Thursday Thankfulness and Friday Foto Friends

 I know you all must think I dropped off the face of the earth this week!  I feel like I've been somewhere else, that's for sure! I haven't been at home very much, but it's all good!  First of all, thank you all for your kind comments and blessings shared in my previous post HERE on Monday.  That seems so long ago now!  Thank the good Lord I have been feeling fine ever since, and He has given me energy and joy in staying very busy all week long.  You ask why I am so busy? Well, if you have to ask, you probably haven't been reading many of my previous posts.  This is the week that our kids are busily preparing for the grand opening of their new location of Dixie Cottage, which will be next Tuesday, "Lord willing and the creek don't rise!"

If you did read my last post, then you saw pictures of how the inside of the store looked after everything was unloaded last weekend.  Everything was pretty topsy turvy and totally without order and a bit confusing.  Of course I was out of commission on Monday and so was my hubby since he had to stay with me, but on Tuesday we hit the ground running to go over and help out in anyway we could to help get things in order...

And so here are the pictures I took tonight after the past several days of hard labor between us and our kids and today another friend showed up to lend a hand:

It is actually starting to take shape and make sense!  It took the first couple of days just to get the furniture arranged in place so we could even begin to think about putting out the decor and other items...but even still as of tonight there is still a lot of work waiting to be done.  My hubby and our son Ben have been pushing and pulling and lifting furniture back and forth all week long to get things in just the right place.  Even we ladies got in on the act as we were able.  I mostly like to be the "eyeball" person who tells them which way to move this way or that.  Sometimes after all the careful "eyeballing" it still doesn't work and we have to go back and rearrange it again...yes it is very tiring work.

Some pieces of furniture have had to be touched up and minor repairs made from the effects of moving, so that also has slowed us down a bit.

Do you see all those jars of paint on those shelves above?  That was primarily my first job on Tuesday, to find all the boxes that had paint in them and get them on the shelves in the proper order. My sweet DIL Rose gave me directions as to how they wanted them on the shelves, and so that was my primary occupation for the first day.  They are dealers for both Fusion Mineral Paints and Dixie Belle Chalk Paints, which are both very popular types of paint for painting furniture and other craft projects.

Today Rose and her friend Donna worked tirelessly (well,  they did get tired, and then Rose had to go to her other job at Home Depot for the rest of the day, bless her heart) setting up the stock/storage room. That was a tough job, but they already have it well organized and looking good.

Little by little we are finding things and trying to find places to put everything. This store is much smaller in square footage than the one they had in St. Augustine, and so we are having to be very creative about how we can display items for sale, and we also have to be choosy about what needs to go out first and what can wait.

But little by little it is coming together believe it or not.  

Tomorrow we will be setting out more stuff and also putting things up on walls wherever we can.

They also got the go ahead from the state food and beverage department to serve coffee, which is a new idea for this store. They will feature different brands of gourmet coffees and will sell it by the cup and/or by the bag. Not a cafe', but just have some coffee while you shop, and if you like it you can buy some to take home! I don't know the names yet of the brands, and since I am not a coffee drinker, I probably won't be getting too excited about that aspect of the business! However, I believe I've been told that they will also offer some selections of teas just for me! LOL.  

So here we are working on getting our coffee station set up and ready for action. No that is not fresh fruit. We can't sell that w/o a license. LOL.

Oh, here is the new sign that has to go outside on the front of the building. We are waiting on the final coat of paint to be put on before we can hang the sign. 

Another new feature of this store is that they will be having several different vendors with their individual booths.  Little by little they are being set up. The space is pretty limited, so we will only have about five or six different booths, but so far the items are pretty interesting.

This one is just getting started and has a lot more stuff to bring in.

One lady was a florist for many years and now is retired but enjoys making silk wreaths and other floral arrangements, so here is her booth:

She does very nice work...

And this lady is probably going to be my favorite vendor...she makes bird feeders and bird baths, etc., out of vintage glassware:

I've already got my eye on several items for my "secret Memorial Garden" and/or Butterfly garden.

Isn't this bird bath absolutely gorgeous?  

And right next to her is this other lady who does beautiful stained glass items:

I think I know where I will be doing some Christmas shopping this year!

So as you can see we have been very busy this week, and it's not over yet. There's still tomorrow and Saturday and Monday before the grand opening on Tuesday. Yes, we do plan to be sure and take Sunday off from our labors and have a day of worship and rest.

Genesis 2:2-3

"2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 

3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made."

I know I will be very ready to relax and rest that day after Sunday School and Church.  I haven't worked this hard in a long time...probably since we moved into this house 3 years ago!  I am thankful that God created the Sabbath day for us to rest from our labors. 

And so you may not hear from me too much again for a few days.  I've been coming home pretty tired each day and ready for a shower and early bedtime after supper.  But we are thankful and happy that things are going well and we are praying that God will bless this little business venture for our kids and that the store will be a blessing to our community. Thank you all for your kind thoughts and prayers and well-wishes!! I'll be back as soon as I can, hopefully with more pictures of the finished product!  Good night everyone, and Thank You, Jesus!