Yesterday was a frustratingly sad day. After breakfast, we decided to look for some of John's weaving materials.
We had Christ Gustin of Homestead Weaving Studio in Nashville, Indiana (think Brown County) prepare warp for two scarves. John was going to put the warp on his loom and weave away.
Then John got sick, the warp was packed to go into the vast basement of our Tiffin Allegro Bus. Now, we cannot find the warp. What a huge, expensive bummer!
We started to empty the basement compartments, one at a time. As we were emptying the compartment, we inspected the bags of llama and alpaca fiber that I had stored there. Oh, oh, wool moths larvae! In all, I had to throw twelve huge bags of larvae, moths infested fiber into a dumpster. That sure reduced my stash!
We looked at the hats, handbags and scarves I had in storage bins. These were items that I was preparing to sell on the Internet. Every item in the tote that did not have an air-tight seal had damage. Thank goodness, some items designed for children were in a sealed bin.
We are still searching nooks and crannies for John's warp. Hopefully, it will be a successful, satisfactory Sunday.
We did come across much of John's mom's unfinished quilts. At least one top needs to be stitched and there are three or four groupings of quilt squares that need to be sewed together. Then, there is fabric! And more fabric. Can you say weight added to the bus? At least, we reduced considerable weight when the fiber went to the dumpster.
Our thanks to those who used our blog to enter into Amazon's store to make their purchases. No matter how small or large, every order helps.
I'm off to find that warp! Wish me luck.
God bless!
I was amazed when I saw when I last posted. What happened? Did I space-out a total week? Where did the time go?
I thought I had posted just a couple of days ago.
No, my last post was a week ago!
I think we have been very busy, busy, busy. And it shows around here.
Last week, we ticked off job after task after task. Just a small amount of work is left for completion this week. Little things, like polishing the counter tops, hanging a few paintings, moving a couple pieces of furniture, washing windows, and staging the house for "show and sell."
If all goes the way we have planned, one week from tomorrow, the house will be listed with Century 21, Scheetz in Greenwood, Indiana. Dan Nichols will be our agent.
This past week was a good week. We sold the truck. I sold my weaving loom. We sold quilting fabric! John sold wood turning tools. Whew, that sure helps to remove things from our to-do list.
A lot of quilting fabric remains. And this makes my studio a bit messy. I am trying to decide if I just want to donate the fabric to a quilting guild in the area or continue to sell it. Hummmm, a conundrum it is.
It is time to move some things into the motorhome. My Schact Matchless spinning wheel, the CSM or Circular Sock Machine are waiting to go to their new motorhome home.
John's Tie Flying materials and equipment will not take up ten percent of what my two occupy. How much space can fishing hooks, feathers, wire, thread, foam and dubbing materials and fur take up? But to make up for the discrepancy, we are going to buy US a new weaving loom. It will be a loom that will fit into the motorhome and not occupy a vast amount of space.
With the weather turning warmer each day, and the daffodils blooming and the grass and weeds beginning to grow, we will be obligated to remain home and care for the farm until we have a sale.
I think I have John convinced to apply landscape fabric to all flower beds then cover with mulch. There is no way we can weed all the flowerbeds that he has created in the last few years.
If we can limit ourselves to a minimal amount of weeding and take care of the mowing of pastures etc., we should be able to get away from here for a few days at a time. That must suffice for the time being.
In two weeks, I do have a Crank In (where people with circular sock machines come to crank together, learn new techniques, and just have fun. We will take the motorhome, I will be cranky and John will be in knots (tying flies). We are so looking forward to getting away from here for the first time since the first of November.
I believe this brings you up to date. The Mocking Bird is singing his heart out, the Doves have returned and are cooing, the Wrens are flitting around the birdhouses. Now we are waiting to hear the frogs croaking in the pond.
Until then, God bless you all....
Yesterday, Saturday, was a day of answered prayer. It was the day that John had been preparing for. It was the day that he would try to sell his twenty five years worth of HO train, scenery, structure, building, and collecting.
Friday, I was so concerned that he would be parting with his beloved hobby and that he would not be compensated enough to make him feel good about letting it go. I prayed about it asking God to bless John's day and that He, God, be in control.
We got up bright and early and left early. Arriving at the location of the show, other professional vendors were setting up and they had all kinds of train "stuff."
John had rented one table. I don't remember if it was six or eight feet long. Other vendors had as many as seven tables. Hummm, "we are sure going to get lost among all the professionals." But, he did bring a bookshelf, which saved our lives!
We should have filled three tables, but had only that one. We had to make the best of the situation at hand. I arranged his trains on the shelf. Boxes of railroad cars totally filled each shelf to the bottom of the shelf above it. John laid out the displays and boxes of supplies on the table, under the table and on stacked crates behind the table.
We barely had a place for us. I sat stuffed in a corner and John stood at the side of the display.
Before the show opened at ten, vendors passed by the booth and started to buy some of the good bargains. That was encouraging. Those sales to vendors placed us at twenty percent of John's goal.
When John told me his goal, I thought "sure, sure." But those first sales were encouraging. We still had 80% to go though. I was sure we would never make it.
Ten o'clock came and shoppers were allowed in the area. Of course everyone must walk around a scope out everything so they can decide what purchases they will make. They began to filter back.
An eight dollar sale, and another for the same amount. Then, twenty five dollars, then four. "It's going to be a very long day." The sales came in off and on and I would tick off each one hundred dollar increment.
When the crowd begin to thin out about two hours before the end of the show, we were within twenty five dollars of John's goal. Surely, we can do that! But the room only seemed to have a handful of customers sprinkled among all the booths. Will we do it?
We were so close to the finish line! We chatted with the vendors around us feeling good about being close. But no cigar!
Did I ever tell you that I am a firm believer in setting goals and then working to meet those goals? BUT, you just cannot force people to your booth and buy.
Later......a vendor came to us and said "set your price for what you have left." Say what?
After deliberation, John gave him a price and after a terrible low ball offer............................ the vendor and John settled on a very fair price. John had then exceeded his goal by over 100%!
We feel very blessed. God does answer prayer. Sometimes his answer is no, sometimes it is wait, and sometimes he says yes and sometimes he blesses with more than we have asked for. Yes, we were very blessed indeed and He get's the thanks.
Today, that room that was full of train "stuff" is much roomier. The closet is almost empty. Only clothes remain. There is no train parafanelia under the bed, on bookshelves or anyplace else. Just space.
Now, the next challenge is to sell the tons and tons of quilting supplies, fabric and other equipment that once belonged to John's mother. Here we have about thirty years of accumulation! I wish there was a quilt show someplace close, but maybe on Ebay? Ebay seems so confusing to me though.
Is the confusion due to my dyslexia? I can learn something much faster by seeing, reading and doing all at the same time. Translating from the written page to action is not easy.
Today we take pictures of products for Ebay. Hopefully, I can muddle my way through. Just wish I had a tutor here at my shoulder.
That's the news today...another step to full time living.
May God bless you today, the day that many of us worship Him, the first day of Advent.
We had Christ Gustin of Homestead Weaving Studio in Nashville, Indiana (think Brown County) prepare warp for two scarves. John was going to put the warp on his loom and weave away. 
