A Day in Bishop Hill

We went out to get groceries Saturday and did what we often do, which is ditch the errands and head out on the open highway.  Bishop Hill on a sunny day sounds wonderful, so off we went even though I didn't have a map with me.  Mistake.  I tried to write down the directions from my daughters phone (yes, I am as antique as my merchandise, I do not have a smart phone and rely on my kids at times like these)--now I must explain that she does have a smart phone, but with limited data, so I couldn't just keep the screen up.  Directions to Bishop Hill go something like this:  turn right, go 3 ft, turn left, back track, go 3 miles turn right, go 6 miles, turn left, spin around, close your eyes, make one thousand more turns and just know you are lost.  I stopped at a gas station to ask for help and this actually happened.  The young clerk said she grew up in Bishop Hill but couldn't remember how to get there.  Fortunately, an older woman overheard and told us to just get back on the highway and keep going until we saw the sign pointing us to Bishop Hill.  I'll be damned if it didn't work.

By that time, it was 3:30 in the afternoon, and I know Sweet Annie's usually closes at 4.  We hadn't had lunch, and it was getting ugly.  Finally we found the town and SURPRISE!  Antique show!  It was about over, but the dealers were happy to stay and let us shop, wonderful prims helped my mood immensely.

I do adore Bishop Hill, but there is not a thing to eat once the bakery closes, and we were still hangry.  We decided to stop at a casino to eat, thinking the fancy steak restaurant would be just the thing.  Of course, they told us it would be a one hour wait, and we ended up having BLT's in the cafe.  James won $10 from a slot machine, and that was that.  

In the Cupboard

I've had two little stepback cupboards tucked away in the attic awaiting a place to display them.  I got them out and had fun using them as photo props--everything looks better in blue.

Christmas, Whether You are Ready or Not

I'm just skipping Halloween this year and heading straight to Christmas.  I FINALLY finished some papier mache Santas that have been sitting in a basket half done for 2 years.  I also found some mashers stowed away in the garage and gave them the red treatment.  My forest of hemlock pines that line the side yard is very handy for having year round pine boughs for my photos, by the way.

Refreshing the Interior of the Clarinda House

The endless work goes on trying to finish all the projects in the Clarinda house so it can finally go up for sale.  I painted the parlor (blue of course) and the kitchen this weekend.  Earlier, we painted the entry and upstairs hallway and the big room upstairs that we had used as a living room, but are staging it as a bedroom--originally this was a bedroom with a nursery nook, I will do photos when it is clean!  Here is the kitchen, though, ready for sale!

We put in the big window, the cupboards are cherry--I love the double oven and center aisle cooktop.

The one thing I am really sad about leaving behind are the light fixtures--these are so pretty~!  I am also going to miss the tin ceiling and my bunny wallpaper.

Victorian Redux

I can now re-visit the horrifying two weeks of work in Clarinda.  

This is how most of the house looked when we arrived, very weathered and shabby looking.

Worse yet is the back of the house, which wasn't even painted ten years ago.

Now you see progress.  Thanks to the lift, my husband could get at the 40 foot tall peaks.  I don't do heights, so I got to do all the fussy spindle work on the porches.

At least the front is done!