Wednesday, July 29, 2009

It's Aliiive!

Yes, Otter Necessities is still alive. Really.

Last night I cut out and got most of the lacing holes punched on a semi-custom pouch. That doesn't sound like much progress, I know, but to do so meant getting the tools out of the dining room, finding the tools in the bags, cleaning up honey that had dripped on things (I'm assuming it was honey - contact cement isn't generally water-soluable...), yadda yadda yadda.

Speaking of which, I need to get my knives over to my friedly neighborhood modelmaker and knife-sharpener, or soak the waterstones and get Ron to do sharpening.

I've also updated out the "Upcoming Events" section. The GSD show is tentative only in that I haven't gotten confirmation back yet (deadline for applications is 1 August, so I'm not expecting confirmation until after that)

Apropos of the of the GSD show, this morning I had grand visions of huge sales, and had mapped out what I'd need to order to supply myself for said sales. Then I started scribbling down prices, and looked at the budget, and did some more thinking and adding and subtracting, and throttled back. More thinking and scribbling. Throttle back some more. The show isn't until the 23rd, so I still have time to order more supplies.

Also ordered supplies for comb honey - the super is out on one of the hives, hopefully the girls have filled it, or are working away. Maybe this weekend we can defrost the freezer. Yes, that is a related point - it is sensible to freeze comb honey for a couple days, just in case wax moths have been in the hive and laid eggs. Freezing will kill them, so you don't have the little varmints hatching out and squicking out you, or worse yet, the customer. And you can never be 100% certain you don't have *any* wax moths lurking about, so it would be nice to have a little less frost and more usable space in the freezer.

One of the ideas for the GSD show, besides our usual leather leashes, was to get a roll of poly rope and the appropriate hardware and make rope leashes. It wouldn't be a big investment, but I'm wondering if they'd sell. The poly rope is braided, and should be softer than new leather. About the same price, though. And colorful - although we'd only be getting one roll. I liked tan with speckles of verious not-too-bright colors, Ron liked a nice bold black and red stripe (bands of red and black, not stripes down the length). Input?