I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! Scott and I worked hard that day as is usually the case in a resort town, and it was all good. Okay, mostly good. The Roseberry Arts and Crafts Fair in Roseberry, Idaho was Saturday and Sunday, July 3rd and 4th. Scott helped me set up the night before. My portable dome is supposed to be a one-person-is-all-that’s-needed to put up, but it would take someone with a lot more upper back and arm strength than I have! I don’t think I could do it. Or, if I tried, there would be a lot of crying and looking pathetic until someone helped me at least get the top canvas on. Thank goodness the weather was beautiful. Every now and then I would step outside my booth and just gaze at the mountains and towering white/blue/gray/lavender clouds. Amazing. Here’s what my booth looks like:
Thea inside her Booth
I have so much fun at these fairs. I meet lots of people and do LOTS of talking. Conversation is absolutely necessary to sell your product. Generally, if I miss an opportunity to talk to someone, I miss a sale. Out of all the hundreds of people I talked to over the weekend, I had only one woman respond to my products oddly – everything she sprayed or sampled, she would screw up her little face, stick out her tongue, and shudder! It was hard to keep from bursting out laughing and I gave in to that impulse as soon as she left! Goodness! All things considered (lower traffic numbers than last year, fewer vendors) my sales were pretty good and I made what I hope will be good contacts.
My word count is already high, but I must mention that I went elderflower harvesting today. Distilled elderflower is what I use in my “Everday Hand and Body Cream” that I think everyone should use all over themselves everyday. It is so creamy, smooth, delicious and good for your skin! All organic beeswax, grapeseed oil, and a hint of sage make it yummy food for your skin and it smells good. In fact, I just finished smoothing some into my hands … and, I can smell it emanating from my distiller right now! Even though it’s fairly late to be starting up my distiller, I went ahead and started it up around 7:00 p.m. while hubby Scott finished the dinner dishes. I should be able to unplug it around 10:30 p.m. Scott took this picture of me loading up “the tin man” and I’m including a picture of what I harvested today, too. Two buckets of elderflower which is two loads in the distiller, and two shopping bags full of cleavers that will also be two loads. I hadn’t planned on harvesting cleavers today, but I felt the gentle yet persistent tug of them on my pants leg (hence the name) while I was busy reaching skyward for elderflower. I thought… oh, could it be my old buddy trying to catch my attention?! Yes! Cleaver! It was such a lovely, dense mat of the dear things that I could not resist.
Loading Elderflower
Capping the Tin Man
Green Cleavers, White Elderflower
Okay, one absolutely last thing… I am reading the most hilarious book. It’s called “Bitter is the New Black OR Never Carry a Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office” by Jen Lancaster. Jen, wherever you are tonight, you have been added to “my hero” list. If you have not read this book or heard of Jen Lancaster, please Google her right now! You will be glad you did. Written by a former dot-comm-er, she chronicles her soaring star, her meteoric fall back to earth, and processes her new self and new reality with a comic truthfulness that is irresistible. Thank you, Jen, for making me laugh and giving me hope!
