New addition to my shop!

I have been working all winter to make improvements to my shop.  One unexpected improvement or addition has surfaced!  Beginning with the spring opening of the shop there is an extra, added attraction - a real, live cousin of Almanzo Wilder!

In February I took in a house guest, a long time friend - she is a 90 year old widow, who I've been caring for (driving around & helping her do her shopping and seeing after her health care, etc.) for some 14 or 15 years now.  She had some health issues come up and could no longer live alone in her apartment.  I have prepared a bedroom for her and she and her cat are living on the first floor of my house, where the shop is located also.  She has enjoyed sitting in the shop the last couple of years, when she would come by for a visit.  Now she will be able to do that on a regular basis.

We didn't know, until we investigated, that she is actually a cousin to Almanzo, (Laura's husband).  Special thanks to Sue Francis, who helped discover the family tree!  (Sue is a cousin to Laura.)  So now, if you come to visit my shop, you can meet a living relative of the Wilder's!

She is a very cheerful, knowledgeable, and alert lady - for someone who just turned 90 years of age!   And I believe you'll enjoy meeting and visiting with her.  She is also a writer (unpublished at this point), mainly writing poems and inspirational prose.  I have convinced her to write her memoirs; which are very interesting!  And we may make some of her poems and other thoughts available in the shop.  She is a fellow Christian, and I call her "Sister Freda".

This year there will be new things to see on the "Wall of Memories" and some addtional antiques in my displays as well.  I have also come up with some great new "Old Fashioned" candies for the shop and some new handmade souvenirs, too!

So things are really shaping up for a grand re-opening season of Laura's "Sweet Memories" in the spring.  As the date approaches for the opening of the shop for the season, I'll post it here as well as on my shop web site.

If you are visiting the Wilder Museum, here in Mansfield, I hope you'll stop in to my little shop for a visit also.  Everything in the shop is reasonably priced - and the economic conditions of the country have not caused my stock to suffer in quality or value.  Everything in my shop is either hadmade in the Ozarks, or made in the United States!  And I haven't raised my prices since last year!

I hope you'll come by for a visit and even tell others about it!  And I hope, if you like what you see, you'll leave some nice comments on this blog site from time to time!  Thanks.

The Old Man in the Bib Overalls