Rope and Chain

Rope and chain are next to each other on the way out to hardware.

Sad Things

Today is HG's Last Day.

Really.

I am not making it up.

He is retiring.

He is over 70 so I guess it is time and all.

Click here to remember HG.

Sigh.
He told me he worked 65 hours a week for the first 35 years.

Then he dropped down to 46 for the last 9.
He said back in the day they used to sweep the floors EVERY DAY,
first thing in the morning
WITH A BROOM -- the ENTIRE STORE!!
I just can't imagine the store without HG.
I went down special this afternoon to heckle him for the last time.
OMG I am going to miss him!!! (there... 6... tada!)

I told HG to look happy and wanted to retake the photo but he said that this was close enough. I told Verne to look sad. I think he did a good job.

Store Sugaring Report and The Promised Sugaring Walkabout.

The sap is running again.

The thing I noticed yesterday was that some of the people who came in to buy sugaring stuff, mostly containers, seemed stressed. They were in a hurry. Like... IF I DON'T GET BACK SOON THE SAP BUCKETS WILL OVERFLOW!!!!

The other thing I noticed was that the sugaring folk were chatty about their sugaring experiences so far this season. I heard a lot about numbers of gallons produced and some about the quality of the syrup.

The thing I noticed TODAY about the sugaring people is that they looked TIRED. They must have been boiling all night. There is an unwritten sugaring law: "As long as the sap is running you MUST collect and you MUST boil."

This was delivered today:

So I didn't get any pics of local sugar shacks,
but here are some pics of a local guy sugaring in his driveway.
He usually gives us a quart or two as a gifts throughout the year.
(He also makes wine.)
(And keeps bees for honey. He sells his honey at the store.)

This is the new way to collect sap. Blue plastic tubing is attached to the taps on the trees and runs all through the woods to a central collection vat. We sell lots of those 5 gallon plastic buckets for collecting sap and we have huge spools of the blue plastic tubing out back in hardware.

The Iconic Sap Bucket

This is the old way. You have to haul each bucket to a big tub to empty the sap. We still sell this type of sap bucket becuaes people with 5 taps and little kids like to use it. It is picturesque.

The Iconic Maple Syrup Tin

This is my favorite syrup containing device.
It shows the old way of collecting sap.

It is not old or anything. You can still buy syrup in these tins
I stole this pic. I forgot to photo one at the store today.

Amazing LIVE demo!!

Something BRAND NEW came in today for the Bell Department (Wednesday is hardware delivery day.)

The hardware guy said they were "sports cow bells" for making noise at baseball games.

Last thing about sap

Got Dinner mentioned to me that the nights have not gone below freezing here in the valley but up in the hills they have and the sap is still running there, sure enough.

So the world is still safe for maple syrup.

Whew.

Jeeze, you should have seen the tower of plastic syrup jugs that hardware got in today.

I forgot to bring my camera today :(

So you can look at this old pic of tins instead.

I was SO wrong

I mean like STUPENDOUSLY wrong.
About the ghost door and the stairs to the Boot Room.
(Oh, and when I wrote that the ceiling was tongue in groove, I meant to say BEADED. Tongue in groove is flooring. Damned aphasia.)

Anyway, my doubts arose quickly.

Like...

(1) How could these stairs NOT be original stairs up to the Boot Room? Look at them! They are all old and beat up! They look just like the cellar stairs by the office.

Top of the Boot Room stairs. Don't you love this view? You have to walk through the chip room to get to the boot room. The baggie back stock room is through the door to the left.

Looking down from the top. Look at the worn edges!

Looking down from the landing.

These are the cellar stairs. See how they have the same sort of wear pattern?

(2) Why does that beam over the office take a 90 degree turn? That is just not normal.

The bent beam.

(3) Why is the ceiling so utterly different in the Screw Room if there is just one addition for the toy department, the office/Nail Bench/Boot Room stairs area, and the Screw Room?

Looking into the Screw Room (really called Nuts And Bolts) from in front of the Boot Room stairs. See how the ceiling is slanted, low and unfinished? Also see the Surveyor's Tape Department over the door? Classic. That deserves its own post, really.

Finally, common sense prevailed. I asked Got Dinner some questions. He knows a lot of stuff about the building. After all, he spent his childhood there exploring all its nooks and crannies. He tells great stories.

YAY!!!

He told me a crap ton of stuff. I learned SO MUCH today.
To be continued...

(FYI, Got Dinner is in charge of wood for all the stoves in the basement. The wood for the store is an amazing story yet to be told.)

Special Order!

I was walking out in hardware today and look what I saw --

a BIG fancy evaporator!

Someone ordered it special.

It is bigger than the other one and cost $100 MORE!

I think it is nicer looking as well.

Hee hee hee... you can see my legs in the reflection.

I actually think this one is esthetically UN-pleasing.

 You know what? I think I ought to take a walk-about and get some photos of local sugar shacks.

A Sugaring Drama

So the sugaring supplies were flying out of the store today

and I was all like,

"Oo! Oo! Lemme take a pic of your purchase please, Sir/M'am!"

I scored a hit with this filter and grading kit purchase.

A Minor Lid Purchase

All morning long there would be pleas over the loudspeaker for hardware to come up to the front for jug prices. Last year we had this quart syrup jug at the register that had all the prices written on it but it wasn't around this year. I guess the customer is supposed to notice the price and tell the cashier? Anyway, hardware eventually got tired of the confusion so one of the guys bustled up front and put this on the window by register #2.

 Then, a couple hours later, H.G. came up and announced that some of the prices were wrong. I tried to get him to stage a dramatic sign removal scene but he just laughed and told me I better be quick if I wanted my shot.

And that was it for the price sign for the rest of the day.
I bet it will be back tomorrow.

The Most Expensive Thing In The Store

The Evaporator

Besides containers and an evaporator,
tubing, buckets, filters, thermometers,
and grading kits,
sugaring requires lots of little parts.

This is the spot in hardware that gets crammed with all the seasonal stuff.

Christmas stuff is switched out for sugaring stuff.

For example:

4-way threaded manifolds and 3/4 inch mainline tees with branches

5/16 inch "tee" saver spouts and regular old fashioned taps with hooks. It is supposed to say TREE saver. There is a whole box of them for sale behind the plastic drawer full.







Double manifold saddles with 2 straps, 3/4 inch bases, spout plugs.

Lids to fit All State gallon, 1/2 gallon, quart and small and Sugar Maker gallon, 1/2 gallon, quart and small.

The Vast Container Requirements Of Sugaring Season

Glass

So pretty

Then, just in case, a crap ton of back stock in the basement:

Plastic jugs:

One side of the basement

The other side of the basement

Tins:

I feel like I sorta promised the ammo case

I find it quite beautiful.

It is across from the Nail Bench, in amongst the tools.

This pic was taken last fall, before the crazy run on ammo,
but ammo purchases have been WAY UP this winter,
and I suspect that the case is looking rather empty now.

People who use ammo feel there is going to be an ammo shortage.

 I would like to find out who did the rope art.
I don't have any hunches about that so I think it was someone who has come and gone.

All seasons of the year are nice

I love the seed packet season --

shiny new packets

crisp precise edges

tiny seeds in perfectly folded envelopes

all labeled the same

all priced the same

each with a perfect pretty picture

and

all the slots full.

I Bet You Can't Wait See The Ammo Case

Sign Locator Clicky

Things I Never Told You

There is an UPSTAIRS!

Turn left to go into the  the Screw Room. (Note the Surveyor's Tape Department over the doorway into the Screw Room.) Turn right to go upstairs. There are lots of things upstairs. Like the Chip Room. And the Baggie Backstock Room. Like Belts, Fan and the Spice Endcap Staging Area. But most importantly...

The Boot Room!

It is a wonderful place full of Venerable Old Stuff. It is usually quiet and empty and the floor creaks when you walk on it. You can hear things going on downstairs and it feels like you are all hidden and secret. It is a good place to go to be alone for a bit. Except it is cold in the winter. The wood stoves are, after all, a long ways away down in the basement.

My favorite boots. I like to visit them.

Sale Today. Yay!