Happy summer! As usual it is going to be a busy one for us! Between running the shop during the busy summer months (and finding stuff to fill it), antique shows, renovations on the house, events we have planned at the shop and some family trips I am willing to bet that the number of times I get to actually sit on this porch will be numbered! When I do get a chance to rest our front porch is the perfect spot to sit and listen to the birds in the morning with my cup of coffee or a glass of wine in the evenings...and it is just about the only part of our old farmhouses' exterior that looks pretty at this moment! I know it seems silly to focus on one little area when everything else is a mess but if I have certain areas that are nice and neat and pretty I feel better about the messy terrible looking areas that we are still in the process of renovating and it keeps me from going totally crazy. Ten years into renovating with more unfinished than finished just about everywhere can make you pretty crazy, even if you do love it! We still haven't finished restoring clapboard on the front of the house (the part that is to the left of what you see here) as we need to rent a cherry picker to reach the upper part and just haven't had the time. And we have started to take the aluminum off of the back of the house so that we can restore the original clapboard underneath it. It will eventually all look great but in the meantime the outside of the house is looking pretty rough! I'll do a blog post on all of that soon...but I wanted to keep this strictly pretty!
My viburnum put out more blooms than ever this year and I took full advantage.
Since we are so busy this time of year I keep things really simple around here. For a super simple mantel I put together a display using an old window I bought from my friend Kristine at Farmhouse Green for some dark contrast together with some of my white ironstone pitchers, fresh cut viburnum and a simple candle stick.
My peonies have just started to open up, about three weeks late for us this year, and boy do I love the way they smell.
I just wanted to take the time to thank all of you that have driven from far far away to come see the shop! In the last couple of months I have been blown away by how far some of you have driven just to come see my shop and I am truly humbled! It is a pleasure to meet each and every one of you and I it means the world to me.
I look forward to meeting many of you at our next big show Vintage Market Days Pittsburgh July 12 - 14th. I also wanted to let you guys know that my friend Kristen and I are hosting our very first outdoor event at the shop on July 27th!
We will have antiques, vintage goods, food and wine all in the field behind my shop! Visit my facebook page @farmhousesupply for more information closer to the event such as who the vendors will be! The event will be from 10 to 4 and my shop will still be open its normal 11 to 5 hours! Address is 5750 West Center Rd. Linesville, PA Email me your address if you want to be included in our mailing list and I will email you a postcard with the details!
Whether I see you at a show or here at the shop I truly enjoy meeting each and every one of you! For those of you that it's just too far for thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog and for your sweet comments!
I hope to be back on here before long with renovation updates for you and I am working on a new dining room blog post because I never really did one as promised years ago! In the meantime HAPPY SUMMER!
