The quilt shop opened May 1 and it's been a phenomenal ride so far!
My boyfriend, Duane, has created a peaceful, classic space utilizing the bones of the 1891 building. The original floors have been sanded and preserved, the dropped ceiling has been removed so the original 12-foot height is restored. The main floor can breathe again! With the warm gray walls, some of the woodwork freshly painted white and replacement antique schoolhouse lighting fixtures, the ambiance is relaxing. Before too long, we will have an old-fashioned picture rail installed to display more quilts.
Many of my friends arrived the weekend before opening to stock shelves, clean, cut fabrics and in hundreds of ways support and facilitate unlocking the door for customers. I couldn't have started without them--thank you, thank you, thank you for favors large and small! My first newsletter listed all these people by name. (By the way, if you'd like to be added to my mailing list, email me at theburlingtonhotelalma@gmail.com and you will receive updates. Thanks!)
Customers have been excited to have a quilt shop in the area. The closest shop is about 28 miles away. But even non-quilters are very pleased that someone has been restoring this gem of a building. It was vacant for some time, so people love seeing the lights on and activity happening.
We have held a nice line-up of classes and response has been great. I am in the process of finalizing classes through the end of the year and a new newsletter containing the list will be released by mid-August. If you are looking for a specific topic, please call me and let me know what interests you and I'll try my best to accommodate you.
For phase two of the building remodeling, we are now starting renovation of eight hotel rooms and a bathroom. Our hopes are to host quilting retreats, as well as small groups for family reunions, scrapbooking, book clubs and other hobbyists, and anyone traveling through the area needing a few nights of rest and relaxation.
Alma is hosting "Stepping Into Art" events the third Friday of each month from July 20 (this Friday) through October. Eleven shops will be hosting regional artists and their products for you. Shops will have refreshments and/or music for your enjoyment. Stop by and see us! The Burlington Hotel Quilt Shop will be sponsoring Deb Herman this Friday from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. Please come and visit to see her photographs and greeting cards.
I'll be updating more soon. In the meantime, happy quilting!
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
What I Miss the Most
When I first created this blog, my intention was to update almost every day. As you know, that hasn't happened. Like everyone, I get busy and intentions fly out the window. But today I'm really on a roll! I want to catch up with some topics I've jotted down over the past several weeks.
I've written a couple of times about what I appreciate about small town living. But there are some things I really miss about living in the Twin Cities. I lived there for 55+ years before moving to Alma. Here's my list to date, in no particular order:
convenient dry cleaning services
nearby movie theatre (or even red box!) Yes, I will check out Netflix!
a variety of restaurants
But, BY FAR, the things I miss most are not things. I miss the people I know and love. My friends, some of whom I saw very often, some only once in a while. My extended family--aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews. My family of origin members--my sister, Robin, and brother, Scott, both live in the area. My mother and older sister live in Florida and have for years, so I'm used to a long-distance relationship with them. But leaving everyone behind, even though I'm only two hours away, has been difficult.
The most difficult of all has been creating a new life away from my two grown children, Jackie and Tony. They are doing fine, creating their own new lives. But I miss them. Greatly and profoundly. Heartbreakingly.
You know it's expected that at some point your children will want to leave the home nest. That's the natural order of things. The thing is, I was the one who left the nest. NOT the natural order of things. And it's been difficult for all of us. Even though we sometimes used to drive each other crazy. Even though our behavior wasn't always the best. I miss the day-to-day knowing what they were each doing, where they were going, who they were with. They are 21 and 19 now, certainly old enough to navigate the world. We have good relationships with each other. And that's good. I hope we will always keep in touch in important ways. I hope we always have good relationships. Alas, I miss them...
I've written a couple of times about what I appreciate about small town living. But there are some things I really miss about living in the Twin Cities. I lived there for 55+ years before moving to Alma. Here's my list to date, in no particular order:
convenient dry cleaning services
nearby movie theatre (or even red box!) Yes, I will check out Netflix!
a variety of restaurants
But, BY FAR, the things I miss most are not things. I miss the people I know and love. My friends, some of whom I saw very often, some only once in a while. My extended family--aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews. My family of origin members--my sister, Robin, and brother, Scott, both live in the area. My mother and older sister live in Florida and have for years, so I'm used to a long-distance relationship with them. But leaving everyone behind, even though I'm only two hours away, has been difficult.
The most difficult of all has been creating a new life away from my two grown children, Jackie and Tony. They are doing fine, creating their own new lives. But I miss them. Greatly and profoundly. Heartbreakingly.
You know it's expected that at some point your children will want to leave the home nest. That's the natural order of things. The thing is, I was the one who left the nest. NOT the natural order of things. And it's been difficult for all of us. Even though we sometimes used to drive each other crazy. Even though our behavior wasn't always the best. I miss the day-to-day knowing what they were each doing, where they were going, who they were with. They are 21 and 19 now, certainly old enough to navigate the world. We have good relationships with each other. And that's good. I hope we will always keep in touch in important ways. I hope we always have good relationships. Alas, I miss them...
Interesting Dryer Contents
You just never know what you might find in the clothes dryer around here. A few days ago, the dryer was clanking. So, I opened the door to see what might be the cause. It was a couple chunks of plaster that must have ended up in a pocket (?), between clothes in the hamper (?). I have also found screws and tools, along with the more run-of-the-mill finds like pens, coins and paper clips. And I DO check the pockets first! So what are the mysteries behind finding these miscellaneous items after checking for them, as well as losing only one sock in any given pair? Anyone?
The things we take for granted
Writing earlier about all the kitchen appliances being in the kitchen reminds me of the things we take for granted. Like, for example, indoor heat. Everyone has it, right? Well, for quite some time we've been working on our heat (see previous blog entries). We discovered that the hotel has never been insulated except for the attic. Isn't that amazing? So for the past few weeks DH and his two brothers have been blowing insulation between the interior plaster and lathe and the exterior brick. On Friday, we returned the insulation blower and all the walls are now insulated. Hooray! It has made the building less drafty, the furnace comes on less and the hotel is far more quiet. All good changes.
Another thing most of us take for granted is a clothes washer and dryer on the premises. I never wrote about this earlier, but for several months I needed to do our laundry at a laundromat. There are pros and cons to both laundromat and home washing and drying, but I much prefer to do laundry at home while doing other tasks. While I enjoyed reading for a couple of hours while 8 (or 10) loads of laundry were going, I far prefer not having to load and unload the car, making sure I have enough money for quarters and just being away from home. It is so nice to work at my convenience and get more accomplished than just this one task. I also like handling all the laundry less times. For example, it's nice to unload the dryer and put the clothes away immediately instead of folding, placing in the basket, then eventually taking out of the basket and, finally, getting everything to its destination. Another nice improvement.
Another thing most of us take for granted is a clothes washer and dryer on the premises. I never wrote about this earlier, but for several months I needed to do our laundry at a laundromat. There are pros and cons to both laundromat and home washing and drying, but I much prefer to do laundry at home while doing other tasks. While I enjoyed reading for a couple of hours while 8 (or 10) loads of laundry were going, I far prefer not having to load and unload the car, making sure I have enough money for quarters and just being away from home. It is so nice to work at my convenience and get more accomplished than just this one task. I also like handling all the laundry less times. For example, it's nice to unload the dryer and put the clothes away immediately instead of folding, placing in the basket, then eventually taking out of the basket and, finally, getting everything to its destination. Another nice improvement.
Our kitchen work triangle
You may be familiar with the concept of a kitchen work triangle. The idea is that if you make an efficient path between the sink, stove and refrigerator, your kitchen time will be spent most productively. Lately, a huge improvement was made here at the hotel. For a long time, our refrigerator has been located in an adjacent room, which will become the quilt shop classroom. A few days ago, the refrigerator was repositioned in the kitchen. So the number of steps between the stove and refrigerator was reduced from about 20 to 4. Huge change! Welcome change! But, even though it's been a few days, I still sometimes retrace my steps to the classroom. What's that they say about teaching an old dog new tricks? Today will be the day I'm fully trained!
We still have a way to go to make our kitchen even more efficient. Because of our remodeling, the water to the kitchen sink has been shut off. This is still the case, because we have other issues in that area of the kitchen to address first. So the best sink to wash dishes in is located upstairs (18 steps to the staircase alone)! At least we don't have to do dishes in the bathtub! I know that's a common phenomenon when remodeling. Stay tuned, within a month or two I should have a greatly improved kitchen triangle.
It's kind of amazing what you just accept as "normal" during a remodeling project as large as this one. I'm going to try to write about these situations because, after a change is made, that becomes the "new normal" and you forget about the the earlier circumstances. But those earlier circumstances can be pretty amusing.
We still have a way to go to make our kitchen even more efficient. Because of our remodeling, the water to the kitchen sink has been shut off. This is still the case, because we have other issues in that area of the kitchen to address first. So the best sink to wash dishes in is located upstairs (18 steps to the staircase alone)! At least we don't have to do dishes in the bathtub! I know that's a common phenomenon when remodeling. Stay tuned, within a month or two I should have a greatly improved kitchen triangle.
It's kind of amazing what you just accept as "normal" during a remodeling project as large as this one. I'm going to try to write about these situations because, after a change is made, that becomes the "new normal" and you forget about the the earlier circumstances. But those earlier circumstances can be pretty amusing.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
More small town living
It's been too long since I've updated and I have lots to share. As we've been traveling from town to town doing errands or walking George (the dog), I've jotted several notes to share. So, here goes:
It's dawned on me that there are some funny combinations of businesses around. Such as, have you ever heard of an ice cream parlor / laundromat combination? There's one nearby. And the hours vary seasonally, it's closed (both businesses) until spring. Seasonal hours are very common in the towns along The Great River Road. It makes sense that businesses are open when most customers are around, so changing hours are not a surprise.
Speaking of hours, in a small town, sometimes the hours are posted, but the business may still not be open. We've run into that several times. The posted hours aren't cast in concrete, shall we say? But, it works the other way, too. Sometimes businesses stay open for that "one last customer" beyond posted hours.
Last week, Duane and I went to a building supply company and saw several deer heads mounted in one area of the store. I had a sense of "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore" again (see previous blog entry). Speaking of stuffed (real) animals, there is an insurance agency in town that has a stuffed mountain goat and bear, as well as a few other animals, and a bear skin on the wall. Now, I understand that this is a huge area for hunting and fishing. Maybe the connection is that you better have good insurance if you're a hunter?
Another thing I've never seen in the city is a garage with rows of deer antlers across it. Again, this is a major hunting and fishing area.
It's dawned on me that there are some funny combinations of businesses around. Such as, have you ever heard of an ice cream parlor / laundromat combination? There's one nearby. And the hours vary seasonally, it's closed (both businesses) until spring. Seasonal hours are very common in the towns along The Great River Road. It makes sense that businesses are open when most customers are around, so changing hours are not a surprise.
Speaking of hours, in a small town, sometimes the hours are posted, but the business may still not be open. We've run into that several times. The posted hours aren't cast in concrete, shall we say? But, it works the other way, too. Sometimes businesses stay open for that "one last customer" beyond posted hours.
Last week, Duane and I went to a building supply company and saw several deer heads mounted in one area of the store. I had a sense of "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore" again (see previous blog entry). Speaking of stuffed (real) animals, there is an insurance agency in town that has a stuffed mountain goat and bear, as well as a few other animals, and a bear skin on the wall. Now, I understand that this is a huge area for hunting and fishing. Maybe the connection is that you better have good insurance if you're a hunter?
Another thing I've never seen in the city is a garage with rows of deer antlers across it. Again, this is a major hunting and fishing area.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Times I realize I'm not in Kansas anymore
Like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, there have been times I realize I'm not in Kansas anymore.
Like the time I visited a nearby hardware store and noticed animal markers on the shelves. These are numbered tags that are attached to an animal's ears for tracking purposes.
Like the many times I've observed people waving at me while we walk my boyfriend's dog, George. These people don't know me, but I'm walking on an Alma street, so a wave is natural to them.
Or the many times I've been driving down Main Street and wait for a pedestrian to cross the street and they really look into the car and wave to thank me.
Everyone waits for pedestrians to cross the street in Alma.
It's probably cliche, but the pace of life here is slower, more mellow. I'm getting used to it! People take time to really listen, to look you in the eye, to help. It's refreshing to slow down.
Like the time I visited a nearby hardware store and noticed animal markers on the shelves. These are numbered tags that are attached to an animal's ears for tracking purposes.
Like the many times I've observed people waving at me while we walk my boyfriend's dog, George. These people don't know me, but I'm walking on an Alma street, so a wave is natural to them.
Or the many times I've been driving down Main Street and wait for a pedestrian to cross the street and they really look into the car and wave to thank me.
Everyone waits for pedestrians to cross the street in Alma.
It's probably cliche, but the pace of life here is slower, more mellow. I'm getting used to it! People take time to really listen, to look you in the eye, to help. It's refreshing to slow down.
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