Great Lakes Yard

Dusting off some relics from the Great Lakes Yard Vault for our upcoming sale with on March 2-3rd at 2902 w. Armitage. Johanna will be selling some of her favorites from her vast collection of props. There will be vintage furniture, prints, baskets, tools, relics, boxes and on and on. It will be great to see some of your faces again please come by. Enter through the back alley. Bring cash and cookies😎🍪

Cool to see one of our last jobs getting installed at Hide and Seek. Thanks

Patina dreamer

Looking back a decade to when we got to help salvage the Old Globe Grain elevator in Superior WI. That was the trip of a lifetime and def on my top 10 list.

Did you know that the Agave Guiengola has started it’s once in a life time death bloom? This amazing spectacle is at the treasured Garfield Park Conservatory. This plant is estimated to be between 30-35 yrs old and will use the last of it’s life energy to send up this epic bloom. It is currently about a 10ft tall cone and soon all those lil buds will burst into full bloom! Then the plant will die. It’s literally a swan song. It will leave babies behind so it will live on in a way. It’s also cool cuz it’s surrounded by fellow plant nerds marveling in its beauty. Also, you can now get there and the chocolate chip cookie they sell is a real dreamer.

Rest In Peace Brian. You were a warrior and handled the toughest few years with grace. We shared an interest in wood with a good patina and I thank you for introducing me to fermented soybeans. May your memory live in at
**kcancer

I’m still hiding out in the trees. This past week I got to spend time in the redwoods which can pretty much resets the soul. I decided to skip this holiday retail season. But I thought I’d share the greatest siding I’ve ever seen on a store front in Fort Bragg. These are redwood shingles and I’m in love with them. ✌🏼

Just checking in to say hello. I know it has been a while and I had stated that I would have opened my doors by now but I haven’t yet and I’m okay with that. Instead I have been taking time for myself and my family. I have spent lots of time in nature and granted myself the amazing gift of watching the seasons change. Fall has always been an incredibly powerful season for me. But it has always been taken over by the drive for the retail season. So this year I rented a cabin in the woods and sat on the porch in a wool sweater and watched leaves change and fall to the ground. I turned my phone off. I stopped checking social media. I walked on forest moss. I did a puzzle with my dude. I was quiet. I wore sweatpants for a week. I’m taking time to listen and the crazy thing is I forgot I can listen to myself and my needs and not just everyone else’s. My needs are pretty simple. Sitting and watching and hearing nature is really enough for me most of the time. I’ve been enjoying helping out in other peoples shops taking the weight of being a business owner off of myself. I know I can’t do this forever but no longer will I let it get to such a point where turning off feels like an emergency. *** if you have yet to take some time to enjoy nature before the cold let this be your reminder. Michigan is just starting to change color. 🍂🍁🍃

Took a day to see the trees still standing in Saugatuck Dunes State Park. Did you know that before The town of Saugatuck MI, there was a sawmill town called Singapore? We are talking 1834. The town ran out of lumber due to the demand to rebuild Chicago after the Great Fire. Once the mill was gone, there wasn’t much left of the town. They moved some buildings by basically sliding them on the ice (Kalamazoo River). Then the rest of the town basically got covered in sand from erosion. It’s pretty cool to read about if you want to go down a rabbit hole. ✌🏼

Please join me in donating.
Dr. TIMUEL BLACK, is a Chicago treasure: beloved and legendary Civil Rights activist, historian, and storyteller. He has had a long, rich life journey. At age 102, he has entered hospice care in his home on the Southside.

Tim was at many historic junctures: Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge, helped to liberate Buchenwald, marched for Civil Rights, led voter registration initiatives, stood on picket lines with teachers, supported Black student leaders in Chicago, and worked with organized labor. Now, our community must stand with our esteemed elder.

There is a link in our bio to donate. Thank you for continually sharing Chicago history! If you don’t follow him already do so and you might just learn something.

Hello. I know I should have the shop open and set up by now but I do not. In the meantime please enjoy this amazing hotdog couple that I walk by on the walk from my home to the shop. They bring me great joy. Have a relaxing weekend.

Just checking in to say I am still enjoying a lovely month off. Today I went apple picking with my parents in MI. Yesterday I got an epic massage from my friend in Kalamazoo and then ate an amazing meal in Battle Creek. Working 6 days a week the past few years has left me little time to see family and do the things that matter most. Might have to take one last dip in the big lake on the way home✌🏼don’t worry I’m not getting soft. I did get on a ladder today and cleaned my parents gutters. Trying to make up for the time my mom cleaned the warehouse urinal on Mother’s Day.