My New Year’s resolution for 2009 is to invest in creativity in all its forms.  I’ve got spring fever already (or maybe I’m just nesting) but I am anxious to reorganize and get a handle on everything - the house, the shop, the finances, our lifestyle…

Our Little Family

In a homage to Tasha Tudor, we are learning to live a more simple way of life.  With the unfortunate repercussions of the economy, we have quickly come to understand what matters most in life and how to make the most of what we have.  I used to think that I followed a budget but not until the past six months have I come to understand what a budget truly is and what it is to choose between putting gas in the car or groceries in the fridge.  We’ve gone through a ”cash on the barrel” lifestyle jolt.  There is no more living beyond our means as we have for too many years and putting unnecessary items on credit cards with the hopes of paying it off later.  The reality of our lifestyle overhaul has been both devastating and exhilarating at the same time. 

In my commitment to “Creativity 2009,” posting more regularly to my blog is on the list as is reviving the sleeping Thistlebees (a very delicate procedure since Thistlebees are a wrathful breed).  I was hoping to post some pictures of the shop before it was ravaged by the Cider Mill Holiday Open House but I still intend to remember the camera when I go there next time (which unfortunately is not today because we are getting snow, snow, and more snow!)

Wishing you a Joyous, Healthy, and Creative New Year!

Since I am 18 weeks pregnant with dreaded sciatica just beginning, I’m not exactly clamoring to do the raking myself - although it does takes great restraint to remain calm about the may lei.  When I pull into the driveway, if I can find it since it too is covered completely with leaves, I try to focus on the front door of the house.  At least that looks neat and tidy.  And yes, two of my biggest pet peaves are a leaf-laden lawn and unkempt grass (I also can’t stand dirty snow but I can rant about that in January). 

Yet Autumn, the dark harbinger of seasonal death and dying to some, is still sweet to me because it gets me thinking about the holidays, about cozy evenings in front of the fireplace, the aroma of comfort foods like turkey and stuffing, and the gathering together of dear family and cherished friends.  Autumn takes the focus off the garden and brings me back inside where I am consumed with all things home and feathering the nest for winter. 

Speaking of nesting, here are a few snapshots of a friend’s home, Diane Lucas, whom I met at Brimfield this past September.  Her sense of style and grace speaks to all things peaceful and warm, cottagey and welcoming.  Enjoy!

Keri, Rachel Ashwell, me, and Barbara (Keri's mom)

I will post more as soon as I have more energy to share all the fabulous people we have been meeting, all the amazing compliments we’ve received, and all the fun we’ve been having (even though we are exhausted beyond belief).  For now, I’ll leave you with our picture with Rachel Ashwell and a few of the tent. I will post the other pictures ASAP.

Please try and stop by if you’ll be at the show. We are looking forward to meeting lots of new faces and friends. I’ll be posting some pictures tomorrow to give all a sneak-peak of our space and the goodies we’ll be selling.

In addition, to being a mother of two darling yet completely crazy and exhausting children, it was clearly through divine intervention (because believe me we were taking precautions) that God believed our family was not yet complete, and whether we were ready or not, there was one more little soul out there waiting to join the circus we call our family. Needless to say, between family, school, and babies, I also have to keep up Thistlebees, my shop at the Cider Mill. Add to this that I decided it would be a great opportunity to try Brimfield this fall and would need to revive and rehab the myriad of furniture in my basement before the show, and you have complete and utter chaos. But it’s a good chaos I guess since I am finally getting to all those projects that have taken over “Man Town” for the past year since I started taking home all the strays I found in my travels - those pieces that just needed a little love to be great again - well, a little love and a whole lot of facelift.

So, now that Brimfield is on the very near horizon and most of my pieces are finished, I am hoping to dedicate more time and effort to sharing all that is Thistlebees with you. Stay tuned…

As I expounded on my new-found realization of what complete happiness would be for me given no restraints of money or ability, qualifications or pressures from the outside world and of “well what would people think,” I rambled on, unfolding this vision that smelled of the sweetest spring lilacs. My “shop” would be some quaint cottage with wide planked barn-board floors that kicked up dust from ages past when you stepped through the dooryard. It would have French doors that swing out onto an old brick veranda where little café tables were nestled beneath a pergola dripping with wisteria. And in this space that I can only describe as Tasha Tutor’s gardens meets European farmhouse, this world would be a refuge for friends who like to walk around sipping their English Breakfast as they cut their own flowers from my gardens, resting their blossoms in antique wicker gathering baskets.

Essence – that’s what this place would have. Essence and character that could only be captured by walking into my world, taking a peek through my looking glass, and seeing how beauty and peace can commingle with the romance and mystery of a Bronte or Dickens novel. And within this glorified potting shed, each teacup, sideboard, cake plate, and linen would have a story of its own.

Sigh…so I guess what I am trying to get at is that Thistlebees was born of this musing. In July 2007, I jumped in (without even holding my nose) and began the frantic bliss of collecting old pieces of furniture that needed a little love, pieces that told me their stories as I sanded out scratches and revived them with a rub of fresh paint. They shared with me where they had been and how they had lived – that they held grandma’s fine bone china for 75 years, that they were handcrafted by great, great grandpa in Ireland and shipped to Brooklyn to hold the new baby’s clothes, and then passed down to hold each successive baby’s clothing for the next century. It’s amazing how worn and weathered pieces can find new life with a little love, a palm sander, and some paint.

The summer of 2007 filled our basement and beyond with things…lots of things…too many things if you ask Justin (my husband). Things found in dumpsters, at yard sales, auctions, antique/junk shops, and even discards on the side of the road. I know I have a long way to go to recreate the “physical space” that I described to that interviewer seventeen years ago, and I’m working on it all the time. But I hope I have shown a bit of that essence of Thistlebees.

Thistlebees is located at the old Cider Mill in Sterling, Massachusetts, 15 Waushacum Avenue. Listed in Yankee Magazine as “one of the top 25 shopping destination in New England,” the Cider Mill is definitely a shopping experience so plan to spend lots of time looking. It’s home to all sorts of different shops, from antique to shabby chic. It’s also home to several studios of well known and not-so-well known artists and artisans. The Cider Mill is open seven days/week from 11am-5pm, and Thursdays until 8pm.