There is nothing like entering the Thanksgiving and Christmas season while celebrating our first year in business! We started all of the behind scenes work a good ten months before our first Barn Sale at Life’s Patina but our actual opening to the public was a year ago last November. We have encountered extreme temperatures and spent many late nights either sweating it out in shorts and tees or bundled up like the Michelin man.

We have worked around animals left and right; the stray mama kitty who had a litter of kittens in our stock room in the barn two weeks before our big Spring sale. The endless stream of birds whose source of entry we could not seem to find. They too came in the Spring to have their babies, in the highest rafters. What happens when you have baby birds who are attempting to fly out of their nest from such heights??? Add to that a hungry mamma kitten… Throw in a couple of he-man woman into the mix trying to move heavy furniture around from place to place whilst dodging falling birdies… Have you ever seen the movie, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest? “

We stripped furniture, hammered nails, ordered product, unpacked product, recycled the trash (I am the recycling queen), painted away, moved furniture, unpacked some more product, priced product, created vignettes, unpacked more product, became Facebook addicts (I said I would never be on Facebook), created promotional material, invitations, and a website. Then we waited for people to come.

AND THEY CAME!

It takes a village to raise a child they say. I think it takes a village to raise anything. That is, to bring it up right, to make it strong, to give it confidence, to love it. Notice that I have said WE throughout this post. I started with an idea, it has taken a village to make it a reality.

 My near and dear friends who have volunteered their time to get things done when they needed to get done. Who have been with me in those extreme temperature times in the dark of night (accompanied by a few lurking spirits in the barn) and the windy rainy days when few people came. Who have brought their kids to help as well and who most of all have brought their support, which means the world to me.

My family, who while not quite “over the moon” about my love of something else besides taking care of them, have supported this venture in their own ways. They might not understand why I am doing this right now…but they will.

(Two of them have made Willow’s treats to sell at the sales with guess who? Two of their village mates…their friends)

My husband who tells me all the time, “Why move things twice?” Often helps me move things…the same thing, ten times until it is in the perfect spot. Who helps with the kids when he can when I am in the barn all night and who listens, again, to why I am doing this.

This is my village and I am grateful and thankful to live in it!

When my villagers are too busy to be here physically, I feel their absence in many ways. Sure I could get it all done…in about quadruple the amount of time it takes me while they are here but it is definitely not as much fun doing this all by yourself, no one to laugh with, work side by side with, complain about the negatives with and celebrate the successes with. You know what I mean. We all have good friends and family who come to our aide when we need them and vise versa. When my villagers are busy, I know that it is just me and my deputy (my good friend and business partner) who are trying to make this work. She’s got my back in this venture and boy do I appreciate it. We like to say that I am the creative one and she is the technically skilled one.

Either way…village or sheriff and deputy…we all need others to make things work well, to live well and to enjoy life!

Upon talking with my grandmother the other day, I wrote down a quote that she said that her mother always used to tell her.

 “What you put into the lives of others comes back into your own.”

May you all be a villager to someone else and may your village be as fruitful as mine.