GRAMPIES COUNTRY BARN

Where does a name come from......

As the small trusting hand reached up, Grampies much larger hand was there, ready to gently grasp the small fingers in a warm embrace. Two perfectly contented souls, Grampie and his sidekick, hand in hand, heading to the barn to begin the routine of the evening chores.

For those of us who have had the fortunate life of growing up in the country, this is a familiar scene. Barns, especially freshly painted red ones with bright white trim, will always pull my attention away from my task at hand. Haylofts with ropes dangling from the rafters are one of my fonder memories of my grandfathers barn, the thrill of swinging from the top level of the hayloft to land in the piles of soft hay below was a favorite pastime for many of my cousins. Hide and seek in the cornfield was always so much fun until someone shouted "bear" and we all took off running only to forget about a much younger, very upset, brother who could not find his way out. We sure did hear about this one from the adults........

I was extra fortunate because my Dad and Mom also had a barn, and yes.... it was red. Growing up we watched a few cousins and friends try to ride pigs and calfs, the laughs we shared have made many a fond memory for our family. My brother developed a special relationship with a tempermental donkey which Dad added to the collection of animals, I am not sure whatever happened to donkey, but I do know that my brother sure did let him know who was the boss in the barn.... he probably went to the cattle sale the same way my pet lamb did one Saturday morning. My two daughters and their eight cousins also had all the fun of hanging out at Grampies and Grandmas place where there were always animals in the barn, and many a frog in the pond to catch, oh how Grandma loved the mud...did you know that frogs love swimming pools!!  Sending our relatives from the city out to the hen house to collect eggs from the "Rooster" was one of Dad's favorite jokes along with the ocassional animal visiting in the kitchen just to see the reaction from my Mom's visiting parents. We are now making our own memories with our barnyard, friends of my daughters and a nephew like to think they can ride the miniture donkeys. Our own resident Grampie loves to share his time in the pasture and barn when the grandkids and the neighbourhood kids stop by for a visit, carrots by the handful get fed to the oxen and donkeys. So you see, there are many "Grampies" out there, hopefully yours had a barn and if not maybe you had the fun of exploring one at some point in your travels.

We intended to set up shop in our own "Red Barn" on our property, but because of the many rules and regulations this dream was just out of reach. By this time our new business name had been chosen but there was not a barn to house it in. So as they say, Plan B kicked in and we were able to bring all the cozy country decor items to you through our own little store in town. That was five years ago and now we are just as excited to offer our customers this online version of our retail store. Unfortunately we cannot offer everything from our retail store to our online customers but we will continue to add as much product as possible. Our travels will continue as we search near and far for the products that make our customers smile when they come through our doors.

Nothing is more fun than hearing the excited voices of ladies, and the occasional husband, who come into our shop for the first time. It seems that those who love country decor seem to have it embedded in their souls, and it is for all of you that we work hard  and will continue in our travels and searches so that we may do what we enjoy most .........

                                                 "Bringing the Country Home To You"