National Apple Harvest Festival- Weekend 2

OK, it is a sure thing that this show will not be on my list of shows to do next year.

1) Sales were down by 50%.

2) Wednesday there were high winds and B had booth trouble so I drove back with her to take care of the mess. The drive was too long, I mean to deal with a booth that is is who knows what shape and have over two hours to stew and worry about it is just too much to handle. My booth was fine but I am still glad I had the opportunity to check. Some people were not called and showed up on Saturday to find the destruction.

3) During the booth trouble I saw no security. They were supposed to be there but no one checked us in or checked on our identities. We easily could have driven in, taken a whole booth and stuff that was not ours and driven out with not a word from anyone. In fact there seems to have been some looting going on while the winds were high and the booths were open due to damage. There were things missing- things too heavy to blow away.

4) It was a whopping 37 degrees Sunday morning. Too cold for this soul to handle. I ended up taking Monday off just to get over the soreness and sniffles I had acquired. A day of making inventory lost :(

5) I walked around and most of what I saw was just not good. Lots of resale, lots of country, primitive, and other designs that I don't really fit into. My booth is more clean and spa like, so I didn't fit in with the decor.

6) And rude... thanks to all who spit while in my booth. Glad you chew tobacco, or sunflower seeds, or whatever, but the spitting while in the booth (even the girls spit!) really turned my stomach.

National Apple Harvest Festival- Weekend 1

Well I hate to say it, but unless next weekend is wonderful, I probably won't be back next year. There are actually quite a few reasons for this beyond the fact that sales are down considerably from last year.

1) I hate the drive there. It is only supposed to be 2 hours, but when you are driving home Sunday after a 10 hour day in the dark, well, let's just say that I am lucky I didn't fall to sleep at the wheel.

2) I hate the fact that it opens at 8 am. I am an early riser, but waking up to an alarm at a set time is a whole different thing. Then sitting outside when it is 40 degrees and having to be nice to customers is a bit of a stretch.

3) Downright rude customers. Not everyone is rude, but there are enough crappy comments to really bring a girl down... (Thanks again to the customer who admitted to my face that she was trying to pull apart a face scrubber till it broke.)

4) Vendor placement.. Really folks, putting the other soapmaker 1 booth away is a good choice on the promoter's part- I think not... Not good for the vendors not good for the customers and shows overall lack of planning/caring by the people who run the show.

5) Lack of good food- everything good is a hike and has huge long lines. When you are there alone this is a big problem...

6)The two weekend commitment.. too much and too many other good shows going on the same weekends that I want to try out.

7)The hotel stay. This year C used points so I didn't have to pay for the hotel, but having the lady be pissy because I was taking a yogurt before 6:30 am was a bit much. And the pillows are terrible (too soft) and the 40 minute drive is still far in the early mornings...

Every Time I Go Away...

there is so much that happens while I am gone. I guess this means I am busier than I think I am while I am here. But I get back and there are order, and e-mails, and phone calls, and inventory, and possible new wholesale accounts, and other wholesale accounts that close. Not to mention the pile of personal mail, laundry, and gardening to get through.

I need a vacation from my time away. I swear, I take a week preparing to leave, and a week to make up for it when I get back. I mean, I was only gone five business days!

I start with a list. when I get back I just start a list of things I need to do. Personal goes on one side, business on the other. Then I start from the top down and get as much done as I can as quickly as I can.

I also never thought how bad my garden would be looking right now. Just awful. Not to mention the skunk that likes my tomatoes and to dig up my yard looking for grubs as well.

I have gotten a lot of knitting done but that means I have a lot of blocking and assembly to take care of now too. As well as Ravelry updates and swap packages to be sent out.

Oh, and have I mentioned my cats are like Velcro since I have been gone??

Sometimes my idea of making a list and then just going top to bottom doesn't make much sense, sometimes it means I shine my shoes before sending out an order, but when I am really really overwhelmed I haven't come up with a better solution yet. It is too hard to list, then prioritize, and then do things. It takes too much time, and how do you judge if laundry (personal) is more or less important than laundry (shop towels)??

OK, I guess I can cross off "update blog" and go on to the next thing.. lets see here... clean soap molds and then brush the cat....