Busier on the Inside
The weather has been hot, and humid. That's old news to anyone who lives in the Ohio River Valley. It seems like the days have simultaneously been flying by and moving in slow motion.
Tomas' business was unable to make it to the Great Lakes Medieval Faire this year. If you read the business Facebook you already knew that. There were a number of reasons we couldn't make it. This year's kerfuffle with Trumbull Township was only one of them. On the one hand it hurts not having the income from that show. On the other, we've had a bit more time for us to get caught up on the endless projects we've had piling up.
The portable building we've been working on for the past two years is basically complete. I've painted/stained the last pieces over the past few weeks. We had planned to take it up to Great Lakes, but we're not sure where we will end up erecting it now. Wherever we choose, it will be nice to have real walls and a roof instead of canvas. The only parts left to work on are roofing (which will be addressed at the time the building is erected), ironwork for the doors (which Tomas is planning to finish at the blacksmith's forge at Pennsic) and the glass windows (which were never in this year's budget anyhow).
Tomas has been making steady progress on stock production for our next two shows, Pennsic and GenCon. They both overlap, so I'll be heading to GenCon while they go to Pennsic. I'll join them at Pennsic once GenCon is over. This year is Pennsic 40, so we expect it to be quite busy. Luckily Skylar will be there the whole time to help out Tomas and Sue.
The second business trailer, which I was putting quite a lot of work into in March, is finally making more progress. In March, I got the wood framing mostly done, and got the thing barely road-worthy, so I could use it at Gulf Wars. This month I've finally been able to go back to it with Tomas' help. The floor has been improved, and the interior wiring is being addressed. The outside is painted. I spent a good bit of this afternoon painting the cabinet interiors and doors. We have the hardware purchased for the cabinets and doors. I try to make a little progress on it every day.
When I'm indoors, in the evenings or taking breaks in the afternoon, I've been working on computer stuff. Making sure I have good file backups, updating inventory files, compiling orders, processing images for the website. All that lovely time-eating stuff.
It seems like I'm not getting anything finished, so I have to frequently remind myself that I am accomplishing quite a lot. It is just that all these projects are long-term and involved. When I can step back and see progress, it feels good.
On the home front, I've taken a few cooler evenings to try and work on the yard a little. I talked Phil into buying a hedge trimmer, and he helped me tame the bushes out front. I redid the huge whiskey barrel in the back yard, that used to hold aloes long ago. It had become a catch-basin for rain and hadn't been used for anything in quite a while. Now I have it full of peat, and I planted pitcher plants in it. It makes me happy to have CPs again, for the first time in a long time. We installed a rain barrel at the front of the house, so I have ample fresh water for them. I also took several of my old pots and planted attractive flowers in them, and cleaned the porch. We hung up a bird bath I got at the Tennessee Renaissance Fair, and also hung several wind chimes we'd had for a while. The porch is starting to look nicer. Now if I can squeeze enough time out of my afternoons to finish refurbishing the table and chairs we had out on the porch, it will be really nice!
The inside of the house hasn't seen so much progress. I've had a pile of sewing sitting in the front room since before Gulf Wars. Sewing is more of a winter time activity for me. I'm starting to feel like I need to get back to this, though. I want my front room back, and the best way to accomplish that is to make myself finish the projects I have laid out partly-done.
But for now, I have 2-1/2 more weeks until GenCon, and 2 weeks until Pennsic, so I need to keep plugging away. I ought to get my garb sorted and packed soon, so I can send it ahead of me to Pennsic. We'll see.
Tomas' business was unable to make it to the Great Lakes Medieval Faire this year. If you read the business Facebook you already knew that. There were a number of reasons we couldn't make it. This year's kerfuffle with Trumbull Township was only one of them. On the one hand it hurts not having the income from that show. On the other, we've had a bit more time for us to get caught up on the endless projects we've had piling up.
The portable building we've been working on for the past two years is basically complete. I've painted/stained the last pieces over the past few weeks. We had planned to take it up to Great Lakes, but we're not sure where we will end up erecting it now. Wherever we choose, it will be nice to have real walls and a roof instead of canvas. The only parts left to work on are roofing (which will be addressed at the time the building is erected), ironwork for the doors (which Tomas is planning to finish at the blacksmith's forge at Pennsic) and the glass windows (which were never in this year's budget anyhow).
Tomas has been making steady progress on stock production for our next two shows, Pennsic and GenCon. They both overlap, so I'll be heading to GenCon while they go to Pennsic. I'll join them at Pennsic once GenCon is over. This year is Pennsic 40, so we expect it to be quite busy. Luckily Skylar will be there the whole time to help out Tomas and Sue.
The second business trailer, which I was putting quite a lot of work into in March, is finally making more progress. In March, I got the wood framing mostly done, and got the thing barely road-worthy, so I could use it at Gulf Wars. This month I've finally been able to go back to it with Tomas' help. The floor has been improved, and the interior wiring is being addressed. The outside is painted. I spent a good bit of this afternoon painting the cabinet interiors and doors. We have the hardware purchased for the cabinets and doors. I try to make a little progress on it every day.
When I'm indoors, in the evenings or taking breaks in the afternoon, I've been working on computer stuff. Making sure I have good file backups, updating inventory files, compiling orders, processing images for the website. All that lovely time-eating stuff.
It seems like I'm not getting anything finished, so I have to frequently remind myself that I am accomplishing quite a lot. It is just that all these projects are long-term and involved. When I can step back and see progress, it feels good.
On the home front, I've taken a few cooler evenings to try and work on the yard a little. I talked Phil into buying a hedge trimmer, and he helped me tame the bushes out front. I redid the huge whiskey barrel in the back yard, that used to hold aloes long ago. It had become a catch-basin for rain and hadn't been used for anything in quite a while. Now I have it full of peat, and I planted pitcher plants in it. It makes me happy to have CPs again, for the first time in a long time. We installed a rain barrel at the front of the house, so I have ample fresh water for them. I also took several of my old pots and planted attractive flowers in them, and cleaned the porch. We hung up a bird bath I got at the Tennessee Renaissance Fair, and also hung several wind chimes we'd had for a while. The porch is starting to look nicer. Now if I can squeeze enough time out of my afternoons to finish refurbishing the table and chairs we had out on the porch, it will be really nice!
The inside of the house hasn't seen so much progress. I've had a pile of sewing sitting in the front room since before Gulf Wars. Sewing is more of a winter time activity for me. I'm starting to feel like I need to get back to this, though. I want my front room back, and the best way to accomplish that is to make myself finish the projects I have laid out partly-done.
But for now, I have 2-1/2 more weeks until GenCon, and 2 weeks until Pennsic, so I need to keep plugging away. I ought to get my garb sorted and packed soon, so I can send it ahead of me to Pennsic. We'll see.