Another week – another post – but not much done during the week.
Last week, as mentioned, I hurt a muscle in my stomach and husband would not let me do anything heavy so I would heal. This meant that I could do computer work, some cooking (not “heavy” pots) and such. He carried the laundry bag downstairs so I could do the laundry and then carried the basket of clean items upstairs (twice as I did clothes one day and towels the next) for me. The basket of clean clothes that I carry upstairs on one hip with one hand normally, he can barely lift. Unfortunately after feeling better, today my back was hurting – I could not even twist to see the office phone to dial as I had to lean around the file holder stack on my desk – I had to go to the kitchen to call our bank to see if something coming into the account had arrived. So not much done again this last week.
I will say that we were very pleasantly surprised after using up most of our available time last week to prepare for the reenactment event I mentioned that it was much easier to do than we had figured how it had been explained.
Rather than hand everything over the fence, we were allowed to drive right to the space set aside for our unit. The people from the museum that was having the event were the nicest people we have ever met running an event – and we started doing craft shows in the 1980s. They bent over backwards – if we wanted the space set a different way, they were glad for us to do it and helped us. They were helping us unpack. They had tables out for us to use – one less thing for us to have to take out and set up. When we had finished unpacking I asked one of the men to help me back the van out of the museum grounds. He sent me up the road about a block to a school that was letting them use their parking lot - okay, a small bit of disorganization, the lot was small and full – there was a children's soccer game going on. There were no spaces. The fellow (not from our unit, but a friend) who was the blacksmith followed me in – he had a regular car and told me he as going to park between the two rows as another car had done. I luckily saw a father and son heading to their car and got that space. Not sure what later cars did – demonstrators, volunteers, and the public.
Despite my back I held up one of the tent poles (this is a reproduction tent – not a modern popup tent) for the unit set up as our members put it up. We had table next to the tent with plenty of room for the wooden drying racks we were using as display for the scarves husband had woven. After we set up I found a space between our table and the unit's setup to sit and embroider. Other members set up across the aisle from us in a group.
I talk about this in this column as organizing a setup for a display – whether a craft show, a reenactment event, a flea market, or a display setup up involves advance planning and then one has to hope that all goes as expected. We have learned to carry a variety of setup items that we do not normally need or use – just in case. Even if one knows the space that one will have it may be different than it was last year or otherwise expected. If the person that the next space is reserved for does not show up, one may be able to expand into their space. One may have to deal with uneven ground – or even a large puddle or flooded area. This time we were lucky. The venue's employees were nice and accommodating and the space well situated and not limited. We have gone to craft shows where we are supposed to have the same space as the year before – a corner space with 2 sides to display on – and found that the setup had changed or an error was made and one had different space in a different area midaisle with one side to work with. As we did this when we brought more items for setup than we needed, one has to be prepared for anything.
Think of trying to organize your home – you have plans to clear out the closet in the spare room and then find items there that you had not remembered. You are not ready to deal with those items – maybe not enough garbage bags (or the bags you have are too small) or you need help to move what you find. Or maybe you have to sort a lot of very small items and have no where to sort them. One has to be ready to deal with situations that one did not expect when organizing.
As to the event we did – very nice. Husband has been weaving for about 3, maybe 4 years and has tried to sell his scarves and table runners online. No sales of same at all. He has been despondent about weaving and no one buying. Our thought was that if the pieces could be seen in person it would be different and hoped that to be true. Craft shows around here for the most part are buy and sell junk shows – no chance of selling an actual hand woven scarf if commercial scarves for $8 each are being sold, which is why he jumped at this chance to sell, especially in the fall (okay, it did not feel like fall, it was in the upper 80/lower 90Fs) but he sold a scarf partway through the day and then near closing, 5 scarves to one woman. Yippee. He is again happy to weave.
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Plan for everything you can think of for a specific organizing chore. There will be things that happen out of your control, but try to anticipate what you will need and the time you will need to do it. Then “play it by ear” if something not anticipated pops up!
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