Sunday, October 26, 2008

Sea Hag and the Pet in My Head


(Gary Rith and his new BFF Colleen, artist, soapmaker and owner of the Sea Hag)
Me and the missus went to Sea Hag Soaps and Mercantile yesterday. It is a famous gallery in Pennsylvania that has been selling my work for about a year, but I had never visited, allowing other people to deliver for me. I got my fat check last week for the prior month's sales and said "HOLY SALES SLIP we gotta go too this place with EVERY POT I CAN SPARE!!!!!". 'Cause Christmas is coming!
Central and western New York where we live is a long and narrow slice, Lake Ontario (and Ontario!)is just over an hour north of us, Pennsylvania an hour south. Brackney is over hill and dale right on the state line, and it makes our little town of 300 look big---Brackney, PENN has a post office, and 7 lakes. It is like a little fairy tale, it is so pretty there, with all these little wooded hills and lakes and cottages and barns and cows and sheep. Funny that Pennsylvania would look so different from neighboring New York, but somehow it does? More hills, tighter together, more trees, more wooly sheep? Something like that. Plus anytime there are 7 lakes and loads of tourist cottages and all, you have fewer trailers and more COTTAGES.
So, Colleen bought 30 acres, a barn a creek, and pond for 40 thousand back around 9/11 and I AM JEALOUS. The barn is absolutey huge and perfectly restored. They really do make a boatload of soaps there, plus there is a huge gallery for selling art, and with the pond and creek and hillside and live music groups that perform...it is a destination. She has the prettiest hillside, she really does, and the thing that amazes you is how crowded the place is and how nearly impossible to find.
OK, so lucky me, I have reason to GO BACK, preferably when the weather isn't as stinko as yesterday.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on selling so many pots! And her place really does sound wonderful. :-)

Anonymous said...

you guys should ope a little coffee/pottery shop in Etna!!

Anonymous said...

Hmm Im wondering where the shop is here in Pa.

Gary's third pottery blog said...

BRACKNEY, PA!!! Just below Binghamton, NY.
HP, I would love to but then I would have to talk to people all the time....

Farmer*swife a/k/a Glass_Half_Full said...

I want to visit that place. How long of a drive is it to NY and PA? [I don't fly anymore.]

DH is in Nebraska? Not close enough, huh.

HS!

Anonymous said...

We probably came in close proximity to it when we drove up last year, Gary. We came up thru PA under Binghamton, then went around it and up across the 'blue roads'. I don't like 'major highway' driving.

Beautiful shop! I am in love with the stained glass! I'll be dropping by Sea Hag's place, right now!

Tricia said...

I'm jealous, too. It sounds like a wonderful place.

I hope you sell lots and lots and lots of wonderful things for the holiday season. I happen to know your pottery pieces put smiles on people's faces!

Anonymous said...

Hmmmm...wonder if I could convince someone to road trip up that way with me?
That shop looks and sounds marvelous! Of course, as long as we were up that far north, we really oughta go a little further and visit you, too!

Giggles said...

Wow I love that shop...pretty exciting to find the perfect place for your pots!! They look adorable sitting on the counter! Sounds like an awesome place!

Hugs Giggles

Barbara Martin said...

A road trip there means driving to Buffalo and around, or is that ferry still running to Rochester from Toronto?

Reb said...

Oh, it sounds idyllic!