I'm Back to Work (and Loving It)

Me with partners, Yvette and Elisha

It's been awhile since I last posted, but this has been a busy and eventful fall for me. Leila started kindergarten and I rejoined the workforce. Everyone who knows me has probably heard by now, but I have two new jobs: I'm a co-owner (with two friends) of a business in Bloomer called Shabby Shed Boutique. And I'm also working three days a week at the library in Colfax.



At the Shabby Shed

Shabby Shed is a consignment store with all kinds of fun stuff, from arts and crafts to antiques and painted furniture. We carry honey, coffee, tea, jewelry, make-up, and hand-made soap. The idea of the store is to acquire our stock from local producers. Most of our consignors are local individuals with a talent (knitting, quilting, etc.) but we also work with other local businesses (like Legacy Chocolates in Menomonie).


Our resident quilter, of course, is Mom. We have a small selection of her quilts, potholders, and crazy quilt pillows at the store.

One of Mom's batik quilts at Shabby Shed



Repurposing old chairs into garden art

Seasonal items at Shabby Shed

Antiques and the miscellaneous

Some of my crafts

The store is the perfect vehicle for my artistic interests. I love coming up with craft ideas and "up-cycling" or repurposing old odds and ends into new treasures. I have a display for my portrait business at the store. And I get to write a blog for the store http://shabbyshedboutique.blogspot.com/.



All things I love-! When pieces sell I help rearrange items (decorating! which I also love). And, of course, there's also all the vibrant and interesting people I get to talk to at the store... consignors, customers, and my partners. The whole thing is such a positive for me, on so many levels.


Because there's three of us, our schedules at the store are flexible. If one of us has a sick child or an appointment or some kind of problems, the others help cover.


My librarian job is quieter, but rewarding in its own right. I like my co-workers and I LOVE being around all those books. When things are slow I straighten out the shelves, and if a little browsing happens in the meanwhile, so be it. But there are lots of busy days at the library... people come in and use the internet, kids come in afterschool, people use our copy machine or Kindles... and of course, people come in to pick up stacks of books. We're a small library, but we're connected to the MORE system that gives small communities like ours access to all the many, many books of larger libraries in the system (like Menomonie and Eau Claire). Find out more at http://readingincolfax.blogspot.com/.


Anyway! There's other things to life besides work... like camping!


A few weeks ago we headed to Sylvania National Forest in Michigan. My brothers John and Bob camped right by us. Sylvania's only about an hour from my parents' house in Rhinelander, so Mom and Dad visited us at the campsite. The fall color was spectacular, but unfortunately about half our time camping was spent getting rained on. Still, we had a good time.

Cooking with pudgy pies

Me with brothers Bob and John

Jim and Leila in rain parkas

Mom and Dad visiting in the rain

Grandma keeping Leila warm

We visited Mom and Dad in Rhinelander, briefly, during the same visit. I love to get up north during the autumn, where the colors are more intense than around here.

 

 

Dad recently fortified his woodshed

Leila in the fort that Bragg Family South made

Back of Mom and Dad's house

Jack and Leila playing (in Colfax) with Tonka trucks that Dad fixed up for them

Jon has been working on our new front porch, as time allows. The roof is finished, the front wall is up, and some windows are installed.

Our new front porch is coming along

 



Last night we headed to Eau Claire for dinner at Jonathan's new restaurant, The Eau Claire Ale House. It was his first night open. We saw some familiar faces there... Steve, Nathan, and Jill were there, as were some friends and a few loyal patrons Jonathan got to know at Mona Lisa's. But there were also lots of people there who saw the sign and the lights, and stopped in as drive by's. The place was pretty packed. It was so cool to see Jonathan presiding over it all... all the skills he's learned at restaurants and bars over the years put to use. Our food was very good. I tried the chicken alfredo with mushrooms, Emma and Jill had a bleu cheese salad, Michael had a burger, and Leila had an enormous order of Italian fries. Delicious.

Jonathan Hurlburt, business owner

Steve and Nathan

Some of the self-serve beers on tap

Jon making himself at home in his son's bar (proud moment)

Kids playing a game with their Aunt Jill

Sleepy Leila's seeks me out and wordlessly lets me know "Time to go home"

We love Jill

So anyway, that's some of what's been going on in our lives lately. I won't bother mentioning some of the other things... like how the house is messier and the cookie jar is usually empty and my inner Martha Stewart is screaming and shrieking her way into the floor boards (think melting witch on the Wizard of Oz). Think kids washing dishes and husbands frying potatoes for supper. I leave you with those happy images *peace* :).