Karen’s Book Barn #ThursdayDoors

This is for being a part of Norm Frampton’s Thursday Door link-up. Is for you to be clicking on link and reading on him blog, then for to be click at blue frog button for more. Holy gosh, I think I’ve been reading too many spomments (spam comments).

SO ANYWAY, the other Per Bastet Publications managers and I went to Karen’s Book Barn in LaGrange, Kentucky to take part in Oldham County Day.

Here is my first view of KBB.

KBB1Impressive, eh? And purtiful, as my grandpa would say.

A little closer….

KBB2Ah! We see it used to be a Masonic Lodge! Very pretty detail on those upper windows. Nice choice, to paint the bricks around the entrance white.

Okay, so here we are — Oh, wait! Let’s look at the mosaic work on this threshold!

KBBstoopSo now we — No, hold on again, so we can look at this entryway!

KBBtileIt’s seen better days, but it would clean up great!

Okay, now can we back up and see the door? We can? Okay, then.

KBBdoorNiiiiiiiiice.

Inside, someone somewhere along the chain of ownership (it’s been a bookstore for 20 years, but Karen no longer owns it. It’s so well-loved, though, that the new owner kept the name) …. I lost my place. Oh, yeah, inside, someone used door panels to frame the end-caps. Pretty cool.

BTW, while we were there, we witnessed history in the making: The current owner had been wanting to sell, and three friends of ours, Tony Acree (author and owner of Hydra Publications), Frank Hall (former owner of That Book Place in Madison, Indiana), and author Lynn Tincher BOUGHT IT!

KBBshelvingThey also painted this door with blackboard paint and chalked a sign on it.

KBBnecessaryNATURALLY, I had to check it out. It’s the lavatory.

Okay, that’s all the doors, but not all the pictures.

‘Cau-au-ause, across the street is this other way-cool building. I didn’t get the doors, but check out that detail and those windows and stuff.

KBBacrossA little way down the street was this hotel, with HOTEL in differently colored shingles on the roof. You can’t see it because of the shadow, but the second story has a balcony with an iron railing around it. One of our partners — not I, for a wonder — insisted on calling it a “hotel,” with the quote marks clearly audible. She may be right, at that.

KBBacrossdownAa-aa-aand —

KBBsidewalkAll up and down both sides of the street were these painted paving stones, with all different pictures on them. I particularly liked this one because of the trompe l’œil. And why do they have a railroad guy in LaGrange, Kentucky?

KBBtraintailBECAUSE A TRAIN GOES RIGHT THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF TOWN!!!!

What kind of train?

KBBcsxIt was a moving art gallery, with many pieces of beautiful artwork on it — not being sarcastic; I love some good tags — but this little guy is the only one I chose to share.

KBBbyeA most satisfactory day, all around.

Stay tuned tomorrow and Saturday for The Cherished Blogfest, in which bloggers share a cherished object. No, not my eating utensils.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: A character makes a major purchase

MA

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About

I was born in Louisville, Kentucky, but now live in the woods in southern Indiana. Though I only write fiction, I love to read non-fiction. The more I learn about this world, the more fantastic I see it is.

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One thought on “Karen’s Book Barn #ThursdayDoors

  1. Dan Antion

    July 28, 2016 at 7:57am

    What a great collection of doors and a little stream-of-consciousness writing to lead us through a nice little town. This was a fun read, Marian 🙂

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      July 28, 2016 at 8:50am

      Thanks, Dan. LaGrange is a VERY cool town! I’ll be back, I’m sure!

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  2. Dan Antion

    July 28, 2016 at 8:00am

    BTW, the title’s gone missing again in your Twitter share thingie 🙁

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      July 28, 2016 at 8:51am

      Well, expletive deleted! Guess I gotta put my geek britches on again and see what happened.

      Permalink  ⋅ Reply
  3. katfrench

    July 28, 2016 at 8:47am

    For some reason, I was expecting Karen’s Book Barn to be an actual barn. Like the quilting place in Georgetown that used to be a western wear shop.

    Must have forgotten to take my anti-literal pills this week. 😉

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      July 28, 2016 at 8:53am

      Heeee! It’s just one big open space, now broken up by shelves and shelves and shelves of books. When I first went in, I immediately thought of That Book Place, so it just seemed inevitable that Frank should be there now. 🙂

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  4. Jean Reinhardt

    July 28, 2016 at 8:55am

    What a lovely town, Marian. I love that painted paving, too.

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      July 28, 2016 at 10:29am

      When I go back, if I have time, I’ll snap more of them and do a gallery or sumpin.

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  5. Jane

    July 28, 2016 at 9:05am

    Nice visit to LaGrange. And books, too!
    Hope you sold some.

    Permalink  ⋅ Reply
    • Author

      Marian Allen

      July 28, 2016 at 10:30am

      A few. Not many, I’m sorry to say. Next time we will, though. 🙂

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  6. Karen Eldridge

    July 28, 2016 at 9:40am

    Thank Marian for the wonderful story abd the love you showed for Karen’s and the town.

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      July 28, 2016 at 10:31am

      It’s a wonderful town, and we fell in love with Karen’s as soon as we walked in. You made A Good Thing. 🙂

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  7. norm 2.0

    July 28, 2016 at 10:12am

    I can tell just how much you enjoyed putting this one together.
    Thanks for the fun tour 😀

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      July 28, 2016 at 10:32am

      I love older buildings. And books. And now, everywhere I go, I look for doors. And tools and trains and cranes. You guys! heh

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  8. Mary J

    July 28, 2016 at 10:25am

    Nice post, Marian. That’s an interesting book store. I would love to peruse the inside and contents on the shelves. I instantly thought of Dan at No Facilities when I saw the train photo. I wonder why?

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      July 28, 2016 at 10:33am

      Yeah, I wonder why? lol! SO many good books! Naturally, I bought a sackful. 😀

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  9. Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt

    July 28, 2016 at 1:23pm

    So glad you post these pictures – I got a nice little trip to a place I may never visit in person.

    I love the mosaic work – so glad it’s still there.

    Don’t you love summer when you can wander around like this? Wish I could go with you.

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      July 28, 2016 at 2:19pm

      I wish you could, too! We’d have fun! Until we didn’t! I need an air-conditioned, opaque bubble — with a fridge and a recliner and a bathroom — that I could carry in my pocket and set up in a flash, so I can retreat when being out and/or in public gets to be too much.

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      • Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt

        July 28, 2016 at 2:59pm

        And when you’ve got it (I think they sell tiny trailers for cars which have just the facilities you need), they probably won’t let you park it close enough to downtown (lots of places are making pedestrian malls out of their downtown streets – making it HARDER for disabled people to get there – and farther for those who need to walk somewhere). Sigh.

        Thank the good Lord for pictures and videos and healthy people going out there and posting what they see. It is much appreciated. I have seen Tasmania through a friends who posts her walks, and been to the Taj Mahal.

        For a while there it looked as if the world was getting very large, with the kids in families moving far away to pursue jobs (as my husband and I did). But the world is now tiny – and very accessible, for those who have the technology. This is a good thing.

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        • Author

          Marian Allen

          July 29, 2016 at 8:09am

          Oh, I wouldn’t have to park my imaginary Private Place. It’s imaginary, so it would fold up and fit in my pocket and weigh nothing. lol

          I’m looking forward to Virtual Reality. I would love to tour the world, walk around, explore, and still be safe at home with no risk of heat stroke or incontinence, able to check in on Mom and be right there if she needed me. Maybe they could include the sounds and smells, too, to enhance the illusion. As long as I’m dreaming….

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  10. Alana

    July 28, 2016 at 6:24pm

    I love those kind of cool old buildings. And, wouldn’t you know, I have a story to tell you. Last year I was put back in touch with a cousin I had lost track of back in the 1970’s. His wife and daughter…get ready for this….manage an indie bookstore. How cool is that? Maybe one day I will work in one even if I did fail The Strand’s quiz for prospective employees (as published in The New York Times).

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      August 4, 2016 at 3:16pm

      That would be fun! I’d rather work in one than own one. I don’t have the taste for adventure that a retailer needs.

      Permalink  ⋅ Reply

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