Sunday 19 January 2014

Visit to a Country Store

Yesterday, being Saturday, we made a trip to the local farmer's store in a nearby town.  It has named itself the Country Store and I like going in there to poke around.  Right away, you can see what is missing; there are no grocery items or common household goods, no appliances or personal grooming stuff.  Instead it is well stocked with all the farming and animal supplies you could possibly need.
The horse aisle is larger than the bird, dog and general pet aisles put together.  There are reins of all manner, grooming products, salves and lotions, and even a card of special ribbons to dress your horse for shows.  I am interested in all this because it is completely new to me; I've never seen horse paraphernalia before.  I run my hands over the various leather straps and read the ingredients on the hair products especially the ones that promise to make hair shiny and silky. I wonder could it apply to human hair.
 Cows don't seem to engender the same needs; products for them, in comparison, are rather meager; a few items for treatment of udder problems, creams and the like; those little knitted triangles to cover their ears and prevent them from freezing during extreme frost. There are a few decorative bells and tassels available, again I think for show time at the fairs.  Hubby says the difference in the amount of selection between horses and cows is because there is big money in horses. 
Farmers can find all the special coveralls, Carhatt jackets and bibbed pants here; all the mucking-out rubber boots and steel toed boots needed for their various jobs. I'm surprised by the lack of camouflage gear, just a few vests and hats is all; that trend seems to have almost missed this store. No Duck Dynasty items.
There is a complete line of John Deere toys for the children, everything from tiny farm yards to ride around tractors.
There are no traps other than ones for live animal trapping with a picture of a raccoon on them.  Perhaps it was a badger, I can't remember.
In the spring the middle of the store is taken over with seeds of every variety, boxes of seed potatoes, bags of onions, etc. just about anything you can think of to plant.  That's my favourite time to go in there.
Yesterday I bought a 25 pound bag of sunflower seeds for my birds and hubby found a special safety helmet he'd had his eye on for awhile. We always find something in there that we 'need'.     
     

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