a trip to the winery and a sneak peek.

Published on by Quandie

winery title

This past Saturday was absolutely gorgeous here in Minnesota.  Blue, blue sky with plenty of sunshine and a high in the 70’s.

winery sign

Mr. Q, my sister Debbie and my niece Kristine and I decided to take a short road trip into Wisconsin for the Chateau St. Croix Winery’s Fall Harvest Festival.

winery group

Chateau St. Croix Winery is located in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin in the most bucolic of settings.  You drive through the tiny town and then out into the countryside with farms on either side, so it’s a little bit comical when you pull into the winery and see the ‘faux chateau’ and all of their statuary.  It kind of sticks out like a sore thumb.

winery lion

But they sure do have some tasty wine.  I really liked the Wild River Rose and the Chateau Rouge.  My favorite was a port though.  The Jaune d’Or Port, a golden port aged in French oak caskets.  They suggest serving it with creme brulee.  My favorite dessert.  Yum.

winery selfie

Hey, wait a minute, why am I the only one with a glass in my hand?

Well, it goes without saying that when I’m off sampling wine on a beautiful Saturday, that means I’m not in the workshop.  So I have no more finished projects to share with you today.  And furthermore, I have plans both days this coming weekend, so again, not much time for painting.  However, here is a sneak peek of upcoming features.

First, I’m working on a giant hutch.  I’ve been working on this one for several weeks now.  It’s been a bear to paint!  But it’s almost done, hopefully I’ll be able to share the finished product soon.

hutch before

Next, I just brought home two fabulous tables.  A farmhouse table with leaves that will get a simple makeover.

farm table 1 before

And a possum belly table that needs just a little work, well OK, a bunch of work.  Thank goodness for Ken.

possum belly table before

And finally, I have a mid-century coffee table that will be a fun makeover.  I think the cane inserts have to go.  Once they are gone, I have a great idea for a paint job.

mcm coffee table before

Stay tuned!

18 thoughts on “a trip to the winery and a sneak peek.”

  1. We are fortunate here in Wi to have so many winerys. This time of year a favorite of mine is the Honey Crisp Hard Cider from the Maiden Rock Winery. Can’t wait to see how the mid century coffee table is transformed..

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  2. This exhilarating fall weather is the time to have fun outside! You and Diane have given us a couple fun ideas for these beautiful days that will help us bank some “inner sunshine” for the cold and dreary months ahead. Love the teasers and look forward to their transformations.

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  3. Hi Linda– I tried to look for your email but couldn’t find it on here so I figured I would just leave a comment. I went to Mahtomedi and through our trainer, Karen, I heard about one of your sales. I came with my mom and purchased one of the “three amigos” dressers, amongst many other awesome items. Anyway, I found your stuff to be some of the highest quality and most affordable I’ve ever purchased, so thank you! I live in Chicago now and will be in MN from Friday to Tuesday, so I was wondering if there’s any way I could look at some of your items that are for sale? All of your work is so beautiful! Thanks, Taylor

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    1. Hi Taylor! Of course I remember you and the dresser. The one you bought was really lovely! I’ll send you an email with details on furniture I have available at the moment and we can go from there!

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  4. Looks like a fun time was had by all. You really have a full painting plate ahead of you. Cannot wait to see what you are doing with the hutch. Picked the AS graphite
    on Wednesday with some of her wax. Got back from a client appointment yesterday and my masterbath cabinets were graphite. My husband wanted to try it out before he used it on the clients piece. He was very impressed. We also purchased another brand a the “5 and dime” – Americana Decor – just to compare the two. Are you familiar with it?

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    1. I am familiar with the Americana Decor. I believe that is the brand they are selling at Home Depot. I used it when painting the Humpty Dumpty. I mixed it with some other chalk paints for that piece. To be honest, I don’t find a huge difference between the various chalk paints. The Cece Caldwell is quite a bit thicker and I usually add a bit of water to that one, which makes it go further for the money. The Annie Sloan might be a little thicker than the Americana, I don’t really remember. But for me personally, I really just choose my chalk paint based on color and convenience. Let me know how you think the two brands compare though Victoria.

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    1. Thanks Darrielle. I’m starting to feel the pressure of winter coming on. I will only have a few more weeks of outdoor painting at most here in Minnesota, so I better get crackin’ on these projects!

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  6. While you were out enjoying this great Minnesota weather, I was painting my banister, railings, and whatever other parts are involved. Unfortunately, I painted the bottom parts and top parts first in black, and then moved on to the white spindles. Then I went back and touched up the black. Then I went back to touch up the white again. What color am I on today? It is a never ending cycle of painting and touching up. I hate this project.

    I can’t wait to see that hutch. Where do you sell your big items?

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    1. LOL! If you look far enough back on my blog (it’s way, way back there), you’ll find that I have my own stairway painting project that I have been putting off for a long time! Your comment reminds me why I keep putting it off 😉 As for big items, I don’t paint too many really large pieces unless I’m keeping them. To be honest, they aren’t usually worth the amount of time and effort that goes into them. I could probably have painted three dressers in the time it’s taking me to paint this one hutch. And I definitely can’t ask 3x as much for it! As far as where I’ll sell it, I haven’t thought that far ahead. Of course, I always hope my pieces will sell to someone who reads the blog first. If that doesn’t happen it will either end up on craigslist or at one of the shops I sell at.

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      1. I think when you decide what it is that makes your heart sing for those stairs you will attack it as you do everything else. I love the # steps but you already have # doors. I do look forward to this reveal. And then there’s that the bedrooms are upstairs thing you have to deal with been there done this. Of course you just have to do the every other step until it dries but it’s truly a pain to deal with.

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      2. I don’t mean to further encourage you to procrastinate on those stairs, but since I am feeling whiny today, I will tell you that for the past two weeks I have had an incredibly sore neck from painting these darn stairs, trying to contort myself to get at places that I can’t reach. I told my husband that these railings are going to be the death of me, to which he answered that my perfectionism is what is going to kill me. He has a point.

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