My friend and fellow rug hooker Cathy Kelly and I vended at the Mama’s Minerals show in Albuquerque this past weekend. Fabulous show and I’m happy to report good news: I sold a rug and, because of that, at this very moment am waiting for the Lowes truck to arrive with my new freezer. It’s a happy day, and the sale made for a tangible success.

 

 

Being a VERY small business, when I sell a rug, the money’s usually deposited into our joint account. Cash gets plowed right back into materials to make more mats. Not this time!

When we moved into this house last year, we inherited the fridge as it was in great condition. It’s a Samsung with the French doors and freezer on the bottom. I was excited. In moving, we unloaded our 23-year-old side-by-side, the appliance that refused to die (unlike all the other kitchen machines). We also gave up our old freezer in the cellar. A shame given Tom’s penchant for finding meat sales and my own for over-baking and making enough pesto each summer to freeze for winter’s basil-free months. I miss it, hence, I’ve been nagging for a new freezer here. But life, as it’s wont to do, has been dishing out unexpected expenses (AC repairs, the kid’s wisdom teeth, my own need for a crown…), so the freezer had been moved to the back burner. Meanwhile the fridge freezer’s stuffed to the gills and I can’t make cookies to freeze before our company starts arriving in September because there’s NO ROOM IN THE INN!

Last week as I was getting ready for Mama’s Minerals, I mentioned to Tom that I intended to sell a larger rug in order to purchase a freezer. (It would’ve been easier if Lowes or Home Depot would take a rug in trade, but I guess the larger economy can’t work on fiber that way. Pity.) He laughed and said, “Sure, you go for that, girl.” It took a few hours Saturday, but one woman came in, checking out our stuff and chatting. Cathy and I both know her; she’s a member of the Albuquerque Fiber Arts Council. Later she circled back in and announced that the rug would match her bathroom perfectly. Woohoo!

Yesterday Tom and I headed to the store and picked out a chest freezer – perfect for ribs and steak and chops and cookies and pesto! It’ll be here this afternoon. Just in the nick of time too; my parents arrive in a week. It’s time to start baking. Maybe put some muffins away for when more relatives show at the end of the month.

No blog next week given the company, but I’m busy working on more and more rugs. There are three more Sundays at the Rail Yards Market and then their Christmas show in December. Kathy and I are looking at more opportunities. Our rugs made a nice mix in the booth: her traditional, woolen mats and my not-so-traditional t-shirt and bed-sheet ones. More about that later, after I show my parents around this beautiful new state of ours.

How are you spending this last week of summer?