A Quick trip to Portland to restock

The sale at the Monticello in Portland is going fabulous. All the venders have done an outstanding job of displaying their holiday treasures. The shopping mob hit and left things a bit scrambled over the weekend. I was able to get away for the day on Tuesday with my favorite 10 year-old, we packed our space full. It was a great day as we spent the rest of the day together. It is our tradition that each kid gets a "special day" with Mom in the weeks before Christmas. They choose what we do and plan out the entire day. Thankfully Caden wanted to visit The Monticello on his day. Worked out well for both of us.

Winter Wonderland at the Monticello

This weekend is the start of the most wonderful Christmas show at the Monticello in Portland. We are doing a small scale area this year due to the duties of owning a store this year. I encourage all of you to stop by if you get up to Portland it is truly wonderful. Besides being the most awesome antique store in Portland, the help there is amazing and I am honored to be part of the show again this year.

A Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. There is so much We have to be Thankful for. I am thankful for my family,our health, and our overabundance that we take for granted in this country. I am also thankful for our Savior as we enter into this holiday season that we celebrate in so many different ways. Have a blessed day as you share it with family and friends.

We are offering a very special Christmas Tea. This will be held Sunday December 6th, starting at 2:00 pm. The store will be closed to the public that day and tables will be nestled in throughout the store. There will be a special seasonal menu and candle light settings. Please make your reservation early as seating will be limited to the amount we can gracefully entertain. The guests are welcome to linger and shop while visiting. price for the tea will be 18.50 per person. Call 541-688-3900 for reservations.

Some new finds

Come celebrate with us!

Yesterday I found a few fun items and thought I'd post some pictures. We'll be bringing in lots of Christmas items in the next few weeks. Be sure and check in soon.
Remember the store will close for a couple days (Nov.10th and 11th,) as we transform it into Christmas wonderland. The Early shopping night begins November 12th at 4:00-8:00. Then the fun begins Friday morning November 13, see you then!

Overwelming response to the wreaths!

Thankyou for the kind comments in response to our car wreck. Its another week and we are all getting back to normal. The injured young man is still in the hospital and we are there for him if he needs us. Our Rosehip weekend has been great and we have had many calls from all over in response to the wreaths. For those of you wondering if we will ship them ~Yes we will!!! We have looked into the shipping and have sent off some already. You may contact the store either by E-mail or by phone. The store # Is 541-688-3900. The shipping amount varies of course as to where you are located but it is somewhere between 10-13.00 $. The price of the wreaths are 32.00. Thanks and if there is any thing else you wonder about in the pictures we post we will ship. Thanks Kathy

This has been a hard week

I believe there is a reason for everything.Tonight I went to the hospital to visit an 18 yearold boy. Earlier this week we were in a horrible car accident. We were driving home from a meeting on the expressway going 55. All the sudden I saw a group of people in the road, there was no way of avoiding it, we hit an 18 yearold homeless person. I was in the passenger seat as he crashed into the windshield hitting into my head. I had a mouthful of glass and glass all over me,and was sure the boy was dead. Miraculously he survived being hit at 55 and is recovering at the hospital. I was shook up but concerned about the other four kids with him. I took them to the hospital to see their friend, it has left me a bit haunted with the sight and although this has been a hectic week I felt I should go and visit the boy and let him know I care and am thankful his life was spared. He was surprised by the visit and very grateful that we cared. I looked at him and thought, he is just a boy and he could be my boy.I am so thankful God chose to let him live and I hope that somehow we can make a difference in his life.

our annual trip to the pumpkin patch

I don't know what it is about going to the pumpkin patch but I love it! I look forward to it every year. It is always a good excuse to take pictures of my kids and I get mighty few of those these days. I love the colors and I guess I am just a fall type of person. As usual it was fun.

Trying to fit in time to create

I'm struggling a bit with finding time to create. The time commitment of owning a store has kind of spooked me. I am still trying to juggle all things ,store,school, life, and find my time to create. I think it is a matter of time and getting use to new responsibilities. Hopefully all with fall into place. The store is going nicely and we have wonderful customers.I'm dreaming up fall things, hoping to fill the store with warm, fall enchantment.

We Found some perfect treasures for the shop!

What a find! While I should have been tending shop Saturday, I left the young helpers in charge and I ran over to a sale.A friend had called and tipped me to a sale that she thought had "that kind of stuff I like", well turned out we got an enormous amount of new old stock restaurant-ware. The beauty of it is, its from the 50's,packed in hay and wonderful colors. I do love it!! I am selling alot and keeping an amount for the store.I've been washing piles of dishes:)

Aarons way of watching the store for a moment

oh to be young

notice the new green trim color

I can hardly believe how the days are flying by. We are busily preparing for the opening of our store. I have spent many hours scrubbing,painting,unpacking boxes and now the actual setup. Yeah we are making progress. In the mean time, I leave the store with my very capable teenagers in charge and I return to see the fiddler on the roof. Oh to be young and stress free :)

A Beautiful wedding

Brides bouquet w/ Grandma( my mom)

Gracie helping set up

We survived the weekend!! We had a beautiful outdoor wedding this last weekend for our oldest daughter Julie. She is a farm girl at heart and keeping that in mind we decorated a lovely outdoor setting with a very country ,farm theme. She looked absolutely stunning in her knee length, brushed silk dress and cowgirl boots. I being not so clever with a camera didn't get many pictures but will share some of the few I took. The photagrapher got some great ones that I will post soon.

A busy week with wedding setup and store preperations

Time to put on our aprons, there's work to be done

treasures ready for the new store

fun finds from the weekend

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This week is a really busy one. We are preparing for our oldest daughters wedding.The wedding will be held outdoors at her in-laws home in the country on Saturday. We are having fun setting up with all the outdoor vintage decor that I have collected for years. I am really pleased that she likes that look also. Makes it really fun to decorate. She is planning on a country style decor., with burlap table coverings,old blue glass jars, lots of flowers,and lots of fun signs from old wood.~
On another note, we are preparing display items and getting lots of fun vintage pcs ready for the big move into the new store.We will be moving out of the Monticello August 30th :( and into the new store as soon as the paint dries :)

A new shop Blog!

New business cards

Well I am really at the" I'm not sure what to do next stage". There are so many things I need to get done before opening the new store and its hard to decide if it should be painting, moving items, planning out details, pricing goods,etc. , to many choices and to little time. One thing was decided and that is that the shop should have its own separate blog. This blog will be used for shop updates , open houses, special shopping times and general information.The Colbycottage store blog will give store hours and a schedule of tea times available. Of course we will begin with sneak previews of some of the items you will find at the store.

Setting up the Garden area

We have been busily working in the courtyard of the new store. It has really been fun and we are seeing it change before our eyes. The House is wonderful and full of character. We will do some painting inside after the venders move everything out. For now we are doing yard work and preparing a cozy place to enjoy coffee or tea with friends or maybe a tea party- shower, or group meeting . I am also learning how to make and serve various tea menus along with all the other things that go along with running a new business. We are shooting for opening the middle of September. Hope to see many of you soon.

An unbelievable opportunity comes along!

Maya says Go for it Grandma!

I can hardly believe all that has happened in one week. We are doing something that I always said I'd never do.( run a store) Yes that's right, for those of you that know me, we are actually starting a totally new venture. Last week we had an entirely different venture in mind and I seriously prayed for the doors to either open or shut, well they clearly closed and I was a bit disappointed, hardly knowing that an entirely different situation would come along the next day. Wow what a week! We have been given an opportunity to open our own store /Tea house by a wonderful lady who is closing down her successful antique shop. We will be setting up a cottage garden in the back to host Tea parties, showers,etc. We will be filling the historical house to the brim with Antiques , home and garden decor, and various other treasures. We are also adding a coffee bistro and will cater to all customers whether it be High Tea or Mochas that they'd like. We have lots to do as the goal is to open by the middle of September.