Barb's Weblog

Our next show is on now! At Jewelers Bench in Freeland, Carrie Saunders' beautiful warm trade shop. Please stop in and see our specials and pick up a few gifts! Besides Carries gorgeous clean and modern designs and my usual floral fantasies, Jimi O'Neill's Navajo style silversmithing will amaze you! Concho belts by this designer are owned by the likes of Rita Coolidge, and the late Jim Morrison also wore Jimi's belt, it is shown in many famous photos of Jim. Now you can have a piece of his, belts, bracelets, traditional bleeding heart pendants and the like are now available by this once-famous smith, now in semi retirement here on Whidbey. The walls are hung with Navajo rugs and carved stone wall pieces by Mike Sedivy of Boise Idaho, depicting rustic scenes, horses, birds and the like. Very beautiful and the perfect gift for your country home or earthy guy.

Its been ages since I blogged! After the last show we had visitors for Thanksgiving, then got that awful flu bug. Mom and Haole and I all had it, all a bit different, but nearly 2 weeks later we all are fighting the lingering bronchitis. It was really the most horrible bug I ever had, such intense body pain! The coughing is getting very old but today at last the mail ordered Osha-Wild cherry cough syrup arrived, so that should help a lot. Haole got a codeine syrup from his doctor and that makes it possible to sleep laying down, but it also makes us loggy, so its been hard to get the days going. Mom has had a few medical problems, and has to go to the hospital for tests tomorrow, so Haole will loose a few more hours work. I am still phobic about doctors, so he is very kind to take her for me. His door project has progressed very slowly as he was too sick to work, and the layers of tiny sheets of hand cut wood are enormously time consuming. Its shaping up well, the frame is done and the door construction progresses slowly. Its a delicate job of curved construction, and is an interesting project for him.

I have almost finished all the holiday orders and eagerly wait for each online order and last minute call. It is shaping up to be a very easy Christmas season, and I have already begun making the jewelry for the Flower and Garden Show in February. I have yet to come up with a totally new style for that show, but I will, every year I test market new designs there. Perhaps a new pin will reveal itself, or a new earring style! We'll have to wait and see what emerges.

Heres a cute little dog we got to spent the last show with. This is Jamison, a great little long haired chihuahua, a little dog with a big heart and a sweet disposition! I had this special little coat custom embroidered for him, after all, Jamison is the STAFF dog at the NWCA Best of the Northwest shows. He was so fun to spend the days with!


And, yes...a little wine was consumed at that show, the annual Children's Hospital benefit served wine and dinner to crafters, and we'd brought one of my favorites along in case we ran out. All in all we polished off 3 bottles of wine and one of champagne that weekend, shared a cup at a time with many crafters and staff persons all in search of some holiday cheer in the face of an unusually cold weather show, where the heaters took days to get the room up to a liveable temperature! Generally the new system works great, but it was in the 20's that weekend, and there were snow showers and lighteneing and thunder and hail, a little bit of everything

Jamison spent the days on our tall chairs with a heating pad on it and happily ate carrots and Senjor Frogg chicken pretty much constantly. His owner Jeff said he had very little appetite at home, but considering all Lauren and I stuffed him with its no wonder! Yo Queiro Senjor Frogg? Jami does! Our favorite show food booth reigns again! Someone had Krispy Kremes, and he had his share of each one devored...what a totally neat little dog! At the end of saturday evening Jeff came to the booth and pleaded "Can I have my dog back now?" We'd have loved to steal him away! What a love dog! And brave as a big hearted dog could be, he fiercely barked at all the other dogs wandering the show, proclaiming his sovereignty in the room that is his castle all the rest of the time, as the NWCA offices are in the same big airplane hangar, and Jamison works there daily with Jeff.

Well, thats about all my news. Just the show at Carrie's store, the recovery from the horrible bug and dodging storms and winds. Pretty much like usual out here!
Happy holidays!
B

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