My Serendipity moment

Our booth from last Saturday.  I felt we did pretty good.  Put a little money in my savings to pay for the new loom I am looking for.
Have to tell about a little serendipity that happened to me last week.  A weaver friend (Mike) sent me a link to a weaving sales thru Yahoo for someone who had a rigid heddle loom that was just perfect for what I was looking for.  So I copied the info then went on line for with the name of the manufacture.  It is a Kromski Harp 32" Rigid Heddle/
While checking out Kromski I found their prices less than the ad, but also I found someone local who carries this brand.  So I copied this info.  All this was on Friday last week.  On Sunday I had my Fiber Guild meeting and I took all my info with me to pick some brains and ask for a workshop on the rigid heddle weaving.  Well you won't believe it but a couple ladies in my group are the owners of the distributor that I had found on line!  Soooooooooo to make a long story a little shorter, they were able to give me a good price on a new one and they are working on dates to do an all day workshop and if that's not feasible they will just do some one on one with me if I want to buy it. 

So now with my sales from the show Saturday I have enough money set aside to buy the loom.  I am excited to try something new.  I forgot to mention I sold 7 rugs!  Plus some other stuff, but the rugs were the big ticket items.  3 of them were the wool selvage rugs, so I am out of them.

I have registered for one more craft show at a local elementary school that is reported to do really well, in the middle of Nov. Folks buying stuff for Christmas.
Will be off line for a week unless I go to the Library,  hubby having a second knee done next Tue and so I will have the store closed for over a week.  Will have lots of catching up to do. 

Weaving update

This is the table runner that I finished off about 3 weeks ago from my weaving class at the college.  It is cotton warp and weft, with a diamond pattern through out.  But the pattern shows up best in the gold.

I am warping the loom now for a scarf.  My goal to learn how to beat the weft SOFTLY.  Since I make rugs most of the time this will be a challenge.  Also am going to put a floating selvage in.  Never did that before.  I am using a fine warp in cream and tan, very shuttle for my pretty pink yarn.  Have forgotten the contents of it but a mixture.  I am doing a simple warping of 1,2,3,4-3,2,1  repeats.  Then the pattern is a simple twill.  So unless you are a weaver I am just using gibberish here.  LOL

Been having trouble getting in the mood to weave.  Hope when this craft show Saturday is over I can put all that stuff away.  I am hoping to make enough to buy a rigid heddle loom to use here at the store.  I think it would be fun to learn another way of weaving that is a sort of throw back to simple times.  Yet I understand that you can do many patterns and textures on it too.  So will see.  May put an ad on Craigs list that I am looking for one. 

Fall is definately here,  the air is crisp and the trees turning beautifully this year.  The 2 nites of frost a couple weeks ago must have triggered it.  Hummers are gone south to their winter homes.

Will post pictures of the craft fair next time.  Wish me luck!

BookSneeze: explained

Sometimes I have to review a book for this web site.  booksneeze.com.  So you can read them or ignore.  Often I incorporate them in my newspaper column that I do, so lucky you, it is on here twice!  
If you go to that site you can log in and get free books too.  They are mostly Christian/self help type books but I have found some that are just good fiction, too.  Lots are E-book, so I am more limited.  I pick a book and they ship it to me.  All free.  I just have to do a book review and post it on a site like Amazon, which is easy and on my blog site.  Then I link my reviews into BookSneeze and then I can order another book.  Easy as pie to get a free book and I am all about getting FREE!
So just for heck I will leave you with this crazy cat!

For Book Sneeze, review of The River

The River

by

Michael Neale

Why is Gabriel Clark so mysteriously drawn to The River? The book starts out with a chance meeting at an airport of the “author” and Gabriel. Gabriel is in the mood to tell his story about The River and so it unfolds into a wonderful story that the “author” claims changed his life. When he was 5 years old, Gabriel experienced something at the river that was so traumatic that he lived the next 15 years in fear and sadness and a lot of anger. He grows up in Kansas with his hard working mother and at age 20 a friend coaxed him into a trip back to Colorado where he was born and lived till age 5. He encounters the river and is changed forever. You could feel what he felt as he is challenged to find his inner peace, to give forgiveness, and to find love. This is so well written you forget that it is fiction. You must read the paperback copy as it has the look of a worn journal and that is a key part of the book as he finds his fathers old journal that speaks to him as the river speaks to him. The conclusion is so unexpected that you will be amazed. This is just one of those books that can change the way you see things.

October Newspaper column

I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful fall weather. We had a great trip to Wyoming and Colorado in September and enjoyed the beautiful fall foliage and a little trout fishing.

On the 22^nd my sister and I did our first craft show at Crowder College. It was a great day and a lot of vendors. Sadly it didn't seem like there were very many buyers. Hopefully when they do this next year it will get more advertisement and there will be a better turn out. As I type this I am preparing to do a weaving demonstration at Prairie State Park on Sat the 29^th. I will be wearing my prairie dress that I made for the event. This is an annual event with all day activities to enjoy for the whole family, complete with food and music.

I will be closed on Sat. the 22^nd of October so I can do a craft booth at Maple Leaf in Carthage. I will be giving out coupons for the book store so find my booth.

As I mentioned last month I want to list a feature author and tell just a little bit about that person. I will also be offering $1.00 off on any of this authors books for that month. For October I will start with James Patterson since he is such a prolific author. Born in 1947, he started writing seriously in 1996. There are 17 books in the Alex Cross series about a forensic psychologist. Many know him by his Women's Murder Club series. He is up to book 11 now. He has many stand alone novels and my favorite was a surprise to me, a really sweet love story “Sundays at Tiffany's.”

While we were in Wyoming we got a private tour of the Saratoga Museum since my husbands cousin is one of the main volunteers. They have been promoting a Wyoming author who writes books about a game warden in Wyoming. I was given a copy of one of his books and really enjoyed it so it is my first book to review this month.

Winterkill

by

C.J. Box

Joe Pickett is a game warden in Wyoming. This is one of several books that Mr. Box has written about Joe and his family. The title is accurate as the area in the mountains in Wyoming is experiencing a very bad winter with blizzards raging. There is also a murderer loose and the prime suspect is just too good to be true. With several levels of authority trying to handle the case, you soon find a few people to hate and you are on Joe's side as he fights the elements to find the real suspect and save his family at the same time. An action packed book. Made me want to wear a warm parka while I read it.

The River

by

Michael Neale

Why is Gabriel Clark so mysteriously drawn to The River? The book starts out with a chance meeting at an airport of the “author” and Gabriel. Gabriel is in the mood to tell his story about The River and so it unfolds into a wonderful story that the “author” claims changed his life. When he was 5 years old, Gabriel experienced something at the river that was so traumatic that he lived the next 15 years in fear and sadness and a lot of anger. He grows up in Kansas with his hard working mother and at age 20 a friend coaxed him into a trip back to Colorado where he was born and lived till age 5. He encounters the river and is changed forever. You could feel what he felt as he is challenged to find his inner peace, to give forgiveness, and to find love. This is so well written you forget that it is fiction. You must read the paperback copy as it has the look of a worn journal and that is a key part of the book as he finds his fathers old journal that speaks to him as the river speaks to him. The conclusion is so unexpected that you will be amazed. This is just one of those books that can change the way you see things.

Michael Neale is also a song writer of gospel songs too.

My Sept column for Newton Co News

500. Lincoln Jones returns to his Newton County roots with High Grade

My book store in Granby will be closed for the week of Sept. 9^th for our annual family trip.

I have signed up for 2 craft fairs this year, so will be closed Sept 22nd for the one at Crowder College, and Oct.20^th for the Maple Leaf in Carthage. I will also be closed Sept 29^th because I will be doing a weaving demonstration (in period costume) at Prairie Jubilee, Prairie State Park, north and west of Carthage. These are all on Saturdays. For information about any of these events feel free to call me at 472-7111 or you can find info on line.

Weaving class has started for the fall semester at Crowder College, so I will open the book store at noon on Wednesdays again. Sorry for any inconvenience.

I plan to start doing a feature author each month. I am still working on my idea and plan to have specials on a different author for each month. Look for that in October.

I mentioned last month that I had received a call from an author in Arizona. Mr. Jones was born in Granby, raised in Neosho and after retiring he finally had time to write this book that he says has been in his head for 20 years. After my column last month I got a call from a cousin of Mr. Jones and I was able to connect her with Mr. Jones and as a result located a picture of his Great grandmother and her tombstone for him. It has been fun being the “Granby Sleuth.”

High Grade

by

D. Lincoln Jones

What if a soldier returned from war: but he had no memory of home? This first novel by Mr. Jones is part non fiction but mostly fiction. It is based on stories passed down from his family of story tellers. Using old documents to keep it authentic he nails this one. His Great great grandfather (Ben) went off to fight in the Civil War, leaving behind a wife and 4 children. He is later followed by his son ( Matt). When Ben is seriously wounded he is sent to a boat to be taken to St. Louis, the nearest hospital of the time. He never showed up, dead or alive. He is gone. The story line goes back and forth between 1860 to 1865 and you get a feel for Ben and his family and his needing to go into the Union Army. Then you see him as a lost man who ends up in Colorado with no memory of his past life, only his bible with names that haunt him. Even though he had no memory, Ben retained the values and skills he had before his injury and that carries him to start a new life.

I feel Mr. Jones really developed the characters and probably stayed true to the family stories that he was told all his life. He wanted to tell a story of “What if” Ben had lived and what might his life have been like. We learn about Matt who ended up in Granby Mo. Will Ben find his way back? I will have to ask you to read to book to learn the answer. In real life “Matt” is the Great Grandfather of the author. He was a minister and a sheriff in Granby. His real name was Nimrod Columbus Jones. He died in 1920's in Granby and his descendants live on.

I loved this book and will keep copies in the store to sell for 14.99. The same price that it sells for on Amazon but no shipping fee for you. You can also order it thru Amazon for your E-reader. I understand from my communications with Mr. Jones that he is wrapping up a sequel to this book and I look forward to learning what happened to the rest of Ben's family.

Explosive Eighteen

by

Janet Evanovich

Evanovich is up to book eighteen (that I know of) with her Stephanie Plum series. By the way, I read in the paper that Evanovich ranks up there with the top money makers with this series.

In this book Stephanie is still the ditsy bounty hunter in Trenton NJ. She gets a photo slipped into her travel bag and everyone is out to get it back, as it is linked to a big international murder. Of course while this is playing out, she and her sidekick Lulu is trying to round up the local bond jumpers so that she can make money to live on. She somehow manages to solve the mysteries and not get killed. She counts on her luck more than any real skills. Her romance still is going back and forth between the same two guys and you are left to still wonder who she will end up with. These Evanovich books are fun to read.

At the present time I find there is a book #19 available, plus she has another series started featuring Lizzy and Diesel. I picked one up at the library in audio book form. That is new for me and I was amazed how many audio books are available there.

Thought for the day: Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears.

Heresssss your sign!

I had this sign made for my sister and I.  We are doing a couple craft fairs this fall and I thought it would be cute to make a sign to hang.  I think it says it all, don't you?????  I am keeping the sign hanging in the store over a shelf unit that has some of our stuff displayed.  I think we have a tiny addiction going here.  We just can't help ourselves when we see a garage sale then have to get together and squeal over what we FOUND!  Help!!!!