luvs...yes, it was very commercial & we happened upon the old Branson right when we first got there! Hit the candy store (the best caramel!) & that 5 & dime store you mentioned...elbow to elbow in there...but got a couple fun old things for motorhome...Jacob's Ladder Tumbling Toy & remember, "Bloonies"...the little toothpaste like tubes & teeny straws that you blow to make bubblegum like bubbles! G'kid activities for camping! Thanks sunny, jane & punk...I've been looking for that special deer & was happy that DH spotted it... $8 so I thought that was a good price & scale for my book & chenille snowman! I tried to find the pottery people on ebay but no luck yet...they are interesting...I think something was originally in the pot the man is carrying??? Jeanne S.

Stiles are the vertical part of the frame (sides) on a Shaker door, and the rails are the horizontal (top and bottom pieces...and any that go across the middle). I will have to see if I can find an example of a bead on the edge of a door. OK...On this web page if you scroll down to the "Beaded face frame for kitchen cabinets" discussion about 1/4 of the way down the page, you'll see a small cabinet. (You can click on the photo to enlarge it) On that cabinet there is a bead on the face frame around the door. This is often done on inset cabinets, so I thought maybe if it was done on the door, it could possibly help the look. http://www.amanatool.com/lonniebird-cabinet-doors-drawers.html# On this page you can see a bead more clearly, although it's applied to the inner side of the frame, rather than the outside: http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/forums/cabinetmaking.pl?read=591399 The bead isn't necessary, just thought it could be a cool detail. Evilbunnie shows a great example of the cleaner look without one.

Thanks everyone. It really feels good to get the positive feedback. I just wasn't excited, even driving down there. But then I got there and saw the slabs laid out... I felt like I uncovered treasure, buried under the top slab in the stack. I feel so lucky to have liked the top slab enough to want to choose it; and I ended up not taking it! There's a small piece of my cabinet finish and a cup and dish towel in one of the original pictures, but here's a close up. The cabinets will be a natural beech with water borne finish in a shaker style. I am a blue person, so I needed a granite that would look good with blue dishes, towels, tea kettle, etc. This fits the bill. jstehl - it was labeled as Vyhara, so I don't know if it's the same as Vyara Juparana. The VJ I've seen is alot darker, but then there is so much variation stone to stone. I ALMOST went with Vyara Gold - I think it's gorgeous, every slab I've seen. It's very beautiful and flowy. My concern (and the feedback I got from stoneyard staff) was that it was too close to my cabinet color and the two would blend too much, not enough contrast. If you can, go back and get pics; I've already questioned myself once, then looking at the pics I know I made the right choice! And yes, I will decide on template placement. But, unfortunately, I don't think my layout allows for a butterfly. But I will be sure to place the beautiful, big swirls prominently. One will look gorgeous on my island! And take cabinet sample, accents and put into the pictures....

In the fifty plus years that I have been collecting, buying, and selling antique furniture I have never, let me repeat that, NEVER seen a bookcase that can be reliably attributed to a Shaker community, ANY Shaker community. Your bookstand is in the style of the Mission / Arts & Crafts period, but I doubt it's a piece built by any known maker. Instead it appears to be typical of designs published in many different magazines the ilk of Popular Mechanics and often as not made by boys in a school industrial arts class or at home in the cellar or garage. Old or new you can find these things for $35 and up depending on where you shop. For for the bookstand alone I'd take the $25 and say "thank you very much." Actually, I'd take less... But for the bookstand AND the painting, no way, no, no, no. I don't particularly care for the painting myself, but that's beside the point. You have a watercolor by a known listed artist, one that I suspect would appeal to many people, and all by itself that is enough for me to suggest that whomever offered you that price for both pieces was simply trying to rob you. If you were polite enough to say "Thank you, no" I salute you.