Barn House Flea Market - Part 1

Happiness is upon us! Our first Flea Market was really more than we could even imagine.
The line started EARLY...waaay before we opened. The parking area overflowed...in ways we never thought possible. I (Jermonne), along with Barry (Queen of Tarte's man) and our dear friends Amanda and Beth were all running around in a frenzy trying to control the traffic/parking. I was running in circles (literally--and was the butt of many jokes at the "After Party" for my very animated style in directing traffic) and dropped our camera which was run over by a car--poor us! ;o)The dealers were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! We are so very lucky to have had some of the most beautiful, talented, inspiring, positive, gracious, and wonderful women step out on a limb and bring their A-Game to the first annual Barn House Flea Market.






OH! And the Dealer Bake-Off and Chili Cook-Off competitions were a BLAST!!! We had six entries in each category. For the Bake-Off, the entries were: The Boys of Barn House - "My Late Grand Mama Pearl's Peach Cobbler," Little Byrd - "Fabulous Banana Bread," Brush Prairie Originals - "Nanaimo Bars," Antie Joys - "Poppy Seed Cake," Sparrow - "Coconut Lime Bars," and Worthy Goods - "Harvest Loaf."

The entries for our Chili Cook-Off: The Boys of Barn House - "Fire in the Hole!!! Chili," Queen of Tarte - "Antelope and 27 Other Meats Chili," Brush Prairie Originals - "White Hot Chicken Chili," Sparrow - "Centuries Old Family Recipe Chili", The Withies - "Mayan Mystery" Chili, and Lynne G's "Nose Hair Curler" Chili. We had 15 amazing judges...some of 'celebrity' status, and some just normal folks like you and me...but we loved all of them the same. Do y'all want to know the winners????
The winner of the Bake-Off competition...Natalie of Sparrow - another reason we can't stand her...along with all of her fancy primitives we want for our house but don't really need because we already have plenty of her stuff!!!! ;o) One comment from a judge was, "Very unusual, lovely blend of flavors." I would looove to focus on the word "unusual"...BUT, we didn't even get a chance to taste her "Unusual" Fancy Coconut Lime Bars that just happened to win the competition. BUT, what we can tell you is, she ain't invited back...EVER!! My late grand mama Pearl is probably rolling in her grave. ;o)

The winner of the Chili "Battle" is...microphone please...trumphet please...spotlight please...birds chirping please...angels singing please...Hillbillies around the world SCREEEEAM...THE BOYS OF BARN HOUSE!!!!! HEE HAW!!!!! This is kind of amazing considering we hadn't slept much all week, had spent most of the day setting up and lolly-gagging with our dealers/friends...THEN there was the "Pre-Flea Market Party" with our dealers/friends that spent the night with us (Queen of Tarte & her man Barry, Antie Joy , Luluz and her man Geff, and Molly Mo). By the time Cindy & Barry (Queen of Tarte) and The Boys of Barn House started our chilis, it was around midnight before the event (and we had to be up at 4 am)!!!! This was a new recipe for us...somewhat of a last minute concoction...we decided to just play it by ear. "Moonshine" speaks in mysterious ways sometimes! (ok, yes, we are still a bit sleep deprived)

As mentioned, our camera was crushed, so if you were here and have photos you would like to share, please send them our way (barnhousebh@yahoo.com). Thanks Sweetie-Pie Isabel (Maison Douce) for sharing some of the pix you took for us. AND, thanks for all of the customers and friends who made it out our way on Saturday. Tell us if you had a good time!!! Shoot, tell us if you just wished you were here!!! Just don't tell us you didn't like our peach cobbler and chili!

Joe and Jermonne
The Boys of Barn House

Party at J&J's Suga Shack - This Saturday!!!

J&J's Suga Shack is the alter-ego of Barn House. Every once in a while, we go a little country crazy and just let it all hang out! Our first Flea Market is going to be QUITE an event. If you don't know us, you are sure to find out who we REALLY are on Saturday. I don't know if this is good or not, but you are sure to get a good laugh (most likely at our expense).
Today was our first day of set up. "Mister" (me) stayed home to make sure there wasn't too much lolly-gagging going on. I have to keep my eye (my good eye) on that Joe sometimes! ;o) Natalie (Sparrow--aka Master Primitive Hunter), Aleta & Bill (Flourishes AND The Silly Bear), Julie Verburg (The Withies), Lynne Gunderson and Julie Brough were all here dropping off a portion of their goodies. Tomorrow is the 1st day of the party when ALL of the dealers will be here working their magic. Are you ready for this??
We have six entries in each category of the Bake-Off/Cook-Off dealer competition. Our entries - "Barn House's 'Fire in the Hole!' Chili" and "Grand Mama Pearl's Famous Peach Cobbler" are sure to win!!! We can't wait to wear our Blue Ribbon's proudly at The After Party...not to mention running around rubbing every one's nose in it. How FUN will that be!!! AND, we have celebrity judges too!!! You may have heard of Donna and Phillip (Stylist and Photographer Extraordinaires)--they do covers for such magazines as Country Living and Country Home, among many, many others. HEE HAW! I mentioned in an earlier post our new friend Krista Colvin, AM Northwest's Lifestyle Expert. Hallelujah, she is bringing a chariot filled with lovely and very talented ladies who will also be judges!!! Her friend Tracey is coming all the way from Nevada for this here party. We have many other fabulous judges too--more on them soon!! We have politely asked Cindy (Queen of Tarte) and her Manly-Man Barry to be sure to remove the antlers from their 'Antelope' Chili...or did she say 'Gazelle' Chili??? It's hard to keep up with Miss Cindy sometimes. She is soooo Fancy!!
OK y'all, "Mister" is T-I-R-E-D...there is still so much to do! Gotta go tend to them chickens...hope to see you on Saturday...

Joe & Mister
The Boys of Barn House

The Flea Market Is A Comin'...!!

It's almost time, so we don't have much time to chat. We both were a little side-tracked this weekend...hanging out with Cindy and Barry at their place in Salem (yes, the disco ball was in full swing)...sittin' on our porch drinkin' moonshine...and talking about ALL the stuff we STILL have to do!
Even with the R & R, the Barn House space is coming together. Joe wasn't content with just having a tent, so he insisted on building yet ANOTHER "big elaborate structure." Even though I was close to having anxiety attack when he first mentioned the idea, I must say it looks really nice. One day I am going to choke on all the words I have to eat around here!
Natalie (Sparrow) has slowing been bringing her larger pieces. This is an absolutely gorgeous European hutch she recently found on a scouting adventure. If it doesn't sell at the Flea Market, it is definitely finding a place in the Barn House Home Collection. AND we have been hearing about all of the wonderful treasures our other dealers are bringing. It's going to be jammed packed!! HEE HAW!!!
The Chili Cook-Off and Deliciously Sweet Bake off is going to be FANTASTICO!! We even have us a local celebrity judge y'all!!! Krista Colvin, AM Northwest Lifestyle Expert and Creator of Shebang.com, The Smart Woman's Guide to Doing it All is going to be one of our judges!! We have several other confirmed fabulous judges, BUT, we could use a few more. Please let us know if you are interested--the judging includes an exclusive home tour!! ;o) We have some great entries in both categories. We are kind of getting nervous about not winning. Everybody is talking behind the scenes about all these special ingredients and stuff...yikes!! BUT, since we have these here home grown Walla Walla onions that are ready for the pickin', we plan to use them in the Barn House Chili entry (nobody else has these gosh darnit!). Somehow, Cindy (Queen of Tarte) and her man Barry found the 'Antelope' for their chili. If we didn't actually see it happen for ourselves, we probably wouldn't believe it either. One of their party guests was in Africa (or something like that) the other day and supposedly has the hook-up on 'Antelope.' They asked if they could borrow our goats and sheep for their 27 meat (or something like that) concoction, but we politely said HELL NAW! ;o)
We will post directions later this week. Hope to see you on Saturday!!! Tell a friend or 10 friends or 100 friends...this is going to be something else!

J & J
P.S. - Oh, and we have been "tagged" by the beautiful and amazingly talented Brooke. She is really going to get it for this!! I don't know if anyone will be ready for our answers. LOL :o) More to come...

Are you ready for July 26th???

Although we have been lolly-gagging a bit -- hanging out with Jason and Terry from La La Land, enjoying the company of Little Byrd and Mrs. French (with LD and Mr. French) AND finally getting some hammock time, we have actually been getting ready for the Flea Market too! We have an amazing line-up! These folks are good...and we mean REALLY good! We are so very happy they will be part of our first Barn House Flea Market. The treasures are starting to roll in. This is a piece that Natalie (Sparrow) brought back from Comfort, TX. If we didn't love her so much, we might be green with envy about her primitive-finding abilities. She is such a show-off...we (almost) can't stand her! BUT, she is here right now helping Joe (Mr. Side-Tracked) build a brand new "elaborate structure" for our space outside...which I am not sure is toootally necessary in the 11th hour when there are a million other things to do (like pricing) -- but really, who am I to say??? Joe constantly reminds me, "You are NOT 'The Almighty Creative Director'...that is I!!" Did I really say all of that out loud? I SURELY digress. Back Natalie, she is a show off with her primitives (traveling to TX and stuff), BUT, we still love her! ;o) Joe has been out scouting some goods for Barn House with Cindy (Queen of Tarte) at one of those "invite only" sales down in Central Oregon. This is the second one they have been to together in the past month or so. It's really not a good thing to get those two together shopping. They bought so much stuff the first time, they still haven't been able to pick it all up...and she has a huge trailer! She is another one we (almost) can't stand...sooooo talented with her famous ribbon, and chairs upholstered with French Burlap and on, and on! It's kind of sickening...but, I will get to her later! If you didn't know already, we are having a little competition between some of the dealers. There will be a Chili Cook Off and a Bake Off. It all started at our first sale and The Boys of Barn House planned to cook some chili for our featured vendors. BUT, Joe didn't buy all of the ingredients for "my" chili, because he thought "he" was going to make his version of it (really a knock-off of mine). Well, the mud started slingin' about whose chili was the best. Cindy was talking about how her Barry makes some chili with 27 different kinds of meat (including antelope or something like that) ;o) ... then Natalie started in on the recipe that has been in her family for centuries (or something like that)...so here we are today.More to come on the "official entries" for both categories...but this is going to be a serious down home country cookin' battle!! We would love to get some confirmed judges that will vote on one or both categories. Only folks that sign up ahead of time will be able to judge and taste my late grandmother's famous Peach Cobbler, along with the other entries. If you are a little concerned about trying Cindy & Barry's 'Antelope' Chili, pick the Baked Goods, please! :o)

Hope to see you on the 26th!!

J & J

July 26th Flea Market - The Line Up!!!

We had some much needed R&R over the weekend and were fortunate enough to have our very close friends Jason and Terry from La-La Land here visiting. We threw a little party on the 4th and even made it down to the Willamette Valley for some wine tasting yesterday. This is Joe at the beginning of our day. He didn't let me post the picture of us carrying him out of the last vineyard (geez, he is sooo particular!).But now, it's back to business! OK y'all...are you ready for the Flea Market line up??? We don't know how, but we were able to attract some of the most creative, talented AND beautifully-spirited folks in the Northwest. We are very honored to announce they will all be joining us for the very first Barn House Flea Market!!

Featured Dealers:
Queen of Tarte (Salem, OR)
Sparrow, aka "Master Primitive Finder" (Washougal, WA)
Couture Junquies (Camas, WA)
Luluz (Tacoma, WA)
Little Byrd (Portland, OR)
Flourishes (Mt. Pleasant, WA)
Worthy Goods (Washougal, WA)
Antie Joy (Silverton, OR)
Julie Brough (Camas, WA)
The Withies (Lake Oswego, OR)
Molly Mo's (Sublimity, OR)
Lynne Gunderson (Portland, OR)
BirdSong Designs (Battle Ground, WA)
Brush Prairie Originals (Brush Prairie, WA)
Uncovered Ruby (Battle Ground, WA)

AND, we must also mention we are having a little competition between some of the dealers...a Deliciously Sweet Bake-Off (10 am) and a Hot & Spicy Chili Cook-Off (11 am)! Sooo, if YOU are planning on coming and want to be a judge, just let us know. Of course we hope the Barn House contributions will win the Blue Ribbon for both categories, but some of the other dealers have been talking a lot of "mess" about their skills in the kitchen. All we can say is...whatever! ;o)

Hope to see you on the 26th...

Joe & Jermonne
Barn House

Miss Celie (our first confirmed judge)