Catch up!

I thought blogging would be easy because I always have tons of stuff to say and sometimes like to think out loud. It's not as easy as I thought it was going to be. Sometimes I don't feel like typing or writing out what is going on in my life. But I am determined and have challenged myself to keep it up because someday I will want to read what was going on in my life back then.

So, let's start with two weekends ago. I went home to visit friends and family. It was an extra special visit because my little sister was home from St. Catharines Ontario. She at Ridley College on a hockey scholarship and has been since last year. She loves it. I am really really proud of her. I would never have been able to 1) leave home at 15 or 2) have had that much perseverance for anything at that age.

It was also a bittersweet trip home because it ended an era for me. From the ages of 13 - 18, I worked as a gas attendant at my Aunt Louise and Uncle Roger's car dealership. There was no self serve then so I had to pump people's gas in terrential downpours, blizzard conditions, and yes sometimes I could suntan while waiting for people to pull up at the pumps. God only knows how they let me work there that long because believe you me I cost them some money over the years. I backed into one showroom window while trying to park a neon. Now this wouldn't have been SUCH a big deal if 1) I had had my licence, and 2) the crack wouldn't have continued into all other 6 showroom windows, causing them to replace them ALL at the bargain price of $10,000. Oops. I also decided (still with no licence) that I was going to extend the wash bay (where the cars are washed and waxed) by not pushing the brake but rather the gas while entering the bay. This was to give me plenty more room to wash those big trucks that they wanted me to wash on the weekends.

Needless to say, some of the other gas attendant employees kind of had a hate on for me because they thought I was getting preferential treatment by not getting reprimanded nor having to pay for any of the damage I don't know why they thought that...

I know I'm rambling but I am getting somewhere with this story. My first year in university I came back home to work for the summer. Unbeknowst to me, my Aunt Louise had purchased a hardware store from an older gentleman who had run the store with his wife for 50 some odd years. As most of you know, I am from a very small town that survives on mill work jobs, teachers and little entreprises. I thought to myself, what in God's name is she going to do with a hardware store!? Little did I know I would be working there that summer when she informed me that she wanted to get rid of all the hardware and turn the store into a sort of Wheaton's. I absolutely fell in love with the store. It was built in the 1830's and has almost all the original structure to it. The ladies that Aunt Louise had hired were great and we had a blast working together. The funnest part of all was the fact that Aunt Louise let me order EVERYTHING I wanted from catalogues to stock the store. I was shopping with someone else's credit card!! I became really attached to the girls at the store and came back to work for 2 summers after that, during the Christmas holidays and any other time that she needed me. It brought Aunt Louise and I a lot closer, which in our case was hardly possible because she has four sons and no daughters. She likes to refer to me as the daughter she never had.

Aunt Louise is really into antiques and heritage so it came as no surprise when the store was named as a heritage property. I think she bought the store cause she loved it's charm. The store carried everything you could imagine. From dainty teacups that you find in your grandmother's china cabinet to fondue sets to wallpaper. In 2002 came the really fun part. She decided to add a flower shop to the mix! She tore down the barn that was attached to the store and rebuilt it to house a cooler and everything else you need to run a flower shop. That was the best summer yet as I learned how to be a florist!! She did have a trained florist but she let me do whatever I wanted.

Aunt Louise and Uncle Roger have ran Clare Dodge Chrysler for more than 20 years now and when she bought the Trading Post she wanted it to be a fun project and also be a place that she was happy to go to and proud to own. It really upset me when I got home and found out that the Trading Post was closing for financial reasons. Aunt Louise kept the store open for a lot longer than anyone else would have and tried to make it work. I know it's just a store and she has other ways to earn her livelihood but the girls lost their jobs and a store that has been around since the 1800's is no longer. I have always believed that people should support their towns and local businesses even if stuff is a little more expensive. This has confirmed it. I will leave you with a few pictures and a little write up that was done to promote the store.


This is what the upstairs of the store used to look like....it was ALL christmas stuff!!




The Weymouth Trading Post, Main Street, Weymouth is the oldest general store in Eastern Canada. The store was been in continuous operation since 1837 and has had only three owners during that period. The present owners, Louise and Roger Mullen, Weymouth North are longtime residents of the area and are committed to preserving this well-known landmark in the village.

The Trading Post once housed one of the first three Royal Banks of Canada (Merchants Bank of Halifax) in the country, as part of the ‘general’ line of products and services available at the store. The Trading Post staff is still using the original safe owned by the bank today.

On November 30th, 2002 the Weymouth Trading Post was officially registered as a Digby County Heritage Property. Gordon Campbell of Kentville, Nova Scotia, a descendant of the original owners, unveiled the heritage plaque.

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I also witnessed something really cool over the weekend.....

It's like a ring around the sun! I had never seen this before...it was really cool!


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Last but not least I have to show you my new artsy fartsy project:
What looks like a frame with string hanging from the back actually is........

an earring holder!!

It's an frame with screen that is used for windows. My dad put it together for me and it not only displays my earrings but also serves as a piece of art on my wall!

Maybe tomorrow I will really be able to catch up and blog about last weekend!