Thursday, May 28, 2015

The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap @bookstorewendy






 LUCY BURDETTE: I swear today's guest lives in a cozy mystery. She owns a bookstore in a small town, with a cafe on top, and tons of cats. She's married to a Scotsman and they sing, they crochet, they find homes for strays...I don't know how I came across her blog, but now I read it every day. Welcome Wendy Welch! Errr, wait a minute, I believe there's been a last-second substitution...


Today’s guest blog is brought to you by Hadley Marie Hemingway, staff cat at The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap. Hadley is a special needs kitten, oxygen deprivation at birth having taken a few brain cells away. But she’ll tell you about herself and her home in her own words. Take it away, Hadders…..

Hi – I’m Hadley, and I own a bookstore. It’s called Tales of the Lonesome Pine, but a lot of people know it as The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap ‘cause Mom wrote a book about it. She wrote the book before I came to live there, so it can’t be all that interesting, but still, lotsa people come to the shop. Dad says they come ‘cause of Mom’s book, an’ ‘cause they like to read, but I know they’re really comin’ to see me.

 




That’s me as a baby. Mom and Dad took me an’ my three sisters in on Halloween Night ‘cause they were worried. They said sometimes bad things happen to kittens at Halloween. They run a foster care for cats outta the bookstore. My sisters all found homes, but Mom said I would stay here. She says I’m a few French fries short of a Happy Meal. I don’t really know what that means, ‘cause to me all meals are happy and I never ate a French fry before. I like wet cat food best, but I like spinach, too. When Mom eats it, I steal leaves from her plate. She says nobody else would have me, so I hafta stay here.

That’s Mom’s book in a coupla different languages, but they all look the same to me, ‘cause I can’t read anyway.
Not that I mind. The bookstore is a fun place. They do lotsa special events all year long. You can look in that Book of Faces if you want to see some of the things they do—and more pictures of me. 
Sometimes we get to do stuff at the special events, and Mom says that’s ‘cause I’m special.


There’s other cats here, some of ‘em waitin’ to get droppted like my sisters did. But a few of ‘em live here like I do. Nike is the cat I like best, ‘cause she taught me to use the litter box an’ keep myself clean, an’ she tells great bedtime stories. 


There’s a nice lady here, Aunt Kelley, that smells like bacon. She runs the Second Story Café upstairs. We’re not allowed up there, us cats. All day long, people go up there an’ come down smellin’ like chicken or cream. It’s really tantalizing – an’ it took me a long time to learn that word. Sometimes after all the people have gone, when Aunt Kelley is leaving for the day, she cuddles me an’ slips me little pieces of stuff. That’s how I know heaven is above us; that’s where all the good things comes from.

You should come visit me—an’ the Café an’ bookstore, of course. I like visitors who rub my belly. Come see us! I’ll put the light on for you. I’m good at that. It’s one of my jobs. I’m the only one who can do it, ‘cause I’m special.


If you wanna see a funny video about the bookstore, you can go to You Too and put in LITTLE BOOKSTORE. My friend Owen – he’s another cat that works here – dances in that one.


Owen’s fun, but I know you really wanna read more about me, an’ maybe Nike, so you can do that on Mom’s bog. She owns a bog. If you goggle WENDY WELCH (‘cause that’s my mom’s name, see) an’ LITTLE BOOKSTORE it comes right up. An’ there’s lotsa wantsa rub my belly. You have a good day too!


LUCY again: Either Hadley or Wendy will be stopping by to say hello and answer questions...we know you've got them!

22 comments:

  1. Well, Hadley certainly did a fine job telling about the bookstore. It sounds like a perfectly marvelous place, Wendy, but I have to ask how you came to be running a foster care for cats out of the bookstore.
    Lucy, thanks for introducing such a cute guest and for telling us about this wonderful bookstore.

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  2. I absolutely want to come and visit (after taking some allergy medicine).

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  3. Murphy says hello to Hadley and Nike and says he thinks the Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap sounds like his kind of place. One of his most favorite places to be is in my lap when I'm reading, see? So, more books = more lap time! And chicken smells wafting downstairs is a big plus for him (and me, too!)

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  4. It just kinda happened, Joan. We agreed to foster a couple of cats for a couple of weeks, and discovered they were like potato chips.The bookstore is a great place for people to see them, like a pet store window, so we had good adoption rates, and the rescue just kept asking us, and six years later we've rehomed almost 200 cats!

    Mark, c'mon down - we have Bendaryl. :]

    HI MURPHY!

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  5. Wendy, if you will, give them a little thumbnail version about how you ended up with this bookstore? (The long and fascinating version is told in Wendy's book...)

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  6. 200 cats?!?! Wow. When we lived in NY we kept finding strays in the basement (washing machines were down there) ... we only got up to 5 before we moved to New England. No stray cats in my basement. Just crickets. AKA cat toys. Love your story, Hadley/Wendy and wish your bookstore was near us. Hope you've had the gorgeous spring we have up north.

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  7. Jack and I had always wanted to run a bookstore, much in the way that people who like to eat think about owning a restaurant. And when we were moving to Big Stone, that big white house was for sale, and it had all the things we'd talked about, and there couldn't have been a worse time for us personally or in the economy as a whole, but we did it anyway, and nine years later, here we sit, knee-deep in kittens and surrounded by 38,000 books! We started with 3K so you can see how bad we are at selling them. :)

    HEY HALLIE YOUR NAME IS A LOT LIKE MINE! COOL! HADLEY

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  8. Welcome, Wendy! Our rescue cats Xander and Lola send greetings!

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  9. SO wonderful! And Hadley. I think I used to know your long lost brother --his name was Leon, and he was a stray, too! I found him as I was running along Ponce deLeon Avenue in Atlanta. He decided to move in--even though our other cat Lola (!!) was not happy, and lived for the next two weeks, pouting, in shoe box. (They never exchanged a civil word, not for 20 years!)

    Welcome, Wendy! Sounds heavenly, and cozy--er, I mean traditional.
    How do you decide what books to sell?

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  10. I would love to visit this store. My daughter would also love to visit. She adores cats. My husband wouldn't be able to set foot inside the front door without turning into a red-eyed, wheezy, sneezing puddle. But he might tolerate that to get in a bookstore.

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  11. I didn't realize Big Stone Gap was a real place, having read Adriana Trigiani's series. What a charming store.

    Like Mary Sutton's husband, I'm violently allergic to cats, and cannot buy books from stores that have them. I know people love cats, and I'm sure I would, too, if they didn't cause me to go into anaphylactic shock.

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  12. I got to, "There's a nice lady upstairs, Aunt Kelly, who smells like bacon," and I fell over laughing. That's when I knew an actual cat did, in fact, write today's blog!

    Wendy, I can't believe I haven't been to Tales of the Lonesome Pine yet, but I can see I'll have to rectify the situation on my next book tour!

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  13. I have read this three times, and I am absolutely sure I'll be back to read it another dozen times - Thank You!!!

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  14. Hi Hadley (and Wendy!) Hadley, our rescue kitties Bram and Yasu say they think you have a pretty nice place to live, especially the "smells like bacon" part. But are there any birds to watch? Bram and Yasu have their very own bird TV (i.e. the kitchen window.) Yasu says she also really likes newspapers--they are great for tearing up with her claws. Do books work for that, too?

    And Wendy, I love the blog--just followed it--and can't wait to read your memoir! Maybe I should plan a trip to Stone Gap to see all those books for myself... But Dax and Jasmine would like to know if there are any dog-friendly (BIG dog friendly) places to stay?

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  15. Hadley, you sound like a lovely creature, and your parents are definitely special. Sadly, I have that cat allergy, too, although mine is on the milder side. If I visit, I wouldn't be able to touch you or sit anywhere. But that doesn't mean I would not like you! I loved the picture of your house! I have seen that house in my dreams, and it was a bookstore, which is kind of weird/neat! Maybe someday, with a little help from Benadryl...

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  16. How can we not love this? Books, cats, bacon -- all of life's finer things! Thanks, Lucy, Wendy, and Hadley for a charming interlude. (Hadley, Ruff says "we can find a way in, I know we can! Bacon!)

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  17. HI XANDER, LOLA, LEON AN'LOLA IN HEAVEN, BRAM AND YASU, AND RUFF! YEAH THERE'S A HOTEL THAT LIKES DOGS AN' CATS AT THE TOP OF THE HILL. IT'S CALLED COMFORTING - (Um, Hadley dear, that's Comfort Inn. And there are some B&Bs too.)

    YEAH, AN' WE HAVE TWO DOGS HERE. ZORA LETS US SLEEP WITH HER AT NIGHT AN' WASHES OUR EARS BEFORE BED. BERT IS REALLY SCRUFFY AN' LETS US CUDDLE IN HIS LONG FUR WHEN IT'S COLD BUT HE WON'T SHARE HIS TREATS LIKE ZORA DOES. PLUS HE SMELLS FUNNY.

    Hadley Marie.....

    ANYWAY I'M REAL SORRY TO HEAR SOME PEOPLE CAN'T BE AROUND CATS. CAN'T YOU TAKE DRUGS OR SOMETHIN'? I MEAN, WHADA YA DO FOR FUN????!!!!!


    Ahem, Hadley dear, I think there's some fresh kitten candy out on the counter. Run along and get some. Sorry, folks; she's just who she is: exuberant and, well, special.

    We'd love to have y'all visit the shop anytime. As a used books store, we take books on trade, so they mostly reflect local reading tastes: namely, railroads, history, classics, music, and James Patterson. :] Plus a WHOLE ROOM CHOCK FULL of cozy mysteries, many of them full sets. We tend to get a lot of leftovers after estate sales. The only new books we carry are of regional interest/local authors. We do carry local crafts as well.

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  18. BTW this is the funny video in which Owen dances; the other one is of Needlework Night - also funny, but no dancing cats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03cmGdapxPQ

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  19. Roberta, thank you for introducing us to Wendy Welch and the Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap!

    Wendy, I love the video and all the kitties with special Hadley!

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  20. Hi Hadley, what a wonderful story you tell. You may be a few french fries short, but to me, you stand tall! Keep up the good work. Your mom may not tell you, but I will, you are the most important cog in the wheel that makes a great bookstore, and a great storyteller!

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  21. I've been gone all day, and it was delightful to find this post waiting on Jungle Reds for me to read tonight. Hadley, you did a great job representing Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap! Your description makes it sound like a book lover's paradise. Thanks for an entertaining read tonight. Wendy, I do believe you have it all!

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  22. HI KAIT! WHASA COG? MOM SAYS I CAN WRITE MORE BOGS IF I HIT ALL MY BOX TARGETS THIS WEEK. THANKS EVER'BODY FOR VISITIN'!

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