Bits and Pieces

I know, I know.  I have been so delinquent in my blogging.  I am not going to apologize. I thought maybe you just needed a break from my rambling chatter.  I missed you, though, and all your kind comments.

John was gone for a week fishing in Mexico again.  I stayed up very late each night, slept late in the mornings and just drifted through the days doing whatever caught my attention.  I watched old movies, read books, went shopping, listened to a genealogy lecture and lunched with my friends.

Old friend and former employee, Kathy Herda, took me to lunch for my birthday.  I seem to be making a career of sitting and talking for long periods of time in restaurants with women friends.  Kathy surprised me with one of those gifts that only people who "get" you can give.

There were two old tins to cut up packaged in an old Creative Block black and kraft shopping bag!!

Thank you, Kathy, for a great afternoon and the cool stuff!

In my almost always empty Post Office Box, I recently received this hand carved  and stamped post card from Dot.

Didn't she carve a great stamp?  I haven't carved any stamps in years.  John used to carve, too.  I need to get us to try that again.  Thanks for reminding me, Dot, and good luck with your move.

Speaking of John, he accused me of selfishly taking pictures of only the things I find interesting (huh?). So, I asked what I should take a photo of to show you.  

This photo above is of John's special little corner of the kitchen.  He is addicted to coffee.  I do not drink coffee so John makes his own.  He grinds the beans daily and drinks about a pot a day.  

Okay, the following portion of this blog contains my frustrations with keeping Small Studio well stocked. I placed several large orders in early January (note that was 2 months ago) for mostly new product.  Not just new to me product, but newly released product.  The orders were as large as I would have ordered for my old store.  I have spent the past week on the phone with these companies.  One company who had sent me an order confirmation, has now lost my order and is currently out of stock on many of the items.  Two of the companies are not expecting to ship until May!  Another company will not ship until the end of this month.  My local distributor for many of the products I carry will no longer stock some product but is also out of stock on other items.  When I tried to order directly, the manufacturer is also out of stock.  If they don't make the sale to me, I cannot make the sale to you. This is how the economy does not recover.  I have no idea how this will all play out.  In the meantime I do have quite a bit of stock on most items and of course my tried and true suppliers like Coffee Break Design, are still giving me excellent service.  It is frustrating.

Comments

[TACE]

I love your tins! I don't think I've seen ones like that with so much detail going on. I am sure you will make something fabulous out of them and if not you have really unique looking tins to look at :)
John's coffee corner is AWESOME, like a mini cafe in your own home. ;)My husband and I are always bragging about the food and drink from the cafe chez moi, haha because we know just what we like and we always serve ourselves with smiles, which is funny because we never have left ourselves tips. That's what John needs now is a tip jar. Imagine the fortune he'd amass if he's visiting his coffee spot as often as you indicated. hahaa

[Chris]

Is it wrong that I like John's corner a LOT ?!

[Where I talk about art]

Dear John, I love your coffee corner and especially your RED mug :-)

Ginny, I think it is right you have a little holiday when your guy is away! I tend to stay up waaaaay too late when my husband is out of town.