Pulling out your winter coat...

I pulled out my winter coat and hung it on the coat rack buy the back door. Now keep in mind that this is the coat that I do my feeding in. On occasion you might find me wearing it to the Dollar Store or just to run errands. It's a nice coat with a hood. I bought it at a yard sale a few years back for $5. Sunday afternoon when it was time to go feed, I grabbed it and headed out the door. I reached my hand in the pocket......and what was in there....four one dollar bills and 39 cents. Whoopee I hollered Thomas looked and said are you OK? Sure am..I just found money!!!
You know that feeling -how many times have you found money hidden in pockets after a long period of time. Maybe just to find a dollar but hey, it's still exciting. I can't wait till I put on the rest of my coats, wonder what's in those pockets. I'm not going to look, I want to be surprised.

preparing for winter...

It's getting to feel like winter. Daddy and I worked outside a little today. Getting the animals all ready for winter. I took straw and made new nest for the chickens. In the summer months I just use shavings. Seems they too are feeling the chill. They aren't laying as many eggs as usual. I told them they better get on the ball cause it ain't gonna get any warmer!!!
Daddy was commenting on the trees how they are finally turning colors. Out in our neck of the woods the trees are ablaze with burnt orange, bright yellow and burgundy. But with the heavy frost that we've been getting they won't last long.
I loaded up my Airplane plant today. I've had it in the shop for over eight years. There wasn't any room at home for it so now it has a new home at the schools Greenhouse . I told Linda to take very good care of it. I also left a few other plants that were outside in my pots. The kids can take cuttings from them and sell them in the spring.
I made an Apple Crisp for dessert this evening and I think it's almost done......

been busy

A lot has happened since the other day when I was on here. For one I had a birthday.....thanks to all my friends who called and sent me cards. That was just awesome!!
I've been visiting the chiropractor for the last few days. I'm getting better though. Have to be there in the morning also and then we will see how things are.
I'm glad to see the rain. It started raining at my house about 4:30 this morning. We do need the rain but I'm sure the farmers would rather be in the fields trying to finish up.
I'm going to spend the afternoon teaching a friend about floral designing. She has owned a shop for a couple of years with just silks and misc. items and now has a demand for fresh arrangements. So this afternoon will be fun. You know me anytime I get to surround myself with flowers is as Martha says, "It's a good thing"

in the early morning

It was still dark when I pulled into the parking lot of the flower market in Louisville this morning. As I approached the door you could smell the fragrance of fresh flowers. As you first enter the building you are a bit overcome as to which direction to go first. Roses had arrived during the night from Ecuador. The array of colors and the scent is just amazing.
But, I remember that I have a list and I have to stay within my budget.
These days I don't keep a lot of fresh on hand. Just the basics.
As I make my way back across the Kennedy Bridge it's still dark and I'm thankful that I got an early start and I'm not stuck in the traffic jam. I put the truck on cruise, find me a good radio station with some morning news and head my way back to Uniontown.

Sarah's Rottweiler

My oldest daughter Sarah has three Rottweiler's, three of the biggest babies. They have a ferocious bark but deep down they are Sarah's babies. It all started back when Sarah was at Ball State. Sarah would come home on weekends and play with my Rottie, "Ruger." In her neighborhood there had been a lot of burglaries. She said she needed a vicious dog for protection and besides she just loves Rotties. So when she came home a few weeks later a puppy was waiting on her with a big red bow around his neck. She named him, "Ace." Ace was known as the Rottie of Ball State for his many walks on campus. He would weight in at about 180lbs. Ace did scare away a man trying to break into the house one night.....Go Ace!!!! Sarah and Ace would attend agility and obedience class once a week and he would mind better than some kids. Then she rescued Lizzy from a terrible family and that made her two. So Ace and Lizzy became parents. Sarah kept one puppy which made her three Rotties. About six months after selling one of the puppy's she got a call that one of the pups was locked in a house cause the owner had been arrested and placed in jail and everyone was afraid to go into the house. So what do you think Sarah does.........she walks in the door picks up the pup and takes her home. Bless her heart--the man had not been kind to her. Sarah took her home gave her a bath and a good warm meal and named her Emma.
Ace passed away a few years back of a heat stroke. Monday Sarah called me crying, Emma has cancer and it's in the final stage. Sarah noticed a small knot on her back Monday morning. Tuesday the knot had doubled and test showed cancer. It just came on with no warning and this morning Emma passed away. So that leaves Sarah with Lizzy and Scooby. Losing a dog is heartbreaking. People bond with their dogs just like bonding with your children. So keep Sarah in your thoughts for the next few days.

Dreaming of a bigger penis????

Have you seen the adds.......Dreaming of a bigger penis? I can't believe these advertisements are on some of the web sites. How about the lady with the big eyes....."Add inches right now!" and then it goes on to say,
"Surprise her with a bigger penis"
There are a lot of things that I could say and comment on....but I will just keep them to myself. Come on folks....think about this. People are worried about the Lion's Den in Uniontown which I might add is about a mile from my house. Worried about what our children might see or hear from this business when all they have to do is get on the computer and see an advertisement to make your or your boyfriends penis bigger...what's the difference? Turn on a soap opera in the afternoon and watch them get it on under the covers.
Some of you men who read my blog, buy the pills and let us know what happens.....just remember to take measurements before and after. We need proof (pictures???) to see if this stuff really works!!!!!

Good Monday Morning.....

I began my day as usual...walking the dogs. After that its always the same-- make the bed and do the usual things to keep the house in order. I set down at the computer with my bowl of Cheerios to check my mail and catch up on the morning news and read my friends blog.
Now, Lily loves Cheerios. I keep a foot stool by my chair for her to set on. As I'm reading my best bud Shelley's blog, a picture of Libby comes up. Lily starts to growl......I look around and she is staring at the picture and getting really upset.......I have to laugh...I ask Lily if Libby is upsetting her and she just keeps growling. It was one of those moments that you just had to be here to appreciate it. Better watch out Libby all six pounds of Lily will be keeping an eye on you!!

Empty.......

Over the past week I have been spending a few hours a day in the shop. Going through stuff and organizing product. I have filled a few trash bags with what I call junk. We all have items that we just keep for no reason. Just never know when we might need it.
The front room is almost empty except for a couple of cabinets. I called my friend Linda and told her I had some odds and ends of silk stems and did she think one of her Ag. class could use them. As we were loading her up she said she wanted to see the front room.......Wow--is all she said for a few minutes.....she just stood there.....it's all gone, she stated. Now, mind you Linda had never seen the show room empty. She was over whelmed, I told her no tears. As we were standing there we noticed a lady had driven by the store a couple of times real slow. Then she pulled up and came to the door and was looking in the windows. Linda unlocked the door and let her in. She stated that she always loved looking at my windows. She said, "Your windows were always spectacular, I loved driving by at night and looking at them." I explained to her I couldn't make ends meet any more with the economy the way it was. She said she would miss my beautiful windows!!
I was stopped the other day coming out of the post office. A gentleman thanked me for his mother's beautiful casket spray. It was so elegant, Mother would have loved it. He ask me now that I had closed the store if he could still order flowers....well, yes you can but I'm only doing funeral work from my home. That was fine with him.

The Debate

I just finished watching the debate. There was more talk about small business and how they as the next president was going to help us. In my opinion, I'm considered a small-small business. How has the government helped me in trying to keep my shop open? They have hurt me and others more than they've helped. 1) by letting CEO's of major company's bring home paychecks totaling over 70million dollars (then they ask for a bail out). 2) by making it harder to get a line of credit. 3) letting gas prices skyrocket. Just today I saw an interview of a business owner saying the bank was putting a hold on his line of credit, and he didn't know how he could say afloat after 30 days. I've ran my business for 14 years without a line of credit. I'm thankful that I don't have to worry about coming up with money for a payment.
I believe that the vast majority of our law makers don't have slightest ideal what a small business owner goes through each and every day. The worry, the stress, the what if's. Waking up in the middle of the night knowing that your accounts receivable is over $2500 and your customers are not in a hurry to pay for the goods that you delivered on time as promised. In most business your customers will pay for the goods as they receive them. But floral shops are a bit different. 95% of my accounts receivable are from my customers within a 10 mile radius of my shop. Yet they fail to make their payments on time. Even though their invoice stated--accounts over 30 days will be charged a $2 late fee. Right now I have some accounts that are over 90 days. I continue to send out invoices and make phone calls and it falls on deaf ears. You would be surprised by those folks who will finally pay their bill but fail to include the late fee...what about the envelopes, paper, ink, stamps and my time to continue to mail invoices when it takes months to collect.
When I started this blog I ask what or how the government was going to help the small business.....well, I believe that helping a small business starts with the community--being respectful and paying your bill on time and supporting them and not driving out of town and paying more for goods and services. When what you were needing was right in your community. Yes, there is a lot that the government can do to help the mom and pop shop's stay afloat. They are the backbone of this country.

Quietness of the country....

Howdy folks.......those of you who live in the city don't know what peace you are missing by not living in the country. The noise of the traffic, noisy neighbors and I'm talking loud neighbors and the ones who are always watching what you are doing. Out here in the country we don't really care what our neighbors do. But now when they leave for a period of time, we really keep an eye out for strange cars and pay more attention to what is going on. I've never lived in town. I have slept at the store before when I was swamped with funeral work or it was Valentines Day. But then I was to tired to worry about the noise.
I don't think my chickens, ducks, pigs and my turkey would care to live there either, I just can't see them being welcomed. They wouldn't care for the noise neither.
So I think we will just stay in the country....
By the way I have brown eggs for sale!!!!!

I'm Back.....

It's so nice to have my Internet back!!!
Thomas and I got my office set up at home and we got everything hooked up and waited. Waiting for Tuesday to get here for my hook up-- seemed like eternity. Well, today is Thursday and the phone tech called and said someone(always blame it on someone else) had hooked up the wires backwards (at the tower on Hwy.31) and that was my problem. Try it now he says......yes....I'm finally back in contact with the world outside of Uniontown.
It's been over a week now since I closed my flower shop and my customers are still calling....they want me to keep doing flowers...they say, "can you work out of your home" or "who's going to take care of me, your the only one I trust" or "maybe, you can just scale down and still take care of your best customers." I have made a few deliveries this week--from my home in Uniontown.
I kept the store's phone number, just had it rolled over to my home number. I want to thank everyone for the calls and the thoughtful cards they mean more than you know. I will be purchasing scrap books to keep them in. I want to go to the shop next week and take them all down from the back room and add them to the books too. Now, I have to catch up on my emails!!