We have this quaint little shopping place, call Country Village.
Since the Country Village brochure describes this quaint place so well, and I couldn't do a better job, I thought it best not to mess with a good thing and quote it.
"Over 40 unique, independently owned shops,
studios, services, & restaurants
set in a whimsical world full of duck ponds,
art, gifts, antiques, & more!"
This is a charming gem, but unfortunately, it's scheduled for demolition this coming spring. It has been bought by a development company who plans to level it all, including the duck ponds, paths, and foliage to put up condos or apartments. BooHoo! There are a few shop owners and customers who are hoping it can still be saved. So sad to see it go. But before it goes, I wanted to share this one-of-a-kind experience with all of you. I'm focusing only on the village as a whole with outdoor pictures. I'm not showing any interior pictures.
Not knowing how much longer this beauty will be with us, I took a gajillion pictures. Way too many to put in a single blog post (and I didn't want to do multiple parts), so I narrowed them down and narrowed them down and narrowed them down. When I could whittle away no longer and still show the vast array of charm and beauty, I still had 66 pictures. Too many! So I grouped pictures together to form a single picture collages.
Each building is unique and different.
Not just unique and not just different, but both unique AND different.
This land was originally owned by the Ericksen family
who built two-story farmhouse on it in 1901.
The homestead was sold six years later
and declined with various owners.
In 1921, Alma Green purchased the homestead
and ran a variety of businesses
including a chicken ranch with 10,000 chickens,
a profitable still during prohibition, as well as others.
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| This is a tea house. I love tea! |
The Green family owned it until 1965
when a general contractor bought it
and used it to store equipment and other stuff.
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| This little house with the yellow door is one of my favorites. It's so cute! |
Rob Loveless purchased the property in 1979, and in 1981,
rented out the first of many spaces to come
to a friend for an antique shop.
Many buildings have been added since then
with many more businesses.
rented out the first of many spaces to come
to a friend for an antique shop.
Many buildings have been added since then
with many more businesses.
And if the buildings weren't great enough, there are train cars,
cabooses, & a boat that serve as businesses as well.
In between all these great buildings are pathways, bridges, a stream, and ponds.
And if that isn't great enough, there is artwork
on the sides of some of the buildings that are so fun.
on the sides of some of the buildings that are so fun.
The whole area is populated by ducks and chickens roaming around.
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| The ducks in the upper right corner were softly quacking, waiting for this business owner to come out and feed them. When she cracked the door open, they got much louder. They knew where to come begging. |
If all that wasn't whimsical and fun enough,
there are other gems like the 16 foot tall chicken.
WINGS!!!!
I read about these wings in public places
where you could take your picture,
and I'd hoped to get a chance to do just that someday,
and here they were.
where you could take your picture,
and I'd hoped to get a chance to do just that someday,
and here they were.
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One might assume this to be
my first time to don a pair of wings,
but it's not.
I have a collection of wings in my closet.
Because one never knows
when one will need to take flight.
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NEW!
THE WIDOW'S PLIGHT ~ A sweet historical romance that will tug at your heart. This is book 1 in the Quilting Circle series.Washington State, 1893
When Lily Lexington Bremmer arrives in Kamola with her young son, she’s reluctant to join the social center of her new community, the quilting circle, but the friendly ladies pull her in. She begins piecing a sunshine and shadows quilt because it mirrors her life. She has a secret that lurks in the shadows and hopes it doesn’t come out into the light. Dark places in her past are best forgotten, but her new life is full of sunshine. Will her secrets cast shadows on her bright future?
Widower Edric Hammond and his father are doing their best to raise his two young daughters. He meets Lily and her son when they arrive in town and helps her find a job and a place to live. Lily resists Edric’s charms at first but finds herself falling in love with this kind, gentle man and his two darling daughters. Lily has stolen his heart with her first warm smile, but he’s cautious about bringing another woman into his girls’ lives due to the harshness of their own mother.
Can Edric forgive Lily her past to take hold of a promising chance at love?
THE WIDOW'S PLIGHT is now available in ebook and paperback.
COURTING HER SECRET HEART
A Prodigal Daughters story, Book 2
Caught between two worlds…Deborah Miller lives a double life as an Amish woman—and a fashion model! All photography is forbidden in her Plain community, so she must keep her job a secret. But when Amos Burkholder starts helping at her family’s farm, hiding the truth from him is impossible. And soon she must choose between the Englisher world of modeling and the Amish man she’s come to love.
Book 3 in the Prodigal Daughters series due to release January 2019, COURTING HER PRODIGAL HEART#ChristianRomance #HistoricalRomance #Romance
MARY DAVIS is a bestselling, award-winning novelist of over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. She has five titles releasing in 2018; "Holly & Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection in January, Courting Her Amish Heart in March, The Widow’s Plight in July, Courting Her Secret Heart September, & “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in MISSAdventure Brides Collection in December. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.
Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of over thirty-four years and two cats. She has three adult children and two incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at:
