memories...

during a trip back to IN for a short visit, i passed by our old house and was reminded of when we renovated this little barn at the back of our property for a young lady that God brought into our lives.  one day as we were trying to find a place for her to live, we both looked at each other about the same time and said..."hey...what about the barn!"  well, that's all it took and we were on our way.

here she is painting.  from the beginning to the end of the project, she rolled up her sleeves and jumped right into the mix of things...and we really know how to mix things up!

and she even got pretty good at swinging a sledge!

this is what we started with.  as i remember, the barn measured about 12 x 18...not counting loft.

i've seen the big guy break out a chain saw for some of our renovations...only a sawzall needed this time.

old loft out, ready to start putting it back together.

view of living area under new loft

view from loft, looking down at steps

bedroom end of loft.  there sets mr. bear, her constant companion.

this is the before area of where new bathroom went in...a little breezy!

bathroom after

before area where kitchen went in.

kitchen after

now we've all moved on, different towns, different states...but will remain life long friends.  she's an amazing young woman, wife and mother.  we'll always remember the teeny tiny barn house experience!

victor co under a blanket of snow...

looking down on historic victor homes.  many still heated with only wood and coal.  it's such a beautiful sight...this is why i love victor!

snow capped mountains in the distance.  this is sure different than fall in IN!

splendid treasures antique store...one of my favorites!

brrr...he looks cold!  beautifully restored city building in the background.

now 2 days later the snow is almost gone after a couple of beautiful sunny days.  even when it's cold, the sunny skies make it all seem so pleasant.

i love this door...

what could be more exciting for a picker than to find an old Victor CO police car door?  add a vintage wine rack, old thermoses and it has become my favorite display.  the old door was pulled out of a shed that's next to falling down.  those are my favorite places to climb through, none too small or too large...i'm not picky.

another great find was this old cash register.  the bottom of one of the drawers is stamped 'fortune club' 'victor colo'.  the fortune club building was built in 1899 as a brothel.  the rooms upstairs still have pictures of 'the girls' hanging outside their respective rooms.  notice i didn't say 'respected'.  it took my husband and i and one other young man to heft it up onto its current resting place.  i love to rearrange and change up displays, but this one won't be moving.

bundles of felted wool we call 'chubby nubbies' fill a vintage wire shopping basket.  people ask me what to do with them...my answer...just let them make u feel all warm and fuzzy.  several things got broken in our move from IN to CO.  one of which was an antique amish doll bed.  since it was already broke, i took it apart and painted both the headboard and footboard with chalk board paint and now they have new lives as advertising billboards for various displays in the store.  i like them this way better!

Snow Day...

a beautiful snowy day in victor, co!  and i only had to shovel my sidewalk 4 times.  when we were looking at our building to renovate, i loved the fact that it had alot of frontage when so many of the buildings were very narrow and deep.  well, it was summer and the thought of 10-12" of snow to shovel never crossed my mind!  this is a shot of a former assay office across the street from my store.  i love the advertisement painting on the side.  this is very typical of the buildings in victor.

every inch of space in my teeny tiny store has to be utilized.  baby bed springs on the bathroom door provide a great place to display winter caps, gloves and scarves.  stella the mannequin is dressed up in a vintage wool coat with creepy crawly candy bugs climbing all over her.  the school kids love to stop in after school and pick the bugs off of her.  she is named after a vintage alfred hitchcock episode entitled 'through an unlocked window'.  totally freaked me out as a kid and stella is the scariest name i could think of to give her.

 

the window decal turned out 'somewhat' like i had envisioned.  it was inspired by my grandmothers gold pin that belonged to her aunt who brought her to CO in 1909 so she could finish school after her mother died.  the pin is over 100 years old; pick, axe and pan with gold nuggets in it...similar to the decal image.

clara watson on her graduation day, 1911, southside denver high school.  she told me many times it was one of the happiest days of her life.  the long stemmed american beauty roses bouquet were given to her by her 'beau'. the diploma in her hand is framed and hanging on my wall.  she loved CO so much, teaching here for 3 years before returning to KS for the remainder of her life.  she would be so tickled with my store.  she always told me that i went at things like i was killing snakes...she was right about that.  i dedicate my store to her memory. 

Opening Day!

after several months of 2-3 am work days, Marigold Mercantile opened right on time, 10 am on oct. 24.  as with most every project i find myself in, it was right down to the wire.  too much to do in too little time...self imposed deadlines...again.

still lots of tweaking to do, i.e. unpainted door, but who will even notice when it's covered with coats.  however with a forecast for 8-10" of snow tomorrow, the coats may be gone by the end of the day.  after all the renovations, i'm sure not in the mood to paint again already!

  party section with shelved antique sled endcaps for kitchen linens.  every section in the store is 'mini me' size. 

laundry section uses an old galvanized washtub to hold detergent with small 2 tier bucket bench stacked on top to hold additional laundry items. 

the concept of having 2 distinct and separate areas in the store will work well.  the old fashioned five and dime variety store area will meet the needs of local and surrounding mountainous area.  it's a 45 minute drive to any real shopping.  the repurposed area meets my need to tear things apart and recreate.  a marriage made in Heaven!

taking time to play...

in the midst of the building remodel and settng up displays, i couldn't stand it any longer, just had to do something a little fun.  so right in the midst of saws, hammers and nails set 3 little pumpkins perched on old chair springs.

then there was the issue about what to do with a huge hole in the 3 layers deep brick wall.  ideas have been swimming in my mind for months.  i'd almost settled on putting an old door over it when i remembered a little galvanized garden table that i had recently bought and it seemed the size was about right.  i couldn't believe it when i slipped it in the hole and it fit perfect.  because of the irregularities in the old stucco job, i had to use a little foam sealant to fill in the gaps, but it will hardly be visible once it's touched up with paint.  and what a bonus, since it's magnetic it will make a great display for the hand crafted primitive magnets my mom makes.  oh, and by the way, here's her clever business cards...front and back.  she's awesome!

the time has flown by since renovations began on the building, and opening day for Marigold Mercantile is just around the corner...oct. 24th.  sometimes i have to pinch myself to realize that my dream of having my own store, in my favorite place on earth is about to come true. 

Psalm 37:4  delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Thank you Gracious Father!