Consignments in store

Since we had our big inventory reduction sale in the fall, we had a lot of empty space, so some local crafters have let us put some of their crafts in the store. We've always sold quilts on consignment, but now the store is really hopping. We've added a corner of used books, pop bottle art by Benjaporn Helburn (Porn for short) and painted snow people by Sandy Rivers.

Sandy comes to our Tuesday night sew-ins, and instead of sewing, she paints.  Each one is handpainted and takes her hours to do.  They are made of resin, so they are pretty much unbreakable. 
Porn is from Thailand, and learned Pop Bottle art in her home country.  Some of the flowers are so delicate they look like blown glass.  She's a welcome addition to our circle of friends - she cooks like a maniac, and always brings munchies to anything she goes to.  She's a quilter and a painter, so I get to see her at painting groups and at quilting groups.  I wish I could blame her for my weight, but it wouldn't be fair.  Everyone does a double take when they hear her name, but it means blessing in Thai.

All these craft things are pretty much one-of-a-kind, so I don't put them on the website, but I really wanted to share them with you.

Joining the modern world

I have been asked to put the shop on facebook, so Big Horn Quilts has a new presence there. I've been talking to my kids and relatives for years on facebook, but trying to do a commercial thing is tricky. I still haven't figured out how to do the little 'like' deal on my website under each item, but I'm working on it. Back in the 1980s I was an internet pioneer (I was a beta tester for aol, before it was called aol), and then in the nineties I was one of the first online stores, but about that time I was so busy I just didn't keep up with the newer stuff like social networking and mobile apps. If you don't go forward, you slip backwards. Or, if you snooze you lose. I've been trying to catch up since the weather got too cold to work in my garden. Does anyone know how to get the like box on my website? I tried following facebook's instructions, but I seemed to get everything but a like box.

Eggnog

The worst thing about this time of year isn't the weather, it is that eggnog disappears from the store shelves. I gorge for a month and a half, and then it's -poof- gone. Every year I get out the cookbook, consider making some from scratch, decide its more trouble than its worth, and don't make any. Maybe this year I actually will make it.

Another year has shot by...

Our second Saturday club for 2011 is off to a good start. We're going to make either a row quilt or a medallion quilt, whichever people want. I'll post designs and handouts on the website throughout the year. I'm doing a row quilt, and my main row is a mountain scene, which is coming along.

What is with the crazy weather? Ours here in Wyoming is pretty normal - some snow, and the first half of January always sees some nights below zero. But snow in Florida? And the floods in Australia! Global warming, right....

Busy December

We have a lot of new fabric to add to the website, and next week I have a meeting or a party or a rodeo or something every day, so I am going to work hard this week and get all the new stuff online and get the newsletter sent out before Friday. Plus I need to get all the bookwork ready for the accountant, I promised Dave I would get it to her by the weekend. But interfering with that is the new World of Warcraft expansion, which has suddenly made the game a lot more interesting. Oh well, nose to the grindstone....

New cars vs old cars

Today is the last day of hunting season here, so everyone who still has a tag has to use it today. Seems like about half the men in town aren't in town today, they've gone on the last hunt. I made an appointment a week ago to get a new battery and starter in my car, and this morning when I took it in, I found out the mechanic is going hunting today. Oh well. I drive a 1995 Chevy Tahoe, and I plan on keeping it running until I die. I had a newer car for a while, right after I got my knees replaced. The Tahoe involves climbing to get in and dropping to the ground to get out. Dave sold his pickup and drove the Tahoe at that time. I HATED all the features the new car had. It had this stupid light on the top of the dash that stayed on all the time - supposed to be a safety feature. How is running your battery down more safe? It insisted on locking the doors all the time - I hate a car that thinks its smarter than I am. That door locking thing was just plain inconvenient. I like to decide when the doors will be locked. Most of the time I choose to leave them unlocked. The first time I ran out in the dark in my pajamas to get a book out of the car and found it completely locked up, I decided I really hated that car. Then there was the seat belt thing - instead of just telling you once politely that you might want to put your seat belt on, the newer Mercury kept telling me, louder and louder until I finally put it on. And it didn't have a tape player, only a CD player! My Tahoe has both. If I had my druthers and could design my own car, I would have:
1. wing windows - I still don't know why they got rid of them.
2. crank windows. It is stupid to have to start your car to operate the windows. Plus the safety thing, what if your car won't start? What if you drive into a river and can't get out because the engine is flooded and the pressure is too high to open the door?
3. I like the dingy reminder that your lights are on when you shut off the car, but I hate the loud buzzer thing that tells everyone within 100 yards that you are leaving the keys in the car when you run into a convenience store, or trying to get the trailer ball lined up with the trailer hitch.
4. Both cd and tape player
5. Airbags
6. A trunk that doesn't open from inside the car. That way, you can put any valuables in the trunk and lock it and leave the car unlocked for convenience.

Enough ranting.

Getting ready for Christmas

No pictures today, but several people have pointed out that it is dumb to have a blog if you aren't ever going to write anything on it. So, here goes.
This year we didn't go anywhere for Thanksgiving, just stayed home and ate leftovers and played computer games and cleaned house. A lot of our kids got together in Laramie at daughter Becky's house, but since we had gone to Laramie for her son's wedding in August, we had just seen everyone. Daughter Sibyl and granddaughter Julie stopped and spent the night on their way back to Helena, so we did get in a little Scrabble.
The donkeys are fine, and in spite of some below zero weather already, the water tap hasn't frozen up, and the solar water tank is working beautifully. For anyone else who has to water stock in freezing weather without electricity, I recommend this tank! We ordered ours from the maker, http://www.ranchtanks.com. It sure beats trying to break six inches of ice with a sledge hammer.
I've been painting again, and sewing still, making some placemats for Sibyl this week. Our store is beginning to feel like Christmas, the staff was busy Saturday getting decorations up. I think this year I'm really feeling holiday spirit!