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Saturday, November 3, 2012

What Time Is It, Anyway?


November? Already?

Forgive me: I seem to have dozed off there for a few--well, months.  You know how it is: you close your eyes for just a minute and next thing you know, it's three months later. We all do it, so don't lie. Fortunately, a number of faithful readers noticed my long absence and recently sent me email wake-up calls. OK, John H & Nicole sent me emails, but hey, two is a number. And speaking of sleeping, don't forget to set your clocks back an hour tonight.

Writers of newspaper articles tell us that a lot of people will be sad to see it get dark so early from now on, but not me. No, this is my favorite time of year--cold, gray and damp, with soggy grass, and dead leaves skittering over the sidewalks. After night falls, it's even better. Nothing beats coming home on a cold night to find all the lamps lit and dinner ready

John Hookham's The Painted Parlour by Firelight, from Twentieth Century Decoration by Stephen Calloway
--even if the lamps are on timers and dinner comes in a cardboard box from Pizza Hut. Actually, I'm fine with both of those things:  I just pretend it's the servants' night off.  Anyway, that calm, settled, cozy look works just fine at home, so I decided to try to create the same atmosphere here in the shop.  I figure if I have to spend as many hours here as I do, then being here needs to feel as good to me as it does being at home, and since, after a year and a half,  I've made friends with a lot of our customers, it should feel good to them, too. After all, we're not the only antique shop in town: our customers can shop at a lot of other stores--and most of them do--but it's nice to go someplace where you feel you're more than just a name on an account, and if a shop has a place to sit down

 
and chill after a hard day of work (or shopping), well, it seems to me that that would be a good thing. So, in a few weeks, we're going to start staying open late one evening a week. Maybe I'll have some company, and maybe not. And if somebody does show up, maybe they'll buy something while they're here. Then again, maybe not. Maybe they'll have already spent all their money before they get here. Maybe we'll just sit around and talk about decorating. I don't know. I tend to do that anyway--talk about decorating--and most of my friends reached the saturation point a long time ago: they don't want to hear it. At any rate, I really have no idea what will happen, but I'm going to find out. This moody painting by Haddon Sundblom perfectly captures the relaxed vibe that I'm hoping to recreate in the back corner of the shop for the next month or two (or, at least, until somebody buys the bits & pieces, whichever comes first) although I don't want to give anyone false hopes:
 

that is, there will not be a private chef cooking steaks to order in our fireplace. That would be hard to do, since our fireplace in the shop is just a fake.  Beer, on the other hand, is on the Definite Maybe list. We'll see.

10 comments:

  1. I like the change of seasons so like you I don't mind the early dark, gives me a chance to slow down. I so need to shop Deb's place or maybe a website??? Love the corner shot you took looks like my kind of place.

    XXX
    Debra~

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    1. You definitely need to come in, Debra. One thing I don't do at home is candles--I'm not a candle kind of guy--but here in the shop, we have Nest candles, and their Moroccan Amber scent is incredible--dark & soothing, perfect for the gray days coming up. And when you add that kind of hypnotic smell to the sound of Beryl Booker playing "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" in the other room, well--you just don't get the same effect on a website. Here's to the first frost!

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  2. I was really not looking forward to the time change, but perhaps I should just embrace it. In addition to lamps (no downlights allowed), mood-enhancing music, and scented candles, I do like cashmere sweaters and huge mugs of hot tea. So maybe it won't be so bad after all.

    I hope to eventually make it to see your shop. The shots always look great!

    __ The Devoted Classicist

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  3. I'm a tea drinker too, John, and I like it strong as coffee, as sugared-up as Pepsi and in large quantities, which latter preference leads to a problem: most antique teapots--at least the really pretty ones, meant for genteel pouring in the drawing room--are way too small. Two big mugs full and then they're empty. What I need is one of those no-nonsense Jeroboam pots made for use in the servants' hall. Once I spotted the perfect model in a photo of the gigantic kitchen of an Edwin Lutyens country house, and the thing must have held a gallon. But they're not easy to find in Chicago.

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  4. These pictures evoke the perfect mood for this time of year. I love your line about the servant's night off. However, I don't think that would work for me. "The maid's decade off" might be more believable.
    --Road to Parnassus

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  5. Parnassus, when I moved to Chicago from a smaller city and found out how much big-city cleaning woman charge--compared to the pittance I used to pay in Peoria--I had to make hard choices. I got rid of my car.

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  6. i do believe our "relationship" began pining over crisp autumns and dark cold winters that compel one to head home in an appreciative mood, seeking cozy warmth and a cocktail or two. what could be better? just thought of one-servants........
    debra

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    1. Somewhere I remember reading about a guy who trained his dog to fetch his slippers & pipe & tobacco pouch: couldn't you work with Cooper to get him up to do that sort of thing. Although, really, the hard part would be training him to mix a proper Martini.

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  7. so happy to see you back. i would click every week or so, keeping you in my "afternoon favourites" list, and nothing. but now i am thrilled to see you here and hope to come to chicago and have a cocktail with you.

    xo

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    1. Thanks, Meg, and I'm happy to be back. Yes, you must come to Chicago: "Gods & Glamour"--a big-deal show of Greek & Roman & Byzantine art--is just getting ready to open at the Art Institute and we could hit that, see the Thorne Rooms, eat at the time capsule formerly known as The Berghoff, and squeeze the cocktails in there somewhere along the way. It's been a long time since a blog friend came to town, so yes, definitely pencil me in your Chicago dance card.

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