Quack! Quack!

*** Don't forget the Mystery Basket for Stitchers Drawing - Only 2 more days to enter!! Details here.
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Once again, it was duck weather around here this morning ! Humans in the Mid-Atlantic region may soon be evolving into web-footed creatures with fins. History indicates species do evolve over time to adapt to their environment. Ours is WET - WET - WET !!!
Our neighborhood is now approaching 30” of rain in the last 8 weeks. Normal rainfall for that period is about 6”. Flash flood warnings are up almost daily. Folks are starting to ignore them, regarding them as “nothing new.”
There are a few good points to all this rain, though - We all now have waterfront property which should give it a higher market value. (Of course, most of the access roads are also under water every few days.) You can go crabbing right in your own front yard. Fresh fish is also cheap. Just open your door. They’ll swim right in and you can simply reach down and grab them. (What? Haven’t you watched “Hillbilly Hand fishing o TV, yet?)
Maryland farms, once known for tobacco, and recently struggling to find something new can now consider growing rice as a cash crop. I’ve even heard the water lilly may replace the Black-Eyed Susan as the State flower.
I miss being outside. There are usually so many wonderful Fall festivals around us this time of year. So, far, we’ve been to none. If they’re not held in a field, you’ve got to park in a field. We no longer have fields. We have swamps and mud bogs. The Big Guy refuses to take his car there.
Unfortunately, we don’t own an all-terrain vehicle. We did, however, try off-roading in my mini-van two years ago. I convinced him it was a nice day and we went to an annual craft fair held on a farm. We both had enjoyed this event for years, first as sellers and then as customers. It hadn’t rained all week before the fair. The field we parked in was fairly solid when we pulled in. After shopping there for several hours, many cars had traveled back and forth forming some muddy ruts on that parking lot (formerly grassy field). It had become one humongous mud pit.I handed The Big Guy the keys and said, “You’re driving.” Well, he floored it and we were off. His theory was “if we don’t hesitate or stop, we can make it.” It was an obstacle course of stuck vehicles, pedestrians plodding their way through the mud on foot and tow trucks working to pull vehicles out. We shot mud at least 20’ in the air but we made it to solid ground all on our own!

Mud dripped from the luggage racks and side-view mirrors. No one could have told you what color that van was. We pulled over long enough to scrape some peepholes in the mud on the windshield and made our way to the nearest automatic car wash. Finally, we could see out the window. There was still enough mud dripping, after that rinse, to garner lots of stares on our 70 mile drive up I-95. We ran it through our local car wash two more times that night and hand-washed it the next day. It stayed dingy for yet another couple washings after that.

The next day, the kids in the family gave us a “Mudder Award” and served chocolate pudding in our honor.

Yesterday, I looked at the calendar and mentioned, “Brandywine is this weekend.” He simply glared and said flatly, “Don’t EVEN think it!!”

I later heard him mutter to our boarder, “That was scarey that day!”

I hope to get there again someday - maybe we’ll have a drought next year.

My kingdom for an ARK !!!

Does anyone have any actual plans for an ark? We could use one about now.

I'm keeping my eye on my neighbor's boat in their yard. When it starts rocking with the waves, I'm climbing aboard. We've had 4-5 inches of rain since last midnight and we're getting awfully soggy.

Seriously, we have many closed roads in the neighborhood. One actually closed about an hour after I used that section of highway. I told Bill I knew it wouldn't be long before the water encroached on the traffic lanes. Most of the road flooding is more from runoff than river overflow (although they are overflowing). When we went to dinner, I was actually trying to formulate an alternate route home as I had doubts about getting out the way we went in. The County actually announced this morning they would be closing roads before they actually flooded as there were way too many water rescues during the last big rain and they don't want to endanger the rescue crews. (That was a week or so ago, when an Amish wagon was actually washed off a roadway in Kentucky by the same storm!) When the base of the bridge comes within 6" of the water level, they'll be blocking the roads off.

One would have to see just how many rivers, runs and streams surround us, as well as marshland, to truly appreciate this. I made a trip to the Post Office about 2 p.m. This involves traveling around the lake at the end of my block which has a raised embankment (we're talking a 12'-15' berm) which then comes downhill to the roadway. Today there appeared to be a moat around the outside of that embankment at that point which was then flowing over the curb at one end and flowing toward a sewer hole. I then use an 4-lane interstate highway that runs parallel to I-95. In a little over 2 miles, I cross three "runs" ("Runs" are larger than a stream but smaller than a river - I believe runs are tidal and streams are not), a lagoon and multiple marsh areas which are divided by the roadway. All were high - VERY high at 2 p.m. The lagoon was actually lapping at the white line at the edge of the highway. (There's usually a 5'-7' grassy area there.)

I forgot to mention the P.O. backs up to the river. About a block prior to the P.O. there's a small parking lot with a brick storefront (a tatoo shop) that sits just about on the river. The building and parking lot sit on a concrete slab which is surrounded on 3 sides by marshland leading into the river. The river was within about 3' of that parking lot this afternoon. I mailed my package and headed home. Today water had pooled at the base of the trees in the woods along the roadway at a point I have never seen before. I believe that area had to flow onto the roadway sometime tonight.

It's strange though. The stream that crosses the back end of our property is high but I've seen it much worse over the years. (Hurricane Floyd about 12 years ago brought 17 inches of rain in 3 days.) Our front yard has a dip from the street to the house and usually pools some water. It is worse there than either of us ever recalls in 35 years here. It's actually resembling a pond encompassing our yard and our neighbor's and has a true "flow" toward the small drain on the opposite side of our driveway! We've never gotten water in the house (great design and placement on the property) but occasionally have a small bit ease under the garage door. It's never flowed more than 4'-5' in though. (I haven't had the guts to look today. We purposely don't have anything near the door. There's nothing there for it to hurt.) Our 2-car garage is strictly for storage. A car has not been inside in 20 years!

On our way to dinner, we again pass over three rivers and a major run. (We're talking an 8 mile trip.) The first two rivers were within their banks at that time (barely) but the woods surrounding the second river were probably surrounded by a good 8"-10" of water for blocks (runoff). The third river had definitely overflowed its banks by quite a bit but was a good 4' or so below the bridge. (Lots of leeway!!) Again the woods in that area were completely soaked and flowing. The run was what I would refer to as "raging" but it is crossed via a "new" bridge built last year and raised about 10' from its old position. Had the old bridge been in place, that road would have been closed. The road coming into the restaurant was overflowing with runoff but was less than 6" deep. Had we not been meeting someone there, we probably would not have left the house!! The water had risen considerably by the time we left the restaurant (about 7) but had not flooded the roads yet.

All of these observations were made during the daylight. It has now rained, at times very hard, for several more hours. Who knows what lurks in the dark!!! (We've actually warmed up enough the past two weeks that I worry about snakes. When the ground becomes saturated they surface and begin to get a little too close for comfort in my book!)

I'm back! (I think.)

I really didn't go anywhere I just didn't seem to be here, posting. What can I say? It was just a very busy and hectic couple of days around here. Like most weekends, we packed as much as we could into those couple of days.

Our Friday night plans became a wash out but "candle power" does not a computer run. Friday Concerts in the Parks were supposed to start but Mother Nature had a different view of that plan. We were on our way to the park when the rains came. Reversing directions, we found the storm had knocked power out at home so any computer contact was a no-go for the entire evening. The rains did not, however, break the heat or humidity. Temps hovered at 80 degrees through the night and the humidity hung in there at about 90%. It was sticky! (Typical Maryland summer weather.) Saturday dawned clear, hot and sticky. We judged the Beltway BBQ Showdown in Upper Marlboro, Maryland and stayed to enjoy some fantastic blues music performed by a group known as Memphis Gold. They played some heavy duty blues mixed with a little jazz, soul and they really got folks up out of their seats with a resounding performance of When the Saints Go Marching In. I thought I was in New Orleans, again! I was ready to go dancing in the streets behind those horn players!The organizers wisely moved this event form the shadeless Equestrian Center to a fantastic green regional park in the area. Believe me, those big shade trees were very welcome on this hot, sticky day. After judging ended, we settled in under a big tree to just enjoy the entertainment and people watch. (The latter was really interesting!) Some menacing dark clouds began to circle late in the day but didn't hurt the crowd. There were still folks arriving as we left, shortly before the entertainment ended. What can I say? Good BBQ draws a crowd!! What we had there, was some of the best.

We headed Northwest on Sunday to catch the last day of the Western Maryland Blues Festival in Hagerstown.

The Hard Swimmin' Fish

This festival opens on Thursday evening with a free concert in the plaza in the downtown business district featuring a popular local band.

A paid event on Friday evening (again downtown) features four better known regional groups and truly gets the party started. Saturday's paid event is also in the downtown business district and offers eight national, regional and a few local groups, a huge selection of food and beer vendors, and more, from noon until 10 p.m. At that point, a lot of the crowd simply disperses to the many local venues who also feature blues music throughout the weekend.

Flat-Foot Sam & The Educated Fools

Sunday is billed as the Family Blues Picnic and takes place in the beautiful City Park (also in downtown Hagerstown) where they encourage folks to bring their chairs, blankets, picnic baskets and kids. Again, national, regional and local performers are featured. (This year there were 5 acts on for Sunday.) They also offer free children's music workshops and activities. Adult music workshops are usually also offered in the Museum of Fine Art which is on this property and is open on that day. Food vendors in the park offer some unique "festival" foods not always found at such events.

We particularly enjoyed the music of The Hard Swimmin' Fish and Flat Foot Sam and the Educated Fools on Sunday. Both have a hard-driving approach to the blues that appeals to our inner rock fan. I must say, the Fish have the only stand-up bass I've ever seen decorated with flames!
Although we only got there for Sunday this time, we usually go on Saturday, spend the night and make it a mini-vacation.

If you find yourselves in this end of the world, Hagerstown makes for a great week-end getaway. By day, there's shopping at both an outlet mall and loads of small unique shops in town, nearby history (Antietam is only a 20 minute drive), great restaurants and a lively club life at night featuring live entertainment most weekends. If that's not enough to keep you busy, the casino in Charlestown, West Virginia is less than 40 minutes away, too.

We needed to hurry home as we were expecting house guests for the night and The Big Guy also has a weekly Pinochle game at our house every Sunday night. We kept the activity rolling on Monday with a graduation ceremony which kept us out late again! Congratulations to the Class of 2010 at Kennard Dale High School and to ALL 2010 Grads!!

Boy, am I tired. I'm going to get some rest and get back to y'all soon!

Oh, what a beautiful day in Dover!

What a fantastic day for an outdoor barbeque competition - low 40s, wet, windy and really, really gray. This picture was on our way there before the rain really moved in!
It didn’t get any better throughout the day.
Today was the 4th Annual Diamond State Barbeque Championship Cookoff at Dover Downs in Dover, Delaware. As of this year, this is the largest BBQ competition on the East Coast, boasting 82 cooking teams today. (I say “as of this year” as there are two other contests in close competition as far as how many teams participate.) Sponsored and coordinated by the Dover Downs Casino, this is generally a fairly big one-day production of cookers, other food vendors, merchandise vendors, community displays, children’s activities and live entertainment. The rain pretty much wiped out all spectators so I’m sure they took a big hit on gate admissions.

This year, they set up a large enclosed tent in the infield for the judging. The wind and heavy rain beat against the sides of the tent the whole time and shook it quite a bit, but we stayed dry. Now, if only it had been heated!Our normal average temperature today should be 60°-64°. For the last three days, we’ve either tied or broken the low maximum high temperature records. That means the high temperature each day has never been lower on these dates. I’ve never worn a leather winter coat and gloves at a contest before and I was still cold!

The good news is, we had 82 cooking teams who braved the cold wet weather to set up camp Friday morning and cook all night to serve us up some fantastic food today. Whether they won prizes or trophies or cash, they deserve a great round of applause for simply surviving. My particular judging team had excellent samples in all categories in spite of the terrible cooking conditions. (It’s really hard to control temps in a slow cooker in this type of weather.)

We normally hang around these events after judging, enjoying the entertainment and other activities but, having turned into popsicles, we escaped into the casino for warmth, indoor plumbing and another form of entertainment. Perhaps our “donation” will offset the admission gate losses!

This contest wraps up our competition season here. We’ll be back to do it all over again in April. Till then, we hope to stay warm.
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On our way up the road this a.m., I spotted this billboard by the Cecil County Marriage Initiative: “Just be nice. Duhhhh !” Great advice, isn’t it?

Pig Patrol and more...

Despite an "on again, off again" drizzle (which occasionally became a heavy downpour) and a few mud bogs, we did judge the 10th Annual New Holland Summerfest in New Holland, PA on Saturday.

Luckily, they didn't get quite the amount of rain we did in our area between midnight Thursday and early Saturday morning. (Our neighborhood received between 7 and 9 inches of rain during that time.) Their heaviest rain hit there in the afternoon on Friday after most cookers had their rigs in the park and actually had their tents up. While not ideal weather, it was better than plowing the heavy equipment through a wet field and trying to set the tents up while dodging raindrops! The rain after that came in bits and pieces with only a few heavy downpours. (Only 90 minutes away, we had monsoon-like weather most of Friday!)

New Holland always features 72 contestants cooking in the standard four KCBS categories of chicken, ribs, pork and brisket. They are required to submit entries in each of these categories. There are also two ancillary categories of sausage and chef's choice. Cooks may also participate in the whole hog category and, this year, contest organizers also accepted those who ONLY wanted to cook whole hog. Twenty cook teams undertook this huge challenge!

As most cooks participate in a number of shows in a geographic region just as we judge more events within a few hours of our home, we have many that we see at most events and this was no exception. "Pork & Deans" is a team based in our immediate community and we see them often. They win frequently and are highly respected, especially when it comes to chicken and whole hog. This team takes their BBQ seriously and it shows when you see their popular bright red rig. The Big Guy leans a bit to "Smoker Envy" when they're around!

There are also a few who travel a major distance to this particular contest and this is the only place we get a chance to see them. Within the past year, I have subscribed to a blog by a BBQ team but could not recall having met them personally. Smoke in Da Eye is a team from Garden City, NY so our events only overlap occasionally. They recently mentioned they'd be at New Holland, again, this year. (They've won in the sausage category there for the last two years! What can I say, 72 smokers can start to blend together in your mind!) I purposely sought them out this year. When I found their set up after judging, only one team member was in the tent and he was on the phone. I decided to be polite and come back later to say "Hi!" Unfortunately, the clouds burst right after that decision and we ended up leaving without backtracking that way. Well. maybe next contest!!

I must say, the submissions at this contest were the best in overall quality of all the contests we've judged this year. KCBS scoring is based on a 2-9 scale, with 6 being "average", 2 is "inedible" and 9 is "excellent". I found myself giving more 8s and 9s than I think I have ever given in the years I've been judging. The Big Guy came away with the same thoughts. (Spouses cannot sit at the same judging table as couples tend to share similar food preferences and it skews the scores. Therefore, we did not taste the same submissions.)

When it is time for the whole hog judging, some judges need to participate on the "Pig Patrol." Both The Big Guy and I have done this for the last several New Holland events. One member of the Pig Patrol is assigned to each team producing a whole hog entry. It is our job to stand by and watch the team carve their entry and verify that every piece of meat submitted came off of that particular hog and no substitutions were made from other sources. (A team cooking in all categories may also have cooked multiple racks of ribs and several butts which they may feel turned out better as they are easier to control while cooking. They cannot use any of these individually cooked "pieces" to create a whole hog entry.)


I had the pleasure of overseeing a hog prepared by the Colombo Family BBQ team who were making their first attempt at competition cooking. Mr. Colombo has done many hogs at home for family events but made this a family activity. He was well supported by family members and friends, there to lend their moral support as well as a physical hand where needed. I enjoyed seeing the enthusiasm of this first time cheering crew. They did produce a beautiful pig!!

I must say, I also appreciated the fact that a more experienced cooking team that was set up next to them but not participating in the whole hog competition was also watching their effort and lending a few suggestions. We find cooks tend to have a special camaraderie and don't mind sharing advice. Just don't ask for their secret rub or sauce recipe!!

As chief cook, Mr. Colombo was heard to exclaim, "This is really nerve wracking!" As a team cannot begin carving until a Pig Patrol member is present at their site, their time is limited to only about 45-50 minutes in which to carve 6 perfect samples from 5 areas of the pig - shoulder, ham, loin, rib (bone-in or bone-out) and bacon. They then need to arrange them in an attractive manner on a tray provided by the contest organizers and then carry them, carefully, to the turn-in site. In this case, he had to negotiate a muddy field without disturbing his perfect tray. Turn in occurs on the hour and submissions must be presented within the span of 5 minutes to and 5 minutes after, no exceptions! Yes, they do use a time clock for this. Yes, Mr. Colombo, it is nerve wracking!! As a judge, I'm pulling for everyone. I don't want to see anyone fail.

In the Mid-Atlantic area, the health department rules do not allow contestants to sell their products to the general public from their cook sites. (In some states this is allowed. Many of those areas hold a People's Choice competition the night before the main competition.) However, there are a few competitors at every contest that also have Vendor Licenses and do sell their fantastic meats to festival attendees. Smoke'n Dudes are one such cook team. They are always plagued by long lines but the food is well worth the wait. People even stood in line in the rain this year!

We normally wait around to watch the awards ceremony as judging is all done by a double blind system so even we don't know who was "best" until these announcements. While we were sitting, waiting for the awards to be presented the skies opened and it began to pour heavily. We gave up and made a run for the car. We'll just have to wait to see how our various friends, and the Colombos, made out when the organizers update the website with the winners' names later this week.

Now, all I have to do is figure out what to do with all these leftovers this week!!

Baby, it's wet here, today!!!

Glug..glug...glug...

Anyone for deep sea diving? It's been raining, off and on, since about midnight last night. By 6 a.m., our area had received between 3 and 6 inches of rain in that 6 hours!! There's a possibility of getting another 3 before all is said and done. It's getting soggy here!!

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We're judging a BBQ contest in the morning and I'm hoping they won't close one of the main roads we plan to use due to flooding. It runs right along the shore of the Susquehanna River and tends to flood fairly easily. The trip is about 1 hour and 15 minutes going that way and probably 2 hours if we go "the long way." There's always a chance some of the alternative road will have some flooding as I'm just not that familiar with that route. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

This week's event is in New Holland, PA (just outside of Lancaster). I definitely feel sorry for our friends who are participating on the cooking teams. It makes for a long, tough weekend even in the best of weather. Throw in a monsoon and some wind, and keeping the temps constant on thier smokers becomes a constant chore. This particular contest takes place on a grassy field so I suppose there will be some major mud puddles and stuck vehicles. The smokers used in competitive barbecuing are HEAVY and a little hard to manuever into place on dry ground let alone in mud. There will be 72 very wet, muddy and tired cook teams vying for top honors so it's the least we can do to slosh through the puddles and taste their products.

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All this damp weather is a gift from Tropical Storm Danny who is passing very close to the coast this weekend. The weather guys believe he won't morph into a full-blown hurricane and will remain more of a nusiance storm as he passes by. We've had it easy this year when it comes to tropical storms and such so, of course, none of us are prepared. Let's hope they're right!!

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I showed you some of my newer listings yesterday. Those were the holiday oriented pieces. Today, I thought I'd share some of the everyday type products I've added to the shop this week.

The "Bingo" shirt is part of a 2-piece set that includes denim jeans with the letters "B-I-N-G-O" scattered all over them. Don't all toddlers love to sing the "Bingo" song?

Remember how much fun it was to ride a stick horse and gallop around the house? Now, your little one can gallop to their heart's delight without knocking everything over with that darn stick behind them!!

This is the firswt sleeper I've ever offered in the shop.

Working the Shows Wednesday

Rain!?!? Again!!!!

So that big outdoor show you’re registered for, you know, the one that happens “rain or shine,” is this weekend and there is this huge blob on the weather map known as “the stationary system.” It’s definitely not an “if” concerning the rain but more of a “how much?” If only you made boats (human size) or umbrellas, you might be in good shape. So, what can you do about it?

Okay, I admit the first reaction: CRY might make you feel a little better but it won’t help the situation any. Besides, it doesn’t seem like you need more waterworks anyway.

Bear in mind, some people DO go out in the rain and they DO shop. We have actually conducted some decent transactions in the rain. One event in the Baltimore area that seemed to be plagued with heavy rain every year for at least a decade was the 3-day Hopkins Spring Fling held by Johns Hopkins University in April (traditionally a fairly wet month). One day was almost always close to a total rainout but folks trudged through it and expected to see and buy some nice crafts. There are two annual events held ocean-front in Ocean City, Maryland where horrible weather also always seems to attack for at least one of the 4 days of the event. (The Fall show has been on the fringes of an approaching hurricane several times!) There, the crafters are in large tents but the shoppers flock to them in the heavy rain by the thousands. People DO shop in the rain!! Believe me, in the 30+ years of craft shows I’ve been involved in, there are numerous monsoon stories to tell!

You need to immediately assess your booth display to see what needs to be done to make it weather worthy. (Hopefully, you have considered this issue when originally planning your displays.)

If you have a canopy or tent, be sure you have your sidewalls ready. Do you carry extra “tools” for dealing with pooling water on the top of the tent. Many folks use things like hula hoops, those foam tubes for the pool, or other items to lift and dump the puddles. Whatever your approach be sure they’re handy. In most cases, rain goes hand-in-hand with the rain. Determine what weights you will need in case of serious wind and be sure they’re packed.

For those who still do not use tents/canopies, have you figured out how to drape your display with clear plastic drop cloths? I say “clear plastic” as you want your merchandise to be visible and those large blue or green tarps will simply hide everything. They’re okay for a quick passing shower but if you are dealing with an all-day rain system, you need to figure a way for folks to see what you’ve got. ***An important consideration is also whether you can get the merchandise out from under that cover without soaking everything on the table so a potential customer can see and handle the item or to complete the sale.

I have seen successful non-canopied booth displays survive the rain but those sellers took some serious time considering how to deal with the weather. Many had some sort of frame work rigged to accommodate plastic drapes or used very large patio umbrellas. Some, who have some tall hanging walls or racks, manage to drape clear plastic over those racks and the display tables much like a child’s tent.

Are you using a large patio-style umbrella for your protection from the weather? How are you securing it (again, think “wind”)? Remember, you need to consider how you will complete the sales transaction under the umbrella. Think through the wrapping/bagging process, the transaction area (money box, credit card, etc. )

If you can’t complete sales transactions while it is raining, you may as well throw a heavy blue tarp over it all and go have a potty break or dinner or something.

If your display includes low areas close to the ground, perhaps this is the time to figure out where else to set those pieces. For that matter, you will need to work out a system for the storage area you normally have under your table as you won’t want to sit boxes and such on the ground. For, in addition to rain and wind, these days usually also involve MUD!! Lots of mud!!!

When do we pull the plug?
None of us wants to simply write off any show fee but there comes a time when we need to consider admitting defeat. This moment of reality comes differently for each of us depending on what we sell. You need to determine at what point your damages may far outweigh any benefits you might face.

As my merchandise is all fabric, this moment may come more quickly for me. My items can’t be wiped clean as with pottery or even jewelry. They also absorb the dampness very quickly and become limp and droopy. There is no practical way to show each item in plastic bags and they are difficult to show to a customer in a heavy downpour. Mud splash is the kiss of death. (Yes, they can be laundered but I have had many a situation where the mud and whatever else splashed just never came out.) All of my products are tagged with large (4”x6” tags that contain important care instructions. Printed on card stock, these tags can also become quite limp in extremely damp air and I worry about damp ink smearing and damaging the garment. Once damp, the tag must be replaced as they will never look crisp again. I also face the need to be sure all of my merchandise is dry between shows. Even one slightly damp item folded in with others in a box for a week or more can ruin an entire case of merchandise with mildew or even just a musty smell. This means all items must be taken out and hung to dry after a wet day at a show.

I have lost numerous fees along the way because the damage potential simply outweighed the potential sales.

If you decide to leave a show due to weather conditions or decide to simply not show up at all. You should contact the organizer afterwards and explain your reasoning and ask to be kept on the list for next year. (If this is a show you do wish to try again.) It is not their fault the weather did not cooperate and, after all, it was billed as a rain or shine event. Many will not hold this against you if you explain you could simply not afford the potential damages. (If for any reason, you ever do not show up for a show, you should do this. No show exhibitors hurt all involved in the show. Things do happen - illness, accident, unexpected travel, etc. but the organizers are entitled to the courtesy of a call or note.)

For those of us along the East Coast, this has been a very wet season. (The soggiest May in our weather history and June is well on its way to the same distinction!) There has been considerable rain EVERY weekend and, in our area, tons of mud involved which hinders those events held on grass and those where customers need to park in fields. We can only hope for sunnier days ahead to dry us out and get our show season back on track.

****Hey!! Did you notice the cute little rain pendants I've used as illustrations? They're available from an adorable Etsy shop called Rain Cloud Studio! You can click on the picture and get details about that item or stop in and see their entire shop. ****


Good luck all!! (If you know any special sunshine dance, it couldn’t hurt to try a few steps!)


***Display Note: I came across this Stella and Hodge blog yesterday that has some great step-by-step instructions showing how to create a necklace bust for tabletop necklace displays using heavy cardboard. It really turns out nicely. If you are still trying to come up with some reasonable displays for your jewelry, you might want to take a look!

Rainy days and Mondays... I mean Fridays!!!

It's raining. AGAIN !!!

You know, we live near the water so you can't go more than a block or two around here without seeing a boat or Sea-Doodle or other personal watercraft in someone's yard. This time of year, many folks in these parts just keep their boats in the water instead of trailering them back and forth but, I think, with all the rain this year, they're keeping them in their yards in case they need to float out!!!

From time to time over the years, you come across somebody who is actually building a boat in their yard. I was surprised to see the local Home Depot offering measurement instruments that actually show "cubits" but more shocked when I passed a house with a sign in the front yard looking for "mating pairs of any type of animals" . A neighbor says they're having trouble finding a pair of pandas and have had absolutely no leads on unicorns!

Seriously, I ran out to do some errands earlier today and it was raining so hard I decided to leave a few for another time and turned around and headed home. I decided to stop at Burger King for a take out lunch. (Something I only do every couple of weeks since I am no longer working.) I went swiftly through the drive-through and I headed home with my lunch only to find the low-lying underpass was flooding and I needed to detour. So much for warm fries!!

Later, when the rain let up a bit, I ventured out to Walmart. I have long held the belief that everyone who is certifiably crazy (and those that could be certified) go out for a drive on Fridays. On rainy, yucky Fridays, they take other crazy folks with them as passengers. Of course, to chat with said passengers, those drivers must use their hands and feel rude if they don't look directly at the person they are speaking with. So now, we have dozens of crazy people out there driving without holding the wheel and not looking where they are going and we wonder why traffic seems to crawl on these days!!

Oh, and EVERYONE, crazy or not, decided to shop at Walmart this afternoon! I know, because I saw them there. The first one I came across was trawling the parking lot for a"good" parking space. She reminded me of the woman in the commercial where the guy gets on the elevator and she won't let him push the button for his floor. She was driving up the middle of the aisle and when she would see someone either sitting in a car or walking toward a car, she would hesitate, start to pull to the side to wait for them and then seemed to change her mind and pull back out toward the center, making sure no one could pass her. After all, there might be a space closer to the store and we could get to it before her!

Once I got past her, I found a semi-decent spot in another lane only a short hike from the store. I did, however, have to laugh when the girl who pulled out of that spot before me proceeded to back all the way down the lane (a long way) to avoid driving around the loop to exit the lot. Some folks just have to complicate their lives!

I trotted in, got what I went for and zoomed out through the speed checkout. When I got back to my car, I was stunned to see a bus parked in the space next to mine. Now, we're not talking over-sized van or mini-bus, we're talking a regular size bus like a school bus! Only it was white. If you're thinking, "Wow, they must have big spaces," we don't. In fact, I not only couldn't get my door open to get in, I couldn't even walk between the two vehicles. I really was not in the mood to climb across from the passenger side but I had no choice. This body is a bit too old and decrepit to easily slide over a console and get comfy that way! It was also a little scary backing out with absolutely no sight line. The bus stuck out more than halfway across the aisle. One has to wonder why the driver did not feel this could be a dangerous situation. I was not in a good mood as I pulled out of there.

There I was, in a more than grumpy mood, when I stopped at a light and glanced into the police car next to me. There was this big gruff-looking deputy, happily licking away at what appeared to be an all-day sucker, complete with colorful stripes!! I had to smile. He turned and gave me a grin that could only be likened to that of a happy 3-year-old. Something told me, his rainy day had probably not gone any better than mine but he was making the best of it! I went home with a smile on my face.

When I got home, I was ecstatic to find I had a sale while I was gone! Surprisingly, it was a regular sale not one based on the special I'm running.

Which brings me to the special sale again...

My FREE shorts with the purchase of any onesie sized 12 months or smaller goes on through midnight tonight. There are quite a few to choose from. If you're interested, check out my shop and be sure to include the promo code "RS Sale" in the Message to Seller area when you order.

Rain, Rain, Go Away -- Today, please!!!

Well, our original plan was to go hear some live outdoor music tonight. We actually had four choices of where to go and three were free. This rain has definitely put the damper (pun intended) on that plan! Looks like Plan B might require me to create a dinner here at home. That definitely, wasn't in my plan! They said it should stop late in the day and tomorrow should be beautiful. Well, late must be a relative term.

My concern now, is picking an activity for tomorrow that involves a paved parking lot. I doubt there's a field in the State that should be driven on by anything other than a 4-wheeler or tractor tomorrow!!

Hopefully, y'all have exciting plans for the weekend and good weather flowing your way. Enjoy!!

Just a little rant - the rain makes me grouchy.

Gray and dreary here today and VERY soggy! We received between 1 1/2 and 2 inches of rain in about 10 hours. I finally dragged myself out in the rain to go to the grocery store and it was just generally miserable out there. (We're paying for that wonderful weekend weather!)

I truly came home feeling very grateful to have the opportunity to climb into a nice dry vehicle to run my errands. I witnessed one poor soul walking on the sidewalk along the main road when someone, driving quite a bit over the speed limit, zoomed past close enough to the curb to send a huge plume of dirty gutter water up over the poor woman's head. I felt so sorry for her. She was already wet but this was adding insult to injury. There was absolutely no reason for him to be moving so fast nor to be so close to the curb that he hit the pooled water in the gutter like that.

Only two blocks later, I stopped at a stop sign and motioned a pedestrian to go ahead and cross in front of me. I figured she was on foot in the pouring down rain and much more eager to get in out of the weather than I, in my nice dry van. Would you believe the guy in back of me actually beeped because these few seconds were slowing his trip down?

Can't we just think about those who are less fortunate than ourselves once in a while? People aren't out there walking around in this weather for the fun of it. It doesn't take much for us to just give them a little consideration.