The Stillroom

This is a Persian lilac and it is the most fragrant of all the lilac bushes. This took quite some time to bloom and this is the first time in four years that it flowered. It started out super small and I had all but given up hope that it would actually catch on bc we were slow to plant it and then after planting it decided we had to move it to a better spot the next spring. Either way, the individual florets are super tiny and look very different from the purple ones we are used to and it is a late spring bloomer. We planted it closer to the patio so the scent can be enjoyed! The other thing is that with the white flowers, it could be part of a moon garden. That means the plants are more visible at night!

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Quite some time ago when we lived in Saxonburg where I had my Stillroom Shop, every morning as I was opening up for the day, I would see this woman walk by.

The first thing that I noticed about her was that she was tiny in stature and older with fire red hair. Her skin seemed almost translucent and she never smiled. She walked kind of fast and with purpose and always carried a plastic bag in one hand.

I watched this same scene play out every day for quite some time. Even on days when it rained.

I would always think to myself, “who is this tiny woman and where does she walk to every morning?” with what looked like a lot of determination.

She must have been clocking in late for her walk one morning as I was hanging up the open flag on the post outside of the shop door. Hmm, perhaps I was early that day. Either way, we almost crashed into one another. There she was, walking her brisk pace with her plastic bag in hand. I said good morning and she wished me the same in the most sweetest Scottish Brogue I had ever heard in my life. More like never.

That was the day Philomena and I became fast friends. She told me all about her life growing up in Paisley, Scotland. She was born there in 1931. She told me how she met her American husband and came to the Pittsburgh area and raised five children. I can’t remember how they ended up in the tiny town of Saxonburg.

She would stop in the shop a couple of times a week and we would share a pot of tea and just talk and talk. The shop was never busy enough that we would be interrupted for more than a few minutes. Her accent was still heavy and I had to listen hard at times to understand her. That charming, heavy Scottish accent.

Through our many conversations over pots of chai tea, (her favorite) one of the things I discovered was that her husband, Jimmy, had been recovering from a heart attack. Maybe that was how they ended up in Saxonburg. They downsized their home because they were in an apartment at the time. Phil and Jimmy’s grown children had all moved out of state as grown children sometimes do. Their son, Andrew, was living in Minnesota by now. As his parents aged, he wanted Phil and Jimmy to move to be closer to him so he could look after them properly.

That is a good son right there.

Not so long after Phil and I met, they packed up their belongings and moved to Minnesota.

Just like that.

After Phil had been gone from Saxonburg for almost a year, I received a letter in the mail from her. A thoughtful, sweet letter. What a lovely gift that was. A good old fashioned hand written letter. She wrote about their house, and although the winter was pretty darn cold, they loved being close to their son.

Sadly, life took over for us both and in time, we lost contact. But, she popped into my mind the other day, as so many people do. After tracking down some information on the interwebs, it was discovered that Phil passed away in October of 2017 with all of her loved ones around her.

I have always heard when a person has passed on and suddenly they pop into your head, that means their spirit is somehow present. That would be so nice if it was true.

I thought I would just jot down a little story about how Philomena and Victoria became Phil and Vic.

Oh, and that bag she carried every day? She was on her way to feed the ducks some bread.

Insert smile here.

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Evening on the patio with the herbs and the birds.

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#blacklivesmatter

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Check out this video on YouTube:

Oh it’s clear.

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Did you know that when you support The Stillroom you are also supporting mom and pop wholesale sources that are from Pennsylvania to California? Yes! It’s true. Things like Sunny Seeds, The Flower Pot Tea Co and Channel Craft to name a few. These are all cool finds that you can find at The Stillroom.

The shop also sells some kind of fancy-schmansy stuffs from France like the little tin of naturally floral flavors of Flavigny candies! Are they a bit pricey at $4.95 a tin? Yes. Yes they are. But they are a special kind of treat. The natural flavors of rose and violet are just so unique and the little hard candies are to be savored until you reach the little fennel seed in the center that is a natural breath freshener. I also have some pretty sweet iced tea spoons from Italy that just came in and the price is even sweeter! They are really nice.

Again, you can drive to the Strip, pay to park, stomp through the throngs of masked and unmasked people to buy these or you can just come to The Stillroom inside of Diamond Antiques and Gifts at 311 East 6th Avenue in Tarentum. You are not to enter the shop without a mask and from what I have heard, our loyal following could not be doing it better! How comforting to know that we are looking out for each other. Women need to rule the world!

The Stillroom carries French Blue Lavender bundles, culinary lavender, locally made organic catnip toys and the cutest greeting cards made by me! And they are not expensive at $2.50! No need to pay five smackers for that name brand. Haha

I don’t know what order these pics will come up in but how about that little kitty looking at it’s reflection in the mirror? Omg…too cute. Just a lot of charming stuff happening here.

Anyhow, that is my shameless plug to encourage you to shop local when you feel comfortable to go out. We don’t have crowds, we are following the CDC guidlines to keep us all as safe as humanly possible. We olds are in that risky age group. It is still a very volatile situation in our country. I fear as restrictions are loosened, we will let our guard down and we can not. We may be going to green soon but this thing is pretty much here to stay and life as we knew it is so yesterday.

I hope everyone is keeping themselves safe and healthy and sane in these troubled times. I am still not comfortable going out. I mean, like I go but the trips are quick and random. I keep my distance and wear my mask and shades and keep my hands clean. I avoid people like the plague. ewwww, that was bad.

Oh, we have kites for kids and adults that are on sale. These were also locally sourced and I guess I got too many. That’s something you can do while socially distancing for the most part. Come and get you some jacks made in the USA (also a local supplier) and teach your kids and grand kids this awesome game of skill and dexterity! The shop will soon be ordering more kid friendly toys as I slowly try and jumpstart some locally sourced giftware.

😊

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These are the days that must happen to you.

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bestanimations.com/Flags/USA/USA.html

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Dianna, the owner of Diamond Antiques has reopened under the safety guidelines recommended by the CDC.

It has been a very long two months. Who would have ever, in a million years, thought we would find ourselves in a world wide pandemic.

My concern in this moment is that now that we know what to do to keep ourselves and others safe and stores begin to do a soft open, is that we will unknowingly relax the safety measures we are just beginning to learn to do as we gain shopping freedom.

It is a double edged sword. I have had moments when I would go to pick up meds for my parents and realize I forgot my mask. I absolutely turned around and went home to grab mine. I would never go unmasked in public knowing what I know now. And more importantly, what I do not know.

On one hand, people are worried about haircuts and how unfair it is that they can’t get one. Then you have the stylists that are hesitant to come back into the work force, concerned for their own safety. If a shaggy head of hair or not getting that ink you wanted, or to be able to have a beer with your buds is your biggest issue, you aren’t getting the big picture.

There is no easy way around any of this. I help take care of my aging parents so it is important to me to keep my circle very small as far as engaging with the public. I am also old enough to be in that category of being at risk just because I’m, well, older myself.

The numbers of the virus is dropping in our state. If that is due to being in quarantine for two months, we will soon find out. I am going to just watch the cases either continue on the downward slide or heaven forbid, the opposite.

So, on that note, welcome back to something that feels right and familiar to us.

Not asking, but politely telling you to follow the CDC guidelines. There are a handful of the staff that will be back in the store behind the counter to keep the store operating once again.

RESPECT

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Mother’s Day was interesting this year.

Little did we know a year ago that it would be our last physical luncheon with family and friends.

Originally, mother’s day in my family was celebrated at my mom’s house for a visit that usually involved card giving, everyone greeting one another with good wishes for the day along with HoHo cake (look it up) made by my mom, along with a cup of coffee. I have four siblings, all with kids that have kids, so it was a crowd jammed onto the porch, at the kitchen table and in the living room.

Somewhere along the way as my mother aged, we started having a luncheon with the women only in the family. My sister has the perfect porch for this so this is where we moved the party to. This gathering included long time friends and close neighbors. It also morphed into a pot luck, which was great. Everyone brought their special dishes and the brunch was always spectacular. My youngest brother called it a hen party. To that I say if this is how hens eat, drink and be merry, I’ll take it smart ass.

Then it all changed. This year, it was no go. Did I fret? Was I sad? Was this the new way to not celebrate? Awwww hell no. I was actually kind of relieved because this year, I did not have to crawl out of bed and immediately make quiche for 16-18 people. It was frickin’ awesome! Did I feel a slight tinge of guilt? lol I don’t think so.

After a pretty easy morning, I made my way to my mom’s, card in hand along with a couple of scripts I had to pick up in addition to a shovel and work gloves. I would rather spread gravel than bake a quiche.

Our gift to mom this year was our time. We visited from a distance, masked up and got to work moving forward with the landscape design we came up with. Their place was pretty wrecked from some sewer replacement work. This is too much for most people even if they aren’t in their 90’s. So, it is our job to smooth it all out, keep them calm and to save them some money. My sister, brothers and my precious brother- in -law (I hate that in- law thing, Gary is a brother) have been working this project a few days out of the week for over a month.

I will take a picture (maybe) when we are finished. It will be lovely for them. Change can be tough. The 40 foot wide deck that my dad built was 45 years old (that was mostly ripped out on the job sight). In my parents’ minds, it was as good as new.

The hillside that had the backhoe work done, in my dad’s mind, wasn’t as steep as it appears to be now. But, the terrain is pretty much the same as before the project dig started. My brother is a geo technical engineer and he knows this to be true. Pa has to be told this this fact several times a day. He is insisting truck loads of fill need to be dumped. If we did that we would essentially be building a new plot of land that would connect their property to the back of St. Joe’s Cemetery.

I think I’m starting a rant. lol

So it looks as if our governor is starting to lift some restrictions on businesses.

Here goes another rant. Well, not a rant but more of a, uh, rant.

My sister -in -law works at the local Walmart bakery. She asked her boss if she can refuse service to anyone not wearing a mask. Her manager said no. She has to serve Walmart consumers no matter what. I am furious over this. Big box stores do not have to make people wear a mask during a pandemic to shop. They have the money to get away with this bullshit. If they made every person wear a mask that entered the store, and turned away the people that had a problem with that rule, they would never lose as much as smaller businesses. My sister in law shows up everyday, risking her health because Walmart will not enforce their mask policy. Yet, they will shut down small mom and pop shops where I think crowd control is much easier to maintain among other things. Quite honestly, I would not want you in my store if you aren’t taking the obvious precautions suggested by fricking scientists. I know people don’t like the word control. No one wants to be controlled. In this case, this needs to be controlled. I won’t risk being around anyone that wants to gamble with my personal well being which could in turn gamble with my parent’s well being.

In the beginning, I got it. It was right to just shut down until science got a handle on what we were dealing with. Now we have safety measures in place to hopefully slow the virus. Even though that is not a guarantee that you won’t get this virus. It might guarantee if you are asymptomatic you won’t give it some someone that may be more vulnerable. If I was still in the work force and was made to work where people could roam around during a pandemic without the protection that could help stop spread the virus, I would flat out quit.

Maybe I would choose to not slaughter meat shoulder to shoulder with co workers until the man in the big house’s kids were made to do the same. The son’s like killing animals anyhow. Maybe I would choose not to sit down with a person wanting a customized birthday cake and not wearing their gear to protect me until I see the first daughter do the same.

For Christ’s sake. What is wrong here? What are non mask wearing people not getting? I guess now that it is in the West Wing it will send a signal that this virus is extremely contagious. Look, I don’t like messing my under eye concealer so I don’t look like a raccoon either. I don’t enjoy getting any makeup on the inside of my mask, but c’mon.

I’m going to go check my lettuce.

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