April 2016

                 Welcome to spring! That always means lots to do and see in our area. For example, Great Country Farms is having their Egg Hunt and Marshmallow Harvest on the 2nd & 3rd.What does it matter if Easter is already past? With 18,000 eggs available for children up to 10 years of age, there’s lots of fun to be had!

                 In case you’ve missed Bob last week, we’ve just returned from a trip to the UK for the World Championships of Irish dance. Would you believe that they have a National Spring Cleaning Week there? See www.springcleaningweek.com for more details. We’ve missed it this year (thank goodness!), but spring is still a good time to go through the house and rid yourself of unused items. Many people have yard sales now that the weather is relatively nice—which presents an opportunity for those with an eye for a good find!

               Spring cleaning may have started with the ancient Jewish practice of thoroughly cleansing the home in preparation for Passover. Or it may have started with the Persian new year, Norouz; modern Iranians continue their tradition of “khooneh tekouni,” literally means “shaking the house,” with a thorough cleaning of everything from drapes to furniture. In the Orthodox tradition, still practiced in Greece and other Orthodox countries, the houses are typically cleaned thoroughly either before or during the week of Great Lent, which is referred to as Clean Week and often corresponds to the Julian new year on April 1st.

              If your cleaning results in some extra space in the house, you may be interested in this month’s recent acquisition, the mule-eared child’s rocking chair with a Herringbone weave seat shown below. Additional photos are available on our website at http://irongateantiques.com/recent-acquisitions/. With its newly restored seat, this should be able to grace your home for many years!

                   Looking ahead to the end of the month, consider bringing your dog to Great Country Farm’s Dog Days Bloom Festival on the 23rd & 24th. The first 100 pups to the farm each day even get a doggie bag of goodies! You may have seen a photo of our dog last year when he visited his first winery. He loved it even though he didn’t get to partake of any wine. He even condescended to wear a costume for the occasion. Thank goodness that won’t be necessary at this event . . . Have a great month!
Lynne & Bob McCann