Yesterday was the last outside show of the year. Alas, Mother Nature decided that perhaps we should rethink the plan. It had been raining and cold for several days. Cold meaning high 30's.
With some nice wind as a bonus. Not good for an outdoor craft event. Or any event for that matter. We went to the site at about six am, in the rain and wind. The director was there, and she basically said, "It's up to you, but it's not going to be a good day for a show. We are promoting it as 'rain or shine', but it's your call. No refunds." Fine with me, I counted my boof fee as a donation, and we went home.

Later we went to a bead show, and bought a few things, nothing major, came home and napped the day away. Had grilled cheese & tomato soup for dinner while the wind blew and the rains rained.

Today the rain has stopped, but it's pretty chilly. Nice day to stay inside and clean, and catch up on all the things I don't do enough. There's a nice beef stew in the crockpot for the second football game later.

I sent Obbie to the store for 'good' bagels. Shall we take bets that the bagels will be out of a plastic bag and not the store bakery? Hey, I'm just sayin.....

On Saturday, we had another show. Small Town, USA. We did okay, sold a few things other than kid necklaces & rocks, for which I'm always grateful. After the show we went to a friends house and had dinner, drinks and a bunch of laughs. That was great fun. The not so fun part was driving home, although it does make me switch to drinking water about an hour or so before we leave. I think the drive is only 37 miles, but it feels like 137, especially the last 16. I was a little noddy, but for once, Obbie stayed awake and kept talking.

The next day we went to the Fells Point Fun Fest. If you ever have an opportunity to visit, I highly recommend it! Lots of vendors, everything from African Art to flea market wares to Sham Wows to high dollar ART. Then there's food vendors of every stripe, rides for kiddies, non-profit information booths, bands, beer, bars, and did I mention the food? We visited my favorite beading person in the world, sat in her booth for awhile and people watched. It was a beautiful day on the pier, with the boats coming & going. All the bars had their doors wide open and the football watchers were whooping it up. We ate a mozzarella filled arepa, which was surprisingly good, an empanada (a first for both Obbie & I) and watched a vendor who had a big wrought iron tee pee over an open fire. On the teepee were steaks, stretched out on hooks, so the fire would cook them from the inside out. This was very cool, and we ended up with some of the sliced steak to go. (We ate it in the car, so it didn't get very far) We came home with full bellies and sore feet (the cobblestones are KILLER on the feet) and I ended up falling asleep very early 'watching' the Steelers.

And back to Monday. Work is awful lately. The Big is miserable, going around finding fault with everything and everyone, putting all of us in terrible moods right off the bat, since we're never sure if we're going to be next to have something we do picked apart. It makes for a stressful work environment for everyone, including upper management. Because of course, they get THEIR asses bitched at if there's a problem with us peons. Oh well. Suck it up. Five o'clock is our mantra.

And that's it for now. Another show this weekend. Work, work work....

I'm home early today. The landlady's husband died, so I went to the 'visitation'. And took the rest of the afternoon off. I did some errands, then came back to the house.

I've got some projects in the works, and I really should be working on them. I'll get there eventually. My bead guru is making a ring for me, and I'm making her some chain maille in trade.
We have a show on Saturday, and Sunday we're heading to Baltimore for the Fells Point Festival.
Apparently, it's a big festival, so we'll have a good time strolling around people watching. The bead guru is there selling, so we'll stop by and visit with her and her hubby awhile. That's always a good time.

Until then, I'm making more stuff for the show on Saturday. I never think I have enough stuff!!

Last night I dreamed we were at a big craft show and it rained.

Probably because on Saturday we were at a big craft show and it rained. Again. I see a theme developing here.

The big Townfest was surprisingly successful even though it rained off and on all day. The day started off poorly before we even left, as Obbie decided to be a pissy bitch, and I wasn't in the mood. He took a half day on Friday under the pretense of fixing the earring display. He basically ran around all day, then worked until about 9:00 outside trying to redo the earring rack. It looks a little better, but he half assed it. He has all good intentions to start with, then, works himself into a froth because it's not working like he's envisioned it, then just goes through the motions. So, he was out on the 'patio' (a crumbling pad of concrete that the landlady feels is good enough NOT to fix) hammering and cutting and grumbling, IN the damp, IN the chill, with an attitude. I'm up at 4:45 on Saturday, to clean cat boxes, feed the cats, and to do the general panic that I do before every show. He gets up at 5:15, and is feeling poorly. This time of year kills him with his allergies. So it's the Honk and Tweet show every hour of every day. Which is the cat's faults too, you know. So he's pissy about that. And he dosen't feel good. And the earring rack is a big let down. And the flyers he printed are crooked and uncut, which pissed ME off, because I asked him to do it last week, and he did it half way. When I asked him WHY they were uncut and crooked and on white paper (colors, people COLORS) he said they were busy at work, and he couldn't get any better than that. Then WHY for Gods sakes didn't you call me and say, "They're busy, can you take them to the printer and get some made?" But no, it's easier to ignore it. So THAT pissed me off.

And we weren't even in the car yet.

After a couple miles of bitching it was all worked out, we got coffee and yogurt and headed to the show.

Set up, no problem, same spot at the past umpteen years (good) and as soon as I hung the last earring, it started to sprinkle. We moved displays inward, so only one table was not under the tent, and carried on.

It rained. It poured. It sprinkled. And the people came out. We made a fair amount of money, much to my amazement. But by 3:00 we were cold and damp and ready to go home. Moms was there, and we had dinner with her and beat feet (in the rain) to get home and get the chill off.

Another show this weekend, I wonder if No Rain Please is too much to ask?

We'll see about that!

Hi there!

Long time no see.

It's been that kind of summer. We didn't do anything, it seemed, but it also seemed like summer was over so fast.

I beaded a wedding bag for a friend's daughter's wedding. That was in August. I heard from my Mom that she got an email saying the friend's daughter liked it. I've heard nothing. I spent a very, very long time building this damn thing. oh well.

The fall craft show season is in full swing. Two down, seven or eight to go. I'm spent too much time pondering why I'm doing this, and what I hope to gain. But on the upside, I was interviewed by the local newspaper, and the story was on the front page, then last night, my picture was on the front page of the former hometown newspaper. Too funny. But that still leaves me with, "Why am I making jewelry and where am I going with it?"

There are a huge number of cats at my house now, and my landlady has taken a sudden interest in 'her' house. She claims I have too many cats, and need to get rid of some or she's going to evict me. Well then. One would think after 7 years of rent, I'd have a little leeway. And it's not like we're living in filth, for goodness sakes. But, I'm at the mercy of the landlady. And her weird nephew who lives up the road, and while I'm told he's an engineer or something, he seems to spent a lot of time mowing the grass across the road, and skulking around. He gives me the creeps.

So I'd like $20,000 for a downpayment on a house, so I can keep my cats and not be worried about being stalked by an 85 year old control freak. Shall I put the Paypal button on the sidebar now or later....? How many pairs of earrings make $20,000? (between 2,000 and 5,000 I think) So anyway.

What's new with you? Does anyone even come here anymore? Probably not. That's what I get for dropping out of the blogosphere. I basically have fallen into Facebook and can't get out. Mafia Wars and Breaking Bricks have been the death of creativity here. Mom and I went on vacation, and it rained, so I spent a week in the hotel making jewelry, so I've got a pretty good stock o'stuff built up. But as always, more, I need more.

And the day job makes my head explode one way or another every day. But I'm getting to the point where my head exploding is just another thing to check off on the to do list. "Okay, head exploded, check! Next!!" But at 5:01 it's all behind me.

And that's been the last couple weeks in a nutshell. I'll try to write more often.

Mrs Cat is alive and well. She's crooked. Crooked as in looking at you sideways, but aside from that, she's cool. Eating well, using the litterbox (unlike some of the 'normal' cats).

She's going outside daily, strolling around, checking out bugs & birds and the general outside vibe. Last night I looked out the kitchen window, and she was sitting on the picnic table like the Sphinx, looking all around. I opened the back door and asked if she wanted in. She jumped off the picnic table, and trotted up the back steps into the house.

I'm glad I didn't have her put down. She's quite tenacious, and it's been interesting to watch her adapt to whatever happened to her.

Fish tacos are all the rage now. Well, they've come to fast food outlets, anyway.

I like fish tacos, but they're not supposed to be FRIED. Grilled fish on a soft corn tortilla. With shredded cabbage. THAT is a fish taco. Not fried with 'crumbles' on a fried tortilla. Ack.

Of course, of all the grilled fish to pick from, my favorite is tuna.

Alas, I won't ever order one in public, for I can't order a Tuna Taco without smirking.

Some days I feel like I'm perpetually channeling a 12 year old boy.