Welcome to the mercantile

Maudeline Plum Mercantile’s grand opening, long, long ago.

I often try to remember the first time I visited an old fashioned country mercantile, but I can’t. It almost feels as if it must have been a past life familiarity. The old labels on jars of jams and jellies. Pickles in barrels with a scoop so you can dig one out and eat it on the spot. Old wooden floorboards in wide planks that echo from the sound of your heels as you make your way over to your favorite section. For me, it was always the books.

Books that were old with damaged spines or bent corners. They smelled of dust and old paper. The textures were all different. Some had fancy scroll work on their covers and actual watercolor paintings illustrating the pages. Some were just simply bound with a simple story or a poem. Essays that made you think or blank pages waiting for you to fill them up.

But oh, to find an outstanding adventure was always the luckiest thing! And that led me here, to Maudeline Plum Mercantile. I hope you find a favorite in the stories I’m creating for you. Within the mercantile, filled with all kinds of goodies and characters, there’s a book nook, a place to sit in front of the fire in one of the most comfortable wingback chairs, put your feet up, and open the pages to an adventure with your input. Your choices determine how the story goes. Will you make it through to the end? Well, that remains to be seen. You can return again and again to change course, should you want to try to discover ALL the paths that may be there for you to find.

From me to you, I want to share my love of the old mercantiles; the love of the bookstores; the love of old-fashioned goods wrapped up and bundled together with string. This site will grow over time. But for now, watch for an upcoming sneak peek into the adventures ahead..