My Feast To-Do List

 Five short weeks until The Feast of the Hunters' Moon.  It's crunch time, but I am in good shape.

The current sewing project is making bedgowns. I have six completed and two more cut out and prepped.

Unlike the trade shirts, I can complete a bedgown in a single day. I'll make the last two on Monday and Tuesday and then move on to cloaks or petticoats.

I learned the hard way several years ago to measure and tie up my remnant bundles as I went rather than leaving that to do all at once.

At the time I was caught off guard by how much time that took; now I do them as I sew and it goes much faster.

About a month before an event, I make a to final to-do list. I already have one in my mind, but putting it in writing ensures that I don't forget anything. My list currently looks like this:

Sewing 

2 -3 cloaks

4 -5 petticoats

2 - 3 pockets

1 set of panniers (last priority; if have time)

(That's Pepper on the right. As always, she's curled up next to where I am working.)

Beeswax Ornaments

Inventory and assess numbers needed to make of various molds

Allow time for at least two pouring sessions

Sleeve Buttons

Inventory; do I need to make more?

Check wool mini bags; do I need to make more?

Finished Clothing Prep

Check for sales tags, replace or make new ones if needed

Remove pins holding pleats flat in bedgowns

Iron as needed

Begin putting clothing into protective bags for transport

Office/Other Needs

Count & record money on hand, separate into two money bags

Check supplies (small bags for ornaments, larger bags for clothing, etc)

Refresh skills with Square, especially adding sales tax

Check number of mini chalkboards - do I need more?

Compare my prices with other sutlers'. Am I comparable? Adjust if needed.

School Day Prep

Ask Tim to borrow his items again; go pick them up

Ask Leslie to borrow her 18th century side saddle; go pick up

Ask Lisa or Belle if they'd like to help me at School Days

Set Up

Confirm tent drop off time on Wednesday

Check with Craig, Curt, and Lisa for help putting tent up

My Clothing

Check condition, iron or mend if needed

Try on, check fit

Find new chain for Lisa's trade silver necklace

That's the list for now. Emphasis on "for now." 

(In fact, I just thought of something I want to do - replace my old wooden hangers with new ones. I ran out of the old ones and bought more, and they are thinner and lighter than the old ones I've been using. Those are from the 1980s when my family first set up a booth at the Feast.)

Stay 'tooned!

The To-Do List - Finally!

It has been a hectic summer, what with our moms' health, family coming in, etc. Things around here have been woefully neglected as a result.

Yesterday I decided to chip away at some of the things on my to-do list.

I began by sorting and rearranging the food storage shelves in the laundry room. That only took a half an hour, so I turned my attention to another storage area.

The cleaning closet! It was topsy turvy, and took about an hour to organize. I went to bed that evening feeling satisfied at what I had accomplished.

Today I tackled the gardening.

 The stepping stone garden was an absolute mess!

 But slowly my stepping stones and statues began to emerge.

 My old fashioned outhouse lilies need no care - they come up on their own and are beautiful.

Craig helped weed the front bushes. As he worked, a robin kept scolding him and trying to draw him away.

 No wonder! There is a nest with four eggs in the corner bush! (I love how Craig spoke to the bird in soothing tones, telling her not to worry, that he was just weeding and wouldn't harm her nest, etc. It was so sweet!)

 Speaking of nests, we also have barn swallows brooding in the nest on our porch arch.

 Like I said, the stepping stone garden was a big mess. Ugh!

 But it cleaned up well, and I am excited to see that my volunteer snapdragons are back in full force, spreading throughout the stones!

 I look forward to finding out what this perennial turns out to be.

 I also went to Menards and got some coleus and begonias for my two big planters on the patio.

 My two tomato plants from Tim Schnepp are there, too, and doing well.

Usually I get some hanging baskets and do several pots of flowers, but since it is so late this year, I am sticking to the two pots. (The coleus are in honor of my grandfather who bred coleus at Purdue.)

At the end of the day there was quite a pile of garden trash. It felt so good to get the outside gardens planted and under control! I think this is the latest I have ever been on my summer planting.