Category: the carriage house.

Last summer I painted several different items like this.

Let it snow.  On a sled, a suitcase, a chalkboard.  I don’t know what I was thinking.  You know what they say, be careful what you wish for.

Now my Carriage House looks like this.

According to Paul Douglas at Kare 11, we have gotten 57″ of snow so far this winter and about 24″ remain on the ground.  Looks like more to me, but he’s talking official measurements.  I prefer to go with 5 or 6 feet on the ground, which is what it feels like.

The lovely shabby park bench that I left out last fall, thinking it would be cute for winter decorating, is completely buried.  There is a fab vintage watering can and a rusty old street sign for “Fountain Ave” under there somewhere.

But, I am counting my blessings.  I have the most amazing neighbors, Ken on one side, Karen across the street.  They come over and snow blow my driveway every time.  Just because they are those kind of people.  The kind that help the neighbors out of the goodness of their hearts.  Really, I am lucky to have these people in my life.

So, I can just admire the amazing beauty of winter until my nose gets too cold, and then go inside and start painting more furniture.  And on that note, I must return to the dresser that I’m trying to paint in MMS Trophy and getting bleed thru from the orange stain.  I’m going to try Miss Mustard Seed’s method of applying a little wax and trying again.  Wish me luck!

Usually about this time of year I start to dream of summer.  Going to garage sales.  Finding fabulous things for a dollar.  Eating bad hot dogs and delicious baked goods.  Exploring Minneapolis neighborhoods with amazing older homes.

For those of you who don’t already know this, I hold an occasional sale out of my carriage house twice a year, in June and October.  I have been doing this for a long time with my friend Sue, and recently Jeanne has joined in as well.  We stock the sale with a combination of our garage sale finds and upcycled items we have created.  A ‘curated garage sale’ is a good way to describe it.  Or perhaps a poor man’s Junk Bonanza.  You don’t have to pay to get in, and our prices are way lower.

It’s not fancy.  I have so far refused to invest in any sort of improvements or permanent sale fixtures in the carriage house.  Except for the $5 cubby hole unit I bought at a garage sale.

I haven’t even invested in tents because my really fabulous neighbor will loan them to me (I am putting this in here in an attempt to sweet talk her into continuing this valuable service because I know she reads my blog.  Thanks nnK, really appreciate the use of the tents!).

In fact, most of the time the carriage house is a hot mess.  Full of projects in progress, paint everywhere, dust coating everything.

 I try to clear away cobwebs and sweep out most of the mess for the sale, but honestly, I’m not sure if anyone even notices.  They are too busy looking at the goods!  And we definitely have the goods!

But just now, in January, all of that seems so very far away.  As does green grass.  And outdoor picture taking.

I keep telling myself that summer will be here before I know it.  And in the meantime,  I have plenty of time to write my blog and paint furniture.