a doe bow adventure

The farmhouse is coming along, most of the insides are being ripped out this week. The carpet is gone, the tack strips, lots of the trim, the cabinets, and most of the tile. Major overhaul.

I'll have some photos once it's completely gutted.

But, until then, I've been having fun shopping, shopping, and shopping, to try to fill the place up. Really, I've done more looking than purchasing, but for this "doe bow" as Greg calls it, I have a little story to tell. (Just try saying dough bowl 10 times and it'll sound more like doe bow, I promise.)



Lu, a friend of mine and an interior decorator, emailed me on Saturday telling me to go into the Amish country at a produce stand and look at a dough bowl, glass cheese churn, and lantern. Not wanting to brave the adventure myself, I asked Mom to go with me. It took us 35 minutes to go deep into the country....I'm talking the country where there's no road signs, and barns are your landmarks.

We found the produce stand and went inside. We saw tomatoes, pickled okra, honey, and all sorts of produce but no dough bowl, the item that was of particular interest to me.

I shyly walked up to one of the men that was working, scared that maybe a woman shouldn't approach a man in their culture, and inquired about the dough bowl for sale. He told me (with a German accent, no less) to take the road across the way, past the barn, to the house on the right and ask for James.

We followed a horse & buggy to the house and I asked a younger lad (heehee) if I could speak to James.

I just want to point out that I felt like I had come from a different universe at this point. The women weren't wearing any makeup and had bonnets on, the men were wearing button-ups and suspenders, and of course, the horses and buggies were lined up at the hitching post.

James walked up to us and we asked if he was selling a dough bowl and he smiled. He said he hadn't intended to sell it, but that the produce seller had asked him to peddle his antiques in a "yard sale" of sorts that they had for 4 days at the produce stand. He brought the bowl out for me to look at and even told me I could take a picture of it as long as he wasn't in it.

I decided to go ahead and buy it on Lu's recommendation, plus there was no way I was leaving and coming back. Thankfully, he trusted me enough to take a check and so we left with the "doe bo" in the back seat....all 14 x 30" of her.

She's a beaut, Clark :)