Merry Christmas from Sycamore Hollow!

I've taken an extended break from all things Sycamore Hollow-related and will really be back after the holidays with some, relatively-speaking, big news. In the meantime, here is this year's original holiday card, which can be custom-printed in cobalt, green, black or aqua. Or printed in red, which is what I've chosen for my own personal self. I also decided to print it on newspaper in an effort of one-upmanship in awareness of the costs of over-consumption, both of cash and of environmental resources. Not sure if the US Post office mail sorters will rip the newspaper cards to shreds, but I guess I'll find out.

Spring, definitely.

Wow. Two months since I last blogged (is that a verb?). Been very busy at a lot of nothing. The shop is shaping up for the summer - just one short week until Memorial Day! For those of you who care, the website died a lonely death. Just as I completed updating it, my hosting service informed me they would no longer support my software. The software that I used in designing the website was, indeed, nearly obsolete, but what could be more appropriate for use in a store that sells vintage pieces? A vintage website for a vintage store. Sadly, my hosting service did not agree with the inherent charm of vintage software, and we have parted ways. But never fear, some sort of internet presence will be available by the Memorial Day deadline. Meanwhile, the town of Rockport is festive for Spring, as this weekend we celebrate Motif No. 1 Days. What are Motif No. 1 Days you ask? A two-day celebration of the arts, centered around a red fishing shack so beloved by artists as a subject that it was dubbed Motif No. 1 by an art teacher (perhaps tired of looking at so many renditions of the same building). Anyway, here in Rockport we love our Motif, and have set aside a time every Spring to ritually celebrate its existence. Here is our Festival poster, with artwork created by a very talented 9-year-old third-generation Rockport artist.

www.rockportusa.com/motif1days

Out with the Fall, In with the Chaos...

This past weekend proved to be a last gasp of Autumn, first gasp of the holidays for me. I was in a Holiday Show on Friday & Saturday, and watched Santa jingle his way through the show floor while a choir sang "Winter Wonderland". It was surreal in more ways than one. However, I am resigned to the fact that the holidays begin in November now, and am determined that I won't complain about this every year ad nauseam, even though my own preference would be to decorate the house not a minute sooner than Christmas Eve. Just like Laura Ingalls. That is, if the Ingalls even were able to scrape enough together to decorate the claim shanty or sod house at all. Now onto the relevant stuff: what's new in the store? As of November 15th, a whole bunch of Christmas cheer, with a good dose of poor overlooked Thanksgiving thrown in. I'll have handmade cards and ornaments both cool and goofy, and a few stocking stuffers too, along with, of course, the usual mix of vintage lamps and accessories. Stay tuned...

Well, Dear Reader, it has been a long while since last we connected through this new-fangled medium. You haven't missed much, let me assure you. The shop has settled into its post-Autumn low-fi hum. You can hardly hear the sound of it running at all. Which poses a question much like the old tree falling in a forest conundrum. If a shop is open, but there is no one in town to come in the shop, is the shop actually in business? Rockport gets so quiet at this time of year, I sometimes feel as though I'm sitting in my living room instead of my store (a living room overflowing with lamps and pillows - much like a crazy grandmother's...)

The holidays will provide some excitement, and, as we are always reminded, they are just around the corner. Hopefully the economic doldrums won't keep people from running around and at least feeling festive, even if they are unable to open their wallets and pour credit cards on the counter. ("I'll take two of everything!") The retail party is definitely over, but my shop is small enough and eccentric enough that I was never an attendee at the party anyway.

I've been busy with Autumn-related activities, one of which was to go to my family's farm to pick up some home-grown gourds to sell at Rockport's Harvest Festival a few weeks ago. I feel as proud as if I had planted them myself - oh wait! I did! (along with many other people in my family.) The gourds now grace the shop and it is fun to see them piled high in the manner of a Martha Stewart magazine spread. Not that I'm comparing our modest harvest to what goes on over at her amazing farm, Chanticleer Corners. (I don't think Chanticleer Corners is actually the farm's name, but it is close enough.)

Upcoming events include our annual Fall Sale & Amazing Bake Sale (to benefit the Cape Ann Food Pantry), held in conjunction with a few other Rockport shops on November 1st. And to make the transition into the holiday season, on November 7th (!) I'm a part of the Holiday Gift Show held here on Cape Ann. Hope to see you at these events!

Labor Day Blowout Sale!!! This Weekend Only!!!

Fortunately I don't have the personality of a car salesman (although I do have the lungs), but, like a car salesman, this Labor Day weekend only I would be willing to offer 0% financing on, say, a sheet of Japanese paper. I have sympathy for the customer who appreciates beauty but cannot afford to choose between a sheet of expensive paper and a few trips to Starbucks, all in the same week. Shop at Sycamore Hollow and we'll work something out. Ah...it seems like only a few posts ago that I was talking about Memorial Day, and now look where we are - Labor Day! I should be sad, as Rockport is a seasonal town, and goes from streets filled with naked (or nearly so) bodies on their way to the beach, to streets so empty small clothed children could play entire innings of baseball without having to pause for traffic. But then I would call the truant officer because those same children should be in school. And they definitely shouldn't be playing in the street. I don't actually mind Rockport's quiet season(s), because they provide a nice contrast to the rest of the year, and the town itself is just as beautiful and amazing as ever. Have a great weekend, don't labor (get it?) too hard, and join me for my next post: the Website Saga, part III: Will I Ever Get Photos Uploaded?

Crazy-time in Rockport

The 4th of July in Rockport is a lot of fun... If you're a six-year-old in search of free candy and not afraid to scrabble around in the street for it after a grown man parading by tosses it at your face. The rest of us have a pretty good time as well; the day holds sights not easily viewed in a small New England town the rest of the year. Lots of naked flesh on display, some to happy effect, some not. Last year I took a picture of a rain-soaked shirtless middle-aged man with the ensuing paunch strolling along the sidewalk barefoot and sporting a mounted deer's head with the antlers decorated for the occasion. This parade of strangeness is followed by Rockport's grand old tradition of setting afire a 20-foot-high gasoline-soaked tower of pallets. It is a sight to behold, and as other towns eliminate fireworks due to budget cuts, our bonfire rages on. Oh yeah - and I do open the shop's doors, just in case someone is dying for a vintage planter in the shape of lovebirds and can't wait another minute to buy it.