Bees

Here are our contractors working to remove the rotted windows in the new classroom/workshop.  These are going to be replaced with big six foot windows, as it appears that is what was there originally and we love lots of light!

So much light!  I'm thinking this would make a great yoga space too!

Then they started working on the second window.  And there was buzzing - then more buzzing.  Then Tim came in and said I think there is a beehive in there!  You see that whole panel on the left?  Yep - that's a bee hive - and there's some of it on the right too.

One of the guys knew a bee guy (apiarist, beekeeper) and he came and gently took the bees to their new home.  Honey was distributed - sticky work.  I kept some of the honeycomb and made a mold of it - I'll show you the necklace I made from the mold later!  I love bees - they keep our world going.  I have so many bee items in the store - check out The Bees of Summer collection if you love bees too!

Arkansas Bead Retreat

If you ever want to meet a great group of women, then attend the Arkansas Bead Retreat!  Every single one of these women (and men!) is remarkable!

And they are all so patient and will show you all kinds of ways to make jewelry!

The amazing Ida, the lady on the right, does an awesome bead retreat in Shreveport twice a year.  I love having Stifft Station Gifts, but I do miss going to these bead retreats every year!

The Deck

This is so ugly!  It's basically an old, metal industrial loading ramp.  The litle black dog hates to walk on it because her little toes get caught in the grate.  And can you imagine trying to walk on it in high heels?!

These stairs have a tread that would fit a munchkin - they are tiny and useless.  Also, no one really wants to gaze at the beautiful air conditioning unit as they come into the back entrance of the store, now do they?!

Amazing, huh?!  Stefan Vickery, of Vickery Construction, and his guys did this.  They did most of the work on the store and they are great!

I have a pretty little railing, and room for the A/C to breathe.  I can even stand over it and pretend I'm Marilyn Monroe!  That would make a great photo shoot!

Here's another view.

And another view.

And nice new, wide stairs for normal sized feet!

Then I painted it chocolate brown.  That's right, I painted it.  By hand.  With a Brush.  It took a long time.  But doesn't it look good?!

The little black dog is so thankful we have a nice deck for her to walk on now.  Here she is sitting in the sun, watching all the nice people go into The Oyster Bar for lunch and smelling the yummy smells.  I'm very happy with my deck, folks!

Sprouts

Here are my sprouts!  And my brand new mucking boots!  We live in the middle of the city, but next to a huge stretch of woods, so boots are a necessity due to copperheads and such.  But see all the little babies?!  It's so fun to grow them yourself and if you get F1 Hybrid seeds lots of them will reseed each year.  And the herbs, like basil and cilantro, already have their yummy smells when they are only a couple of inches tall.  I find it fascinating - yes, I am a plant nerd as well as many other varieties of nerd........

Buh Bye Ugly Bathroom.......

This bathroom is so pretty now, but let me tell it was not always like that.  Here is the proof!  Ick!  It was terrible!