Wow--it has been 2 months into the year already. Time flies--when you are having fun??--nope, it flies no matter what you are doing.

So far the year has been different...I made another "Crown Royal" quilt for the Stikine Sportsmen Dinner. Which is being held tonight. My husband went to that with our son in law. It is an event for all the men that are invited to get together, eat strange things (alligater, whale blubber, seal stuff, that sort of thing), swap fishing and hunting "stories" ( lies???) and have a great evening. The local business people or the ones that just love to do things--donate items for auction. The money from that goes to scholorships for the kids in town. It is a very popular event for men not only from Alaska but down south also.

As of Mar 1st I will close my business here on the island. My health is not great, and it is time for me to put my efforts into taking care of me and my family. The doc has recommended this and that I apply for disability. To me that is scary, but I do understand the docs point. So here is my next phase of life.

The weather has been wierd...hardly any snow, lots of cold and now it is spring. The summer could be interesting. But the hard core old timers are thinking that the gardens should be the best ever. I do plan on having a garden, we were going to do one last year but it never happened.

Tomorrow my husband goes to Anchorage to train for his new job with the Census Bureau. He will be gone a week. While he is there, he will turn 40. I was going to go all out but he just wanted it to go away...so I will get him on his 50th. I have 10 years to plan,,,,this should be a good one. AAAHHHH!!!! We are not sure how long his job will last but at least for now he is working..

The two younger boys have had a blast wrestling this year. Last Sat we took jet boats to Petersburg and spent 5 hours there wrestling. Today, Petersburg came here, we wrestled with them. Tomorrow, we wrestle Ketchikan. Then in two weeks, we will go to Ketchikan and wrestle again.

While we are in Ketchikan, --we go to see the orthodontist, have a middle school music festival, and wrestling..I am not sure that I could put anything else in those days at all. Well, I need to finish cleaning off my scrap booking table. Have another book down, and now am doing another one. So far I have the oldest two kids albums done, and am almost done with the 3rd one. Only 7 1/2 kids left to do albums for...Ha Ha Ha H

A very different kind of week

Since I last wrote, things have been different for this household. The big thing was my husband being gone. Like I said last week, he left on Sunday for a two week commercial fishing trip. This is something that he has wanted to do because he loves to spend time with his Dad. So this was the year for it. We knew that it would be a trial but did not think it would be to bad.

Well, as weeks go, it wasn't to bad. The kids, so far, have missed the disease that is going around town. The younger 3 and I took a quick trip to Ketchikan on the ferry to see the orthodontist, and get some school stuff. Taking a ferry for six hours with a 5 yr old can always be an adventure. He had a blast talking to everyone that would listen. Plus McDonalds is always something to look forward too. I have been teaching my 12 year old daughter how to cook. Which I am very happy to say, she is doing a great job. My work has been going ok. I have been making things to put on my etsy. That is the picture of the knitted then felted purse. The dogs are fine, cat is just getting fat. Weather wise, it has been up and down, rain then sun. I have an actual tomato on my plants outside. The kids are all registered in school. As you can see things are pretty normal except for one thing--James is not here.

For years, the longest James and I have been apart is that week I talked about in my last post. Until now. Usually it would not be a big deal because of the telephone or internet, some kind of communication. From Sunday to Sunday, not a word from him. He is out in the ocean, cells do not work there. Finally last night he was in Port Protection and borrowed the phone at the resturant, as the public phone did not work, and he called. I almost did not answer it, because I was working, but after the second ring grabbed it and pushed that 1 very fast to accept a collect call.

It is funny, you live with a man for years, he is the father of your children, your best friend, he goes to work-comes home. You share everything with him, hopes, dreams, battle all sorts of lifes ups and downs. But how often in the middle of everything do you think what it would be like without him?? I mean you know you love him, you are grateful for him and what he does, but to not hear from him for a week--puts a whole new twist on how you feel. It is not that I am not capable of taking care of things, because I am. It is that feeling of something or someone in this case missing.

Today, he did not fish because of bad weather, so James went to the internet cafe so that we could talk on messanger. It was great to be able to talk to him. I was able to tell him again how much we love him and miss him. James was able to tell me that he missed me and that he loved me. The kids took turns "talking " to him. The older kids miss him, but the youngest is having the most problem. His fear was that Daddy would be eaten by a mud shark. Mud sharks are ugly but not to big. All in all it was a great day because we were able to communicate.

The communication has been the trial. If we were able to talk, yes, we would still miss each other, but not to the extent that we have discovered. Hopefully James will be home on Sat. Between now and then he probably will not be able to call. One week down and only 5 more days to go. We can do this.

Silent Time

Here is a picture of a doe standing on the lawn at the church. I was on my cell with the 20 year old, (making sure he had not forgotten his 15 yr old brother) drove in to the church parking lot to do geneology, and there she stood. Not afraid of anything which was a surprise as it is hunting season here. Well of course the boys had to come and see. We all got some good pictures.

Now after the whole thing with the Consumer Protection Agency, I am knitting up a storm. Made the decison to finish all the baby blankets put them in the attic and wait for more grandkids. I have made some pretty silver and black wraps. Very nice for formal wear. As soon as I can get one of my girls to stand still long enough I will take pics and add them on my etsy.

My brain storm for the week was to do a different kind of pincushion. As I was discussing it with one of my girls, they suggested dolls. So, I made 6 dolls and listed them on my site. They are a bit on the strange looking side, but for what they are--I am happy. Their name is SewPal Polly. Each one is different and just right for the seamstress that has everything.

I have never added pictures to a post before, and so they are not where I wanted. They were suppose to go with the paragraph, but no such luck. Oh well live and learn.

The weekend went by fast. I spent Sat cooking for my husband and father in law. They left yesterday to go commercial fishing for 2 weeks. Cooking is not my bag, but I guess from what everyone says I am good at it.

Sat night we took the kids to the new Harry Potter movie. It was good. And only had one scary part in it, so the 5 year old was happy. The funny was when the scary part came-everyone in the theater jumped. We knew that James Jr would be fine, as one of his older brothers had seen it, and is very good about telling us which younger kid can watch what.

Sunday, James left. It is strange as we have not been seperated longer than a week. That was when my sister lost her husband last year. The wind is bad today, so I hope that they are safe.

I am so happy I got my first person enrolled in Melaluca. It is my neice. I just love the products. They are so awesome. If a person has any allergys or skin issues, then these products are for them. There are alot of people on the island enrolling into Melaluca, especially the daycares. The products are very child safe and environmentally friendly. We have used the laundry soap to see if it would get out the horrible smell of the cannery on clothes, it did. Very impressive, as nothing else does that. Those clothes stink to the high heavens and the Melaluca soap got the smell to go away. My oldest daughter has bad excema on her feet. We have battled it since she was 2, she is now 30. Since she started using the lotion her feet have really cleared up. Plus getting commission on ordered is a great thing. Everyone can use extra money.

Well, I had better get my laundry finished. Hope everyone that sees this is having a great week.

Earning more income

With this economy, who doesn't need more income in there life?

With the CPSC rules and regs, the slow economy, my business is way down. It was time to find a bit of help that didn't include getting a job away from home. That is why I am putting this on here. It is my way of sharing what I have found.

By simply switching stores we are able to rid my house of caustic chemicals, save money, and at the same time earn an income without making, selling, delivering or taking orders. One of my daughters had been a customer for over 6 years, my other daughter and I decided to join and we are getting results. THIS IS NOT A MLM COMPANY OR A SCAM! Let me show you how to improve your life with out spending a lot of money to do it. I promise not to waste your time.

Got it covered....

I spent most of the weekend deciding what to do about my webstore, which way to go. After a great debate, I have figured it out. Now it is time to act on it. After I get done with this short blog, it will be time for me to add a few new items to my etsy.

Puzzles are a big deal in this house. It is something that everyone loves to work one. We decided that they were just to pretty to take apart, so I finished them into pictures. The one thing that I have done different is that for a frame instead of using wood, I have used material. It gives the pictures a different look for sure. Plus the frames are not overpowering the picture, the picture is the focus not the frame. Please feel free to check out the pictures on my etsy.

Very discouraged

After doing alot of research, I have decided that I am no longer going to make childrens(under age 12) things-clothes, dolls etc. It seems that the Consumer Protection Agency has made some new rules starting Aug 14th of this year. With these new rules brings alot of anxiety to a small business owner. I can not afford to do all the things that would put me in compliance. Nor can I afford to just ignore what the rules are and continue on like nothing has changed.

As a parent, I so understand why the new rules are in effect. With the import and export of goods, it is a good thing to have rules. But as a person that is losing income over this, it is a hard pill to swallow.

I have taken everything off of my etsy that is for children. This was the weekend that I was to take all the material out and start on a bunch of baby things for fall, instead, I took all the baby material out of the closet, and am working on blankets and things for only my grandkids and kids.

This whole thing is very disturbing. I have worked very hard to get where I am today. Marketing and learning how to use the internet to get customers, on top of daily things, plus working on products. Trying to be creative through it all. Now part of it is gone, and I have to rethink my business. My worry is about the alterations part of it. I can regroup and do something different with the website, but not for the alterations. There are alot of people that have me put zippers or new buttons on their kids clothes. That may not be an option any more.

I have written the agency and asked some questions about the alteration part of my business, plus about hold harmless clauses. It will be interesting to read what they have to say.

My heart goes out to so many people that are and have quit making baby things because of this. The income from doing this while it may not be a substantial part of their business for alot of us it is a part that we truly enjoy. We have to give up something that we love doing. It is to bad that things have progressed to the point that in such a depressed economy, that we lose yet another source of income.

Bearing (berrie) picking

My husband and I got the idea that tonight would be a good one to see if the thimble berries were ripe at the shooting range. This is where we go every year. Now normally we take a gun with us when we go out to pick berries. Note, we have never seen any bears while picking berries. Unfortunatly tonight, we forgot the gun. So, here we are picking berries,walking along, deciding that the berries are not that ripe and we need to wait another week. The older kids saw some berries, so we stopped. I heard some twigs and stuff getting broke to the side of me, thinking that the 14 yr old was doing it, I did not look. Then we heard the growl. This was not a "checking you out, and these are my berries" kind of growl, oh no, it was " you people need to leave now" growl. Turning to my husband, I was like "what was that??" As I am saying that the second growl came with a little more force. It was then, that we all started to run to the van. Of course, the van was up a hill and around a corner. The 14 yr old took the lead, and I told him to get to the van and open the doors. Our youngest girl -12-was right on his heels, then came my husband, 5 yr old, and myself. The 10 yr old is running but not very fast-- asking " why are we running??" At that point I am grabbing him. We made it to the van, the bear did not follow, figure that he was in the bushes having a fit of laughter watching the dumb humans run. Remember the commercial with the squirrels getting the car to wreck and then laughing??? After we catch our breath, we then drove out of the shooting range. We did not stop to see if we could see the bear on the side of the road. Bears are not noted for having a sense of humor, and can take out a car. Not an experiance we wanted. Ok now I have a confession--all the time I have been here, my husband has told me over and over to wear tennis shoes when we go out in the wilds. I like my flip flops and have ignored him. Not 5 minutes before the whole bear thing, he gives me the "shoe" talk again. While I am running, I am thinking--if I get eaten by a bear because I was running to slow in the flip flops, I am really going to be mad!! Of course, when we got to the van and drove off guess what my husband said??? Oh yeah you got it, the "shoe" talk again. Now I will wear my tennis shoes when we go out no matter how hot it is. Lesson learned.