A little Visitor

Oh! It is such fun living in Tucson Arizona! Last night, I asked my son to take the dogs outside. It was dark out, and luckily, he thought to turn on the patio light *before* he opened the door. You never know who might be lurking.

You can't tell from the picture, but this is a BABY snake. No idea what he is, but he does NOT have rattles, so that is a very good thing. He wasn't more than 9 inches long.

Anybody know what kind of snake he is??

We very kindly relocated him back to the desert - not too far away, but OFF the patio.

What worries me is - where are all his baby brothers and sisters?

UPDATE: my husband says it is a Thornscrub hooknose snake. (??? how does he know ??)

From the top of the mountain

Have I ever told you how H O T it is in Tucson? Summer lasts about 6 months. You wouldn't want to see my electric bill. Our central air conditioning has broken twice this summer. I go into complete panic mode until the repairman gets here. How much does it cost? Who cares!

Well, escape from the heat is possible.

Tucson is surrounded by mountains. The biggest one is Mt Lemmon, with an elevation of 9100 feet. You can drive up there. It takes about 1 1/2 hours from my door to the top. You leave the desert at around 105 degrees (at 10am, lol), and start driving. With each elevation marker, you watch the temperature go down. Pretty soon, all the windows are open and you are hanging out the windows. You're in a forest of 200 foot tall pine trees, then aspen groves. It smells spectacular. You bring a picnic, and take a short hike. The temperature hovers in the low 70's. AHHHHHHHH

There a little town, well, you couldn't really call it a town. It's called Summerhaven.

Then you drive up the last little bit to Ski Valley. Yes, there really is a ski resort here. I think it is the southern-most ski resort in the US. And they have the chair lift open year round, for the msot spectacular ride E V E R.

We saw a flock of wild turkeys, with their babies! (didn't get a good picture of them....)

It is so peaceful. Quiet. The wind rustling in the pines. It smells glorious.

Then you get to the very tippy top. Six years ago, there was a fire that burned the mountain. Although the trees are growing back - here is where you can see the most damage, still.

And, it's always good to know that someone is watching out for you......

Chickens

HA! I knitted a chicken! Spent a few days taking care of my friend Cathy's chickens, such lovely, well-mannered ladies, and then found an awesome pattern for a knitted chicken - rooster - fowl.

Check him out!

You can read more about him HERE. He was a ton of fun to make!

Natural Kids Team

If you read my blog, you've heard about the Natural Kids Team of sellers on Etsy. My shop, Woolies, is part of this team. I admire everybody's work SO much! Imaginative, clever, beautiful, toys and other things for children. The team is made up of wonderful, supportive people. I love this team, and just thought you might enjoy some items -----

Gnomie needs a Homie by haddy2dogs

Giving, Saving and Spending Tags by Mamaroots

Bunny Teething Blanket, by Dayanra

Gnome Home, by Mamakopp

Waldorf handwork doll, by Oritdotandolls
I want all of these (for myself, my teenage boys sadly have no interest!)

Please enjoy visiting all of these lovely shops!

Money, Money, Money

Nobody wants to really talk about how much money they make. It's in poor taste. It's nobody's business but your own. And I agree. (well, kind of. If you're blabbing about how much money you make in public. discussions among friends are fine...)

But those of us that dream of quitting our day jobs, and making a living on Etsy - are very interested.

I read an interesting blog post today here, written by a shop on etsy with over 10,000 sales. So, it got me to thinking.

You can see Etsy's top sellers here http://etsybynumbers.blogspot.com/2009/04/etsy-top-200-sellers-handmade.html.

The #1 handmade shop has sold over 24,000 items, at an average cost of $15 (guessing, it is probably $18) - 24,000 x $15 = $360,000 - etsy and paypal fees = $335, 241. Of course, I have no idea what the costs are for making her items. And the shop joined in June of 2005, so that is over the course of 3 years. I could live well on just about $100,000 per year.

Could you?

It takes tremendous talent, as well as marketing know-how, fabulous customer service too.

But the #1 thing that will make you a success is your product.

How fabulous is your product?? And how much demand is there for your product? Is your product so fabulous that 24,000 people HAVE to have it??

Woolies

Wanted to share some Woolies with you --- these will NOT be available in my Etsy shop, but on another really fabulous online store that I'll share with you shortly.

What do you think??

This is Goatie, made from organic hemp/cotton corduroy, organic sherpa, and organic cotton. Stuffed with wool. Droopy goatie ears.

Some girls.

Snow bunny.

Apple. Which one do you like better - the one with green arms and legs (like a little apple tree), or the one with contrasting orance and aqua arms & legs? I can't decide...

I have to make a LOT of them, so will be very busy the next couple of weeks.....

The Magic of Harry Potter

We went to see the new Harry Potter movie on Sunday afternoon. Got a big vat of disgusting popcorn and settled in.

I was riveted the entire time. I had NO IDEA how much time had passed. It was over in the blink of an eye.

Can I tell you how much I LOVE Harry Potter? It's great storytelling, in the very best way. Incredible characters (Oh Snape). I was disappointed to not see some of my favorite villians - Lucius Malfoy, and Voldemort himself. They were lurking in the background somewhere. And as much as I loved Harry, Hermione and Ron when they were younger, they're still equally mesmerizing as they get older.

If you're a fan too, you might just LOVE some of these awesome handmade Harry Potter-type items that I found on etsy. Here are some of my favs:

Everybody needs a Defence against the Dark Arts Notebook, from celesetfrittata.

And in case you like villians as much as I do, here's a particularly charming one.

Draco Malfoy, by houseofmouse.

In case you'd like to crochet your own wizards, here's an amazing pattern.

By darncatcrochet.

Can't crochet? Here's a finished wizard for you ---

by girlcalledric.


Do you happen to write for the Daily Prophet? By all means then, you need this badge --

Also from celestefrittata.

But NO self-respecting wizard would be caught without this ---

A wand, by woodwitch.

And how are you going to get anywhere without your broom?









By broomchick.



So.....how long do I have to wait for the next Harry Potter movie to be released????
I wish Snape would come along and teach me some Defense against the Dark Arts....