Barn House: Clayson Farms

Barn House & Willow Nest here in Battle Ground on August 15th!!! Linda & Ludmil of Willow Nest (Ma & Pa Willow) are in route from Texas with a wagon full of treasures!! Their legacy here in the NW is something we could only aspire to reach in the next 15 years or so...they have been published in more magazines than you can imagine, including Country Home. As a matter of fact, the only magazine BH has been in was last year at the show we did with them!! We are sooooo proud and honored to have them as our friends and mentors. They left the NW last year to move to Texas to party with The Big Dogs of our little industry/sub-culture. IF you know anything about this here business, the shows in TX are undoubtedly the best in the country (if not some of the best in the world). So for Ma & Pa Willow to come back to the NW to visit us AND to do a show with us for the 2nd year in a row is absolutely mind-blowing! Well, we can't take all the credit for their visit because there are a few other critical factors like also doing a show with our friends The Queen and King of Tarte, as well as visiting their other BFFs like The Withies (Julie and David), as well as taking a break from the TX heat (well not really considering it's following them all the way here to The Great NW). These are some pix of our show together last year...

This show will be our most intimate of the season. Just Willow Nest and Barn House. And if you are wondering why/how we could do a show with only the two of us after our flea market, click here and here AND here ANNNND check out our August 7th post here. OH, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, don't forget to check the link to their special slide show for the Willow Nest Inn in Burton, TX!!! Did we mention that they would be bringing their treasures from THE BEST place in the country/world to shop??!!???!!! Hmmmm, you might want to think about joining us for this Texas Style Party here at Barn House. AND, we sure hope Ma & Pa have brought us back a little Suga from our TX friends Debbie and Theresa (hint-hint)! Ma and Pa are arriving soon, and there will definitely be more to come on this very special show.

So in addition to trying to rest a little after The BH Flea Mkt, we have had a few irons in the fire. We really needed to take care of our somewhat neglected children during the chaos of this last show. Just imagine, being covered in WOOL when it's 110+ degrees in the normally rainiest/coolest place on earth. "Papa, please get it together and take care of us!"

And guess what, on the HOTTEST DAY IN RECORDED HISTORY in our neck of the woods, we decided to shear our sheep ourselves (for the first time instead of paying someone else)!

In full crisis mode we bought apparently THE MOST expensive sheep-cutting-rocket-science-mechanism on the planet (b/c that's all the store had left) and started a completely new chapter in our lives. Shearing sheep in 110+ degree weather. Pay back is something else...

Without a doubt, we will certainly have to take this up as a side job to pay for those expensive a$$ shears! But, our babies were clicking their hooves after it was all said and done. Needless to say, there were a few BH glitches along the way. First, I took a tiny little notch out of Shug Avery's ear (our black sheep who was first in line), THEN took an even bigger notch out of my right middle finger causing me to just about pass out before ALMOST needing to be rushed to the hospital (maybe a slight exaggeration). Poor Shug and poor Jermonne! BUT, our babies look good (except for the one Joe finished when I was dealing with paramedics--see Odessa on the left). Next on the list are those sweet (sometimes spitting) Llamas--wish us luck with that one.

BUT, that ain't it!! We are ALSO getting ready for VERY SPECIAL show this weekend in Yakima! Y'all know we had a life changing experience in Yakima several months back that inspired a bit of BH Duck-Mania. Well, one of the big reasons we love Yakima so much is because of the American Primitives at Clayson Farm Antique Show.

We attended as shoppers last year and came home with our Suburban packed to the brim (including the roof rack was dangerously stacked with stuff). The hosts are amazing, the setting is breathtaking and the treasures to be found are out of this world!! We changed our entire schedule in 2009 so that we could be a part of two shows -- The Farm Chicks and Clayson Farm. Please be sure to check out the slide show on their site for pictures from last year's show!!! We know and love several of the vendors and it will certainly be a show you should not miss!!