Strange things abound

You know, this cutlery store actually has some strange things tucked away.

Did you know that we sell magnifiers? We get a lot of people with macular degeneration referred to us because there aren't a lot of places in town that carry them. We also have things like the Optivisor that are good for hobbyists to use, even if it makes them look a bit like a refugee from a low budget sci-fi movie.


You may remember our clearance section from Ye Olde Website of ages past. Lots of strange things in there, a lot of them because in my great-grandfather's day the cutlery was also a hardware store. We still have bits of leftover stock tucked away. Dremel tool accessories, glass bubbles for levels, and a lot of screws and nuts. (Which reminds me, you'll let me know if you ever need any of those old iron stove/carriage bolts, won't you?)  

Another relic, from the days when we manufactured scissors, is the barrel of scissor blanks. For our 135th anniversary, Carl and Glenna put in extra hours to hand-finish (sharpen, polish, paint) around 50 pairs. They ended up looking a lot like the traditional Wiss sewing/household scissors.

We have six different oyster knives in stock in the store. From one (one!) company. Did you even know they made that many different types of oyster knives? I admit that I did. I hadn't really thought about it before, but I noticed it while I was arranging things in a display case today.

We also sell a knife for cutting whole wheels of cheese. It's a Wushof and it never fails to get comments from new customers.

Nose and ear scissors. Essential, but on some level, hilarious. That doesn't mean I won't still get my husband one, just that I'm not cruel enough to do it for his birthday.

Silhouette scissors. Scissors that were designed to cut itty figures out of black paper. As you'd imagine, they're still great for any sort of highly detailed work, but you'd think they'd change the name.

We sell a lot of lightbulbs. Apparently it is difficult to find replacement bulbs for those Floxite light up mirrors.

Now, I don't have some great point to make. Just that we're a small family business that's accumulated a lot over the years. We have some fun stuff that's not entirely what you'd expect. 
And that's what I like about us.

A Rosy Outlook

Happy belated 4th of July! I was singularly unpatriotic this year, at least in terms of explosives. I'm really more of a sparklers sort of gal. I think I made up for it by going to lots of picnics and eating tons of picnic food.

I haven't really gone into it in this blog, but I happen to be a reader. I read a LOT. Lately I've been into a lot of nonfiction and one of the books has moved me to write a little about it. The book is Otherwise Normal People: Inside the Thorny World of Competitive Rose Gardening, by Aurelia Scott and if you want to know what I think, you'll have to go read about that at my book blog. 


In honor of the rosarians out there, here are some of the tools we have that you find useful.

Now, I've talked about Felco pruners in general. Did you know that they make specific rose shears? These "cut and hold" rose shears, with rosewood handles, have a wide metal spring that is separate from the blades, which firmly grips the stem after the blades have cut it. Just open the shears to release the stem. This is also called a "cut and hold scissors" or a "harvester scissors". They'll hold flowers, grapes or anything else to be gathered.  If I'm remembering my reading correctly, one concern is whether the stems get smooshed too much when they're cut. In my experience these shears don't really do much damage to the stems when they hold them, but I admit that I am far less particular than anyone who goes anywhere near a rose competition. If you've used them, I'd love to hear about your experiences in the comments.

I would also like to direct your attention to... pruner holsters!  We have two different sorts, one that's a little more pointy and one that isn't.  The pointy one (pictured), is probably going to be a little more adaptable to different sorts of pruners, but either will fit any of the Felco pruners. Both are made from heavy duty grain leather, waxed thread and have extra riveting for long lasting use.They can be mounted on a belt, or clipped to a pocket, so you can always have your pruners handy.


Something else you might find helpful, if you're into some serious gardening, are the various horticulture knives we have. Of the three, one is just a basic utility knife, another has a slightly hooked blade to be a good pocket pruning knife. The other is a grafting knife. Not being as garden-inclined as some, I do not actually have a very good idea of what you would do with this... maybe create some sort of franken-plant? I know that you can graft stuff with fruit trees, too, so if you have those you should check it out. 


I'm off to look at roses online, my mom's thinking about trying to put some in and needs something unkillable. I've heard good things about.. shoutout? knockout? something like that. 


Catch you all later!