The March, 2025 Give Away Winner

Who will be our winner this month? Spin the wheel to find out!

Congratulations! I'll pop Millicent's book into the mail to you tomorrow or Thursday.

I'm also going to let Millicent know that her book was the March give away prize - she will be happy to hear that.

Thanks for playing, everybody. There will be another give away next month so stay 'tooned!

Begone, Clutter & Chaos!

I am a neat and clean person. Clutter and messiness bother me and I am very uncomfortable when my home is in disarray. 

So, having my office in this shape doesn't happen very often. But, when I am cleaning the closet, rearranging models on shelves, or sorting things out post Kalamazoo or Feast, chaos ensues.

Rick dropped my tubs and clothing off on Thursday and I've been sorting and repacking ever since. I'm checking supplies (bags for ornaments and maple cakes, etc.) and actually packing the tubs so that they are Feast-ready.

I should be able to just grab and go instead of the usual digging through them in October. This will be my fourth Feast as a vendor; I know what I will want and need and what can be left at home. Why not pack for the event now?

Remember how I said that vendors at Kalamazoo had to pack in and out quickly? That means that many things simply got put into tubs without rhyme or reason. 

Like the carefully sorted pairs of sleeve buttons that I just dumped into a container with a "I'll sort those out at home" nod to them.

A woman from Massachusetts contacted me shortly after I got home and asked to buy two pairs so I had to sort them out quickly. 

In a funny coincidence, she selected Leslie's favorite (top) and mine (bottom)! 

That mess of sleeve buttons is all sorted and inventoried now and the two pairs are on their way to Massachusetts.

The cleaning up after the event was complicated by a visitor or two.

"Do you have time to give me a belly rub? Please?? I'll help you with the tubs after you do."

The boy dogs tend to hang out more with Craig than me, but they are nosy and so they wandered into my office more than once. 

Fortunately they never stayed long - there was no room to flop and watch, so they went back downstairs to snooze.

I've finished inventorying what did not sell, figured out the finances, and still need to submit my Michigan sales taxes, but other than that, I am done. There are a few items that need to go into the tubs, then Craig will stack them for me (I'm still under lifting restrictions) and Kalamazoo 2025 will be in the books.

In the meantime, I did take a couple of breaks from the havoc in my office and go into the sewing room and cut out haversacks.

This is the wrong side of the donkey fabric but you can still see how cute it is!

I cut out fourteen and ran out of pins. I do have four more pincushions, but those pins are the wrong length and are thicker than what I want to use on this fabric. (Using pins too thick for the fabric could leave holes in it.)

Today I will finish packing up the tubs and then head back into the sewing room and get started on the haversacks. I'm also planning the parts of my virtual workshop for BreyerFest, too. 

Never a dull moment around here, that's for sure!

Don't forget the give away!

Enter to win Millicent's book, 1777 - Danbury on Fire. Comment on any blog post from yesterday (Friday) through tomorrow (Sunday) at 11:59 PM. I'm currently reading my copy and enjoying it!

Welcome, Spring & the March Give Away!

The astronomical first day of Spring was yesterday. Prior to that, the weather here had been in the 60s and sunny.

And then things quickly changed.

All in one day - a tornado watch, a high winds advisory, and a forecast for snow.

I'm always on alert when there is a tornado watch, and so when things got dark and then turned orange, I got up from my desk and took a look out the windows.

Turns out it was a precursor to the storms - bands of dust from the Plains were blowing across the country ahead of them, and they were passing through Indiana. (Photo of I-65, Chad Evans.)

Craig and I turned on the lights in the house because it had gotten so dark, grabbed the dogs' leashes and kept them nearby, and waited for the next wave. It didn't take long.

The storm arriving and right over us - it was only 4:00 in the afternoon but so dark that neighbors were turning on their lights. Our automatic night lights were popping on, it was so dark in our home!

It was a fast moving storm and blew through fast. 

Remember that tornado watch? We were lucky - there were tornados as the storm approached us and then beyond us as it continued east, but we did not have any. Any tornado activity picked up off the ground and didn't set down again until the storm had passed over our town.

That quick storm exposed a weakness in our safety plan - our tornado closet is big enough to hold Craig, Pepper, and me, but we could not fit Tammo in with us. We have to find a safe place where he can be with us before we have another risk of tornados.

As for the snow, temps dropped and we got some flurries, but no big deal. However, the cold temperatures are hanging around for a while. 

It's time for the March Give Away! Same rules as always: comment on any blog post (beginning with this one) posted through Sunday, March 23 at 11:59 PM. I'll spin to win on Monday or Tuesday. This month's prize?

A copy of the book 1777 - Danbury on Fire by M. H. B. Hughes, my author friend from Kalamazoo. 

Millicent unable to talk horses with me because she had a customer.

I'm reading her book now (it's horsey!) but will send the winner their own copy. Remember, comment to be entered to win!