Vintage Clothing and Today's Agenda - No Rest For Me LOL

I spent three hours with my dress form and my mother's gowns yesterday,. photographing them to send to a few vintage stores around town who have expressed possible interest. I also collected the receipts from the cleaning and repairs that I had done to them - almost $600 that I spent getting them back into wearable condition. I adore them, however, so the cost wasn't a factor. I'm hoping that I can find a thrift store which will want one or more of them. The two St Paul stores I contacted are not accepting any items until April - it is the slow season, after all, and that's very understandable. The Minneapolis shop wanted a minimum of 10 items, and I only have six, but I'll still send the photos to them and see if they might be interested. 

The Golden Pearl vintage shop looks like a place I could 
get into some serious trouble in. They carry a lot of designer 
items but ... I'm hoping they'll take Mom's dresses, so we'll 
see if the photos elicit any interest. 

I'm going to continue working on the shop closing today, though. I'll try to do a walk-through of the video that I need to submit to Travis early next week. In all of the time I've had a cell phone, I've never made any videos to share - I've taken hundreds of photos, but never a video. So this is new ground for me. I'll re-read his instructions once again. I think the total length needs to be approximately 5 minutes, and he needs exterior and interior shots as a prospective customer would see. I also need to submit a head shot of myself. I don't photograph well, but I'll have to see how I can manage that. 

I've read a lot of hints and tricks for filming on my cell 
phone. I take a lot of still photos, but have never really 
done much with moving videos. Still, no time like the 
present to learn t new skill, right? LOL

Last night DH and I met with our accountant to give him all the information necessary for our business and personal taxes. DH is finally admitting that we're closing the store before next year's tax appointment, so that's an improvement over prior years. We discussed tax ramifications and any issues that might arise from that, but things seem pretty straightforward. Now to just make things happen. 

It's going to be a busy day, but I suspect they'll all be busy 
until we're finally able to close the place down at the end 
of May. It's a roller coaster of emotions along with a long 
list of tasks that MUST be accomplished before we can 
lock the doors for the final time. 

So, I have a lot of things on my personal agenda today. I hope all of you have an excellent Thursday, I'm off to the pool for my final swim of the week. Stay warm (or comfortable) and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Music - Because Someone Sent Me Something Online and I'm Passing it On

It's still cold, Trump is still trying to manhandle my state (and isn't getting very far with it), and a friend sent me a lovely clip of Mozart's Requiem from the movie. That really made my morning! I hadn't listen to the Requiem for quite a long time. It was wondrous to hear, even in the small clip from the film. It totally lifted my heart from the mundane and the cold into the hope that stunning music can bring. 

Mozart's "Requiem" is one of the great pieces of music. It's 
rarely performed - it requires a LOT of people - vocal as well 
as symphonic. Plus, it's funeral music - people don't always 
respond well to funeral music. But, given my feelings today 
and the fact that this was in my in-box and really struck a 
chord with me, today you get marvelous sound. 

I'm not often a Mozart fan - I acknowledge his immense talent and ability, but Mozart generally needs to be played with a lightness. I was a cellist - light comes harder on a larger string instrument like that as opposed to a violin or even a viola. I was always being scolded for not being "light" enough on Mozart pieces. I suppose, for my style of playing, Beethoven was the better choice. 

Classical music is a huge genre of its' own, just as 
popular or rock or country musical styles are. I've been 
a classical music junkie for most of my life, and also 
love rock so, I guess I'm versatile. 

But there is something magical about Mozart - the undeniable and incredible talent, the tones that blend together to carry you past the years and into a different dimension. That's what good music will do, and good music - truly good music - will still be played decades or millenia after it's original composition. Great music will cross the centuries, good music will cross the decades, pop music will last for a year, maybe five if it's really catchy. 

Classical music was what I was exposed to - opera, chamber 
orchestras and quartets, and full symphonies. It runs in my 
blood. I might listen to rock in the car, but my heart will 
always belong to Beethoven. 

Where do we put nursery rhymes into this? "Mary Had a Little Lamb" has been sung to children for a long time. It's a catchy, if somewhat boring tune, but I bet every one of you now has that running through your head. I wouldn't call it classic, I can't put it into the same boat as the great compositions, but still ... it holds on to a specific age group - the parents and their small children, who eventually outgrow the nursery songs and move on to the symphonies. So, I guess we all started our musical journeys with those songs that our mothers or caregivers sang or hummed to us to get us settled at night or during the day. Thank goodness for these people showing us the power of music before we could even speak. Have a glorious day and treat yourself to some exceptional music today. And thanks for the Mozart film link - it was a fabulous way to start my day. Slava Ukraini. 

It's Still Cold, We Still Have ICE, But Life Goes On

So, we continue onward - cold and under seige. Although the general world is appalled at what went on in Minneapolis over the weekend, it's not stopping ICE from doing whatever they think they should do. At least Mother Nature isn't being kind - it's been damned cold. The "agents" are, of course, dressed in their cold weather gear, but it's got to be uncomfortable for them, despite the layers. The protesters gather together, and they've got warmth in numbers and crowds. But it's a stand-off and not a comfortable one. 

We're not backing down - we want ICE out of the Twin 
Cities. Minneapolis is in turmoil right now, and the only 
thing we've really got working for us is our weather, which 
is NOT kind to protestors or ICE. 

I did get the second payment off to Travis yesterday. I has asked Chickie to write down the directions from A to Z and she actually did pretty well at it. I did have to phone her, but it ended up being an easy find to get the check attached to my email to Travis. He sent me a return email within 30 minutes informing me that he had received it, so we're still on track for liquidating the business. 

It's a good photo of Travis. Does he actually look 
like this now? Hard to say. His book has actually 
been around for a while, and I suspect he's older, 
just like the rest of us. He lives in Florida, so 
who's to say? 

We need to bring a set of print drawers home. I think I know where he wants to put them, and they'll fit - snugly, but they'll fit. I have four double sets, so a total of 20 drawers between the upstairs and the framing area. We want ten of those at home. We'll probably sell the other set and I'm sure we'll get a buyer for them - they're lovely, and we've had people inquire about them in the past. 

We have two sets of wooden print drawers. They're lovely, 
and we'll bring one set of ten drawers home, but we'll 
sell the other set. I'm quite sure we'll have a buyer, we 
actually get a fair number of people asking to buy them 
over the years. 

DH did a major remodel on the North side of the shop over the past few days. He removed about half of the library area and consolidated the books onto a single bookshelf and extension instead of two. It looks a lot better. He also built another artwork display/sale case from an old fixture we had used for Pendleton blankets (when we used to sell them - when they were still reasonably priced). What he did was excellent and we'll get some good use from the new artwork display fixture. 

We used to carry a large variety of Pendleton blankets for 
sale (until their prices went through the roof). They were 
always a good seller - they're used for a variety of special 
occasion gifts, and are also an essential funeral gift. 

I have a lot of work to do in the downstairs framing area. We still have prints down there that need to be mounted and shrink wrapped, or framed in some cases. That'll be my focus over the next week, for as much as possible in any case. I'll also have to take a trip to my framing supply company tomorrow to get some frame stock, and get some assembly components. 

I used to do a lot of picture framing, especially when I ran my 
Mall of America store. I still have my supplier, however, 
so I can still get frame stock when I need to get some. 

So, I'm off to the swimming pool, grateful for the fact that I live in St Paul, not Minneapolis, and hoping that my city can continue to avoid ICE and the trauma that our Twin City is facing every day now. Have a good Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow. 

It's Cold, ICE Kills Again, and We're Continuing Onward

Today is Monday, it's -12F outside (so just a BIT chilly!), and ICE is still in Minnesota creating havoc. The last person that ICE killed was a Veteran who worked at the VA Hospital and yes, he had a weapon on him, he had a concealed weapon permit and always carried. He didn't raise his weapon towards anyone, he was attempting to assist people who had been tossed to the ground. That's three unjustified deaths that I lay directly at Trump's doorstep. To say I'm angry is an understatement. I'm angry, I'm filled with sorrow, and I'm seriously upset. My state has become a battleground in a battle it never asked for. 

It's slightly warmer, but still sub-zero - so VERY cold. Anyone 
who's homeless hopefully found shelter, but the shelters will 
have to empty for the daylight hours and people will, quite 
literally, freeze to death under culverts and on park benches. 

In other news, however, I need to get my next payment out to Travis for our business liquidation. Last time Chickie was at the shop to help me over the bumps in the road. Today it's her day off, so she's not at the shop, but I had her write me out step-by-step directions so that I could get this accomplished. Next week I need to upload a five-minute video walk-through of what a customer would see if they came to my shop. I'm learning a lot of new things that I never anticipated learning - LOL. 

Travis is sharp, and hopefully will do well with 
our very eclectic shop. No guarantees, of course, 
but I have confidence that he'll give us our 
greatest chance of success. 

DH has been busy working on the shop. He's moved and repurposed sales displays, set up a new art stand for prints (we have a LOT of prints for sale), and things are starting to look really good. We've always been a store divided - Native American art on the one hand, the supplies used by our Native American (and other) customers such as beads and jewelry making materials on the other. There's overlap, but not a huge amount. Still, that's the store that we developed over the decades, and it's the one we'll have to sell off within a very short time. I'm pinning a lot of hope on Travis and his methodology. He's costing us a lot of money, but if he comes through and we're successful in liquidating the store, he'll be worth every penny. 

Travis' book is our bible, so to speak. Everything 
is detailed in it, and sure, we could have just used 
the book to progress, but we really needed someone 
to guide us a bit more, so we hired him. I'm really 
hoping for the best. 

So, I'm going to bundle up and brace for the cold. That cold is also part of living in Minnesota. We had an unusually warm and mild winter last year, and it's not quite that nice this year - LOL. Have an excellent and safe Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

It's a Deep Freeze and ICE Out in Minnesota

Yesterday was "ICE Out" or "No More ICE" in the state of Minnesota, or at least in the Twin Cities area. Multiple businesses were closed, people were demonstrating against ICE on almost every corner. The fact that the weather was at -8 F also didn't help/hurt. Essentials like banks, etc stayed open, and we were open, but the day was spent on some serious remodeling. We have to do a video walkthrough of the shop for Travis, and Chickie and DH dug into things - basically doing a fairly decent remodel of the North side of the shop. It looks good - really good. There's still a LOT to do before we film, but it's starting to come together. 

Minnesota is a state where we take personal freedoms 
very seriously. The entire state united in protest against 
ICE yesterday. It was remarkable, and given the wind chills 
of -16 or more, it was done in short, but sustained bursts. 

We didn't have any customers at all yesterday, and given the mess that the store was in when I arrived from appointments in the early afternoon, I was rather grateful we had been given this day. I immediately set myself at the typewriter and worked on getting the W-2 forms typed out. DH will look them over today, and then they'll be ready to distribute so that everyone can get their taxes done on time. 

I usually try to type the W2 Forms in the very 
early morning hours when I won't be 
interrupted, but yesterday afternoon proved to be
a good time to get them done. DH will look 
them over today and then distribute them where 
they need to go. 

It's going to be early mornings and late evenings for a while now, though, as we get the store ready to close, so my daily updates might be shorter on some days. The kink for yesterday came with massively cold temperatures added to the fact that our garage door at home wouldn't close properly. I contacted my garage door people and they added us to their list of homes. They arrived shortly after noon, replaced and repositioned some sensors, and voila! The door now works once again. I am pleased about that, but it meant that I was at home waiting for repair people for the entire morning - a real waste of time in many ways. 

Automatic garage doors operate with sensors that send an 
electronic signal from one side to the other. They weren't 
communicating on our door, and needed to be replaced. 
So, the techs pulled the old ones, installed new ones, and 
pushed the new ones a bit farther away from the actual 
door surface for a stronger connection. We'll have to be 
careful when we pull out the snow blower, but I think 
that extension was a good idea. 

So, I'm heading out into the cold. It's only -16 F right now, which is a big improvement over the -26 F of yesterday at approximately the same time. We're totally into the deep freeze of Winter. Bundle up, be safe, and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

It's VERY COLD and A Short Discussion of Weaving and Gowns

Happy Friday! My phone is telling me that the current temperature is -21 F. Yeah, that's a minus sign in front of the number. It's COLD. DH spent yesterday photographing Navajo weavings. We'll probably be putting most/all of them out to auction with our Santa Fe auction people, but to do that we need photos, dimensions, etc. We're also freaking out a bit over the scheduling for our closing sale - it's VERY precise - 15 pages worth of specific instructions and dates. The sale itself starts in early April, so time is running out and we're nowhere close to being ready. But, we're putting noses to the grindstone and working hard at it. 

Whichever way you look at it, it's damned COLD 
this morning. I'm grateful for my cold weather 
gear, but I'll still be shivering and Minion 
won't be happy being parked in the cold either. 

Yesterday DH pulled down a lot of our Navajo weavings, replacing them with other ones - mostly lesser quality at a lower price point. The good ones we'll be bringing down to Santa Fe ourselves after the shop has closed. But it was an all-day affair photographing each rug on the photo board, culminating with packaging many of them in plastic for storage. Our weavings cabinet is far from empty, but it's nowhere as packed as it had been. 

In this picture, the weaver is weaving a sampler 
weaving - one style on the left, a second 
style in the center and a return to the left style 
on the right. The loom is a vertical loom and sheep's 
wool is usually spun for the yarn. It's a tradition 
that goes back centuries. 

I spent a fair amount of time on the phone contacting a variety of places I thought Mom's couture dresses might be accepted at for resale. I have two "very interested by not accepting anything until April" responses, and one recommendation for a specific Minneapolis shop that I had thought would be worth while to contact. When I contacted them, they expressed an interest in photographs, but also warned me that they usually will only accept items in a group of 10. Well, I don't have quite that many - I think it's either 7 or 8 items that I have - but she said to go ahead with the photos and send them anyway, even if I'm below their minimum quantity. Exceptions can sometimes be made. So I'll try to get that done early next week. Meanwhile, they're in the trunk of my car - not the best place for them, but then again, with the temps as they are, the car is probably safer than many other locations. I might move them back into the house, but I'll leave them for the time being. 

Large weavings, such as this one worked on by two 
weavers simultaneously, are rarely made any more. 
The looms are too large to fit within the hogan, 
and the dollars paid don't make up for the time 
when several smaller weavings will sell for the 
same or more and take less time to make. This photo 
probably dates from the early 1900's. You can see 
a second loom in the background with an additional 
two weavers working on it. They were probably 
working at one of the trading posts and would 
sell the finished products directly to them. 

So, despite the cold, I have to get a very early start today. I need to get the W3 typed up for the Federal Government, and I only have a single copy of the form. NO MISTAKES ALLOWED. I have no correction ability on my typewriter at the shop anymore, and the computer and computer printer can't be used on it either. So, I've got to eat breakfast, bundle up, and hope that my car will start tonight after sitting in the parking lot for hours and hours. Minion was a bit slow to start last night when it was -11, adding an additional -10 to that and an extra hour in the parking lot ... well ... it could be problematic. Have an excellent Friday and I'll be back tomorrow to wrap up the week. Slava Ukraini. 

I'm Getting Pulled In So Many Ways Right Now

Yesterday was a VERY busy day. Between errands here and there, I took my Mom's couture gowns to the local thrift shop to see what they would accept. I wasn't happy with them, so I didn't leave any of them, and they're in my car trunk. I'll need to make a few calls and see if any of the more upscale 2nd-hand stores would like any of them. Otherwise I'll look into putting them onto Etsy or Ebay. 

In the 1950's, emphasis was on the shape 
of the body, and draping. The gowns don't 
look great on hangers, but they look amazing 
on a dress form. I don't have the time to deal 
properly with them while we're working on 
the store, and DH was bitching about the space
they were taking up in the spare closet. So, I 
need to sell them or toss them. 

I also got an extensive email from Travis, our business liquidator. It's a full schedule of everything that we need to accomplish, the dates that we need to have them done by, etc, etc. It's rather scary. DH is saying "I don't see how we can get this done in his timeframe" and I'm thinking "It's got to be done, I'll have to make it happen". The one thing I'm a bit worried about is the walk-through video that he needs me to make and send to him. It should be 5-7 minutes long, and I've never made anything of the sort. I'm horribly worried about whether my phone will accommodate that length of a recording. Any of you who have done similar things - can you advise me? 

I've taken a lot of photos with my phone over the years, 
but I've never done much with video. Any advise you can 
offer would be appreciated. He needs a 5-7 minute 
full walkthrough of the shop as well as a serious look 
at the exterior (snowbanks and all, I guess - LOL). 

Along with everything else, DH and I were at the attorney's office yesterday signing the final legal agreements for what will happen to our funds when/if one of us dies. (With the stress of the next few months, that's not out of the question - LOL). But, we're all legal now for the estate and how things will be handled. We each had to make some compromises, but that's how life operates. Because it was snowing and we had the meeting with Corey at 8:00 am across town, I gave up on swimming yesterday - it would have been crowding too much into a short window of time. I'm swimming today, though. I actually was at the YMCA, waiting for the doors to be unlocked, before I decided my schedule would be too tight, told another friend who was also in the parking lot that I was skipping the day's swim, and headed to the gas station to top off before the long day ahead of me. It was a good decision. 

 
We're on a strict time schedule for closing the store and it's 
stressing both of us out. DH can't push things out anymore, 
and I have to really focus on what is needed and get Travis 
the information he'll need to make this successful. 

So, any information any of you can offer on the video that I need to make would be very appreciated. I've never done much with video, and I'm super concerned about whether my old phone will have enough memory left to accommodate a video of that length. So ... please message me back and let me know if you're more up on that particular technology than I am. I use a Google phone, so no Apple, if that's helpful. Have a great Thursday, Slava Ukraini!