Beautifully-crafted garden benches and bird boxes catch the eyes of shoppers strolling along Newland Avenue in the sunshine.

The craftsmanship belies the price tags, causing many to stop to admire the work before heading inside the shop.

For a bargain price of £55, you can snap up a three-seater garden bench. Cube-shaped planters start at £8 while bird boxes cost the pocket money price of just £2, a fraction of the amount charged in DIY stores and garden centres.

If that’s not enough of a pull, the goods outside Recycling Unlimited have been made from reclaimed timber, broken furniture or old pallets, restored and brought back to life by a team of volunteers.

Unlike media-savvy supermarket chains and major companies, who herald the tiniest of environmental moves, Peter Rowson, of Recycling Unlimited, is quiet and unassuming about its ethos.

“We want to look after the environment,” he said. “We don’t think people should be burying so much stuff into the ground for future generations to live with.”

As well as helping the environment by preventing the discarded wood being sent to landfill sites, every piece has been made by long-term unemployed or people recovering from mental health problems such as depression. Read more »

Almost 40 years ago, when Irene Marsh was a young woman, she took a few months of computer science courses. But when Ms. Marsh realized that would not help her find a job in this Appalachian furniture region, she dropped out and went to work in a factory making tabletops.

Then, like thousands of other furniture makers here in the last five years, she lost her job to workers overseas, after 37 years at one company. But Ms. Marsh, who recently sat with a mouse and keyboard in a basic-skills classroom at Caldwell Community College a few miles south of here, may yet have her chance at a computer job.

Last month, the Internet search giant Google announced that it would take advantage of the area’s underused electric power grid, cheap land and robust water supply to build a “server farm” — a building full of computers that will become part of the company’s worldwide network.

Google says it hopes laid-off furniture workers, most of whom never graduated from high school, will be among the 250 employees at two facilities on the 215-acre site, much of which was once a lumberyard. Read more »

Nipomo residents will soon have to find a new place to shop for sofas, bed frames and bookcases, because the Furniture Broker is going out of business in April.

Bright yellow signs posted along the building’s exterior, visible from Highway 101 on North Frontage Road, announce huge discounts on all remaining furniture, as the store’s owners are working to clear out the warehouse before the doors close.

Manager Cynthia Alvarez, who has worked in the store for more than 10 years, said it’s closing because of a depression in the industry for smaller stores, which have been seen across the nation. Read more »

Nipomo residents will soon have to find a new place to shop for sofas, bed frames and bookcases, because the Furniture Broker is going out of business in April.

Bright yellow signs posted along the building’s exterior, visible from Highway 101 on North Frontage Road, announce huge discounts on all remaining furniture, as the store’s owners are working to clear out the warehouse before the doors close.

Manager Cynthia Alvarez, who has worked in the store for more than 10 years, said it’s closing because of a depression in the industry for smaller stores, which have been seen across the nation. Read more »

Not much can get Michael Yessick down. The owner of Orange Crate Unfinished Furniture Outlet in Northport, Yessick is known for an optimism that can seemly weather any storm.

“Michael’s one those guys who takes everything in stride,” said Tim Haskew, a long time friend and fellow member of St. Mark’s United Methodist Church. “It’s very rare to see Michael down or discouraged, he’s just always upbeat.”

But when fire claimed the Orange Crate, the business he owns with his wife, Rita, in April, it was too much for even Yessick. Read more »

William Guy Stalcup, who died of an aneurysm of the aorta Oct. 4 at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, farmed his parents’ land, owned a furniture store for 31 years and belonged to the same church for all of his 91 years.

Mr. Stalcup lived his entire life, with the exception of military service, in the Chesterbrook area of McLean. He grew tomatoes, green beans, raspberries and strawberries and sold them at a farm stand in front of his house. He trucked the vegetables to local farmers markets, where the family farm had a reputation for selling the only locally grown sweet corn in McLean. In winter, he sold Christmas trees.

But that was just his second job. He also owned and operated the Stalcup Furniture Co. in Falls Church. He worshiped and volunteered at Chesterbrook United Methodist Church, and in his few remaining free hours, he devoted himself to his family. Read more »

Edna Morgan has vivid memories of life in Effingham County in the 1930s.

She and her husband lived on his family farm in Clyo, and she was the first and second grade teacher at the only school.

Things went smoothly in her classroom. She was allowed to carry a ruler to tap fingers and desks, but seldom had to use it, and she rode to school with the children on the school bus.

“The school bus picked me up right in front of this house,” she said, “and then it drove across the fields to pick-up children on the farms.”

Life on their farm also ran smoothly, but one night tragedy struck. Read more »

Properly preparing and storing your outdoor furniture helps ensure it will be in good shape and ready for use when spring comes. Here are some tips from Susan Dovel, patio manager for B&G Fireplace and Patio in Jackson Township:

• Clean your furniture so bird droppings, pollutants and other kinds of dirt won’t damage the finish over the winter. You can use a product made for outdoor furniture, or create your own cleaner by mixing one-quarter cup liquid dish detergent and one-quarter cup household bleach with 1 gallon of water. Use a nylon brush on outdoor wicker to get into all the little spaces.

• Tip the furniture so any water that’s gotten inside the frame will run out through the drainage holes. If you don’t, the water could freeze and expand, possibly splitting the seams.

• Check for cracked or damaged end caps that could let in moisture during the winter, and replace them. Read more »

Bob Brooks Auction Sales
Monday, September 18, 2006 8:00 AM
Located Rt. 47, Malaga, New Jersey
1 Mile North of Rt. 40 & 47 intersection
www.bobbrooksauction.com
Country furniture is featured in our September sale along
with Southern New Jersey art glass, china and decorative arts.

FURNITURE: 2 pc. pine corner cabinet; 4 pine corner cabinet; 4 pine dough boxes; tripod base tilt top table; Pembroke table; exceptional 35� green sponge decorated step back hutch; open top pine cradle; pine saw buck table; pine hutch table; chestnut dry sink; Wilmon Ware 5 slat rocker; several Ware straight chairs; walnut tapered leg stand; Empire side board; Empire game table; cottage dressers and washstand; Empire Dresser; Empire mirrors; wainscot kitchen hutch; nicely refinished 3 door oak ice box; single door wardrobe; oak dresser-chest and washstand; oak Texas desk; oak and walnut slant front desk; early Victorian sofa; large Victorian foyer mirror; 2 carved Victorian marble top tables; oak �C� roll top desk; etc. Read more »

America is moving out.

We’re creating outdoor spaces with all the comforts of indoors, right down to the area rugs and chandeliers. Thank modern materials for that and, quite possibly, the high cost of housing.

“Americans are looking outdoors and saying, ¿Hey, I have a lot more room than I thought I had,’” said P. Allen Smith, a garden designer who has both a television show and a book titled “P. Allen Smith’s Garden Home.”

Creating a garden room, those homeowners reason, is a lot less expensive than adding on or pulling up stakes. With expansive choices and opportunities for customization, “you can get the same level of design detail for the exterior” as you could for the interior, he said. Read more »