Plain and Practical

Long Days at the "Spa"

sometimes that's what I call the Store, because boy oh boy am I building up muscle and getting a good workout.  Laid tile, painting walls, scubbing out dangling light fixtures, we did a 10 hour day yesterday.

And best of all, when the deadline gets close, your good friends step forward and take part of the burden off your shoulders.  One is coming to fix leaks under the sink.  Another is getting us some equipment that his workplace is throwing out, and helping by putting the bread pans through a parts washer to scale off the years of baked-on grime and pretty them up.  Another is making our mailing list; another is looking through thrift stores for a list of items for me.  Another is coming to do a walk-through on Wednesday before the first inspection on Friday, so I can catch anything amiss and fix it in time. 

It's all pulling together bit by bit, with help from old friends and new ones, and I fall asleep counting my blessings--too many to list before I drift off in slumber. 

Today, going up to do the painting on the hallway, the ceiling tiles in the hall and kitchen, clean the racks to be ready for those trays, make a tile repair by the front door because the contractor for that is coming soon to put the self-closer on there, work on the list of items to pick up tomorrow at the Restaurant supply at 7 a.m.  The days are stretching longer but they are becoming fewer in number, deadlines are coming up fast.

Be good, y'alls, when I get the store internet finally installed will have some pics for you.  Peace.

Running it Up The Walls

Well, just goes to show you can't anticipate everything that may come up.  I got the larger furnishings and shelves and tables into place, and although I like to think of myself as a visual artist, suddenly looked around and realized 90% of the store ended at four feet high.  Those several feet of upper space cost me the same amount as the lower space, right?  so I got right on the problem and thrifted myself every peg rack, little shelf I could mount hooks underneath, wire plate holders, and other hanging devices and started tacking them up.  The decision on placement was usually handled by the fact that there were about 300 previous holes so I used those and will patch the remainder with sponging, like the previous folks did.

Pat then came and ironed, beautifully ironed, many aprons and smocks and linen tea towels and we hung them from the aforementioned hooks and wow!  It's looking really like a store!  I still can't fit the last two years of crafting in there, so there will be back stock, already put four boxes of cookbooks into a cupboard.

Today, hang the wood stuff I picked up thrifting with Pat on the way home yesterday, and I got three more wood magazine racks to scrub and get ready, most expensive one $7, to go with the $18 oak one from the antiques store around the corner.  I also picked up more dishes, so clean and get those inventoried.  Mostly today not exciting.  Filling out zoning paperwork, occupancy paperwork, need to check my fire extinguishers today in case of refills, several calls to suppliers inquiring about minimums and shipping--including a place near Cleveland that has gallon and half-gallon wide mouth jars, and a tea wholesaler in Chicago.  Follow up on the gaskets again.  Try not to be depressed about the constant rain, at least it's just rain and not the inches of snow my friends in Michigan are experiencing--had enough cold and snow for this winter, thank you.  Documents to fax, pictures to process for accompanying forms, not fun but necessary.

All prayers and advice much appreciated.  Oh, and I made out my wanteds for The Budget, so those will start next week.  "Bulk food store opening in May in Marysville, Ohio, seeking local egg growers, call ----." and "Bulk food store opening in May in Marysville, Ohio, seeking local catnip grower" and "raspberry leaf" and "broom maker" and so on.   Will run one every two weeks until I have my local suppliers, it's only $10 for two weeks, a good way to spread the word to Mennonites, Amish, and country folk in the area.  Peace.

Sorry I Dropped Off The Radar!

Everything's fine, my apologies, we took my computer to the store to hook up to the new printer, saved us about three pallets of food and we're watching every penny--turns out the refrigerator had to have a new thermostat and a new gasket is ordered for one door, $200 for the lawyer, my deposit with one utility was changed from $40 to $140 and we've learned the last three businesses didn't pay off all their bills so we're having to give copies of our lease and prove that we aren't those people, in order to have all the utilities and internet and so on.  Hopefully internet hookup by end of the week, just hold on a few days here.

Most of the sewing and vintage stock is now up there and I've been splitting my days between scrubbing in the mornings and sitting quietly labeling in the afternoons; we did two late nights/long days with lighting and computer hookups last week, and today we're emptying the office and stripping out the carpet and subfloor so I can stick down tile next week.  It's only one chore but it will take us all day, there is a monster large desk in there, and a tall filing cabinet, that have to be pulled out, loaded into the truck in the rain, and taken to donate at Goodwill there in town for a receipt.

Tomorrow staying home and doing some quiet sewing on Swiffer Covers, organizing receipts, maybe a little thrifty shopping if the weather improves.  Good homemade meals to cook for sure, there's some asparagus in the fridge, and I'd love some homemade old-fashioned spaghetti sauce.  I'm building muscle and appetite at the same time, it seems, feeling great even if a little sore, smiling more and so very, very grateful for all the gifts He has given me to help get this venture off the ground.  People in Marysville have been so very helpful, especially the folks at the Farmhouse Ice Cream, they answer my endless questions and are supportive and kind in every possible way.  An antiques store sold me some nifty display helps at bargain-steal prices and was very encouraging, we're going to get together and teach me about some of the events in the summer so I can plan.  The Union County Health Department turns out to be just a gold mine of common sense and cooperation, I couldn't have asked for more.  No wonder I sing with the birds outside the kitchen window, whose heart would not be light, with all these blessings?  Peace.

Teamwork! Teamwork!

so today, we tackled the problem of getting the place lightened up.  I'd done the front windows, and the glass in the door, so Husband came and we spent the day changing out the old tube bulbs and cleaning all those fixtures, turned out the reason they were blinking is because the wrong bulbs had been put in.  Trip to hardware for the right ones, then started on the hanging lamps in the front, husband had done some research and found better, brighter bulbs with "warm light" that actually use less electricity, and replaced those.  Then we tackled the lighting in the dark case, first by seeing why it didn't light up:

 
and deciding to unplug everything, clean, and shove the ends back under there.  It doesn't have to be lighted.  Back to hardware to see if there were battery-operated lamps to stick in there.  Yes.  Bought.  Discovered they didn't help once stuck inside the case while holding it in our hand.  I went and got one of the bright yellow plastic trays we think went in that case, and it helped a whole lot, and discovered layer of grime on INSIDE of case so will clean that today, scrub down the plastic trays and install them, and that's where the breads will eventually go.  Everything clean, for sure.  The two wood cases use a special type of bulb that has to be special ordered, so that's Craig's job for today, find those, procure or order them.

While not needed when husband had to have assistance with long bulbs and light covers up on the ladder, I finished the last of the hundreds of dishes.  The bottom ones were the worst, I discovered, but now they are all squeaky clean and laid out to air dry:

 
and we turned on all the freezers and refrigerators and hung thermometers in each.  Let the utility bills begin.  I sprayed the ovens with cleaner, we gathered the trash, rolled all the floor mats for scrubbing, and took these pics and out the door.

Today is Day Seven.  Researching to see if there is anywhere remotely local that I can pick up the tape sealer to get it here faster than expedited mail, I need it tuesday morning to start filling food bags. 

Today, level the tables and deal with floors, pack away all the boxes of dishes for selling later, cleaning in the kitchen (wipe out those oven and do second treatment) with the radio on and having a good day listening to the Lord guide in this direction or that.  All this would not be possible without His love and provision.  Peace.

Cleanin' and Scrubbin' and Hey Lookit, That Oil Smell is Gone!

there was a funky kind of oil smell in the restaurant--and today visitors told me, hey, the smell is gone!  so all that elbow grease and good ol' healthy vinegar and dish soap and removing the old layers of grime simply did the trick.  I hate when places just spray air freshener to cover bad smells.  So much better to take care of whatever is making the bad smells, right?  actually have it clean in the first place?

So I washed more dishes, here's a before and after:

 

and I oiled the wood furniture, cleaned the windows inside and out (including the glued-on circus poster someone had torn away and left a zillion tiny bits stuck to the glass, arrgh):

 

There's the Menu Planning area up in front by the window, there will be a book case behind and to the right of that with vintage cookbooks, and free recipe cards on the table for people to write down anything in the books they want to try (or they can buy the books, either way).  Tables in the middle will display bags of bulk food, as well as on the blue shelves, and two small tables on the far left.  There are shelves across from these items, not shown in picture.

And I spent one hour each on these two cases, including removing the glass and cleaning in all the crevases and grooves, after the glass was cleaned I oiled the wood:

 
and then the least impressive, but most satisfying part of my day, I cleaned the men's room, and the women's room, and the 60-foot hallway, and three floor mats that go there.  I lost count of how many times I changed the water, but I do know each area was swept and then mopped three times apiece.  So now they meet my standards, which is sayin' something.

You always hear the maxim, "Everything you ever learn in any job, will come in handy someday."  Those eight years of janitorial work, and the volunteering at soup kitchens and helping with the meals on wheels, even chiming in and lending a hand at church potlucks and Grange meetings, it's all being used this week.  A great many tasks go forward if you know how to use a mop, change a trash can, scrub a toilet, organize a work station, pack and label boxes, make a shopping list and follow it, and be a friendly sort of person to everyone you meet.  This was Day Five.  Tomorrow, cleaning the ovens and finishing the dishes.  Peace.

Pruney Hands, Been Cleaning All Day in Marysville!

 
so I started washing all the dishes, pots, pans, from the kitchen of the restaurant, tomorrow we'll figure out which ones are staying and which ones to pack for storage.  I was good and purposeful all day long.

 

and more dishes

 
and in the first and last pics you see a couple of freezers I cleaned today.  That last one had three inches of stale icky water in it, but it's all spick and span now, do a second bleaching on the gasket of both inside all the folds and layers, and they are ready too.

There's still about 200 more dirty plates.  Gettin' it done.  Friends are joining me tomorrow so we can clean out one of the two storage rooms, change some light bulbs, spray the oven and generally just clean anything we see that needs cleaning.  It's all good and making progress, turning in some more paperwork with the Health Department in the morning and flash my Servsafe certification and start with the first payment for licensure.  It will feel so good to lay my body down tonight, bet that bed is softer than usual on these old muscles!  Peace.

 

Double the Keys, Double the Fun

So got the lease done, yay!  and opened the business bank account with the nicest bank lady ever, got insurance for until the store opens and then will upgrade it, dropped off more ideas for cooking classes at the Farmhouse Ice Cream place, missed the restaurant next door, they close at two, so left the afghans and the rice samples in the car to deliver tomorrow.  First thing when I get there, want to get these keys organized!  I have no idea which one is for what, other than the seven I carried:

 
and it poured, absolutely stormed, thunderboomied, pelted rain and did dark windy things all day, got soaked to the skin and didn't get two of the errands done on my list, just came on home listening to the traffic reports of tornadoes on 70-East, many many accidents all over the area:

 
Told husband forget fancy dinner out to celebrate, just come on home and I'll make a cheese and rice casserole, brocolli, and a side of baked kielbasa for him.  We'll just stay in the house and be all comfy, and I'll play with my bookkeeping program while he plays a computer game.  We're not fancy folks.  Peace.

Getting Stuff Made, Lining Up a Long Row of Ducks

you don't want to see my to-do calendar chart for now until store opening.  It frightens me, and I'm so excited I'm having trouble sleeping all night--guess the two go hand in hand, if I sleep less that's more hours in the day . . .

So we went to Michigan on Saturday and help Good Husband's mother move into her new senior housing unit, and on the way I let out a good scream in the middle of nowhere because we had just shot past a church that had a big "rummage sale" sign in the front yard, so of course there was a quick turnaround and a 15 minute, um, break from the 3+ hour trip--and I thrifted these goodies:

a mini kitchen that will be great on the bulletin board with the class signup sheets and descriptions:

 
Won't that just be too cute?  "Refrigerator pickles class"?  "make-ahead oven dinners"? and I picked up these spools and red and green beads for making holiday garlands later in the fall:

 
and also saw these four very nice handmade afghans, acrylic yarn so they are washable and durable, for a new friend who's having a baby (I don't know nuthin' bout birthin' no babies but she looks, um, really close) and figured she'd be washing them in her baby soap so just bagged them up as they were to hand to her tomorrow.  Second kid never gets the good stuff, y'know?

 

and I cut out and started a pile of 20 of those quilted kerchiefs I told you about, here's the first five ready for hand embellishments, they go quickly and are just the thing for when you have a day full of all kinds of interruptions, easy to just work a minute or two and jump back in easily:

 
waiting for some feedback to roll in on the store logo, I did a rough mockup, then another, then another, then threw that all out and started over with something completely different--husband is getting me a google phone number that will ring on my cell phone, so people can call a local number for the store (ours are still a Michigan prefix).  It will forward automatically.  When I have that piece I can finish the logo artwork for the decal sign to be printed, the stationary, and the business cards--each a little different because, for example, we don't need to put our address on the front of the store, it's got a number!

And yes, that needs to be done tonight so I can print stationary and order cards tomorrow.  Pat's going up with me on Tuesday so we can see what works or doesn't work in the kitchen and make a list.  Another list.  I like lists because otherwise I'd just be running around like a chicken with my head cut off.  Peace.

Papers are done--Sign and Cut the Check on Monday, Pick up the Keys!

So here you go, a couple of pics, looks like this will be the location of our bulk food store in Marysville, Ohio:

 

looking towards the front door from the spot where the purchases are bagged
 

look at that beautiful ceiling!  and very nice lighting with a fan to help move air around.
 

This is looking towards the back, pretty much what you'll see when you arrive.  But
you can't see the kitchen yet.  I have to scrub it first, then you can see it.

We'll have to open with the vintage cookbooks, the sewing I've been doing, the kitchen items and some handmade soaps from friends.  But it will be 3-4 weeks before I can pass around all the paperwork and requirements for the health department and insurance company, and then another 4 weeks before we can afford the first truckload of bulk foods, then a little longer for the second truckload and that will be when we are REALLY stocked.  It's all good, one step at a time.  We're praying for the Lord's guidance in all matters and hoping hard work will make up for any lack of brains.  Your advice and your prayers, are both much appreciated.  Peace.