A Great Little Find

So you know I live in Montana.  Don't be hatin'.

MMM and I took a drive to Helmville for their annual pre-Christmas craft show on Sunday.  Just because.  It was a terribly windy day, and really variable weather, which is standard for Montana.  We took the route up over MacDonald Pass (here is the live webcam).  It was a bit snowy, and the highway crew was putting up those reflector extenders that allow you to figure out the edge of the road when the snow piles up so high that it covers the standard reflectors.  But it was beautiful, with fast-moving clouds, and great patches of sun and shade across the landscape:

When we passed through the tiny town of Avon, I begged MMM to turn in.  There was a little white church with a steeple, and I just wanted to drive past.  He humored me, and we drove down the tiny main street.  Toward the west end, the street took a little zig to the south and we came across the Birdseye Mercantile:

We went inside, and what a jewel! This was a antique, quilt, yarn, and gift shop.  It was built in the late 1800's, serving this community as a general store.  The proprietress told a story of a 90-year-old local man who remembered that, as a child, he had come into the store and the rafters were hung with bunches of bananas.  This, in a time when fresh fruit was an extreme rarity.  This place had such a great atmosphere, and an enormous stove right in the center of the store made everything warm and cozy.  

I'm just going to let you salivate along with me.  Each corner we turned held a surprise better than the one before. 

I finally had to leave.  I came because of curiosity, but I was unprepared for any real purchases.  But you can bet I'll go back! Don't you wish you could come along?

Never fear - when I do, I'll share my finds with you!

Love, 

Sass