Woo-Hoo

Gee, we are so busy we can't figure out if we are coming or going. ,,, Our son George has moved on from the Bain mattox band - That is really a typical pattern for him - he sets a goal, reaches it and then it has to keep growing with him or he lets it go. He has moved back to his old haunts in Charleston, SC - works part time, and plays music every chance he can. He is working on new music, so we are looking forward to hearing it soon.

Our son Nathan and his wife saw an ultrasound yesterday. The little one was doing back flips and just seems to be getting on swimmingly!! (my little joke!) They got a real due date from the doctor and we are looking at becoming grandparents between Christmas and New Year! Amazing how that feels.... we had come to accept the relationship we had with our grown children! Now we will have to clean up our act and baby proof the house again!

Lis is taking a silversmithing class in Georgia - she is the craftswoman, and the artist - Her work is growing incredibly - and her studio as well. We enjoy seeing her develop and evolve her style. So comforting to watch as her customers return and return to add another piece! (she jokes that she is doing her best to support the family!)

Phil and I have decided to take the leap and sell some of our work to galleries. We had a few gallery accounts when we lived in Texas, and since then, we were just too busy making and selling to try to do any wholesale. Our web business is really up from last year. The shop in Coker Creek is as well, but we decided the economy is so iffy, we had better set up another basket to put our eggs in. We are already working like crazy, but I think we can handle it... especially if we are careful to offer items which will work well for galleries... so, look for our hair sticks and barrettes to come to a spa or gallery near you soon!!

The shade now is very deep when the sun comes out - the foliage is full. Hard to believe the days are getting shorter. I guess we will have a few tropical storm days, and lots more truly hot days. We still resist air conditioning, so we take lots of showers!

The blackberries are just starting to ripen, and the blueberries and huckleberries are next. Time to start picking and freezing - and drinking lots of tall clear glasses of ice tea!

Summertime

We have been busy this week - in spite of the heat. I don't know why we insist on living without air conditioning... Our thoughts are that we are more aclimated to the seasons, and the extremes - as our workshop is pretty open. We also pat ourselves on the back because we are using less energy, and contributing less to the pollution.

But gee whiz! It is HOT!

In spite of that, we have managed to make and ship a bunch of hair sticks, kitchen implements, a heart box, and the ordered "hug" is almost ready to ship!

We are now closing Sunday - Wednesday so we can get more production done.

We are running on Zen hours during those days. I call it "while you are shipping!" Monday, while I was doing the shipping, we had two German tourists in who were very nice. They bought a piece of enamel work by Lis, and three boxes, so the happenstance, Zen thing worked.

The one fellow came over and began his trek in Los Angeles - Six Weeks on a big Bike!! He is retired, and his friend joined him two weeks ago! They came to see America, and will visit us on the web when they get home!

I am getting more requests from shops for reselling our hair sticks and barrettes... We are not set up for wholesale, so I will most likely pass, but maybe not. Every time I do a custom order for a hairstick, I learn a bit more. We are beginning to add a bit of Lis' cloisonne' and enamel work to some - They will be very popular, I think.

I have joined the American Craft Forum and am listening to what some artists and gallery owners are thinking about. The economy, imports, demographics - lots of conversations to think about.

Our sales on ebay and amazon are holding... we are preparing for the last half of the year.

Christmas buying starts in ernest in July!

Can't believe how fast time is going by.