It's Cold, It's the Holiday Season, and I Want a Gift.

It's cold. I'm dressed for the swimming pool, and knowing I'll be standing outside the front doors to the YMCA for at least five minutes. I'll be wearing my heated vest, though. That helps a LOT in these sub-zero temps. The weather is great, but the cold has settled in to the Frozen Northlands and we're only in mid-December. 

I have this brand, I'm pretty sure. I've been using 
it for two years now, and I wear one of them 
almost continuously throughout the winter months. 
It works great. We're back to our normal sub-zero 
temps now, so it's nice to have that extra warmth. 

Last year was the winter that Jack Frost forgot. I felt extremely fortunate in that regard, since I wasn't able to shovel at all after my cancer surgery (the one time I tried set me back over two weeks and that was only 1/2" of snow on Valentine's Day). We'll see what happens over this Winter, but so far it's a lot of cold with some snow - last week's snow was a total PITA to get off the driveway. 

All holiday cards have now been mailed - international and 
domestic. Sharon's gifts are also on their way to her. I hope 
she, Cathy and the cats will enjoy them. Now I can concentrate 
on DH, Chickie and Chickie Mama. 

I'm dressed for the pool, and ready to go swim. I have some email addresses that I need to add to the store's data base on my desk - I'll probably get to those tonight or tomorrow. DH has been in a "mood" (i.e., cranky). He's been repricing our precious metals, as you know. We're through with all of the finished findings and into the footage wire. There's nothing like footage Gold Filled wire to dampen your day. It used to be quite affordable, but is anything BUT affordable now. 

DH is in the middle of repricing all of our precious metal 
findings and wire. It's a HUGE job. We used to stock a 
bunch of materials for our customers, but then the market 
went out of control. We used "adders" then, adding a 
percentage to the base cost to bring items to current market 
pricing. That grew cumbersome, however, and we wanted 
to get things more up-to-date. It's been an intense project 
of more than a month now, but we're almost done. 

I know it's just general stress, but he strikes out at me (verbally - any physical strike and I'm seeing an attorney). We're sparring almost every day these days, and it's annoying. I'm sure that other couples go through similar crap when they're under stress, but it's not fun to live through. Still, we push through. 

The Thermaworks Instant Read Thermometer has 
gotten the best reviews over the years. Yes, it's 
$100. But, I think it's probably worth it. I've wanted 
one for years, and asked for one for years. I doubt 
I'll be receiving it this year, but it never hurts to ask 
Santa for something special. 

I have an Instant Read Thermometer on my holiday gift list. I've had it on my list in the past and didn't get it and I doubt I'll get it now either. It is a rather specific item, and it's expensive. But there are some things that can be done with an Instant Read Thermometer that can't be done with any other kitchen tool. So, I keep adding it to my holiday gift list, and he keeps complaining about how I want more crap in the kitchen. The kitchen, actually, is in great shape. I keep it that way quite consciously. I work in that room a LOT. So, speaking of work, it's time to wrap this up, bundle up, and head to the pool for my work out. Have a lovely Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

We Dodged A Bullet - The Storms Hit South of Us But It's COLD

It's cold up here in the Frozen Northlands right now. The big snowstorm hit south of us (fortunately), so the Twin Cities didn't really get snow, but we got the cold. We're currently entering our second day when we won't get above zero degrees F (that's a high of -17.7C for my overseas friends). In anyone's book, that's cold. the computer room, where I'm currently at, is a "cozy" 68 F (20 C), and the rest of the house is perched at around 62 F (16.67 C). It's -8 F (-22.22 C) outside right now, and it won't warm up more than a straight zero (-17.77 C) for the day. Winter has finally arrived in the Frozen Northlands, even though we aren't getting much snow so far. 

We ducked out of another storm over the
weekend. It hit south of us, but barely 
brushed the southern end of the Twin 
Cities. Oh happy me! So far DH hasn't had 
to drag snow off the roof at all, and my driveway 
shoveling has been minimal. It's been COLD - 
really cold, but I can handle that. I know how 
to bundle up and I have my "Canada hat". LOL

I'm actually just fine with the lack of snow. I realize we're still in a drought, and the snowpack and corresponding snow melt in Spring would help minimize the drought conditions. But I shoveled FAR too much snow in last year's record-setting winter. It's rather nice to have gone into the New Year without having to clear the snow off the roof, and having had to only shovel the driveway twice. I'm not a "weather wimp" (as my dear friend living in California terms herself), but I think we need a milder winter this year to make up for last year's icy hell. I can always bundle up tightly for the cold temps, but my back appreciates not having to shovel as much. 

Most of the people have the day off today to celebrate 
Martin Luther King day. He certainly deserves a holiday 
to think about his words. Those quoted in the picture 
aren't as well known, but it's a good tenet for life, isn't it? 

Football yesterday was FUN. I loved the fact that Green Bay beat Dallas. I'm not a fan of either team, but I'll root for almost any team over Dallas - LOL. The LA vs Detroit game was really fun, but I had to go to sleep before the end. It turned out to be a one-point difference, with Detroit pulling out the win. So WTG for our Northern teams! On Saturday, Kansas City blow the Dolphins out of the water, and Cleveland was run over by the Texans. This afternoon we get Pittsburgh vs Buffalo for the early game, and Philadelphia vs Tampa Bay for the night game. It's a holiday for most people (not for me, though), so having an afternoon game on a Monday worked out well. 

I didn't watch the Kansas City Chief's playoff game. It 
wasn't broadcast on network TV, only on Peacock. We 
have Peacock, but it's more hassle, and it just wasn't 
important enough to go to the trouble. 

We're winding down the football season and of course Minnesota never made it this far. Although the Vikings have actually been in the Super Bowl at least twice, we've never actually won it. Denver, on the other hand, has won the Super Bowl three times, even though they weren't anywhere in the mix this year. In football, I'll always be a Denver Broncos fan first, and in ice hockey, I'm totally a Minnesota Wild fan (although they're not playing well this year). 

We don't close for Martin Luther King Day, we stay 
open, and usually have good sales. We'll see. LOL

So, if you have today off work, enjoy your holiday. I'm going to the shop and I'll spend most of the day with my heater on, trying to stay warm, while listening to the afternoon football game. I hope you have a great Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

Happy Juneteenth - Thinking About Holidays

Happy Juneteenth to all. Juneteenth is a fairly new holiday nationwide, it has actually been celebrated since 1866. Amazing, isn't it? I'm fairly certain that most, if not all, of my readers had never heard of the holiday before it was officially recognized a few years ago. It is a solid and welcome reminder that we built this land on the blood and bodies of those who were considered "inferior". All people of color were considered lower than the "lily" white people who had originally settled in various areas along the East Coast of the nation. Today is a day of acknowledgement of history and a celebration of progress. There's still a lot of progress to come, but we've made some giant strides. We're still open at the store, however, so it's a regular Monday workday for me. 

Happy Juneteenth - Freedom Day - to all of my readers. 
Take some time to reflect on the past and acknowledge 
that we still have a ways to go in actual equality, but 
try - try hard and try often. We have an amazing nation, 
but it was built upon the blood of those who were 
considered "inferior". Don't fall into the traps of the past. 

Yesterday's giant pork shoulder turned out AMAZING. It cooked beautifully, and once again, thank goodness for my digital meat thermometer because it was done more than an hour earlier than I had calculated. The marinade paste was fabulous - DH even said that it smelled really good when he was in the kitchen on Saturday night after I finished making the paste in my new mini food processor. If you are interested in the recipe at all, it's called "Fall-Apart Roasted Pork Shoulder with Rosemary, Mustard and Garlic" and I highly recommend it. 

I purchased one of these from my co-op when I was 
there on Friday. It's an "herb stripper". It's made 
to strip the leaves from fresh herbs. There are a lot 
of times I just have the whole herb in a baked 
dish, but taking the thyme off or the rosemary 
off the stems is a bit of a PITA. This is wonderful, 
and very fast. It's sturdy stainless steel, and washes 
up beautifully. I love it. 

I used two new tools while making this. I had dropped by my health food co-op on Friday, just to see if there was anything I desperately needed. I ended up with a new tool for my kitchen, an "herb stripper" made by RSVP Endurance. It's attractive, and I used it on the fresh rosemary for the pork shoulder just 24 hours later and it worked really well. I'm sure there are many such items, but this was one that caught my eye and that I'm quite pleased with. 

The mini Hamilton Beach food processor has 
an amazing amount of power for such a small 
item. I think it's a three-cup maximum holder, 
so not a lot. It only has the single chopping 
blade, but that's the blade most frequently 
used on any food processor anyway. I have 
Mom's old one if I need to use any of the 
fancy things. This worked really well, and 
was hard to beat for the price. 

The other item that made my life easier was the mini food processor that I purchased from Amazon. I have a food processor - my mother's old one that is probably 40 years old - maybe even older. Although it works pretty well, it always seems like a lot of trouble when all I need are some chopped veggies. But this recipe called for using a food processor to whip the marinade ingredients together into a paste, and I really didn't want to be bothered with that huge tool. So, Amazon had one I thought would work quite well for less than $20, and I could get "same day delivery" at the shop for another $10. Well worth it in my eyes, and it worked a charm! It fits into my tool cabinet in the kitchen, and I have a feeling I'll be using it quite often. 

I own at least 10 different bead looms, some 
very simple, others quite complex. Many of 
them I've built myself over the years. I'm going 
to warp up a small one and try out some 
samples. I learned a long time ago - samples 
are everything when it comes to a successful 
end project. 

Today I'm taking a bit of time in my day and doing some sample beadwork items. I know what I'd like to do, I just need to see if my idea will work. If it does, you may be getting some beading in this year's holiday card. At least, that's the plan. I'll know more after I experiment. After all, it's almost time for Le Tour de France, and so many of my holiday card ideas are tested while watching Le Tour. 

Le Tour de France starts on July 1st, so 
it's coming up fast. As usual, I'll be giving 
you stage-by-stage posts, at least that's the 
plan at this point if all goes smoothly. It's 
also when I usually finalize my plans for 
my Holiday Cards, thus, my beading samples 
mentioned above. LOL

On that note, have a truly fabulous day. Be kind, be generous with your smiles and your compliments, and spread joy. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

It Was a Lovely, Long Two Days Off - I Have a LARGE Family

We had a lovely extended weekend. We spent Sunday in the garden and relaxing, and on Monday we joined the family at my oldest niece's home for a family get-together. We don't have those often because of the sheer numbers when everyone actually comes along. Let's count, shall we? 

My sister-in-law is the nominal head of the family, with DH and I in the second tier. After that come my sister-in-law's kids - Michael, Catie, David, Mark (who rarely appears at these and didn't this time either), Mary, Anne, Joe and John. 

Michael and his wife Mary have three kids - but two were from her first husband and they never do the "family" thing. Their daughter, Emma, will often show up, though. Apparently this time, however, she was working as a barrista at a local coffee shop, and Michael's wife was dealing with some stuff with her parents, so he was solo.  

Catie and Jet, at whose house we were, have two kids - Lexi and Flynn. They're both older, Flynn is in 9th grade now, Lexi will graduate either this year or next (not quite sure about that one). 

David is a firm bachelor, so he came solo. He's one of my favorite nephews, though. Quick with a smile and a helping hand. 

Then we have the girls - Mary and Anne. Both of them have three kids each, and they are at the same ages - when one was pregnant, the other also was, and their kids are within a month or so in ages down the line. So that's ten people right there. The kids kept busy driving the small tractor around the large yard, and jumping on the trampoline. Normally they would also have been in the above-ground pool, but Catie hadn't filled it until a few days ago and the chemicals still need to settle, so no swimming was allowed. 

Joseph and his second wife Colleen were there. She's a delightful young woman, and he's also a lot of fun. Her daughter Anna was also with them. John and his wife Nicky (I'm not 100% sure I'm remembering her name properly this morning, but I think I'm right) were there, along with another young woman whom I don't think I've met before. 

Add in DH and myself, and you've got a serious CROWD. This is my family - LOL. Now, I came from a family where I was the only child, and my Godmother (Mom's best friend) had two kids, my "Aunt" (actually a cousin) had one child, and my other aunt was childless. Family gatherings like what we have with DH's side of the family always leave me a little shell-shocked. In a good way, but dang ... its a LOT of people. But the best things is that I really like these people. I enjoy spending time with them, and the kids are great at self-entertaining, so that's good too. I'm not so god at kid-speak. 

So that was my Memorial Day holiday weekend. We came home from the get-together, sat in the garden for a bit to decompress, and finally watched a couple of episodes of "Inspector Lewis" before switching over to the hockey game for a bit and calling it a night. I hope all of you had a lovely long weekend. No photos today because my youngest niece hasn't posted any yet and I was going to "steal" photos from her - LOL. Have an excellent Tuesday and Slava Ukraini. 

Happy Christmas Eve Eve - We're Going to Have a Blizzard Today

Happy Christmas Eve Eve. Today is the last day that the shop will be open until next week Tuesday, and I'll be taking a few days off from my daily posting as well, to return on Tuesday. It's VERY cold outside, currently -11 F (-23.8 C) and we're under a blizzard warning for the day. I'm off work today (although I'll drive over there in the late afternoon for our gift exchange) and I still have some errands to do and a few gifts to buy. I'll be in the middle of whatever Mother Nature wants to throw at us today, and I'm none to happy about it. 

We broke a lot of snowfall records on Wednesday to Thursday 
here in the Twin Cities. Average in the Cities was at 
least 7 inches, the airport saw slightly over 8 inches. I'm 
grateful the snow blower started properly. Today we're 
not getting a snowfall, we're getting a blizzard because 
of high winds. Ick! 

To add to my problems, the laser printer that is hooked up to my main computer at work isn't feeding paper properly. The only way I was able to get last night's report printed out was to feed the paper in one sheet at a time. That's OK (if inconvenient) for the nightly reports, but we're coming up on year-end, and we print a LOT of reports out at that time. I'd just get a new printer ... except ... 

We've had this HP Laser Jet printer since I opened 
my store in Mall of America in 1992. It's been a 
workhorse, but suddenly isn't feeding paper properly. 
That's a problem. The work-around exists, but it's very 
clunky and slow and means we have to hand-feed 
each blank page into it. The printer is no longer 
supported by HP, so we're really on our own for 
this one. I might have another laser printer that's even 
older in my back room, but I'm not 100% sure it's 
functional. One step at a time. 

This is an OLD computer system. It was new when I opened my shop in Mall of America in 1992, so you can tell from that it's ancient. It runs Win 98 - very well, actually - and even though the program has some glitches that have crept in over time, we've found work-arounds for almost all of them. This one, however, might be more difficult. 

The cable connections between the printer and the 
computer are this style. I have more cables, but I 
doubt it's a cable thing. I think it's a problem with the 
paper feeding mechanism and that's not an easy fix. 
I took it apart and cleaned it last night, but it was 
still messing up, so I hand-fed the paper into it. 
That's going to be a mess for our year-end reports. 

First of all, it needs a multi-pin connector - no USB connectors for a few more decades. I'll have to take a careful look at exactly what the printer cable looks like, and then see if I can find a printer that is compatible. I also have to see what printers Win98 was set up to accept easily in the operating system. Another computer nightmare, and I'm none to happy about it. The printer will limp along, but DH is going to have to exercise patience and carefully monitor the printer, which he's not very good at. 

So, that's my extended holiday weekend - LOL. I hope yours is a bit easier and less fraught with cold, snow and broken computers. Have a wonderful and safe Holiday - no matter what spiritual pathway you follow, and I'll be back on Tuesday the 27th. Slava Ukraini. 

We're Progressing Towards Thanksgiving - Then Christmas Officially Begins In My Life

I sent out my Black Friday and Small Business Saturday e-mailers yesterday. I know a lot of the email addresses I have on file are no longer valid, and that there are some people who have their work emails on the list and are out of the office until Monday, but I tried my best. I would have preferred to send it out last week, but got voted down by DH and Chickie. We work in a small democracy at the shop, so I was simply outvoted. At least it's one thing off my agenda now. It will automatically resend one more time on Wednesday. Then I can enjoy my Turkey Day and dive into my 2-Day Sale. 

I'm a big believer in "one holiday at a time". I think stores 
these days dive into Christmas far too early, ignoring 
Thanksgiving entirely in the pursuit of holiday dollars. 
Yes, of course we need the money. We're not foolish. But 
I also enjoy each holiday for the uniqueness that is that 
particular celebration. After Thursday I'll decorate for 
Christmas and I'll be all "Bring it on!" for the Yuletide 
holiday. 

I managed to get the 3mm Swarovski rounds photographed on Sunday, along with a re-do of the 8mm rounds. I'm MUCH happier with the quality of those photos. I'm swamped with work now, though, and won't have time to massage the photos until tomorrow. My Wednesday is already looking like a totally insane day of pushing everything possible into a single day! I really wanted these up by the 1st of December, and if I had accepted the quality of my first batch of photos, I might (maybe) have made that deadline. But ... I think a Christmas deadline will be more realistic, so that's what I'm aiming for now. I still have a lot of resizing and small tweaks to do in Photoshop before I can upload them to Etsy. 

It's actually not difficult to take the photos (now that 
I've got the ring light all figured out). The time really 
comes in setting up and tearing down each individual 
page. The actual photo time is minimal. It's all opening 
individual packets of beads, arranging them on the 
grid, then "click" and putting the beads back into 
the individual baggies to move on to the next page. 

I'm getting exhausted just thinking about everything I need to accomplish between now and the end of the year. But I'm determined. It might not be much of a holiday for me and DH, but I don't want/need anything for Christmas, and DH would rather just have his white cake/white frosting for his birthday and ignore Christmas as well. We won't actually ignore it, but after our Thanksgiving sale, we concentrate on our big one - the 4-Day End of the Year Blowout Sale when pretty much everything in the store is at least 20% off. That Christmas money might as well be coming our way, right? LOL

DH's favorite cake is white cake with white frosting - just 
a sheet cake. From Target. The difficulty in getting him 
that cake isn't the availability, it's the fact that I need it 
for the day after Christmas, when the bakeries have been 
closed for the Christmas holiday. Still, I try to get it for 
him every year, and it's always a bit of a challenge. 

So, I'm heading off to the pool. I only get two days of swimming this week, Thanksgiving Day is a holiday and the YMCA is closed. I'll be busy with a bird that day anyway, and wrapping up my holiday cards so that I can get them into the mail ASAP. That would be one more thing off my mental "to-do" list, and would make me very happy. Have an excellent Tuesday and Slava Ukraini. I'll be back tomorrow. 

The Good, The Bad, and The Schedule - Holidays and Plans

We were slow at the shop yesterday, which was bad. We were slow at the shop yesterday, which was good. We actually managed a respectable sales total by the end of the day, just not with a lot of customers. I was able to spend most of the day working on Etsy, finishing and uploading the 4mm cubes and getting almost ready for the 6mm cubes to go live. I still need one thing done before I can call the 4mm size complete, and I'll try to get that accomplished today. One step at a time. This isn't fast - this is opening a completely new store from ground-up, and that's never something that can happen overnight (unless you're starting a pop-up, which only exists for a weekend or a few days at a festival). 

This was one of 12 pages of 4mm Crystal Cubes that 
I uploaded yesterday onto Etsy and allowed to go 
live. The first photo of each page is the aggregate, 
the following nine pictures are detail shots of each 
individual color. I'm hoping this will help my 
customers see what they might want to purchase 
with greater ease. 

I want to try to get to my tailor's today. I have several lovely tops that I wear for Renaissance Festival that are HUGE on me now. I want them taken in dramatically, and also want the bat-wing sleeves slightly altered to allow for my sun sensitivity. I also have a couple of skirts that are too large in the waist and end up being very uncomfortable after wearing them for a full day at Fest. I might as well have those taken in and the waistbands altered at the same time. 

This photo from 2018 was when I was hunting for a new 
corset. My old one just was too large. I've lost a LOT more 
weight since 2018, and if I had purchased this one, it wouldn't 
fit any more (although alterations of this brand are covered 
for life). It's the shirt that I want altered, though. I have 
the one in black and two in white. They are WAY too 
large and I also need the sleeves altered so that they aren't 
slashed open to the shoulders any more. The wine skirt 
needs to be taken in too. 

My tailor consists of a husband and wife from Vietnam - delightful people who do excellent work at a reasonable cost. They are a bit peculiar - they don't accept credit/debit cards at all. All transactions have to be either via cash or physical check. I haven't written a check (except to the Department of Motor Vehicles) in years, so it's different. But, I don't mind - the money all comes out of the same place, whether by my check-card or a physical paper check. 

It's not that DH can't use credit cards, he uses his 
Target card and his Home Depot card just fine. He 
just prefers to write a check for groceries and other 
sundries. He's such an old geezer sometimes - *sigh*. LOL

My husband is one of those people who still writes checks regularly. He writes checks at the grocery store! He knows how to use a credit card and uses them when needed, but he prefers cash or a check when possible. He leaves the electronic payments up to me, and writes me a household check every month so that I can deposit it and pay the upcoming monthly bills. It's a bit old fashioned, but it works fine for us. 

I suppose we should probably have planned on being 
closed for Juneteenth, but it's such a new holiday, I 
completely forgot. It's not even listed on my calendars. 
Maybe next year it will at least be on the calendars 
as an official holiday. 

Sunday is Juneteenth - our newest Federal holiday. A lot of places will be closed on Monday to celebrate the day, so keep that in mind if you need to do any Federal business. Those offices will be closed, as will a lot of banks and other businesses. Juneteenth commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. I think it's a wonderful holiday to celebrate and to remember. I'll toast the day with tequila and orange juice. But I won't be closed on Monday - I just didn't know about the holiday in time to get it scheduled. So ... have a wonderful Friday and I'll be back tomorrow to wrap up the week. Slava Ukraini. 

It Was A Wonderful Three Days Off - Now It's Back to Reality Again

I hope all of you had a lovely Christmas holiday, if that's your celebration of choice, and at least were able to enjoy some time off and festive foods. I'm doing a short and sweet post today because, after three days of lovely weather, we got pounded with 3-6 inches of snow overnight, which will continue falling until nine a.m. I've got to get my car shoveled out (the driveway behind my car, to be more precise) before heading to the gym for my Monday swim. 

It's impossible to tell how much snow has truly fallen by 
looking out my windows. I have to actually open the 
garage door to see it properly. I don't know how to turn 
on the snow blower, so it's shoveling for me. If necessary, 
I'll awaken DH to help me, but I'm hoping I can clear my 
side of the driveway and maybe the front and back 
walkway before I leave for the shop - the driveway 
before I leave for the gym. 

The turkey turned out perfect, I roasted in on Saturday, opting to relax a bit more on Friday. I was extremely happy with the turkey, and the oven, but I really hate the oven racks, so I'm looking into buying some chrome racks which should be able to slide in and out with greater ease. The racks it was shipped with are porcelain, and they don't like to move at all. Great for stability, crap for action. I also want to buy a broiler pan for the oven. I haven't had a working broiler since I moved into the house in 1984, so it will be delightful to have one available again. 

I haven't had a functional broiler in an oven since before 
1984. That's a long time. I'm looking forward to using 
a broiler again, but need a broiler pan for it before 
I begin using it. 

DH was in a good mood throughout Christmas, but in a crappy mood yesterday. I assume that's because it was his birthday and he hates to be reminded about how old he is. (Also, his team lost in football, which is never a good thing for his mood.) Still, it was an OK day. It turned out the gift I bought him was a duplicate, so I'll be returning it to Amazon next week. I don't get a day off until Friday this week, it's time for our Four-Day End of the Year Sale at the shop, and I'm hoping we'll be busy. The snow will impact that, but if the snow is only for today, we should still have good numbers to wrap up the year. 

DH is often grumpy, he rather embraces it. 
He's quite similar to "Grumpy" from "Snow 
White and the Seven Dwarves". He's a 
grump, but he has a good heart. You just 
have to really dig to find it sometimes. 

So, I'm out of here. I have a driveway to shovel and a swimming pool calling to me. I hope all of you had a lovely Christmas and that you have a great day leading up to the New Year celebration and switchover. I'll be back tomorrow.