Monthly Archives: December 2023

Little Wing Curiosity Shoppe

Posted on by
4

The thrill of the hunt for treasure keeps me heading out to vendor malls, antique stores and thrift shops nearly everywhere I go. On Friday, I stopped by Little Wing Curiosity Shoppe and Thrift Store in Athens. They have been around since April. 

It’s neat, clean and organized with excellent prices on most things. There were a few things that seemed outlandishly priced but that happens. They had a 75 percent off Christmas sale that applied to a pretty little handmade art piece – an angel made of some kind of tin with a fabulous patina. Of course I brought her home and she ended up costing me just $1.25. I also got three wrought iron candlesticks and a pewter pitcher that will someday hold flowers. My total was about ten bucks and I was quite pleased with the haul.

Then I came home and looked them up online and I feel bad. Their website says they are working with Ukranians stateside and overseas to send much needed supplies for civilians and soldiers in Ukraine. Had I known this while I was there I would have either bought more or made a donation. 

Goodwill and Ohio Thrift are the prominent thrift stores in my area and they have almost priced themselves out of the game. I choose to shop thrift stores because you never know what treasures you’ll find and because I like the sustainable side of thrifting. I can afford to go to TJ Maxx and buy dishes or a new skillet but many people thrift because they are low income and don’t have the luxury of buying new when their kid needs a winter coat. Greed and people who thrift to flip for a profit seemed to have caused these organizations to lose their way. 

So I am thrilled to have a new option for my donations and am actually excited to take them some things while I’m cleaning out this winter. Not to mention, the people who run the place seem kind hearted and helpful. 

Little Wing is located on the back side of the Market on State Mall in Athens, Ohio. Just go around the corner on IHOP side and you’ll find them! They will be closed the week between Christmas and New Years but you can follow them on Facebook to find their hours, sales and updated information.

Notes From The Field: Christmas Edition

Posted on by
6

My holiday vacation is in full swing. Yesterday I headed to a neighboring town to pick up produce for Christmas Eve veggie lasagna and to do a little fun shopping. 

Yesterday was relaxing because, aside from retrieving produce, all my Christmas chores were pretty much done. The shopping and wrapping are done. I am going to make some more cookies and fudge today but it should be pretty low key. In fact, I don’t plan to start my car again until Tuesday because if I haven’t bought it yet I probably don’t need it anyway.

This is going to sound mean but I always enjoy hitting the stores a couple of days before Christmas when all my shopping is done and everyone else is frantically buying whatever stuff they can find. It makes me appreciate the serenity that comes with planning ahead and that inner calm allows for some pretty fabulous people watching. 

While in a vendor mall called Peddlar’s Junction, I overheard an elderly woman answer the phone and then proceed to tell the caller that she wouldn’t be home for a while. “Yes dear, we hope to see you too. We’re out running some errands right now. We’re very busy,” she said as she examined a vintage candlestick.

 I liked her style. 

Incidentally, if I ever tell you I’m out running errands, know that I’m probably at TJ Maxx smelling candles and buying pajamas. I’m probably stopping at a vendor mall and a bookstore too.

While walking through another store’s very busy parking lot, I witnessed a dirty maroon minivan make a turn on two wheels. The windows were cracked and vintage Johnny Cash blared from the speakers. When the driver climbed out, I couldn’t help but notice she was wearing Christmas pajamas and had a cigarette hanging out of her mouth while wrangling a youngster. That takes skill. 

She would make a great character for that book I may write someday. 

Lunch was cheese pizza, enjoyed in the car while I people watched and listened to Christmas music. Whoever cut the pizza seemed to have never cut or maybe never seen a pizza before. It was cut in odd sizes and shapes – one slice a sliver of no more than an inch at its widest and the one next to it at least a quarter of the pie. None of the pieces were pointy. It was bizarre. 

Part of the reason I went for a car lunch is that by the time I got around to eating, all the restaurants were full with folks waiting for tables. Even the fast food restaurants had long drive-thru lines. The other reason is that I wanted to hear Christmas music and feared it wouldn’t happen in a restaurant since it wasn’t happening in the stores. Why? After all, the stores were rocking around the Christmas tree and blaring Mariah Carey on November 1. On December 22, there was no festive music but a pile of Valentine’s stuff already on the shelves.

As Charlie Brown would say, “Good grief.”

All told, folks were patient and nice even in places where the wait was long. I chatted up most of my cashiers and not one of them claimed to be ready for the holiday. All complained they had spent so much time at work lately they had no desire to go shopping in their free time. I try to be extra nice to retail workers because it isn’t their fault that everyone waits till the last minute to shop. Not to mention, they aren’t paid that well and it has to be hard watching everyone come through buying things their families might love to receive but they can’t afford to buy on their wages.

Another common theme was the presence of people talking on their phones in stores. If you’re one of those people, note that you aren’t very fast or efficient while you wander around chatting up Sally Sue about who-knows-what. There’s likely someone behind you that wants to reach around you (or maybe just knock you down) so they can  grab something off the shelf you’re aimlessly blocking. 

Ha! Can you tell I hate phones in stores? 

 In all, it was a great day of  much needed quality time with myself. I found several bargains and a few things I couldn’t live without. As much as I enjoyed this excursion, I was glad to come home with my treasures, light up the tree and turn on the Christmas music. 

Are you ready for the holiday?

Storytelling Through Your Surroundings

Posted on by
4

Interior designer Nate Berkus has famously said “your home should tell the story of who you are and be a collection of what you love.” I have always believed this to be true and take it to heart in every sense of the word. My house has come together over time with a combination of new and used pieces, borrowed stuff from my folks and repurposed things from all over. 

The only common thread through it all is that I like it. 

The problem here is that my style is what you might politely call “eclectic” and that it doesn’t have the cohesive look of a put together home. 

Sometimes I envy those people who have embraced farmhouse style or midcentury modern. That limits the scope of what you might bring home, potentially making for a less cluttered space. Yet, I can’t imagine living that way.

When Frank Lloyd Wright designed a home, he was particular about how the home should flow, where a table should sit and the art that hung on the walls. That’s why there were so many built-in pieces of furniture. A built-in desk in the middle of the room might have two lamps attached and the electric was run through the floor to make it look cleaner. Rearranging furniture was impossible. And if you owned one of his homes, he was apt to purchase and send a piece of artwork to you. He would include instructions for hanging along with his bill for this unsolicited addition to your home. 

From where I sit, I can see a stack of vintage suitcases collected from all over, an antique dresser from a garage sale when I was in college and a heavy silver candlestick that sits below a watercolor of pine trees. My kitchen is colorful, filled with Fiesta plates of red and blue and cute little ceramic animals made during the mid-century. Frank preferred uncluttered kitchens so he would hate all this. 

I do notice my tastes changing over time as I’m shying away from those colorful vintage pieces in favor of more natural textures and materials. More dark woods, stones, tarnished silver and brass, even burlap is more prominent now, mixed in with the colors.Those Fiesta plates may someday get stored for another day while I pull out the plain old white dishes that typically are only used on holidays. 

But not today. For now it’s still working fine and that’s all that matters. 

That’s not to say there aren’t projects on my list. Most of the house is carpeted. It’s old, blue and worn out in a very sad way. No matter how much I clean, it never seems clean enough and I’m sure nineteen year old carpet can’t be good for allergies. One of these days I’m going to replace it with hardwood laminate. 

But not today.

Despite that hideous carpet, my home is cozy, warm and inviting – at least to me. As much as I enjoy having holiday decor throughout the house, I’m sort of looking forward packing all that away again and rethinking my surroundings. I don’t like for things to feel stale so I try to move stuff around occasionally. I actually have shelves and totes of things I like to rotate in sometimes. Again, Frank would find me a willful and annoying client.

Does my house look like a magazine home? Nope. Not a chance. But it’s a happy space to come to and one that I’m pleased to call home. I like the story that it tells about me. At the end of the day, when you come in from the cold in search of solace and warmth, isn’t that all that matters?

Winter Solstice

Posted on by
12

The Winter Solstice is upon us and I say it didn’t arrive a moment too soon. No matter where I go in this world, I’m always in the minority when I say that winter is a special season and one to be savored. 

In my small corner of the world, winter is a quieter time when it comes to activities and events. My southern Ohio community has few events indoors or out. The only places to really congregate are high school basketball games, churches and restaurants. There’s some shopping to be done in neighboring towns but that’s about it. 

And you know something? I’m ok with that. 

Winter in Brandiland is marked by a desire to stay in and be cozy. I live for snowdays, especially when I get to be home and stare out the window. There is nothing better than bundling up to traipse around in the fresh fallen snow while looking for animal prints and things to photograph. Well, nothing better except going inside to warm up over a cup of hot chocolate! 

This year, I’m engaging in a fifty mile winter hike challenge with my fella and his dad who happens to be my very good friend. They’re both outdoorspeople and avid hikers so I will have great company along the trail. They understand what I mean when I just want to breathe in the cold air while touching the bark of a tree. 

The other thing about winter is that it’s the perfect time to stay in and work on hobbies, to catch up on your reading and to clean out that closet that’s been languishing all through the warm months. I call it feathering my nest and it’s the best thing ever. 

So, no. Winter isn’t great for flip flops or yard work but it’s the perfect time to relax and enjoy the coziness of life at home. 

Today is the shortest day of the year. After this, we will see a little more daylight every day as many of you begin to count the days till spring. Wherever you are on this solstice, stay warm, be happy and enjoy this beautiful day!

Christmas Isn’t Merry And Bright For Everyone

Posted on by
16

We think of Christmas as a happy time. It certainly is for most of us, at least in memory. For most people it’s about tradition and sharing gifts and meals with family and friends. For others, though, it’s a bittersweet time of memories of days gone by. It may be a time of longing for people mourning those who have died and it can be downright lonely for someone who doesn’t have people to break bread with during the holidays.

I know many who are struggling for a number of reasons this year and some are near their breaking point.

They’re struggling with the blatant commercialism of the season and with tight budgets caused by inflation They’re struggling with the ever growing sense that enough is never enough because Instagram and Facebook show us all the things we need to do better. They’re struggling because they’re unemployed or because their child is being treated for an unspeakable disease. 

They’re struggling with loss. Whether your loved one left this world this year or twenty years ago, there are some losses you simply don’t move past. Not completely anyway. Grief is something I have written about here before. It’s not a fun topic or anything people really want to discuss but it’s an ever present force in the lives of many that we need to normalize acknowledging. 

After all, if we are lucky to live long enough, the people around us will die. And what is grief? It’s what you feel when someone you care about dies or goes away. You don’t mourn the people you don’t like. Grief is harsh. It makes you wish you could fall apart but you feel obligated to be strong. It makes you feel like you’re supposed to go on and live for the one you lost but you feel guilty for moving on without them. You feel guilty for being happy even when you know deep down that it’s ok.

I know several people who have lost spouses, parents, children, pets and other loved ones just this year. Some will try to smile through the pain while some will just want to hide from it all. Whatever gets them through the season ought to be ok with you too.

Life is hard on a good day and even more so when you feel forced to participate in everyone else’s joy. So respect the people in your lives. If they want to come for Christmas dinner, give ‘em a hug and send them home with a plate of leftovers. If they don’t want to, there’s always next year. Maybe save them a piece of pie anyway.

Unfortunately, life doesn’t come with an instruction book so we all just have to muddle through and hope for the best.

If you are struggling right now, for whatever reason, I wish there was something more useful to say than I’m sorry. That’s all I’ve got. That and a reminder that it will hopefully not always be so hard. It is true what they say. One foot in front of the other, one day at a time, one holiday at a time. Keep going and know that Christmas is just a day. Whether it’s money, or insecurities or loss of people keeping you down, the fate of the holiday doesn’t rest on your shoulders if you choose to limit your participation this year.

I hope you find some light and goodness as we shift into winter and a season of quiet rest before the world’s rejuvenation this spring.

Crispy Cookies And Memories Of Grandma

Posted on by
8

My Grandma Betts was one of the best cooks I’ve ever known. A country cook, she could whip up a meal for a dozen people as long as she had flour, eggs and a cellar packed with mason jars full of veggies from their garden.  She kept a jar of bacon grease on the stove and the freezer was well stocked with meat and basically anything you could possibly want. There was rarely a recipe in sight as she cooked from memory and from instinct. 

My mother likes to talk about how her kitchen was stocked like a grocery store and how easily I could manipulate that sweet lady into getting me whatever I wanted. Anything your heart desired was either available or could be made faster than you could say “Grandma, I want a peanut butter sandwich.”

She was known for her pies and for the Mandarin Orange Cake that I still make for Easter. She once taught me how to make berry pie after I spent the day out picking berries with Grandpa. I was about twelve and badly wish I could remember more of what she showed me. 

It was at her table everyone would gather for homemade noodles, mashed potatoes and pickles she canned herself. It was at this table that she would start talking about the next meal before the dishes were cleared from that meal. It was at this table my aunts and uncles would pass around old black and white photos, telling tall tales and laughing about days gone by. 

I wish I remembered more of that too. 

Grandma was a master pie and cake baker who made sure everyone’s favorite dessert was represented on the holidays. And when my Uncle Randy began bringing home the woman he would eventually marry, we suddenly had fish and macaroni and cheese on the table because Donna is pescatarian and Grandma wanted her to feel welcome. 

For all the oodles of noodles she cut and the dozens of desserts that cooled on her kitchen counter, there was one thing Garnet Betts could not do. She couldn’t make a decent cookie to save her life. 

My dad remembers her making great cookies when he was young but says her skills deteriorated over time.

For a long time I believed she probably could make a better cookie but chose to make them to suit my Grandpa. Her beloved Earl liked his cookies crispy so he could dunk them in his coffee or sometimes in milk. To this day, I remember him sitting at the head of the table with his Fire King mug, dipping those rock hard cookies and smiling. 

Now I wonder if he really liked them that way or if he learned to appreciate them so he wouldn’t hurt her feelings. 

This weekend saw the start of my annual cookie baking project, something I’m reasonably good at when time allows me to slow down and enjoy it. First up Saturday night was a batch of peanut butter cookies, one of the easier cookies you can possibly make. 

And I screwed up nearly all of them.  One sheet came out overbaked and another burned on the bottom. A few were good but it was kind of demoralizing. On Sunday, I made perfect batches of sugar cookies and Pennsylvania Dutch cookies along with a sad batch of chocolate chip. To be fair, one big cookie sheet came out charred beyond recognition because I had a politician knock on my door and I forgot I was even baking. A few turned out ok but most were overdone and are hard. Not burned, just crispy and hard. 

I always think of my grandparents when I bake but they have been prominent in my thoughts since Sunday when I told Adam, the guy I have been dating, about my disastrous adventures in baking that day. 

You know what he said about the chocolate chip cookies? “Save the burned cookies for me. They’re good with oat milk.” 

I immediately stopped feeling bad about my kitchen catastrophes, at least for that day. Friends, I have found a keeper. 

Don’t worry. He’ll get plenty of good cookies too!