter-Time to Plan for Spring

There is nothing more beautiful than freshly fallen snow.  This picture was taken from the door of my sunroom.  We have seen a lot of snow this winter already.  Aside from the obvious beauty, it is a time for planning or finishing those projects that we have laid aside.  I know I keep promising myself that I will finish a sampler that has been waiting for me for longer than I care to admit.  I have even bought the frame and mat for my "masterpiece", but my unfinished project is still tucked neatly in my sewing basket.  That doesn't even account for the unfinished mending that my daughter and my husband have asked me to do.  It seems that I always find something that keeps calling my name.  Wintertime is a wonderful time to look through all of those seed catalogs that are starting to arrive in your mailbox about now.  Last winter, I happily planned a new herb garden that Clark and I planted beside  the Persnickety Primitives cabin.  We made a raised bed garden using old railroad ties.  It made a wonderful herb garden.  We filled it with rich soil and fertilized it with horse manure from my brother's horse farm.  Even though the garden was in a rectangle shape, two ties on each side and one on each end, we divided it into a pie shape of eight pieces using old used bricks from a building that was torn down near us.  Once done, I visited my local garden center and bought lots of fragrant herb plants.  I had a design that I had found in the magazine, Country Gardens.  I carried that magazine with me all winter dreaming of the wonderful herb garden I would plant in the spring.  Once Clark and I had planted the tender herb plants, I carefully watered and weeded them as needed.  Soon the plants began to spread and bloom.  I put a large concrete block in the center and placed a sundial on it.  The sundial provided the perfect finishing touch.  Since herb plants are perennials, I am looking forward to the rebirth of my plants this spring.  This winter I have had a new project to plan.  It is the opening of my new Primitives home decor shop.  My office and two of my bedrooms are just brimming with wonderful finds.  Some are true antiques while others are reproductions and collectibles.  I have a family of mice (the stuffed kind) that are waiting to greet all of my customers.  Persnickety Primitives will be located in a small Amish built cabin that sits near our home that has served as a play house for my grandchildren for several years.  Now that they are growing up, the cabin has been delegated to me to provide new life and interest to it.  As soon as the weather breaks, the carpenter will insulate the cabin and cover the walls with old fashioned bead board.  There is a ladder leading to the loft where the grandkids played games and told stories.  The cabin will be heated by electric logs housed within a primitive fireplace mantle.  The entire cabin will become a primitive kitchen with most of its contents for sale and ready to adorn your home.  A dry sink will be located on one side of the fireplace and an old butcher block table will be located on the other side.  Bowl racks filled with treenware will be located right above them.  A rolling pin rack with antique rolling pins will also be on display.  A wood cookstove with water reservoir and a Hoosier cabinet will also serve as display pieces.  An old ironing board and antique laundry essentials will occupy one corner.  Primitive dolls, 1803 Candles, rag balls, mason jars, lots of wall art and signs and Treenware and much more will decorate the little shop.  Wonderful aromas from the candle melters will remind you of home.  Our Pantry jars and burlap bags will remind you of grandma's house.  Stepping inside the Persnickety Primitives cabin will be like stepping back in time to when things were much simpler.  I was blessed to have two wonderful grandmothers who introduced me to the old ways and the older I get, the more I cling to those memories and I suspect that I am not alone.  Join me as I take you down the primitive pathway to those wonderful memories - both through my blog and through my little shop.  I will try to provide as many pictures as I can as I tell my stories from my grandmothers.  Thanks for visiting and come back real soon.  Be sure to subscribe to this blog.

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