Making it thrugh another year, '24-'25

[Jeff]

@Magicman   Do you recall me strapping one of your canes to the outside of my truck?

[Magicman]

Well now that you mention it, I do remember.  No way could I let you leave here not looking like a Redneck!! 

[aigheadish]

Arborvitae



Bamboo patch, where it is it is staying pretty well regulated and seems to not expand too much so long as it's mowed occasionally. I have a spot right outside my shop that is like a gravelly area that isn't easy to mow and while there's a little patch there it doesn't grow anything like elsewhere where it's given free reign. The rocks path keep it basically at bay as well. I've thought about using bamboo rather than the arborvitae in between my neighbors house and mine, but with the caveat of burying 2-3 feet of rubber mat surrounding all the bamboo. It'd look pretty cool, but it'd also cost 500-1000 bucks and that's where all the power and internet cables are.



Bamboo closeup

[Old Greenhorn]

Well I am going to leave that 'screening' issue on the side for a while and just keep my eyes open for a source of Canebrake. If I find one, it is likely the owner will be inclined to share some if I ask nice.
 But barring that, I can go with EWP and all I have to do is go to my OTHER driveway and dig up some and transplant them. They grow pretty quick and clipping the main leader when they hit about 8' makes them poof out. They can be trimmed like a hedge and shaped any way you want. My Dad had one he played with in our side yard for 40 years. He trimmed it into a cube at one point, then a few years pater re-shaped it into a ball, still later a rectangle. The neighbor's got a kick out of it (well, some of them). Left uncared for after they sold the house it rapidly shot up into a 40' multi-leader 'tree' which they eventually had to have removed. Actually it's a shame to look at that house now (I just checked google street view) and they have removed all the trees my Pop planted and most of the shrubs. He spent his life making our place 'different' and succeeding owners have made it look just like every other house within 5 miles. Bland and plain with little signs of life. Pity.
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 But I digress. We had a very nice day at my Daughter's yesterday, they actually had less snow than we did. It was very terrain specific. I ate too much, to the point I was in great discomfort and fell asleep on the couch for 40 minutes. (I claimed 'old man's privilege' on that one.) We were home early-ish and I went to bed earlier than normal still feeling uncomfortable, but today is a new day and I feel fine. Leaving for the show around noon and very anxious to see how this goes. An hour commute each way, so I will do a bunch of driving between today and Sunday when we will break down, load out and clean the place up. My first 2 day show, I hope it pays off. I have taxes and insurance bills coming up. It's a bright blue sky day (here, and so far) but the show is on the other side of the Catskills and a different weather system, up at around 1,800'. So they will have overcast, high in the mid 30's and have about 8" of snow on the ground from yesterday. All I can do is hope for the best and do my thing.

 Today is another day.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Good luck at the show. I am packed up with a load of benches, crates, birdhouses, a walnut LE shelf/hat rack and some short walnut pieces for craft workers. It is small business Saturday nationwide I understand and our town is putting this one on then a Christmas event the next Saturday where they shut down main street and set up a street festival. Tomorrow is inside but I'll be outside the next week if weather permits. Long range weather predicts clear and mid to high 20's.  We will see how this turns out.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well I hope you do at least 10 times better tomorrow than I did today Howard. Total sales: 20 bucks. I spent more than that on food and drink. We had lake effect snows for a good part of the day and for several periods it was near whiteout conditions. The place we were at had to shovel the walks several times. Some locals came, they are used to it, but the tourists stayed holed up for the most part. I had one fella interested in a commission job, but need to decide what he really wanted besides 'something to hold his bourbon bottles". The other vendors sold a little too, but there stuff is priced much lower than mine. The buyers, what we had, were gone by 7pm. We closed at 8 and I was on the road by 8:08 after breaking the ice off the truck. The road was bad enough that 40-45 felt like my limit for the first 25% of the trip home. the lines were snow covered and the rest was slush. When I finally got over High Point (temp 25°) and got to the bottom of that hill the road was just wet, no slush and I made pretty good time in spite of the lousy unsure drivers in front of me. But I am tired, long day.
 
 Tomorrow we open at noon and should have better weather (it will be in the teens tonight, but might hit 32 tomorrow). We were supposed t run until 6pm tomorrow, but there is a town wide parade that lets out around 5pm and they expect a big influx of people. We all agreed to stay until the buyers thin out. We'll return again on Sunday to load out and clean the place up. Nobody wants to load out in the dark with a frozen parking lot.

 We'll see how tomorrow goes. Good luck Howard!

[WV Sawmiller]

   Yeah, one good thing for me is I am only traveling 5 miles to the site. I have a $50 booth fee but none next week when I set up on the street. 

   I just massaged/updated and printed my price sheets. I just print them on my home printer each trip and staple or pin them to the item.

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah, usually I don't consider fuel and drive time in my costs for these shows, but this one is 40 miles away and I will have made 4 full round trips before it is in the books which works out to around 160 miles, about 7 hours of driving, and nearly a tank of gas with the hills and trailer towing thrown in. This just puts me further in the hole. Thanks for the reminder.

[doc henderson]

I just got off work, so at least you are not quite in the rat race.  I hope it goes well Tom!

[Old Greenhorn]

Well, you can't win it if you are not in it. I just keep on pluggin'.   We are hoping for a different demographic today. 

[thecfarm]

Bamboo!!!
Yikes!!!
What grows around here only get about 6 feet high.
Nothing that could be used for a cane or support a plant. It does not get woody. 
But it will spread.
It grows all over the state of Maine along sides of the road.
None on my land.

[WV Sawmiller]

  I got to the show just as the opened, had the first spot by the door because I had told the lady I had heavy materials to move plus the site beside me was vacant so I was able spread out into half of it.


One angle after pretty much set up.

Other direction.

  The place got busy for an hour or so around lunch but pretty slow the rest of the time but I sold several crates, several birdhouses and one bench so it was not a bust.

  One funny note was the first guy bought 2 of my 12-quart size crates because he needed them for mason jars of moonshine. He took my card so maybe he will be buying more in the future.

    The show closed about 4 pm so I moved my stuff to the sidewalk, pilled up and parked on the street with my flashers on and started loading. One lady pulled in behind me and to speed me out of the spot so she could get there she loaded all the small crates and birdhouses in my truck while I loaded benches in the trailer. I welcome and accept help from all corners.

    Here is my trailer at home with my benches still loaded. I moved the small items on top and covered with a tarp and bungieed it down for my next show a week from today. I'm hoping the weather permits as it will be outside - a street festival/Hometown Christmas. We will see it it does as well or better.

[Resonator]

Should make a sign: "I just make the crates for the fruit jars, what kind of fruit you put in them jars ain't none of my business."

[Old Greenhorn]

First, I like Resonator's idea, you should get right on that Howard.
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Howard that is a LOT of stuff to carry in and out for a few hour show, holy cow! I don't think I would ever do that, but you were very fortunate to get all that space, I would never get that either. I really had to par down my stuff for this weekends show and it was a lot of trips in and out. We didn't even load out tonight, I'll go back tomorrow and do it. The parking lot there is a sheet of ice and the stairs I need to navigate aren't much better. No way was I doing that in the dark. It was 22° and had a 10 MPH wind when I left at 7:30 tonight. Sounds like the show was 'OK' for you and if so that's good. Hopefully next weekend will be as good or better.
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As for my show, I had 20 bucks in sales yesterday but today was a lot better because the weather was at least clear and just cold. We had 'decorative flurries' most of the day, very dry stuff. Folks came out and as the organizers predicted, they came again in the evening after the local parade let out (15 minutes and 11 vehicles) before the town Christmas tree lighting. I had 8 sales both days and pulled in over an SGU for the two days. So we had a conference and we will do this again next year if they will have us. Not much we would change except get the word out further and earlier. Many of the folks that 'found us' there, kind of stumbled on it so we have to work on that. I know we brought in business for the distillery and I know they brought business in for us. For me it was more expensive because of the fuel driving back and forth. My earlier post said 160 miles of driving, but it is actually 320 miles of commuting for the show which adds to the cost. Still it was a pleasurable event to do, low stress, and worked out better in the end than all my shows but one this year. Anyway, not done yet, still gotta pack it all out and get it home. 
 Then I start setting up for the open house/shop/studio sale in 2 weeks, let's see how that goes, because it's all on me to get the word out.
 Tomorrow is another day.

[Ianab]

Should make a sign: "I just make the crates for the fruit jars, what kind of fruit you put in them jars ain't none of my business."

"I just make the crates for the fruit and vege jars, what kind of product you put in them jars ain't none of my business. Processed grapes, corn or barley is fine."

[SwampDonkey]

You fellas sure have perseverance.   

[Peter Drouin]

You fellas sure have perseverance.   

That's for sure.   Best of luck you guys.

[WV Sawmiller]

Tom,

  I concur! I think I took about 20 benches including several that were 5-6 feet long. When loading I saw I have 5 bench "kits" out in the shed I can assemble in a few minutes when I need them. Actually that is a pretty good way to make and store them. It is something I came up with after our discussions about the Paul Bunyan show so thanks for that even though you didn't know you were helping.

ADD-ON: One good thing about this next Saturday show is it is on the street and I can just unload and put in place directly off the trailer/truck and not have to carry them. That will be a lot faster and easier.

Res/Ian,

  I like that idea and will make a sign like that to put on the crates this Saturday. I need to make few more of them to replace the ones that sold yesterday.

    I did tell the moonshiner I could make customized crates if he needed a different size. We even discussed a branding iron. I don't have one but could get one made if I had enough of a market for it. Then again, maybe it is better not to have my business name on the crates if the Feds ever start tracking for the source.

  I did see we have a bill proposed and it may have passed into law to allow WV residents to make something like 4-5 gallons of distilled spirits per adult family member. I don't remember how many you could make for each child.

MORE ADD ON:

    I see it is legal starting June 7.

https://www.wboy.com/only-on-wboy-com/brews-news/governor-justice-signs-bill-allowing-limited-at-home-distilling/

[Old Greenhorn]

As for perseverance, and I can't speak for my color challenged friend from the south, but I did say before 'if you ain't in it, you can't win it." So I just keep plugging and trying different things, watching and learning as I go. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. Sometimes you have to make your own 'luck'.

 Howard, maybe try what I did this weekend, bring in 'stuff' that clearly represents what you have, then as it sells, walk out and bring in another one to replace it. Worked for me this weekend. An overloaded booth is often overwhelming to many folks and they get glassy eyed. Placement matters too. Funny thing, I expected to sell a few of those device stands, they make good stocking stuffers, but none moved. I had them on a shelf that was eye level for me, but not most other folks. So around 4pm yesterday I rearranged a little and got them down at table level. Less than 5 minutes later I sold one, then another an hour later. My stuff all sells as finished goods, so kits won't work for me or my clients. Nobody 'has time' to do any work anymore (too busy playing video games). I will of course,  happily make them on request.
 As for your branding iron, tell him to get one with HIS name on it and see how that goes.

 I head out in a little bit to go get my stuff and help clean up the hall. I am armed with a snow shovel, rock salt, and an ice chopper. The parking lot is a sheet of ice, I needed 4WD just to get out last night. Temp dropped to 15° overnight out there and about 20 here.

[Resonator]

Processed grapes, corn or barley is fine."

During prohibition they sold dry concentrated grape juice with a warning label: "Do not dissolve in water and leave in a cool dark place for 20 days..." 
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I heard in an interview with a musician once that achieving success was like a wheelbarrow. Meaning be prepared to lift and push, if you want it to go somewhere. 
Having one big ticket fancy item as a draw does work, I just finished a project for a customer that was curious about a more expensive item. I've also gotten interest from other perspective future buyers, who have good feedback and suggestions for what features they want and price range. I also plan to print a portfolio of pictures of all the projects I've built, to show customers what I can do. Then if they want me to make one or something similar, they can put down a deposit and have it built to order.
Good luck with the shows guys!

[WV Sawmiller]

Res/Peter.

   I remember the old saying "The harder I work the luckier I get."

Res/Ian,

   I will see how this ad works this week.

Large Crates are sized to fit 12 quart Mason jars
Small Crates are sized to fit 12 pint Mason jars
 
Note: What you put in your Mason jars is totally your business
Custom sized crates available on demand
(I suffer from selective memory loss and if you buy dozens of crates I will not be able to remember who bought them 😊)

[SwampDonkey]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMqdJ_Owx7Q

[Nebraska]

 Glad you had a good show be careful loading out. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Yes, load out went fine but took a little while because of the carrying distance and the ice. I had some difficulty getting my trailer out because there were folks parked on either side and just forward of the trailer. I had 3 inches on each side of the truck to back in and catch the hitch. Got that on the first attempt, but when I took the weight off the trailer jack the truck and trailer kept settling down and I no longer had any travel to get the jack to swing up. I was perplexed. So I grabbed a 3# persuader out of the trailer and gave the jack a whack at the wheels, hoping to force it to swing up. That's when I realized that it wasn't the weight of the trailer or the way the truck sat, the jack was frozen into the ground. One tap and the truck, trailer, jack, and all popped up about 4".

 I had brought some rock salt, so I did the stairs again, and used my chopper to break it up, did the little landing outside the door to make things as safe as possible for everyone, also a little salt around the slick spots where the gals would back in to load out. It all worked out pretty good. My trailer is a mess inside and now needs cleaning.
 
Once I was loaded up and closed the trailer we went to work on the hall and vacuumed the carpet where mine and another booth were located, swept the entire hall, put back all the furniture just the way it was a week ago, and they were ready for the next event. The gal working the business very very pleased and said it was cleaner and neater than it has been for quite a while.
 
After that, the three of us that were left (the two gals that organized it and me) had a celebratory beer together, reviewed the show and jotted down some notes for next year. This all assumes the owner will have us back, but there is little doubt about that, we really did add to his business this weekend, according to his staff. As far as I know, he did not charge us for the hall usage. The 50 bucks everyone paid all went into signage and print (local paper) ads.

 I did my final accounting last night and found that this was the second best show of the year, so there is that. So yeah, I will do this one again. I would try to get a bunch more small stuff that sells cheaper, but frankly I didn't move a lot of that either. I will have to work on the displays a bit and maybe add some spot lighting.

 Today is another day. We have snow forecast for Thursday, so I want to have the trailer unloaded and parked by then, just in case it turns out to be snow that is still around in months.

[WV Sawmiller]

Tom,

    Sounds like you had a harder time loading and unloading than I did. I am glad I did not have to contend with ice and I just had to take my stuff to/from the sidewalk just outside the building by the front door (And I had the first spot by the door per my request). I just parked illegally with my flashers on while I loaded and unloaded. Its a small town and nobody cares. In fact the mayor came by to talk and I told him what a good job the young lady in charge had done in organizing the show. He liked to hear that and she deserved the recognition.

    Most of the time I set up at outdoor venues such as flea markets and I can park my truck/trailer right where I set up. In those cases I do not have to unload everything. As you mentioned instead of confusing the customers with too many crates or benches I can display a few and leave the rest on the trailer and replenish as needed.

    At shows like the one Saturday my truck was too far away to do that plus I'd have had to leave my other stock, cashbox and computer I took with me along unguarded. I am sure I could ask the other nearby vendors to watch them for me and they would do so. That is what I do if I need to go to the bathroom at a show. I do the same for them if they need to leave for a quick break.

    I see vendors who do these shows all the time are organized with big plastic totes, often wheeled, or have dollies to move their stuff. It is amazing how quick these guys can set up and break down,