Notes from the Patch

Hanging on

Today was, well...a bit overwhelming.

After the umpteenth phone conversation with claim adjusters, disaster recovery experts and property managers I hung up the phone, put my head in my hands and cried.

I don't know if it was the overwhelming realization of the situation that suddenly hit me or the overwhelming smell in my office that reminded me of cat pee, but whatever it was I bawled.

Then I pulled myself together, went into our water stained bathroom, wiped the mascara from my cheeks and went back to removing wet ceiling tiles from our dark dank storage closet. 

My good vacuum is ruined from sucking up wet crud. The phone lines work about half the time, I can't find anything that used to live in my office and  my hair is frizzy from the humidity.

Pity Party of one. Your table is ready.

The bright side of all this is that blog readers come in and tell us they can't tell that anything has ever happened and everyone has just been so wonderful:

Amanda and Kara  worked so hard on Friday to get things under control.

Jane risked the health of her washer and drier with the laundering of quilts and chair pads. 

Chris offered to wash and dry all our soaked bolts of fabric.

 

Driving to work this morning this song from Annie came to mind:

 

Corny. I know. But that's just how I get through these things - look for the good and trust that tomorrow will be better.

Yeah, the sun will come out tomorrow. I just hope it is really hot and helps dry up some of this water!

Encourage one another,

 

 

 

Fluffing, puffing and pat-a-caking

I spent Sunday fluffing and puffing the store and if you don't look at the water stained carpet it looks pretty darned cute (if I do say so myself).

I just found this YouTube video on another blog and had to share. Be sure to turn on your sound. It's a crack up.

 

I hope you all have a magnificent Monday.

Encourage one another,

Black Friday - not exactly as planned

Painters tape at eye level with the words Moisture Point is never good.

Collapsed ceiling tiles soaked with water and covering wet carpet isn't especially good either.

A pipe burst sometime Wednesday night and water ran into the store for nearing twenty four hours before anyone noticed. Eventually a neighbor noticed water shooting from the roof of the store and called the owner of the adjoining store to tell her there might be a problem.

It was an unbelievable mess but by closing on Friday the water had been sucked up, ceiling tiles were replaced and the store was put back together. Driers and humidifiers are running all night and Saturday it's business as usual.

The case coordinator for the cleaning service wanted us to move everything into a storage container and close the store for six to eight weeks while they repaired walls and replaced carpet. Can you imagine? All I can say is it's obvious she's never owned her own business.

We did have some water damage to some of the fabric so watch for our Prewashed Fabric Sale coming soon.

In the mean time the show must go on.

Encourage one another,

 

 

A bedtime horror story*

*(Michael, this story is especially for you).

Be afraid.

Be very afraid.

All I can say is there must have been something in the water that night

or perhaps it was the full moon, but

something caused this sweet girls eyes to glaze over

and the fangs to come out.

Just say'n. Something made a nearly grown brother to be reduced to tears.

and cousins to

cry out in fear.

Thanks kids for a fun Thanksgiving! You guys rock the improv!

Encourage one another,

 

 

 

To Grandmother's house we go

We are spending Thanksgiving in Palm Springs this year. Bill's mother lives there with his brother and we'll be having dinner with them.

Cherene, Jake and Nathan are flying down from Northern California and our youngest son and his family are coming from Kansas.

We'll all be together; the first time since Jeff's funeral.

It's good to switch it up a bit when circumstances change.

What do you think the chances are of the grands singing the Zingg family camp song?

A pretty good bet, I'd say.

                      **************************************************

Tonight when Bill got home from work he said Bolles Nursery was planting flowers in our front yard.

I told him I didn't order flowers.

Bill said Steve Bolles ordered them. He just thought it might cheer us up a bit.

Oh my.  The thought of that big burly man having flowers planted along our front walkway makes my computer screen  blur and my keyboard wet with tears. Such an incredibly  thoughtful thing to do. He must have realized how hard this holiday would be without Jeff sitting at our table and wanted to comfort us with a splash of color and a display of friendship. I can hardly stand it.

I pray that I have a chance to pay that one forward someday.

                      **************************************************

Here's wishing that your turkey is moist, your pie crust flaky and your dinner table is surrounded by friends and family, love and laughter.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

PS I made a huge dish of Pioneer Woman's mashed potatoes to take for our dinner. I figured we all could use a heaping helping of comfort food this year.

 

 

 

 

Feeling thankful

Sunday evening we gathered with friends to share photos of our recent trip to France.

We toasted another successful trip and friendships rekindled.

It was a delicious evening as we savored the memories and were warmed by friendship, a roaring fire and good wine.

The occasional aggravations and inconveniences of travel have blurred with time. What we fondly remembered were the good times with special people.

Today I was blessed with a phone call from a blog reader who thanked me for my daily musings. She is kept close to home these days with day care for six babies and the care of ailing elderly parents. She said my blog was her  brief respite from her daily grind.

I was so humbled. I don't take my blog duties lightly and phone calls like these fan my sometimes dying writing embers.

Then in the afternoon mail I received this.

 

 

A thank you note for sharing a quilt pattern that I had designed thirteen years ago, finally finished and sporting a Judges Choice ribbon from her local quilt show. Photos spilled out of her note and gathered on my desk along with my tears of pride and joy for her fabulous accomplishment.

 

 

All simple reminders of how blessed and thankful I am for the opportunity to share my life with those I care about. Some close and some whom I have never met.

It's Thanksgiving, baby and life is sweet. Savor every last bite!



Encourage one another,

Ho ho ho?

Okay. Now they have just gone too far.

Today while driving in LA I was surfing radio stations.

I love 103.5, The Coast for adult contemporary music.

Until today, when on November 20th they are playing Christmas music.

24/7.

In November.

I love Christmas music as much as the next guy, but seriously. Six days before Thanksgiving?

There should be a law. No Christmas music before December 1st!

I feel better now.

Carry on.

 

 

Minnow

We have the cutest little Smart Car in Ventura that we have affectionately named Minnow.

She's a cute little guppy. Economical and fun to drive.

But lately I've been thinking Minnow might need a little makeover.

You see, Smart Cars can get an entirely new look by just switching out their side panels.

I haven't talked to Bill about it yet.

But, some how I'm think'n he's not going to go for it though.

Maybe I should just surprise him.

Ya, that's it. A Christmas present! How can he say no if it's a gift?

SURPRISE!!

Hello Kitty. Goodbye Minnow.

Encourage one another,

 

Twelve months of giving - you can Count on It!

I have an exciting new Block of the Month program I want to show you. But first just a little background.

About thirty days ago this brand new book arrived.

 We are all such huge fans of Nancy Halvorsen's books here at Strawberry Patches. Not only are her projects adorable, but her instructions are clear and concise.  It is just a pleasure to carry her books and kit her projects because we know that our customers will love doing them and when our customers are happy we are happy.

So. Anyway. That morning as we ripped open the box of books and thumbed through the pages Amanda and I started brainstorming. The more we talked the more excited we became.

1. We should do these as a block of the month.

2. Ladies could choose the wire stand they want - single stand or tri stand for those who want to include the numbers.

3. All they would have to buy is the book and the desired stand to get started.

4. We'd kit each months block complete with the button embellishments and have them ready one month early - the January block would be ready on the first of December, the February block would be ready the first of January etc. so there would be plenty of time to stitch the block and display the adorable blocks during the appropriate month.

5. We could have all twelve months kitted and ready for those who are overachievers and want to do them all way ahead or want to give them as gifts.

6. We could do a little gift certificate right here on my blog that our customers could print, fill out and present to announce to the recipient that she could look forward to receiving a block a month for a whole year - so much better than a Fruit-of-the-Month Club!

We were excited and evidently those that saw us cutting and packaging kits at the cutting table were too because we had over sixty people sign up before we ever advertised the program.

So if you would like to join the fun go here to sign up or come in to the store to see our samples in person. What a terrific family gift that is both decorative and educational. It teaches children the months of the year and the holidays associated with each month and allows them to count down to holidays and special occasions. (There are even bonus projects for birthdays available in the book). 

I guess you could say our Count on It Block of the Month is the gift that keeps on giving!

Encourage one another,

 

Random thoughts

You guys crack me up.

I spend three days working on and writing a Tutorial Tuesday post and it's the post about what's for lunch that garners all the comments.

Go figure.

Hey, I'll take your sweet comments anyway I can get them.

You made me realize how plain and simple my lunches are. Some of you really dine in style at lunch time. 

What I didn't tell you is that Bill packs my lunch everyday and if it weren't for him I'd probably starve. It's so fun to peak inside my brown paper bag each day. He reminds me of me when I'd pack the boys lunches when they were in school. I was always trying to come up with something new and different. Bill does the same thing adding carrot strips, nuts or fruit. (I haven't told him about the frosting sugar in the low fat peanut butter yet).

I am a lucky girl.

I have you and him.

And peanut butter on raisin bread.

Life is sweet!

Encourage one another,