I’ve started a new service here in Cottage Grove. It’s called Hire A Daughter and it is primarily a senior companionship service. The idea is to provide seniors with friendship rather than health assistance; to treat them as individuals rather than patients; to help them continue to do the things they love, rather than make them feel limited.  I do activities with them as much as possible but even if we just chat while I perform chores, it will be time well spent. Please check out my website for more information. www.hire-a-daughter.us

Here’s a bellydancer costume from Victoriana’s.

Here’s a gorgeous necklace I love but I don’t really wear chunky things like this. I love the colors, though.

My costume item for today is a headdress I have long admired. It has beads and sequins and peacock feathers. It is $50.00 or can be rented, as all of the costumes at Victoriana can be. I think this headdress is gorgeous and wanted to wear it last Halloween but couldn’t find anything to wear it with.

The mannequin head is not for sale but gives some perspective on size

Side View

Detail

The non-costume item I picked is an unusual lamp made from an old book press. I am a lamp freak. I have no idea where that comes from but I love lamps. I have more than I can use and some that are waiting to be fixed so I can not use them while they are in proper working order. This particular lamp I wouldn’t necessarily want but I do think it is very interesting with it’s old newspaper shade.

Detail of shade

I thought that since my favorite store, Victoriana, has such incredible costumes (the owner just finished working on the new movie, Something Wicked with Brittany Murphy) and since Halloween is coming up, I would feature a costume a day (or close to it). I also thought I would throw in one of my favorite antique or collectible items for sale. Today’s costume is a Satyr costume that Lesley made. The bottom half of the goat beast is made from old fur stoles and leather. The head is fur and I think papier mache. It’s made to be worn by a shirtless, debauched male. It is very very cool. I think it would look cute on a female with some tiny top, too. I think the price to buy was $100 and to rent, $35.

Satyr costume at Victoriana's

Satyr mask at Victoriana's

And my favorite non-costume item is a painting that looks like an old paint by number, which I love. It’s about 15 inches tall and I think the price on it was $12.50. It’s matted but not framed. The colors are very bold and dark.

Vintage Paint by Number

Detail of the vintage paint by number

The Loose Caboose is my favorite shop in Drain. The owner, Grace, is very friendly and her little house/shop is quite literally crammed with goodies. Her shop would take a full day to explore thoroughly and most of her items are under $10.00. I buy something there for my boyfriend’s birthday every year and Grace is one of my main suppliers of Pez, which I collect. Heading west from I-5, The Loose Caboose is the first business you see coming in to Drain. She usually has some of her items sitting out front to entice customers in. She also sells at local flea markets. Stop in and chat while you browse. I guarantee you’ll find some special delight there.

The Loose Caboose is at 525 N. 1st Street in Drain. (541)836-7505

A papier mache Frankenstein planter I got from Grace. One of my boyfriend's favorite things I bought him at the Loose Caboose.

Part of my Pez collection, many of which came from The Loose Caboose

I had the opportunity to go visit Arlene’s small farm where she grows the lavender that she uses in her products and the veggies that she sells. What a beautiful place! I took some pictures to share but unfortunately it was over 90 that day and the sun was blazing down, making it difficult to get some good shots. I’ll post my favorites and will try to take some more. We saw one of her peacocks and her horses, all of which are rescues.

Arlene's Peacock

One of her little greenhouses near the lavender fields

The Lavender

Lavender and Goat's Milk Soap

I ran into Arlene at the Farmer’s Market in Drain last Sunday. Arlene and her husband grow produce and lavender and sell at local farmer’s markets. Arlene also makes goat’s milk soaps and lotions, using herbs to make them even more special. I buy my soaps from her and my daughter loves her scented skin balm. Arlene is refurbishing an outbuilding on her property in Cottage Grove and hopes to be able to sell her items from there soon. She also has Etsy and Ebay shops, sweetthingsbyarlene at both. Next week I am hoping to get out to her place so I can take pictures of her lavender fields. I’ll post them on here when I get them. Here is her farmer’s market schedule:

Tuesdays from 4-7:00PM–Creswell Market

Wednesdays from 4-8:00PM–Coiner Park in Cottage Grove

Thursday afternoons–The Bread Club at Kalaypuya Bookstore on Main in Cottage Grove

Saturdays from 10-4:00PM–Trailhead in Cottage Grove

Sundays from 11-4:00PM–Drain Farmer’s Market near the grocery store

Last Sunday I bought some olive oil and goat’s milk soap and was going to buy some baby artichokes to grill but I got too busy talking to everybody and I forgot to get them. Another customer was telling me how she grills them and how delicious they are. Arlene’s products are wonderful, all natural, homegrown and she uses minimal packaging, a practice I am fond of. Besides that, she’s just plain nice.

If you go to the Drain Farmer’s Market and the vegan Hawaiian catering truck is there you MUST get lunch. My daughter’s favorite is their rice, bean and fresh greens bowl with garlic creme sauce and my favorite is the hummus sandwich. Someone said the dumplings are excellent also. It’s a small market but great stuff and exceptionally friendly people. Stop by and check it out.

Lavender bunches by Arlene

It’s summer now and school is out and I won’t be hanging out at the library all day. I’ve also got my house for sale in Drain (http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1421-Laurel-Hill-Dr_Drain_OR_97435_1107620612) and will be moving to Cottage Grove once that happens, which means I won’t be Stuck in Cottage Grove any more; I’ll be a happy resident. So it’s time to change the focus of this blog and I would like to change it to something I’ve been thinking about for a while.

Cottage Grove is a wonderful little town with all of the usual problems any town has but it is still a near perfect example of Small Town America and I am very saddened by what I see happening here and, I’m sure, in most small towns left around the country. Local businesses are closing up and self-employment is becoming more difficult. I want to try and do my small part to keep the self-sufficient, local culture of Cottage Grove and some of its neighboring towns alive and kicking. I will be showcasing businesses and their owners and encouraging people to support these businesses. I don’t want to see any more of them disappear.

My next post will be about Sweetthings by Arlene, a homebased husband and wife endeavor. Hope you’ll come back to read it.

I’m having trouble keeping up. I’ve got three part time jobs now and I’ve been working a lot, which has kept me from being able to work on ideas for the blog. I’ll try to catch up a bit.

We didn’t get to go to the All Species Parade and I haven’t heard anything about how it went, but we had a pretty heavy snowfall that weekend so I’m not sure what kind of turn out they had. Too bad. It sounded like it would have been a fun event. We were down in Roseburg that day or we would have tried to go.

Remember the Heart Gallery I’ve been writing about? That’s the portrait gallery program that features older children looking for adoptive homes. Well, I’m now one of the Cottage Grove volunteers who will be handling the displays. If anyone would be interested in having a display in their place of business, let me know. Not all of the galleries have to be as large as the one at the library in Cottage Grove. If you want to help, we can figure something out. I haven’t done anything official yet but I’ll let you know when I do. It’s an exciting thing to be a part of. I’m looking forward to it.

I also started a subscription with Good Food Easy, the community supported agriculture program I wrote about before. I’ve had two pick ups so far. I’ve paid only for a month’s worth and I will report after the end of the month about whether I found it to be worthwhile.

Our chickens have been laying like crazy. We can’t really keep up. If I get organized enough, maybe I’ll start selling the eggs.

Hope it’s not quite so long before I write again.

Wow. I can’t believe how long it’s been since I wrote. Life. It just interferes so much with everything.

Coming up on April 19th is Cottage Grove’s first All Species Parade. It is being coordinated by Tinika Ossman, who is a mutual friend of Lesley’s, the woman who owns Victoriana (see previous post in February, I think). Tinika is the woman who sets up the display case in the library, where I hang out most of the time. There is a very nice display case that is used to showcase people’s collections. My slide viewer collection is going to be exhibited there in May. When Tinika called me to set that up, she told me about the All Species Parade. I’ll post here what it says on the flyer because it’s pretty unique, especially some of the things associated with the preparation.

“Who: Any child or adult who wants to wear a costume of their favorite animal, as it is in nature, or in literature, or as a totem. Also, small pets in costume, but they must be on a leash. Groups are encouraged. Sorry, no cars, motors or horses.

Where: Downtown Cottage Grove on Main Street. We’ll step off from North 5th Street, walk east to 8th Street and then back up to 5th and around again. This promenade-style of parade route enables everyone in the parade to see the parade.

Exhibition: Animal costumes and designs/Art Walk. March 8th 6 to 8 PM at Victoriana, 538 E. Main St., Cottage Grove.

Slide Show: Information, discussion, and help with group costumes and choreography for non-dancers. Don’t be shy now! Saturday March 29th 12 noon to 3PM, CG Community Center, 700 E. Gibbs St [that's where the library is].

Workshops: Costumes, Puppets and Mask-making. Centro Community Theatre, 513 E. Main St, Wednesdays April 2, 9, 16th from 6 to 9 PM and Saturdays April 5 and 12 from 10 AM to 5 PM.

For more information and creative help call Tinika Ossman at 767-3766″

The Centro Community Theatre is where they recently had an underwater Western production. I wanted to go but wasn’t able to. Lesley just told me that it was super cool. Sure wish I could have gone. What a concept–an underwater Western play–and everything was done by locals. This community definitely has a creative side and it’s obvious by all of the willing assistance and sharing of resources that the joy of the creativity is what motivates everyone, not the hope of making a buck or two. Even if my daughter and I can only attend the parade and not appear in it, I will report back about how it turned out. The workshops sound like a lot of fun in themselves. Should be a unique experience.