Update on Jack

Well, July flew by and drug me with it whimpering and whining.  We had lots of grand plans but how does that saying go? -- "Life's what happens when you're making other plans.".  Never truer than here, my friends.

When I last left you on the cliff hanger (moving into the store on Main Street), it was the final week of June.  Bob & Sandy were here and so was summer.  We emptied the two trailers and 1.5 storage rooms, and felt pretty damn good about ourselves.  We were looking forward to having a 3 day weekend over July 4th and getting tons done.  So much for planning.  Roger's Mom went into the hospital on July 4th with a mysterious debilitating ailment, then on the 6th was transferred to ICU.  On the 7th, the hospital called Roger and asked what her resuscitation orders were.  Her kidneys were shutting down, one lung had collapsed and her heart was working at 35%.  It was time to call the family.  Connie (sister) and her family had come down and Rick (big bro) & Janet flew in from New Orleans (they brought funeral attire).  We were praying she would hold on until Rick got here.

Well, she did hold on and started gaining ground slowly.  Cutting to the chase - she was released from the hospital into a rehab facility somewhere around the 12th.  She was not yet able to stand (hence the rehab) but her prognosis was good.  At this posting, she's still in rehab but is scheduled to be released this Wednesday the 28th to go home.  Trust me - I don't think they could have kept her one more day.  She's going stir crazy.  But she's a new woman.

So - I guess I told you that to tell you this.  July is gone but August is a brand new month.  We moved the tentative open date for The Jack of Arts back to late September, but no firm date yet.  We have a giant amount of stuff to do before then.

Hunnyman has had a grand time building our first commission windows (Dave's) in the new place.  It's a perfect set-up (if I didn't tell you that in the previous posting) as it has a nice sized cave-like room in the back that seems to be made for a production studio.  HM is one happy camper.  We have a Facebook page "The Jack of Arts" with a few photos.  We already have our second stained glass commission on order.  OK - it's Dave's Dad, but it's Safford; everyone is related.

When Farmhouse Arts is a thriving enterprise, it's really wonderful to know that we will have an established retail outlet for all its' artistic by-products.

As I've said before, this isn't exactly the way I thought things would go with Farmhouse Arts but since I generally trust this sort of thing to the Universe, I'll just hold on and follow where I'm led.  Timing has actually worked out perfectly.  So even though July flew by, I guess that was how it was supposed to go.

I have the floor plan layout done and all taped off at the store and that helps me visualize.  'Cuz I'm that sort of gal -- visual, you know?  The store is about 18' wide and about 80' deep, not including the production room, which is about 20' deep.  So when I drew the floor plan, Roger took one look at it and thought we may just want to go ahead and put some bowling lanes in.  No worries - everything fits.  We have a bunch of old metal sash windows out at the farm that Roger scrounged from some lady in Globe.  We're going to use them to build my office.  It's right smack in the middle of the store.  But it's glass.  So, no throwing rocks, OK?  Lots of pretty things to look at will take the bowling alley visual down a notch, I'm thinkin'.

As you enter the store, the front area is tiled for about 15 feet and the rest is commercial carpet.  I would have rather had nice cement to work with but the carpet is fairly new and newly glued.  The consignment stuff will mostly be in the tiled area.  The glass supplies will be in the back of the store and the fabric will be in the middle (be still my heart).  Bet you didn't know there would be fabric, right?  Not a lot, and not right away but it will be the good stuff, you can bet.  This is my inspiration for the fabric shelving.  For you glass folks - it's not a quilting store, rest assured.  It is all my loves under one roof, though.  I believe I'm in good company on this one.

There actually won't be a lot of glass to start either.  After all, we need to test the retail waters in this little burg.  We will have small classes and really encourage anyone that reads this (because I know you all) that if you have something you'd like to consign, please let me know.  I'm focusing on hand made items, but I'm pretty sure we will have a red metal flake vintage Pearl drum kit (double bass pedal) and some quirky furniture pieces on consignment, too.  So - obviously we are keeping our options open, so check your storage areas.  Quilters - any quilts you made that you're just not in love with?   Send them my way.


I will be better about posting what's happening at Jack's place complete with photos.  Not much at the Farmhouse right now - except there's not so much junk in the store rooms.  Yay! We're staying focused on Jack but we are out at the farm lots.  We're currently enjoying some great monsoons so God is doing my watering.

Baby Logan (most current approved name for #3) should be here on October 5th.  All activities will be scheduled accordingly, FYI.  You all have a nice day now, 'Ya hear?