Waynesville, "The Most Haunted Town in Ohio"

Well it is that time again, fall is here and nothing quite captures the spirit of the season quite like, well, spirits. (The ethereal kind, though the liquid certainly helps to warm you up to the subject too.) A little cider or ale or some cocoa as the nights turn cooler, a fire and some spooky tales shared with friends after the sun has set is a popular tradition for this season. And let me assure you, here in Waynesville, we have plenty of tales to tell.

Our town is known as the "Most Haunted Town in Ohio" thanks to the Haunted Ohio Books and for good reason. Our shop alone is well known for three different permanent inhabitants: Louisa Stetson, her brother the hatmaker John and a school teacher named Lilla. In fact there is even a picture of one of our co-inhabitants online: http://www.ohioexploration.com/orphanFrame.htm?http://www.ohioexploration.com/stories.htm This was taken a number of years ago.

While we personally haven't had too many stories to tell (this might have something to do with me and mom saying over and over "Please don't let me see anything, Please don't pop out at me!" Though we have had some little things happen like lights coming on or off and hearing sounds like someone browsing in the back room. However, there are many others who have had experiences and a great way to hear about them, as well as the stories of many of our other ghosts is on the "Ghostly History Walking Tours" offered by the Museum at the Friends Home. There are two tours. There is a tour of the historic downtown and then there is a tour also of the National Register's Quaker Hill Area, which I believe includes the museum.

Starting a couple of years ago, you can also now start the tour with dinner at the historic and haunted Hammel House restaurant. (I can attest both to the ghosts and the delectably yummy foods there.) Tours are offered Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings in October, except for the week of the Sauerkraut Festival starting around 7:30. You can also schedule tours for groups of 10 or more April through November. You can get more information and make reservations by calling the MFH at 1-513-897-1607 or by visiting their website at www.friendshomemuseum.com All of the proceeds go to a good cause supporting the museum of local Quaker history.

We went as a family a few years back (unfortunately before the dinners were added) with some family friends and it was a blast. I also believe that an effort is being made to make this friendlier to children too, but it might be a good idea to inquire about suggested ages because some children are more sensitive to nightmares than others.

Stop by and have some spooky fun!
Kerry

Second Sunday Stroll Artisan Profile: Julie Crusenberry

Well September's Second Sunday Stroll really turned out to be quite a day! First of all we were thrilled that our friend, Julie Crusenberry of Steph's Jewels, was able to settle herself in on our porch as our artist. Julie and her daughter Stephanie are another mother daughter team and we are just thrilled that we are getting to be such good friends with Julie...truly she is a person of bliss for us. We also want to send our congratulations to her daughter for making Julie a grandma to the cutest little baby girl! We met up for breakfast and had a blast admiring pictures of this little sweetie before opening up.

They are both very talented in creating unique and just fabulous jewelry using vintage components and Julie in particular has just such a gift for artistically arranging displays. In fact, she has been kind enough to fill in for us before and we can never wait to see what she has done with our shop!

I took a few pictures of her displays on the porch, and good thing that I did because it wasn't too long before she had to move inside thanks to Ike.

























Who knew you could have hurricanes in Ohio? I sure didn't! Main St. in Waynesville can be quite the wind tunnel and well, it isn't that unusual to lose power in the historic buildings so we just sat and chatted inside, while my dad and brother did some work on the clapboard on the side of the building totally oblivious to the true extent of what was going on.

The menfolk left before us and called to say some trees were down and power was out back home too but it wasn't till we drove home ourselves we got a real understanding of the power of this storm. A roof had blown off and into another storefront up the street, trees were down all over and the water tower had sprouted a leak at the top akin to Old Faithful.

At home we were out of power (though we were very lucky, it came on in the middle of the night that night) but trees and limbs were down all over our neighborhood. The neighbors behind us had watched a tree come down across both of their vehicles in their driveway. Two other neighbors are still without power because a tree was uprooted and brought the power lines down with it. All in all thhings are much better now and getting back to normal, but that storm was just something else!
Kerry

p.s. If you see something you love, Steph's Jewels consigns with us and we actually do have some of these pieces in our shop, and if we don't have it we can definitely put you in touch with Julie.

Pumpkins, witches and bats oh my!

Now that fall is here, we've started putting some of our fall and halloween merchandise out. No bloody rats or yucky shrunken heads for us! Eww! Nope, we've got a bunch of cute little ornaments and elegant pumpkins...the softer, gentler side of halloween thank you very much.
Kerry









Aren't these vintage metal children's chairs adorable?

Red, White, and Retro

While down in Florida we found some more great pieces of vintage red and white kitchenware and I thought I would share them with you as well as a few of the other red and white items that we've found. This is such an easy, fun, not to mention rather dramatic decorating scheme. No wonder it has been such an enduring classic. Now I must admit that my personal preference runs more towards the pink and floral end of the cottage style (someday I will have my pink Kitchen-Aid mixer!) I can't help but ooh and ahhh over those fun, fruity red and white kitchens. Seriously though who wouldn't love all of this kitsch?



Here is a gorgeous vintage Bromwell flour sifter with apples that we brought back, along with the red handled knife sharperner and the corer.



These are a pair of fun vintage fruity towels. They are just in such great condition, they haven't lost any of their vibrancy!




And here is a sampling of what the collective effect can be!

Kerry

Best wishes for Wedded Bliss!

Well, it is officially fall now. Labor day has come and gone and I slept through most of it. My best friend, Alicia, was married on the Friday of Labor Day weekend and with all of the those things that that involved, I was one very tired girl the rest of the weekend. I had a wonderful time celebrating with her, her friends and family; especially getting to know some of the other ladies in her family. I must admit that it is hard to think of the girl that moved in next door in the middle of middle school, who has proved to be such a kind and sweet kindred spirit, is married now! Where did all that time go?

The ceremony was held outside at a local historic homestead in the gazebo and her mother outdid herself (as did her assistants) with all the hundreds of tiny little details to make this day as special as possible. My friend made a lovely bride and despite forecasts of rain, the day was beautiful too, even staying rather cool during the ceremony itself. The food was quite yummy too!

All in all I think it was a rather perfect day and I hope that when my dear, dear friend looks back on this day she will agree. I hope that she and her new husband are having a fabulous time on their honeymoon and will continually have blessings heaped upon them throughout their future years.

I hope that my cousin's wedding this Saturday (also an outdoor wedding) will go as beautifully for her and hopefully be a little cooler than it is right now!
Kerry

Florida's Buried Treasures

Here are some of the goodies that we picked up while down in Florida for the shop...



Isn't this a darling set of vintage "Made in Japan" teacups? There are five of them, one is hiding behind the flowers. I just love how delicate the pattern is with the pink roses and the blue border. I think that they look lovely with this tablecloth that we already had in the shop.



This is from the same estate as the teacups and it is definitely one of my favorite finds...a beautiful set of 5 berry bowls, serving bowl and matching tea service. They are German and have the daintiest pink and blue floral pattern. I personally think that the bowls are the perfect size too; for all of us who are trying to "reduce" or just be healthier they are a pretty way to go for smaller portions.





These are two great framed vintage magazine advertisements that we also picked up!