Shop the local stores!

I always try to do as much shopping in privately owned shops as possible. As as previous shop keep myself, its important to me (and should be important to everyone) that the shops that work hard to have unusual, unique, and special items stick around for us to enjoy. A while back, I wrote about 10,000 Villages and today I stopped in to visit The Dusty Rose, a purveyor of "Fine Gifts, Antiques & Such". The Dusty Rose is a great find, nestled in next to the grocery shop near my house, and just a few doors down from my favorite Chinese restaurant.
In the window are giant hand-blown orbs of glass which are just the tantalizing beginning. Owners Jerry and Barb Striker search far and wide for delightful home accents, jewelry, tabletop items, candles, fountains... all sorts of cool stuff. Today I found 2 gifts for my daughter. It's perfectly safe to mention them here, because she finds me far too boring to ever peruse this blog. Sigh.... Anyway, they sell a line of fairy jewelry, and I got her a tiny fairy wand necklace for Christmas, and another - a tiny frog with a crown - for her upcoming birthday. They are really sweet, she'll love them. The Dusty Rose can be reached either by email - dusty.rose3@verizon.net , or at 717-581-1775.
I should mention here that Jerry is a long-time friend. He's the slave-driver I worked for who forced me to learn how to use the computer. His sense of humor can be found throughout the shop in some of the more unusual items. A couple years ago I found an egg separator for a friend that had Jerry written all over it. It was a ceramic piece, resembling a human head. You poured the egg into the top of the head, and the white of the egg came out the nose, while the perfect yolk remained inside.
Barb worked at the same place, and we've been friends a long time too. Her eye for display and taste are evident in every detail. The customer service is incredible.
Yep, I love the small shops.
Jerry supplied a recipe for Elderberry Pie that will be in the upcoming Jan/Feb issue of The Essential Herbal, that he brought back from his aunt's recipe collection in Ohio.
Even though the holiday season is drawing to a close, be sure to stop in and support local business whenever the opportunity arises. The big boxes may seem convenient now, but when they become the only choice, life will sure be boring.