Just stopping by to read my mail and take a look see around... Haven't been doing much lately.. Well.. can't say that now can I?? I broke down and decided that I needed to paint my wheel.. Now I'm not saying that I went to far.. but it certainly looks different!! lol And really it was what I needed to help bring me out of my dumps that I've had lately.. nothing like a nicely finished project to make me happy..
I had been working on a new pattern for my llama fiber hats.. but silly me left my book at my friend's house and I couldn't go pick it up until today.. and I'm one of those weird people who have a hard time starting a new project while there is one half finished still on the loom.. So to make me happy and to make good use of my time.. I painted my spinning wheel.. Have been wanting to do it for a while now.. I just never figured I would lose all sense of proportion or reality.. lol It was fun!!
I'm going to add the pictures to the gallery.. Take a look.. whatcha think?? Here's just one of the pictures.. My youngest tells me that I went overboard when I put a flower on the tensioning knob.. LOL
Just wondering.. I've completed a small business plan for our fiber business.. We are really needing a small (as these things go) input of funds so that we can concentrate on getting ready for our September show in Branson. We sent the money off for that today. They invited us so I don't expect any problems getting into the show.. Our only problem is getting ready for the show and not starving to death in the meantime.. lol
So anyway.. anyone want to look at it before I send it off?? We don't need much really.. just enough to get by and replace some of the items we lost in our fire this spring..
Can't complain about the weekend. We did ok at the garden show. Which is great.. and not so great.. I love doing well at these small events.. but the more we sell, the less we have for the September event.. and that's gotta suck, if you know what I mean. I just don't have time to replace what I've sold.. let alone catch up on orders.. or get ready for the Sept.. show.. Sometimes I wonder if we should even try for the Sept show.. If we get enough items ready for it.. That one show will carry us over till spring.. But geez... Trying to get ready for it.. and still make enough money at these little shows to get by on.. whoo weee.. It's tough...
I'm sure we'll make it.. at least I hope that we do.. this is our choice.. and it's the only way we know.. ya know.. plug along and make it happen.. What else is there?
I need some help.. As you may know, we had a fire this spring and lost nearly all that we possessed. Since the fire we have been just barely making ends meet. However, we have an opportunity to attend a craft fair that if it goes as it should will give us enough funds for the winter.. Problem is we are simply making do right now.. My hubby can't card the fiber as fast as I can spin and create with it.. Plus he has to work offsite just to make sure that I have fiber to use.. and I'm simply playing catch up with all the orders I have.. I have no time to sit down and make products for the Sept craft fair.. Right now it's a no win situation.. THEN to add to the mess.. we are going to have to sell some of our angoras tomorrow just to make the food bill for the month for the rest of them.. and to my pouting dismay.. the auction tomorrow have llamas and alpacas already consigned.. Oh Lawd knows I would love to be able to bid on them.. We desperately need more of the bigger fiber animals.. easier and cheaper to feed don't ya know..
But I digress.. what we really need is the funds to cover us until Sept, plus the funds to purchase a drum carder to make the cleaning and carding of our fiber so much easier and quicker.. With a drum carder, even I could clean and card in the event hubby was off doing something else.. With my fibro, I don't have the physical strength and stamina to comb the fibers we need.
I do want to assure everyone that this difficulty we are in is not a case of poor money management. Last summer we had the bird business producing funds for us at this time of year, plus we didn't need to replace all of the fiber, products, tools, and well.. everything we ever owned while at the same time trying to grow our fiber business and completing our house for us to live in before this winter sets in.. Just didn't want ya all to think we were a bunch of loafers or anything.. : ) If it were just one of these things, we could survive.. our needs are small and our income is growing.. But when you add the loss of the birds, the need to replace everything we ever owned, with the need to build on the house and add to our fiber animals.. well you can see where that is going eh? :)
Todd's surgery was yesterday and I must say that it went very well.. He is sore naturally, but already this morning he is moving around better and feeling better. You just can't imagine how much I like the idea of him feeling better. : ) It's been so long.. His injury was in 2001 and it's been a daily struggle since then. It's why our home has taken so long to be built, why the fencing has been so slow to go up, it's why our lives has changed so much.. We were able to accomodate my fibromyalgia but it's been so much harder with two of us slightly to more than slightly disabled.
We're still working as much as possible on preparing for the Branson show, but with Todd having limitations for the next six weeks, we may have to try to borrow money from family to survive until September. We are seriously hoping to earn enough money at this one show to last us over the winter. But even if we don't we'll make it stretch like always, I just hope Todd is feeling up to working hay the next time our neighbor cuts.. It'll be a while but hubby is working in the field in exchange for hay for this winter. I think it will be the first time we will be going into winter not having to worry about whether or not we'll have enough hay for the winter..
I've been thinking about us lately.. You know it is so hard to ask for things when we are down.. and believe me we are still down.. there has just been so much turmoil this spring, floods, fires, earthquakes, and tsumani's.. it's hard to think that we should still be needy.. Isn't that sad.. Folks were so amazing for us and we are so grateful.. but we are still struggling. Even as nice as the help was, we are still left with one chair, one bed (no other furniture), barely enough clothes to keep me legal.. lol dishes, food, a few supplies for the house and little else. I never knew how much we'd lost until it's needed.
Speaking of needed.. anyone have an extra printer?? We really need one so that we can print out our business cards and flyers again.. Especially need one before our September show.. I'd hate to go into a show that big without any cards.. It's at the top of our replacement list right now.
Along with and 10 x 10 canopy, two solid table for display, some wood to replace our display uprights, a couple of fold up chairs and some cash so we can replace our angora goats. I found a lady who wants to sell four of her pretty ladies.. At a great price too.. Like I said, I may have to contact my grandmother for the first time in many years to see if she would float me a loan.. *sigh* I hate being non independant.. Makes me feel disabled..
