Saturday, March 25, 2017

Cleaning the Shop Has Started

  We had our official 1st Cleaning Day at the shop in Cooperstown Thursday.  Three of us 'old timers' got together and kicked off the season.  The  electricity had to be turned on at the main fuse box (in another business near by) before we could start and even with the thermostats turned up over 70 degrees the shop was so cold for so long the 409 kept freezing whenever it was sprayed onto something!  Eventually the place warmed up...a little...and we got all the shelf units washed.  We even dismantled shelving we thought should be moved to better accommodate new merchandise.  We kept saying we're doing so much of it 'our way' that Judy will never let the 3 of us loose together in the shop again.  Towards the end of our scheduled work period the phone rang, it was Judy and Sharon (who is currently Chairperson of our co-op) explained all that we had accomplished.  I took some photos and promised to email them to Judy as soon as I got home.  (She's still away for the winter.)  Then we went to Sal's Pizza for lunch.  I had told Jeff I'd be home around 3pm but we didn't leave Cooperstown till almost 3pm.   I don't know what we looked like crossing Main St in Cooperstown...3 middle-aged ladies laughing and giggling like teenagers but I haven't laughed so much in a long time. Cleaning the shop was almost fun.
   My next job for Spring Clean-up was to send an email to the rest of the members telling them that they could go in anytime and do any of the chores on the list we left for them.  Got a couple of quick responses and 2 other members will be joining Abby and me on Tuesday for a painting session.  I sent Judy the photos of what we did and got a phone call(just love Skype calls, don't you, that fade in and out) from her asking for more details.  Anyway, on Tuesday while those 2 additional members will be painting walls, Abby and I will be putting back some of what we dismantled.  We knew she probably wouldn't like what we did but we did it anyway and now we have no one to blame but ourselves because we have to put it back. (Judy is CEO and was one of the shop's founders so it's still her 'baby' 43 years later.)
   Anyway, I am getting a new display for shawls and adult hats.  Abby measured the space and is bringing in a square piece of plywood to create a shelf.  Jeff's said he'd cut a 2x4 for me and Abby and I will create a hat stand.  She uses empty toilet paper rolls covered with fabric over a dowel to hold hats and the shelf is just big enough for a couple of them. Now I just have to finish a couple more shawls and do some adult hats.  Last night I collected some hat patterns and can't wait to do them.   Only 13 days till the shop's scheduled to reopen for the season and one of those days will be spend in Cooperstown moving shelf units back to where they started!

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