Pages

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Bracing for Busy


 I used to love October. It doesn't really get cold hear yet, but it starts to get breezy and for me that's the signal that fall is coming. Leaves don't change here, and if they do it's just to brown. No pretty colors in between in West Central Florida. I still love the weather, but October is the busiest month of the year for us at work. Everyone is having festivals and Octoberfests, and I mean EVERYONE. I work for a tent rental company, as in festivals, weddings, car sales, back yard party tents. Summer time is so hot here, that it is too hot for anyone to be doing much outside, even under a tent, so it's famine. Then WHAM! October and it's feast, to the point of sinful gluttony and then some. We are literally booked to the point where we may have to start turning people down, if they plan on having tents on a weekend.  It's not that we don't have the inventory. Oh no, we have the tents. It's time and people. We only have so many people (and you can't just hire a bunch of newbies for this type of work) and time. So, I'll be working some crazy hours, with little time unspoken for. Which means not much time for sewing and fun.  Actually I've already started being busy, since I am the one who answers the phone, types up the contracts, fills out the permit applications for the different municipalities, and makes sure the schedule board is updated for the crew to know when all the jobs are. I have to have as much done before the jobs all really start, because once they do, I'm out on the road setting up the tents too. Ok, I didn't mean to whine. Just meant to tell you that I'll be pretty busy and may not get to do much fun sewing stuff in October.

I do have one bright spot in the month. That is Dal O Ween. This year is Dalmatian Rescue of Tampa Bay's 10th anniversary picnic. We have one every year, but 10 years for a small rescue is a big deal. I'm proud to say that I've been a volunteer from the very beginning and watching the group grow and seeing so many dogs saved, has been very rewarding. 

I did get to start on a few things to post over at Cat Patches for the 
  


 I assembled and stitched down four of the Hello Moon BOM blocks. I still have to stitch the faces on them.


  
 

I also started to cut and assemble the Scotty for the Quillow I am making for Bruce's cousin, Kenny. Kenny is into vintage campers (actually everything vintage) and has a Scotty camper. He belongs to a group who all have vintage campers and they set their camps up just like the good old days. Isn't it cute?



The interior, is also done in teal and white, so I decided that the Quillow should match. 


I am going to be using a satin stitch to applique the pieces and I hadn't tried it before, so I took a class at Happy Apple Quilts. I know I could've just watched a video online, but I enjoy the personal interaction and having a human being to ask questions and learn from their experience, right at my fingertips.  Karen, the owner taught our trio and we had a lovely evening. The new shop is beautiful and bright and I just wish it were a little closer to me!  Here are a couple of pictures of the shop. I should have taken a better one, but these were quick, phone shots I posted on my Facebook page. 


 
The owner and her employees are all quite nice and it's a very inviting environment. Lots of trouble to be had here.

And speaking of trouble...  
Oliver decided our boating tote looked like a comfy place for a nap.

Apparently, it looked inviting to Riley too.



Bruce and I enjoyed a yummy Sushi dinner at Fuji Yama. Tuesday nights they offer a Sushi happy hour with half off!  Yummy. 

Which reminded me of the awesome fortune I got last week at the Oriental Super Buffett. How appropriate for the keeper of a kendle of cats.


For my fellow feline fanciers, here's a little FYI that I found interesting:

According to Ask.com: 

A group of cats is referred to as a clowder, kendle or kindle. A male cat is called a tom (or gib if neutered), while a female is called a molly or queen. The cat family is quite vast and includes tigers, leopards and jaguars.




Thanks for stopping in! ~Amy

4 comments:

  1. Your Hello Moon blocks are so cute and I love the Scotty.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great blog post! You are so busy at work that you deserve some sewing time! The Scotty is perfect for the camper and your quilt shop looks awesome. (And thanks for making me hungry for sushi! LOL)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love that camper! It's adorable.

    I also wonder if the Kindle reader is named for the cat grouping because people often curl up with a good book, which is quite cat-like. That might be a stretch.

    Hope October runs smoothly for you!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for that lesson on cats. I didn't know about the collective noun, but I did know about their gender names. The vintage camper is very cute, and you've done a great job on your Hello Moon blocks. The Scotty dog is adorable.

    ReplyDelete