Hot Hot Hot

We went right from winter to summer. whatever happened to spring? It was 105 yesterday. When Debbie and I went for our walk, it was still nearly 90. Too hot for walking in the sun. As we were tooling along I realized Debbie was at least a step or two behind me. So I slowed down. Everytime I slowed down, she did too. We were dragging in the heat.
I reread my posts, pledged to write daily, and wondered if I ever finished those Halloween projects. I think I did, but I am not sure. The Block of the Month sits unfinished, too. And it's been 9 months since I decided to make a hat and bought a bag of ties. I sold several of them in my booth.
I've been thinking about giving my booth up completely. While Debbie is expanding to 2 booths, I am thinking about packing it in! I enjoy it, but think of all the free time I would have if I wasn't hauling crap around - buying it, cleaning it, pricing it, hauling it to the store, arranging it, rearranging it. And I'm barely breaking even! I could go back to just selling my greeting cards on commission and making the same amount of money. So I thought about this and decided perhaps I would wait until after the holidays. Or at least the end of February, because December through February are usually good months. Then I could give it all up. Have a big sale - keep the stuff I like, and move on to finishing my quilting projects.

It's the toilet paper!

I was reading a recent issue of Good Housekeeping and came across a consumer test they did for toilet paper. The toilet paper I have been using was tested and the results were interesting. The paper does not break down very well. It now occurs to me this could be contributing to our ongoing septic issues. At this writing I have switched from Charmin Ultra soft to Kirkland (from Costco) and things are working very well.

Debbie, my business partner, and I have divorced. We were sharing a booth at Antiques and Uniques and we decided due to space issues (I think she was taking up too much space, and she thinks I was taking up too much space) we decided to strike out on our own. Debbie got a space on the isle. Prime real estate! Antiques and Uniques is not really just an antique store as the name might indicate. The business owner has a variety of mechandise, new and used - glasswares, jewelry, furnitue - a little bit of everything. It's a great place to find a gift. Part of the store is stocked by mall vendors - we rent "booths" and we stock them with our merchandise. You might find antiques, hand made items, clothing - a wide variety of merchcandise. In my booth you will find my hand made jewelry, my hand made greeting cards featuring my Trailer Trash line, and various second hand items - glass wares, stuffed animals, craft items, men's ties - whatever happens to catch my eye when I am out shopping for merchandise. Right now I have a variety of Easter decorations, along with a beautiful punch bowl, a selection of gravy boats, glassware, and beannie babies just to name a few of my items.

My Easter cards are on display in the front of the store. Soon my Mother's Day cards will be in stock, and I am hoping to create some new and unusual jewelry.
Stop by Antiques and Uniques in Cloverdale and check it out! There's something for everyone.

PS - I haven't finished the Block of the Month Quilt - although I did make a bit more progress since my last posting.

Rainy Days & Mondays

When it rains non-stop our septic gets saturated. The house begins to smell. Like a butt. The only one who doesn't mind the odor is the dog. I think he actually enjoys it.
Of course it's fair time. For Cloverdale that means rain. The forecast changes moment to moment. Right now it appears there may be some decent weather Saturday. The weather is actually changing moment to moment too. It's cold - and it's snowing just north of us. I went to the store, and I could see the moon and stars. I came out of the store and it was raining. Karl came home from the gym and said you could see the moon again. As I sit here writing this I can hear the rain beating on the roof.
I am afraid to wash any laundry. With everything so saturated, the toilet begins to gurgle when you are in the shower. It's rather disconcerting.

So hoping that we have some good weather for fair, and so I can wash the laundry and flush the toilet without fear.

I did it!

I pulled out those unifinished Halloween projects and yesterday I sat down and finished them! Well.....almost. I just have to finish the binding on them. I got one completed. I will have them finished this week. What a feeling of satisfaction and pride. I will be keeping at least one of them to use as a table runner. The others I will sell. Or maybe use as a gift. I am not sure yet. But the satisfaction of completeing a UFO certainly feels good.

I have a few more of those projects. I cut out 7" squares from every pair of discarded jeans in sight and my intention is to make a jean quilt for Erik. I have strips of fabric I cut out (several years ago) for a quilt for myself. I am going to complete these projects! Soon.

As I sat in the back room hand sewing the binding on the little table mat yesterday, I watched the leaves falling from the trees and realized that fall is really just a blink away. Our next big adventure will be our Disneyland trip in October and our Fall Pumpkin Harvest Party.

I guess it's time to start that To-Do list!

Skunk!

Our dog provides us with hours of joy and entertainment every day. Every day is a new adventure, every thing a game for him. He digs, barks, runs and plays all day. He will bring home sticks (some of them are really tree branches) and pile them up on the lawn. Of course the gophers are already doing damage to the lawn, but Loki wants to "get them" so he digs. He barks at squirrels in trees and he won't let a bird's talons touch the soil - not on his watch. He is on duty.
And tonight when he disappeared I said to my daughter, "where is your dog?"
Her reply, with a shrug, "I don't know".
When he came in the back door, happier than hell, he just pranced on by me and suddenly I got a good whiff of him. SKUNK!
So off to the bath he went. I don't think he was very happy about having to have a bath. But we were all relieved. My goodness that dog can find more trouble in one day.

So while I was keeping him busy outside, waiting for his bath to be ready, he was certain he saw a squirrel in the tree over the house. We spent the next 10 minutes looking up (yes both of us), and barking (well - that was only the dog). I think it was a false alarm - I think it was a bird. While looking up, trying to locate that rogue squirrel, I saw a couple of bats swooping around over the house. I tried to tell Loki, but he was really fixed on this non-existent squirrel.

Finally it was bath time for Loki and as I settled back into my chair in front of the Boob Tube, I realized that life really is more interesting with Loki around. And because of him I take a few minutes every day to stop and smell the roses (or the skunk).

Dog Tails

So, Loki is almost 2 now. Of course we all love him to pieces and think he is the cutest dog on the planet (just like every other dog owner). When we come home after having been away, he races up the hill just so we can see he is working. Well, I was coming home for lunch on Thursday and Loki came racing from behind a bush, and maybe I was driving a little faster than I should have been and we collided. He bounced off the front bumper of my car (took my license plate off) and yelped. I screamed, of course, and jumped out of the car. I called him over and he was wimpering, and smelled like poo, and was coughing. He kept barkig at my car. He was shivering and I was checking him for broken bones and injuries when Amanda showed up from driving Erik to work. So after she calmed the both of us down a bit, we decided it would be best to take him to the vet just as a precautionary measure. So Loki got to go for a ride in the car.
The vet declared him healthy and fine - saying he might be sore the following day.

It would have traumatized me if I hurt Loki. I had images of internal injuries that would result in surgery (which I can't afford of course) and was very relieved when I got the news that he was absolutely fine.

Silly dog.

August!

Well since my last post I have been working on those Halloween projects that I started last year. It's just so much work. Maybe if I were more organized and had more space it would be easier, but most likely not.
I spent most of my day yesterday working on these Halloween wall hangings/table throws. I must mention again - quilting may not be my thing!
I made another trip to the fabric store where I bought more fabric than needed to finish these projects.
If I were just doing one of them, it would be fine, but no, I chose to do 6. Of course my goal is to sell them in my space at the Antique Mall - but who knows if they will sell. So many of my projects sit unpurchased. I still have cake slice pin cushions, and tea cup candles.....sitting unwanted and unloved.

And on my trip to the fabric store I bought a quilting magazine (because I am a magazine junky) and in it was a hat I want to make. So I stopped at Goodwill and bought a bag of men's ties. But now I don't have a hat pattern. Last night I went through my hats and found one that I like - and from it I am going to create a pattern. (ha ha ha - this should be interesting).