Summer Fun

Good Morning Friends! It's almost that time again, time to open up shop and welcome you all into The Briar Patch. I am looking forward to seeing you again, or maybe for the very first time! If you haven't been here before, let me tell you a little bit about us. The Briar Patch is set on about 2 acres of beautiful farmland.  There is so much to see here, I can't wait for you to see us. We have the little Settlers Cabin, filled up with primitive finds. A cozy, welcoming little cabin setting on the edge of the garden, come on in and look around. Beautiful walk through gardens surrounding our resident old rust bucket "Rackety Boom", a 1940 International truck that rests among the flowers. We have so many little fun items to see. The old front porch holds perennials for you to purchase, lovely false indigo, so beautiful, bright and cheerful galardia, lovely daisys for you to take home. Whispering ornamental grasses wave in the breeze and welcome you into the gardens. Our newest shop is named The Old Homeplace and I can't wait for you to see it. Hand built by my wonderful husband Bob and I (with a little help from our friends too). Made from 90% of recycled materials we have gathered for years now. Wood and tin from an old farmstead, wonderful large windows from an old pharmacy from many, many years ago open up to show off our colorful gardens. Come on out and visit us.

2015 Folk Art Gathering at The Briar Patch June 27th

Hello friends, it's that time of year again. Time for the annual Folk Art Gathering right here at The Briar Patch. The gardens are in bloom, the vendors are ready to set up their tents and the time is right to welcome you to our party. We will have vendors of all kinds set up around the property, music will be playing and we just can't wait. La De'zert Cafe will be serving lunch all day, along with her delicious cupcakes so you won't want to miss it! June 27th is the date so don't forget, 9-3, we hope to see you here! We are one mile west of 6 & 31 in Lapaz, that is exit 233 from the by-pass, then one mile North on Oak. Call if you need better directions. 1-574-784-3533. See you then!

Welcome to The Old Homeplace at The Briar Patch

Good Morning Friends! The Briar Patch and The Old Homeplace are finally open! We are so excited! It has been a long cold winter but the sun is out today and the doors are open. Come on over to our little slice of heaven in the country and visit. We recently finished construction on The Old Homeplace out newest addition to our little "village" out here. Antiques, Primitives and Just plain old stuff, that's what we call it. Farm house furnishings to take to your own little home. We have some great old cabinets, rocking chairs, candles, just all kind of wonderful stuff. So come on out and wander around a while. Visit the walk through gardens, pick up a perennial or two and stay and visit a while. We are planning our annual Folk Art Show on June 27th this year. Lots of great vendors will be here, offering jewelry, handmades, garden items, and more.  Lunch will be served by Plymouth's own La D'zert Cafe, we'll have music and drawings too. Always free to attend, so plan to spend the day. Today (May 1) is the beginning of our Month long Shop Hop, 10 businesses are participating so stop by and pick up your punch card to be entered into a drawing for a prize valued at $100.00 with items from each of the businesses. This offer runs the whole month of May, so round op your favorite friends and plan a girls day out and visit one or two each week, you don't want to miss any of them! Help support local business by shopping local. Come on by....can't wait to meet you.

Exciting things going on at The Briar Patch, we are almost ready to open for 2015

Hello friends, time for another Briar Patch update. The Old Homeplace is almost finished! I can't wait to show you all the fun things we have been working on all winter. Here is one of my latest projects, a settee. Can't you just see it  next to the fireplace where you can warm yourself on a cold winter night. Excited about things to come this summer,  I  been gathering vendors for our Folk Art Show on June 27th here on the grounds. I have some great talent lined up. I hope you will stop by and spend a fun day in the country. We will have vendors, music, food and demonstrations. Keep checking back for updates. The Briar Patch will open for business on May 1st. Hope to see you!

Barn Quilt Trail

Hey friends, In my last post I mentioned The Barn Quilt Trail and I know that some of you might not know what that is, so I thought I would give you a little tutorial on it. Marshall County alone has more than 60 barns on the local trail, but they are gaining popularity all across the country. Determined to save not only wonderful old barns but also to celebrate the deep quilting heritage some talented folks got together and married the two to create these wonderful old barn quilts. Quilt patterns are painted on sheets of wood ranging in sizes from 4 x 4 foot to 8 x 8 foot. Time honored patterns are then painted and mounted on these massive old country barns. Many of the quilt patterns reflect the history of family honored quilts and their history. No two barn quilts are quite the same. The barn quilt trail travels over 150 miles of roadway, meandering through back roads and gentle landscape. So stop by the Marshall County Visitors Center and pick up a barn quilt map to keep in your car and enjoy a leisurely weekend searching out these wonderful quilts. Or download from their website www.VisitMarshallCounty.org. You can also pick up a map when you visit local shops (mine for example) who are fortunate enough to be a member of the trail. Our own quilt pattern is the eight sided star and sits outside of our little red cabin here at The Briar Patch. Come on by and pick one up.

Spring Plans!

Hey friends, we are making plans for spring of 2015. We will we be opening our new shop, The Old Homeplace, which is just filled to the brim with farmhouse finds. Old fireplace mantles, benches, a little bit of everything from primitives to shabby chic. I hope you will stop by and see what we have. We also would like to invite you to join us at our 7th Annual Folk Art Gathering on June 27th, here on the grounds. We will have vendors, music, food and all kind of fun things. Come on by and wander the gardens, visit with our vendors and just spend the afternoon. Someone will be here from the Marshall County Visitors center to speak to you about the Barn Quilt trail. If you haven't heard of this before, you are in for a real treat, come and learn about the trail and maybe even get a quilt for your barn. We will have free copies of the Art and Earth Trail magazine for everyone. This magazine is just full of wonderful places to visit from all of the surrounding counties, you won't want to miss it. Stephanie from La'Dezert will be here , serving lunch and offering you her tempting deserts, Mmm you must have one. So save the date: June 27th from 9-3, admission is free so come and spend the day with us. One mile west of 6 & 31 in Lapaz (exit 233), then one mile North on Oak.

Shop Update

Well friends, just wanted to give you another update on The Old Homeplace. We just finished the tin ceiling, isn't it great. I love the way it is all coming together! You would never guess that it is parts and pieces from so many places. There is a story that goes with every little bit of it. The windows came from a pharmacy that was built almost 100 years ago, the wood is from barns that were built about the same time. Just imagine that if the barn had been up for 80 or 90 years, the wood is much older than that. After all it takes about 40 or 50 years to make a tree big enough to make beams from. It just blows my mind. I have climbed over rubble and ruin to find this barn wood and it is so special to me. Every time I go into the shop I fall in love with it all over again. So at this point, we just have to finish a little bit of trim and put up the ceiling fans and Shazam, we have a shop! Yippee. Be sure to stop by the first of May when we open our doors for the first time. You can wander around the grounds and look at the gardens, choose some perennials to add to your own little cottage garden. Check out the little shop, The Settlers Cabin, complete with the old rope bed I made this winter. Can't wait for you to see all the changes going on here. We have so much going on around her, we are members of the Barn Quilt Trail, the Art and Earth Trail and new members of the Primitive Traveler. We are gearing up for our Annual Folk Art Gathering to be held here on the grounds on June 27th. Whew! Lot's going on, come on out and check it out.