Long Live Schwinn!

It has its spokes, it has its wheels, it has its frame, it has its handlebars and it has a really comfy seat but like many items that pass through my shop, all of these parts don’t seem to be working well together.  

I’m talking about The Schwinn!!  You may have spied this bike playing a supporting role in some of my Friday note photos.

This month, Martha Stewart did a piece about our newfound love affair with these old fashioned commuter bicycles.  My folks just returned from one of their jaunts down to Sun Valley, Idaho and they reported that these bikes are all the rage, hanging out on the designer racks of all the cool bistros.

BUT,  once again, like all things that find their way to my shop this bike kind of falls into a category of it’s own. It is not new enough to be a “new” vintage bike and it is not old enough to be an authentic vintage bike.  The quality it has is its potential!

When this bike falls into the hands of a loving bike person who can re-unite its parts, add a bolt here and a lug there to sturdy up its stature, pump up its tires, and put a dab of WD40 in places where WD40 lives ... well, then you’ll have something special.  You’ll have a flashy - like new Cruiser with the look and feel of a bicycle that has been long loved!

The good news ... it won’t take much to bring this ole girl to life and there are plenty of cruiser miles left in the summer!  

Dog Days!

Well would you look what the cats just drug in ....  Looks like the dog days of summer have just arrived!

I got curious enough to Wikipedia the event to figure out exactly what’s up with these so called “dog days”.  Here’s the cliff notes...

It’s mostly about the star, Sirius (Orions’ dog), and it typically happens in mid-July to late August in our part of the world.

For the Egyptians, it was a happy thing.  The rising of Sirius was used as kind of a weather indicator for the upcoming year. Since the rising of Sirius coincided with the hot sultry days of summer, the Egyptians coined the saying ...  “Dog Days bright and clear indicate a happy year,  but when accompanied by rain, for better times our hopes are vain".

The Romans also believed Sirius to be something of weather indicator, but they blamed the dog star for the hot sultry weather and took a more aggressive approach to appeasing the rage of Sirius. They sacrificed a brown dog at the beginning of Dog Days.

                                                    Yikes!!!

To bring it a little closer to home, I interviewed Duncan and his friend Tim(ber),  to see what modern Dog Days means.  It seems to them that it signifies a time lie around the shop parked in front of a nice cool fan,  have picnic lunches with friends and stay away from the Romans for a good long spell - or at least until the temperature drops.

If you agree with their approach - I have lots of fun furniture to lounge away the days on, I have a couple of cute vintage picnic baskets to pack up and take to the park, and my shop is a safe haven from the bad guys!

Sustainable wedding gifts!

Has everyone heard the weather report for this weekend!  FINALLY!  It’s time to throw open the windows, flip on the fan, slather ourselves with bug spray and settle in for a little summer fun ...

Speaking of Summer fun ... July and August represent wedding season in Missoula. Really, ...  what’s more fun than weddings?

What I’m leading up to here is this ....  A simple reminder ...

For those of you lucky enough to find yourselves on this year’s wedding guest list circuit, I have TONS of super fun, unique, one of a kind wedding gift possibilities.   Also, if you are the politically correct  bride and groom considering a “green” wedding, I am happy to offer a bridal registry department.

Here is the manager of my bridal registry department showing off one of his favorite wedding gift possibilities ... a wedding cake cookie jar.  It can be used a number of different times, for a number of different purposes (Duncan suggests milk bones - go figure), it is sustainable, memorable and best of all ... the frosting will NEVER melt!

Happy 4th of July!!

This week I dedicate my Friday Note to two things ... objects ... oh .. whatever ...

1) A new roll around kitchen cart - who is doing everything it can find a home to be helpful in for the upcoming holiday.

2) Duncan and his dog friends - who are doing everything they can to be miserable and pathetic for the upcoming holiday.

Let’s start in a happy place with the kitchen cart.  Take a look at this little gem that just rolled back into my shop.  It’s been out to the folks’ place for a little TLC and when it rolled back into Echo this week, it looked fresh, clean, revived, renewed and ready for work!  It is solid wood construction with a sleek copper towel rack, super fast five point wrap around casters (from Home Depot!) and a “Good Stuff” finish!

It is hankering to find a new home where it can join in the holiday festivities ... like flying over here to cut up the watermelon, flying over there to pat out the hamburgers, holding a glass of wine and at the end of the meal, displaying the holiday cupcakes.

Now let’s talk about our furry friends.  From what I can gather, they aren’t exactly tickled about this holiday.  Duncan has spent the past week grumping around, hiding under beds, and watching TV instead in the safety of his home instead of going for his beloved  walks.  I’m guessing that most of his friends are kind of doing the same.  My only advise here is to leave it up to them just how and where they want to be helpful and involved and maybe ... a little extra milk bone or two will cheer them up a bit!