Getting Ready for Business....

It's Wednesday once again. When that happens, I don't seem to get a lot done.

Tessie, however, doesn't take the day off. As part owner of the Witch's Warehouse, she has to be a part of cleaning up and getting ready for Halloween business this time of year.

It was really in deplorable shape this year. The cats tried to climb the vines on the side and pulled them all down. I found out that the battery pack on the big black tree outside no longer works. I guess I will have to take care of that. Tessie is electrically challenged.

There was a year's worth of dust and cobwebs in there and it had to be mucked out with a big mop. I handed a broom to Tessie and told her to have at it.

She started at the top and worked downwards.

She shoved everything out of the top floor and gave the wood a coat of lemon oil.

As she was working, she asked me, "Where did the chair and bed come from? It seems like they have been here forever."

"The chair is the very first wicker that I ever did." I said.

She patted it and said, "It's all scratchy. I don't see how anybody could stand to sit in it for long."

I explained that I didn't know anything about mini wicker at the time and I sat and unraveled Penelope needlepoint canvas to get the thread to make it....Hey! You make do with what you have on hand. It worked. A few chairs later, it evolved to waxed linen and even later, it evolved to fine crochet thread. I kept the first one to remind me not to do that again. It makes for Very sore fingers!

"And the bed?" she asked.

"That was a kit that was supposed to be for a child's bed. I bashed it into the witch bed that you see. It is simply made of three wooden blocks and some fat wooden spindles and beads. You can still get them at Michael's."

I painted the headboard block and spindles. I covered the two wooden blocks with fabric and glued one to the other for the bed itself and then made a spider quilt and a tampon bolster.

The second floor wasn't too bad. The gypsy tends to keep it neater, because she has to live there.

This is the transportation department of the warehouse and the private parking for the Wednesday Witches. Each of them have a parking place for their brooms with their names on them....Their area is not as neat and tidy as the rest. Some of them tend to drop their brooms wherever they land.

The flying carpet is a perpetual display. Nobody can figure out how to turn it off, so it just keeps hovering a couple of feet off the floor. At least we know that it works.

Next Tessie helped Esmirelda with the ground floor. As usual, the cat food(mice) is escaping from its crate. The "Things that go bump in the night" are rattling the door under the stairs. And the poison veggies are rotting away quietly....

The store is starting to look habitable and everything seems to be under control for the time being. Poke the photos if you want to see them larger.

They just tested the lights in the rest of the store. Everything but the black tree seems to be working.

Once again, Halloween can happen. The witches are ready and all's right with the world.

See you tomorrow.