Thanksgiving Recap (!!!)

We should have heeded our instincts from 2022 and skipped the family Thanksgiving dinner but felt it would be supportive of my brother and his family after a difficult year. (They would have been fine without us.) The house continues to devolve into a hoarder's dream - so much STUFF! I was surprise that Kattie was able to find the placemats my sister-in-law bought from me at the Augusta show. Again, no place to sit down in the living room as almost every seat is piled high with STUFF. Adding to the general chaos is the ever-present completely covered kitchen counters. No room to do anything in that kitchen for sure. Surprised it yeilded a dinner, although many of the vegetables were prepared by Fred and Betsy and brought in. (Still, we both experienced some intestinal upset the following day, not something I want to chance repeating.) And Kattie cannot seem to moderate her voice or tone at all so there is a constant noise over all the physical chaos. And I certainly will NOT be passing on any of Mom's treasures to her any time soon, until she can prove that she will honor them and not just let them collect dust. I'm really worried that should some medical emergency happen in that house there would be access issues. I'm pondering what/how to approach the issue. I'm worried about them all and I feel disrespected by their lack of concern for creating a welcoming atmosphere in their house. I don't know where the hoarding comes from - but it needs to stop. We will definitely NOT be joining them for Christmas as adding a tree and an over-abundance of gifts to that house would be unbearable for us. D. leaves today to spend the night in Portland before taking an early flight, starting his journey to Florida. Golf and lots of driving in his future. Limited time with his brother. He'll be back a week from Thursday. In the meantime, I have a 2 day show in Portland. I have finished the runner and one set of placemats, and started 2 holiday-themed wall hangings. Will work on those this week, repack the car on Friday and do the show. Next week will be stow everything away until next year, clean the house and decorate inside, and bake some cookies. We'll get our tree when D. returns. And look forward to a quiet Christmas Day. And as of Tuesday, I am no longer the vice-president of UMC, which means a much-reduced work load. I have offered to continue being the Facebook wrangler - (everyone seems to feel I did a great job this year) - and the offer has been accepted, so I can hopefully earn at least one free show space this coming year. There are some intriguing new shows on tap - we'll see if they actually come to fruition. I finished the 2 holiday wall hangings - cute stuff with button embellishments. And yesteday I signed up for the KVAA/Snow Pond show next May. Christa said she'd take care of me for a corner space - it pays to know people and have worked with them. And D. arrived in FL okay (5 hour layover in Baltimore!) and is currently on a golf course. He heads to Tarpon Springs tomorrow for a couple of days with his brother, then on to Carl's in Sun City Center.

Another Successful Weekend!

Always gratifying to have back-to-back good shows. I wasn't certain what to expect from my first SSMC show but it was a success. And I don't really need to make anything more for the UMC Holiday show but I have a runner almost finished and 2 sets of placemats ready to quilt so I will likely work on them for the show. The one thing that put me off a bit was the seeming lack of engagement on the part of the show directors. Had to hunt to find the person to check in with as they were the farthest away from the door when I arrived on Friday. Then there was no direction about what door I could use so I ended up using the one that was likely the farthest from my booth location. And the capper was that after alerting one of them about a potential tripping hazard developing in the floor covering in my aisle, nothing was done save smoothing the cover out - no application of tape to prevent it from bunching again, which it did in about 15 minutes. Sigh. As an officer of UMC I at least make the effort to seek out new members and welcome them and check in with them but there was none of that. Still, they run successful shows so I will renew my membership. Thanksgiving will be a family time again this year, despite saying last year would do me for a few years. It's been a tough year for my brother's family so we will head down for dinner - not as flavorful as in years past as Kattie does not possess her mother's or grandmother's culinary skills, in addition to making everything gluten-free. At least there will be cranberry bread I know I can eat! And I will make a pumpkin pie for us so we don't have to experience the GF option. Looking forward to some "me" time in the coming week as D. will be in FL for 10 days. And I don't have to drive him to and from the airport as he has finally setled on a plan. I kept the appointment I made to donate my little Pfaff and some sewing supplies to Common Threads so I will have to drive down the day he returns but I can be safely home by the time he lands in Portland. I'll spend the time organizing my inventory, finishing my paperwork for year end, and cleaning and decorating the house. Then we can get the tree and be ready for the holidays. Oh, and baking - there will be lots of cookie baking!

Back on Track!!

After that disappointing Sunday show I got back on track with the Augusta UMC show. I did not know what to expect but it was all good. I would call it a success, both personally and for the UMC. We had a few comments about the smaller set up but people were in a buying mood for the most part. I did observe a couple of new artisans who had a disappointing show - and perhaps their expectations were not realistic. And Sunday was very definitely quieter than Saturday. The UMC member meeting resulted in some volunteers for the open positions so we are headed into 2024 with new venues and shows. I sold many runners - and will likely have to make more holiday themed ones for the last show of the season. We'll see how things go this weekend. I'm doing my first show with Society of Southern Maine Craftsmen at the Topsham High School. I checked this one out last year and it was decidedly a must to add to my schedule. Politics is getting more contentious. Trump's trails continue and his idiot sons continue to like and hype from the witness stand while the model daughter can't seem to recall anything. These kids have been put in charge of businesses yet seem oblivious to how business works and that they are the ones responsible. Of course, their role model of a father has taught them well that anything bad is someone else's fault not theirs. Had an enjoyable visit with Connie on Saturday night. Likely the last as the Augusta show will be a one day affair next year. It's always good to spend time with her as we agree on just about everything. She's good people and I'm happy to have her as a friend.

Challenging Week So Far

I did a one-day local show this past Sunday and it did not go well. I had that sinking feeling when I walked into the venue and saw a large direct sales vendor display - my first clue that this would not be a profitable day for me. When I arrived at my assigned space, it looked small to me but I determined to make the best of it. After lugging my set up and inventory inside (and leaving a display and some inventory in the car as I realized I had over-estimated the space available) I started to set up. My runner display rack was set perpenducular to the aisle so people could see both sides and I left room on the outside of my booth for people to stand to look at them. BIG mistake, as the vendor next to me spent most of the day standing in that space while he made sales and kibbitzed, effectively blocking my display. I did not make a single sale, the first time that has happened to me. It was just not my audience. Lots of vendors of what those of us in the larger artisan craft world call "kitchen" crafts - think crocheted animals, strung beads, etc. (There was even someone I had been warned about who simply buys junk jewelry at yard sales and piles it on a table for people to paw through. NOT a craft!) My friend said she was way down and a few others said the same. I did make contact with a couple of potential UMC members. A second silver lining is that I don't need to rush to finish the 3 sets of placemats that are in production. So, I vowed to never do a show without checking it out the year before. I did that last year with the SSMC show in Topsham and knew within 5 minutes that I wanted to join them to do that show, which I will do in 2 weeks. I spent all day yesterday speed sewing sachets, as I forgot that I was way down on them. The lavender ones are finished, balsam are in process and 6 bayberry trivets as well. I should be able to finish them all by Friday, when I will help mark out the Augusta show and set up my booth - I'm certain I'll have plenty of space at that show! And a more receptive audience. The other challenge we are dealing with is some sort of hiccup in our septic system. A backup into the downstairs sink is never good and we thought we had it cleared yesterday but it seems to be some sort of blockage going into the tank. Someone is coming at noon to scope it out and diagnose. Hope its not expensive! And I hope it gets fixed as I have a friend and fellow UMC member spending the night with us Saturday. ****UPDATE**** The problem is in the only section of the system we have not replaced in our 24 years here. The septic guys snaked it and found section where the roots of a nearby tree are intruding - that was the source of the blockage. The entire pipe needs to be replaced as the pitch has shifted in a couple of places throught he years. They can do it in a day and will schedule as available. Better now than later when it comes to this sort of thing. I'm saddened by the rush of people feeling the need to arm themselves, whether it's the citizens of Maine after our recent tragedy or citizens all over the country who are being persecuted and assaulted just for their ethnicity or religion. I am of the belief that the more guns are out there, the more gun deaths we will experience, whether by accident or by design. It just provides more opportunity for chaos and this country does not need more chaos. It's already having me thinking and wondering who I might be shopping with who is packing. Maine has one of the most lenient gun laws in the country and I hope that changes because we are no longer immune. Both of our shooting incidents this year involved people who should not have had access to guns but did - stealing, borrowing etc. People...Lock up your guns and do not share the code/keys with anyone. The life you save might be your own...or mine.