Baby it's HOT outside!

Well . . it’s definitely HOT outside for Seattle . . who am I kidding? It’s hot outside for pretty much anywhere! But here with few of us having air conditioning it’s stifling . . . .and usually around here if nothing else it cools off at night . . .Well . . I guess you can say it cooled off but I don’t consider 70 as the over night low a cool night.

Everyone is trying to think of ways to stay cool. I’m thankful that over the course of last winter and this spring the Garage Sale Store provided us with 4 nice fans for very nominal prices . . .I think all 4 together didn’t total $20. Hmmmm . .. I wonder what I could sell them for on Craigslist today . . . .Nope .. I’m not giving them up for any amount of money!
Our house is pretty private so I did consider running thru the sprinkler . . .although I was certain I was much too old for that . . .but then . . who would see me? And for an ever so brief moment I considered putting a tarp on the lawn and pretending it was a slip n slide . . . I’d have it all to myself and not have to share with siblings and neighborhood kids as I did in my youth . .. I think the heat was making me a bit light headed and delirious. Once I snapped out of it I could easily see visions of myself in the ER trying to explain what I was doing at my age pretending to have a slip n slide and injurying myself - -- Well I ruled it out . . .Instead I opted for a cool shower . . .or sticking my heard under the faucet . . .. Both of those worked well and at least saved me a little dignity.

I’m not sure I want to see our electric or water bills for this month! Yikes! But at this point anything we can do to stay cool is well worth it!

Wedded Bliss

Happy 1st Anniversary Superman and Feffie!

Return of Pool Boy

By a nice turn of events Pool Boy has come home for a brief visit. Seems like he’s been gone FOREVER . . .yeah I know .. spoken like a true mom - -- but it’s only been since Mother’s Day! Yep . . he left on Mother’s Day - -that night. He is only here for a few days and will be returning to South Dakota -- - he looks the same and has shiny red Jeep . .. well not so shiny after it was attacked by hail balls the size of tangernes . . .but a really nice vehicle! I don’t think he’s necessarily enjoying his “adventure” in South Dakota . . . .it’s hard to make new friends . . . but he does have a job with a large stable company . .and heck . .. it’s building character!

Walla Walla Onion Festival!

Well . . .let’s just sum this one up by saying that it could have been enough to make a person cy!
· The temperature was over 103
· The show was disorganized
· The entertainment to bring people to the show was cancelled

All in all . . I guess what I’m trying to say is that it sucked! Our sales were not good . . .. and we really didn’t enjoy the entire show - -- so what to do?

Well cut out losses . . .and so we did . . we shut up shop and spent Saturday evening wine tasting = = = Hey . .when in Rome, right? Surrounded by all those downtown wine tasting rooms we could walk to = heck we couldn’t pass it up . . .

And then . . .well we got up at O’dark thirty and decided to go to the Sunday market at Roslyn to help recoup some of our monies. It was on the way home and made it a break even weekend . . .but heck . .. we had a nice hotel room . .. enjoyed some wine tasting . . . .had a nice dinner out and brought some Walla Walla “grape juice” home - - -and we could write it off as a business expense . . .gotta love this - --and on top of it all we were able to pick up some nice fabrics . ..

So? What seemed like a bad weekend . . .ended up making us “Sew Happy”!

Burien Farmer's Market

Burien Farmer’s Market! What a surprise this has been!

Nineandahalf started doing this show totally on a fluke two weeks ago and today is week #3. The market is in downtown Burien and has turned out to be such a surprise! We had talked about taking our wares to a farmer’s market but worried that perhaps the same people would be there week after week and we would not sell much. Well . .. we were wrong! The sales have blossomed week after week and we have customers returning as promised! Nineandahalf is delighted with his sales skills . . and has even acquired clothing to go with our pink, black and white theme! Our new easy up, signs and brochures make us look pretty “spiffy” as my Mom would say!

I can’t help but smile and snicker to myself. Wasn’t that long ago that I took him with me for an inauguration into the world of us gypsy craft mongers. It was for the annual trek to Cle Elum over the 4th of July. He stood in the street as the clang of poles filled the air as crafters set up their tents on the dusty streets of Cle Elum. He turned out and seemed very awed – his face in disbelief as he asked me, “So? What? Are you and all these people just going to set up a tent and sell stuff?”

“Yes.” I replied and told him just to watch. That was the beginning of his initiation into the world of street fairs. And boy did he take to it like a duck out of water. With his business expertise Sew Happy is flourishing. . .he started by getting us signed up to take “plastic” which boosted our sales 30%. And how do I know that you might ask? Well because he figures and keeps track of everything . . .drives me nuts . .. but is helpful for the “business”. New racks, new signs, coordinating business cards, brochures, a new easy up and shows almost every weekend!

My dream of doing my little Sew Happy business full time seems to be on the horizon - -- and getting closer all the time!

4th of July!

What better place to celebrate the 4th of July than in Small Town, USA!?!? And Cle Elum sure fits the bill in that department. Where else can you see the following sights!

A parade with every local John Deere tractor, children on bicyles, local politicians in convertibles toss candy to little children and of course floats! As down home and hokey as this parade is = =it simply makes you smile at the simplicity of it all.

Of course there were hotdogs, rootbeer floats, watermelon and all kinds of food to celebrate the holiday. People were dressed in their 4th of July best! Take a look at these two patriotic ladies - - and no they were not part of the parade - -just simply showing their patriotism . . .and folks seemed to take it in stride!

And so we too celebrated the birth of our nation. 4th of July also calls for family - and we were lucky enough to have Kyle and Megan meet us in Cle Elum and spend the day - -- we ate dinner at Village Pizza in Roslyn where they have the "best pizza on the planet" and that's a promise - - laughed, joked and poked around the old cemetery littered with American flags! It was a grand day!

Cle Elum Craft show!

Our next stop on our list of craft shows for the season - -Cle Elum - -I've done this show for more than 15 years and it still surprises me. It is grossly disorganized and certainly not professional in the least. Things don't have to be home made so you can pretty much pull out a card table and if you own it -- sell it - -and believe me some people do!
But here's picture of our new sign and on of our booth! We certainly classed the place up a bit!


This year the show seemed more disorganized than usual - - and what a fiasco it was! The 102 temperature didn't help . . . .We were told we had to get there on Friday by 5:00 so we could set up . . After all, as Renee told us, the spaces were first come first serve. So . . instead of going over on Saturday morning (the show was Saturday and Sunday only) we had to go over on Friday night - -- this incurring another hotel bill . .grrrrr

And so we showed up around 4 in the heat of the day - -- and guess what - -- there was no first come first serve . .the booths were assigned . . .and no , we didn't have to set up on Friday . . .about half the folks set up on Saturday morning.

The show is so disorganized and the local towns folk seeming squabbling over the particulars - - that we aren't even sure what it is called anymore -- Some call it Pioneer Days and then others call it Taste of the Valley. The latter I really can't figure out - - -just what "tastes" are there from Cle Elum? Well there is a Dairy Queen and good breakfast joint . . but I hardly see where they could call it Taste of the Valley - - -but guess that's us city folks.

So, you may ask . .. why do I keep going back? Well there's just something about it that continues to draw me there . . maybe it's the years of camping close by and doing the show while the kids were little . .. or the home towniness of the parade and 4th of July festivities - -- with that said . .I think it's time to put this show on my list of past performances.