News Flash!!

Ok so we had our neighbour tree guy come and check out Great Grandmother Willow and it looks like we can do some drastic trimming so that she won't be carrying so much weight and also when she does decide to actually drop to the ground she won't hit our barn/shop! So now we just need to get Glen to come and do the trimming, which hopefully will now be next week since the 2 days we were closed this week have past and he didn't show up.

Anyways so busy, busy, busy at the Goat. I decided to take on another thing and now we are going to have a booth at the Bench and a Few Good Chairs Garden show at the Crystal Palace in Picton. I must be nuts! All this packing of merchandise and stressing as to how to set up a booth that looks good from a couple of folding tables and some crates seems impossible at this point. The good thing is my shipment from B.C. came and it's all this really awesome iron work grills, trellis' and obelisks and stuff so I'll be able to show it off at least. I've been told it's a good show, though I've never been but then I don't go anywhere since I'm always in the shop on weekends. At least everyone comes to visit me and keep me up on the gossip!

For an update to the Good Friday excitement with the by-law officer, here is how it went down. Apparently the by-law officer went to the stores in Bloomfield and later in Picton and told each of them that they had to close their businesses since it was a statuary holiday. Which they did to avoid the fines. Now this by-law is in place mostly these days to protect employees being forced to work on holidays. If Prince Edward County had a "Designated Tourist Season" than we could be exempt from this by-law. The paper work for this must be done at the municipality level and it's arduous work according to the person who was telling me what must be done. Hopefully the local business groups of Bloomfield and Picton will jump on this so it gets sorted out soon.

At the Galloping Goat we are exempt from the by-law since we don't have any employees currently and even then we are smaller then the minimum square footage, plus we sell handicrafts. Hopefully I never have to deal with this problem and I can continue to enjoy the freedom of being open for all the holidays so I can keep trying to make a living!

Othery gossipy news I'm receiving by next weekend a load of brand new hilariously funny signs from a new company I found. Be prepared for serious guffawing, my new favourite one that I'm going to seriously keep for my very own is the sign with a cute little girl with golden curls smiling in the corner of the sign and it reads "All unattended children will be given an expresso and a free kitten!" Hee hee! That made me laugh hard! Luckily, so far I've never had any trouble with unattended kids at my shop, I think it might have to do with the fact we are sitting on a riverbank so most parents are pretty conscientious with their kids around water. Or maybe it's Godzilla coming up out of the river that makes them keep their kids close!!!

Great Grandmother Willow Tree, sad news

Well, thanks to Baxter and his fascination with a squirrel that lives in our favourite tree Great Grandmother Willow beside our little shop we discovered a very large and deep crack in that tree.

She is a fabulous, unique and gigantic willow tree. I think, quite possibly one of the oldest trees in the County because of her mammoth circumference. It takes 4 adults with their arms outstretched to go around her trunk. As far as willows go they usually fall down around 60 yrs old or so. We had 2 willow trees in the back of our house fall down, one week a part. We have been cutting them up slowly over the year and counted the rings to find they were both around 60 yrs old. Those trees are about a quarter of the size of our dear Great Grandmother Willow.

This old dame always gets lots of oohs and aahs from our visitors and everyone seems to be unable to resist pressing a hand on her in wonder. She also gets probably as many photos taken of her as our dear little godzilla rising from the riverbank.

I've taken to tucking in all the little elves, fairies and such that have been damaged, mostly by me moving stuff around, since her bark looks like a magicial wonderland where elves would happily live.

So here it is, the sad news, while Baxter was starring so fixedly on the tree we walked around to see what was so fascinating that he wouldn't even blink. When we looked there was a giant crack running from the base of the trunk up about 15 feet. It was so deep you could actually peer into the tree and see snow hiding in the crevice and it was deep enough I could have put my arm in up to my shoulder. This crack wasn't there before the winter and now that it is there we can see that the tree is practically hollow. This is very scary since the weight of the top of the tree is massive so without some intervention she will fall. Considering how close she is to our barn there is a good chance she will knock the corner as she drops and do serious damage to the building.

We have put in the call to the tree service and are hoping that if we can just take the top off we may still be able to keep a large portion of her. It's bad timing since the number of critters that have made their spring homes in all her lovely nooks and crannies are going to be very upset.

I'll keep you posted as to how this plays out but I'm going to be shedding alot of tears if she really does need to be cut down. Even if we manage to keep 15 or 20 feet of her so the animals and woodpeckers can still use her for homes it is going to be very sad. I know willows don't ever normally get this big and she has lived a grand life but I really, really don't want to loose her.

It's that time, at last!!! Maple In The County! Sugarbushes are in full gear and smoke and steam is pumping out of the different sites boiling down all that sap. Yum! The Black River Cheese Factory has their maple cheddar cheese at the ready and extra curds and even better... ICE CREAM!! Yes you heard me correctly. They are scooping ice cream starting this weekend. Apparently they are showcasing the maple walnut flavour, of course!
We are also doing our bit of maple in the barn too. The great and talented Crafty Crone has created a maple pecan biscotti for the occasion of this weekend and it tastes awesome! I couldn't resist a nibble.

Also Scott Switzer is coming for a visit and bringing more of his wares to show off on in the garden outside the barn this weekend. He is an incredibly talented rock carver. I can't wait until I see what else he is bringing to sell. He makes some fabulous birdbaths, benches and even solar granite lights. To see lots more photos of Scott's work click here.

Hope to see you all soon and get out there and enjoy this gorgeous weather and eat some maple sugar for me since I'll be in the barn I'm missing out on those treats, though I probably will sneak across the street for a ice cream before closing on Sunday, hee hee.

Our Spring Opening is Almost Here!!

Well only a week to go! March 19th is our opening for the 2009 season and the snow has finally melted, just in time.

I've been doing some more fixing up inside the barn, mostly painting, cleaning really but Tim did put some new lights upstairs so now, even on the cloudy days, it's bright and sunny feeling up there.

The delivery truck has been stopping by just about every other day and my house is filling up with boxes of goodies while I go through them and input everything to inventory. I couldn't take any of the boxes out to the barn today thanks to the insane wind! Another big branch fell of Grandma Willow beside the barn but luckily it missed me and the barn. It's crazy how big those branches are when they are finally on the ground. They don't look that big when you look up at them still attached to the tree!

Anyways I've completely turned the barn inside out and now I have only 7 days to put it back together as well as bring in all the new fun stuff that keeps landing on my doorstep. Luckily my friend Laurie, display creator extraordinaire, is coming to help me on Friday and will hopefully fix some of the mess I've made. I've found some new, old furnishings at a few auctions that I've refinished and painted up and put in the barn so now I've got some new ways to display. I really love auctions but I'm bad with always seeing the gem in the rough that anyone else sees as complete junk. I've been refinishing furniture since I was 16 and always loved bringing wood back to life or painting it into something pretty. I haven't really bought any real lemons at the auctions and occasionally under all the grim, wax or thick paint I've found a real beauty that ends up being worth a lot more than I paid. It's a good thing I don't mind the work of getting to the good stuff under all the gunk. These days I avoid items that need stripping because of the chemicals and the mess, so I usually stick with items that a good sanding, some TSP and a coat of paint or clear coat can fix up easily.This is one of my painted side tables that I did a couple of years ago. This furniture I bought from an old mennonite furniture maker whose farm is near my in-laws. The furniture is always pine and absolutely beautifully made. Dovetailed drawers, hand hewn knobs and perfect finishing. Then I get to paint on the fresh new pine. I love the new wood and I like to let the wood grain show through so I use acrylic paints like a wash or stain and follow the pattern of the natural knots in the wood to help decide the design and placement. I have been buying furniture from Mr. Martin for 8 years and he has always made excellent pieces. I just wish I was able to do more of this work for clients, it's so fun to create a painting on a functional piece of furniture.

Well I must go and finish some orders I forgot about or I won't have any of those pretty spring flags to fly from the barn!

When we say that the barn is on the banks of the Black River in some of our ads, we mean it quite literally since we are about 5 feet from the bank of the river during the dry season. Springtime though the bank of the river sneaks alot closer to the barn and the grassy section disappears under water.

April last year for instance we had a lot of snow and rain so the river rose and was basically over the bank & across the narrow patch of grass and under the barn. Not to worry though the brilliant builders of our barn knew what they were doing 200 years ago (or around that we have no clear dates of when it was built). The barn was built about 2 feet above the ground on the river side with big stacks of rocks under the joists holding it up high and dry. Along with a deep ditch or cavity under the barn keeps all the wood dry no matter how high the river rises.

In the early spring when you look out this favourite window of all our camera carrying customers you won't see the bullrushes just water. It literally feels as if you are floating on the river, not beside it.

These window pictures were taken in the spring out the window and the barn shot was in the fall and since I'm absolutely sick of cold, wet sloppy snow I'm refusing to post anymore wintery shots!! Come on Spring!

Don't forget when you come to visit us in the cooler weather we use our little side door for entering the barn. Just don't forget to duck your head that doorway is only for people 5'6" or under!! We'll have the furnace going so it will be nice and toasty inside.

I can't wait to start getting the shipments of goodies that I found! Hee hee! There were so many new things at the shows I went to and some really cool things. Also found another person to buy more of those funny metal signs from so I have a whole new bunch coming with some truly hilarious sayings. I'm thinking seriously about creating a wall in the upstairs to just put all those signs, I have a lot coming and I can't figure out where I'm going to put them all!

I also found a few new artists to add to the mix so the barn is going to be switched around a bit to fit all the new things that are coming in. I have also been finding more crafts to create in our workshops and new people to teach them so keep checking back for the schedule of classes that will be coming.
There will also be a kids Art Camp this summer for probably 2 weeks, with each week having different activities. It's going to be a very busy summer!!

Brrrr.... it's chilly and silent.

Well it's minus 19 here (that's zero fahrenheit) or at least it was when the kids hopped on the bus this morning. It might have gotten warmer but it sure doesn't feel warmer.
It's snowing again, lightly so hopefully I won't have to shovel out the driveway before I go off to teach my after school art club at Pinecrest in Bloomfield. Isn't it amazing how quiet the snow makes it outside? It muffles all the sound so it's completely still. I love that moment after the bus drives away with the kids and it is out of ear shot, it is the time when I do the wander around to the barn and down along the riverbank. It is utterly still and so silent. The squirrel family in our willow tree gets a little irriated with my wandering but soon scurry off to different trees to avoid me.
I went for a walk on the frozen river last week when it was minus 25 or so and bitterly cold with my mom. We walked right in the centre of the river where the snowmobile tracks were and then our feet starting breaking through a couple of inches into slushy stuff. Well that surprised and unnerved us enough for us to hightail it to the shoreline! There was a fairly thick blanket of snow on the ice so I guess it acted as an insulating blanket for the ice. When the snowmobiles go over the river they are moving quickly and therefore aren't as heavy as if they were standing still. We were apparently too heavy with our slower walking.

I love walking on the river since you see the land from such a different perspective and plus there is no cars or people so you are completely in nature. I have to say though everytime I walk on the ice of the river I am very nervous since you never know how thick it really is. We know in the shallow part of the off shoot of the river in our backyard there are definitely warm springs that are underground there since you can see almost a polka dot effect when the ice is beginning to form. Our two cats always get way too bold when they see the ice on the river and can't resist the new hunting grounds on the other side and are always trying to get across by zigzagging across the ice to the thicker spots so they can cross. Insane! I call them back when I see them but one time Smudge came into the house with the entire back end of him soaked from what I assume was a dip in the river off of the ice.

So it's all quiet and I have to leave on Saturday for the opposite side of quiet and drive to Toronto. My kids are both coming since I sneakily called their old Toronto friends and set up play dates for them while I go to a Canadian Artist wholesale show in hopes of finding more handcrafts for the Galloping Goat shop. I'm not sure it was a good idea to take the kids or not for this visit. They are still moaning about leaving our home in the downtown Toronto core and all of their friends. I'm hoping they'll gain a bit of perspective when they see the crazy small houses we all were crammed into and the no backyard. Plus the restrictions we all placed on our kids when it came to playing outside or going anywhere off the front porch. Probably not, and maybe they'll start moaning all the more loudly and longer after the visit...sigh. I like the idea of visiting the city since I think the multi cultural area we lived in was great for keeping them open to different ways of life and people. Not to mention they may end up back there for college or university (a mother can only hope!) and in that case it's better to see Toronto as not the "big bad city" but a large grouping of small villages that are pushed up next to each other. It's not so overwhelming that way. I do miss Toronto and our friends. We had a lot of fun during the 4 yrs we lived in the core and oh, the awesome food from all over the world was truly fabulous!
Maybe I'll be able to grab some singapore noodles from my fav spot in Chinatown to bring home! Yum!

Snowy 2nd Last Day

Tomorrow is the last day we are open for 2008! Boy did this year fly by!

It's the day of the crazy snow storm the weather people have been warning us about and it is blowing fiercely and snowing so hard my foot prints to the barn fill up in about 5 mins. I did have one brave soul come for a quick shop, thanks Sari!

I've been hiding in the house doing some of the painting jobs that I've been avoiding since we moved here 2 years ago. The house is slowly becoming more homey and colourful the way we like it. There still are a million jobs to do for it to become the way we envision it. The list is long, very long and the winter free time is short, not to mention all the things we want to do to the barn.

So when I closed up tonight (bad me, I closed 25 mins early since the wind kept blowing the door open and there wasn't a car on the road in the past hour!) I took the camera outside to get some shots of the snow and lights.