Dutch Door Donuts

It's always fun to find something new and interesting. Last night I went for a walk into town to see the Christmas lights, one of my favorite things to do while here in Carmel. I walk through the little outdoor mall they have in town because they do a really good job making it festive. I saw this new donut shop and googled what it was all about. I wasn't sure if they made the donuts or had them trucked in, as many places do. Well, it's a to order place, the donuts are made while you wait. I went this morning and it took 20 minutes because they had to finish proofing to dough. It wasn't busy, so I can only guess they didn't think they would get so many people getting one of everything this morning. I'm not a donut person and with my gluten issues, I took one of the team. I took a bite of each donut while still hot.  Having them right out of the fryer, they're a little greasy but really a warm donut is pretty good. The truffle and gouda cheese one was just weird. 

Hopefully when the kids come back down they're make a stop at the new store. 

Side note - I would never walk into town in Alameda as it has turned into a war zone but I felt perfectly safe here in Carmel, even without Annie. Walking into town was never her favorite thing to do and she would walk really really slow. The minute I turned around to go home she would happily trot home. Really miss her!

Next Generation

I've been coming to this Carmel house for well over 30 years and it warms my heart that the next generation of kids are starting to enjoy the house too. I'm not sure what will happen when they grow up and the house passes to the children of the current owner but for now it's fun.  It's expensive to keep a second home in this area with the property taxes so high so I'm sure the owners children won't be able to hold on to it. 

Uncle Chad is showing Mees how to work a BBQ, which we do a lot of at the house. 

Henk's Quilt and more

This is the final fabric selection for Henk's baby quilt.  I do enjoy shopping for the fabric and then just waiting to see what my quilting friend Patty does with it. For Henk's quilt I asked for the "H" pattern to be used. I'm not sure that is the officially name but that's what I call it. I also went with bright color and a more babyish prints. 

I went a little over board on the buying the fabric, so I sent everything up to Patty to make a few more. 

This set of fabric is for a cousin's baby due in February. She's a foodie and coffee lover so the main print fabric was too cute to pass up. When I found the avocado looking print it was just too funny not to get it. 

Baby quilts don't require a lot of fabric so I've been checking out a consignment craft store here in town. It's very tiny (really don't know how it makes any money) shop and they have lot of end cuts of fabric. I've been picking through it so that's how I ended up with more fabric than Patty would need. Another cousin of Evan's is having a baby so if there's enough (which I'm sure there will be) asked Patty to make a third one. Very lucky to have a such a talented friend who likes to make quilts!

New Project idea

Today I had a meeting with the manager at the local thrift store here in Carmel. I did model a lot my store after this one so I've been trying to get an appointment with the manager for awhile. It was so refreshing to talk to someone who understands what it take to run a store that is depend on volunteers and donations. Got some questions answered that only another manager would know the answer to.

While I was there I picked up this doggie clothes hanger. It was $12, which  was a little high but I had an idea for it. First I have to think of a name for this doggie. I plan to put a whole outfit on the hanger and have a special sale for just that outfit.  So it would be a Fido daily special. 

As of now my store doesn't do sales like the store in Carmel. Half the Carmel store is always on sale because they have a lot of foot traffic everyday. People know that they can't wait for the sales to happen because what they want won't be there. Now at my store the traffic is very slow during the week so having regular sales isn't a good idea. People would wait for the sales. I would never have known to track the number of customers coming into the store as a measure if I should very regular sales. I know this is boring business stuff but it helps me decided which direction to go in. 

Beach Vacation 2021

Even thou I'm spending a few weeks down here in Carmel, it's still a mini vacation in my books. It's a little sad to be here without Annie and going to the beach is just hard. Not the same quietness walking as when Annie was here. 

The grandkids were here the first week it was wild and very loud. Still they loved being here and it's nice to know the family tradition is to continue.  

Now it's only adults here so very quiet and getting plenty of sleep. 

Having a lot of conversations on what the next phase of my life will be and where I should settle. Next year is fast approaching and I have to make some hard choices once again. As much as I hate having to make those choices, at least I have choices and I'm thankful for that. 

An original jacket

This is a one of a kind vintage jacket. I knew as soon as I pulled it out of the bag is was special, even with the age issues it had.  

I saw the hand stitching on the front and then realized the whole thing was hand stitched. The inside was a patchwork design that was also hand done. I thought I would have time to go back and take some close up shots, but it sold in less than an hour. It would have been nice to have it around a little long but it went to a good home and someone who appreciated the work involved in making it!

Whale of a donation

This pile of clothes came from one donor and it's 3 feet high and 6 feet wide. This is the reason we have people make appointments to drop off their donations. It took over 4 hours to cherry pick out the good stuff (I did that part from her car) and get everything on to hangers. Donors like our appointment schedule because the other places will shut down once they're full and you never know when that's going to happen. Taking in only four donations a day is the most our small store can handle. Yes, some days the donations are small but then we get this whales in which takes all day to process. It was surprising that almost all of this donation were clothes that we would take. Usually when it's this much, there's a lot of trashy stuff. 

The head office thinks I can run the store with just one person (when I don't have enough volunteers) but this is the reason why I can't. If I had to leave this donation to handle the front of the store, it would snowball into a hot mess. Without the new stuff coming in, we would have nothing to sell, so then what? 

It is interesting we get a ton of small sizes, (those ladies like to shop a lot) something thrifters complain about. We do have a plus size section but we really have to market that group to get plus size clothing in. 

Too early for Christmas? 2021

I know there is a debate when is it too early to put up your Christmas trees. It's been years since I had a place big enough to put up a real tree. When I first moved to my studio in Cupertino, I did an outdoor tree and decorated the surrounding trees. That was nice since I was outside with Annie all the time and it was a safe neighborhood to sit and enjoy everything. Now here in Alameda I have the space but I don't think I'll do a live tree and there's no question I'll do anything outside. 

As I put away the Halloween things, I've started unpacking Christmas. I don't have much left after years of purging and downsizing.  Decided it's only me that will see my trees (yes I do more than one) and it's fun to my my dining room lite up with holiday lights. 

Auction Week November

It's auction week, my favorite time of the month! It takes me about 2 hours to go through the preview, this auction house is really big. There are so many bidders, I rarely come home with anything. The super cool stuff goes way over retail.

I'm going for the pyrex bowls because I'm putting together another set. I've had a few complete sets in the past and they sell well. As always it's the hunt that makes picking fun. The red bowl is the hardest one to find in good condition. Once people start to put them in the dishwasher the color will start to fade.

 The glass fruit with the brown banana just cracks me up. I let all my bananas go brown for Mee's banana bread, so I'm bidding on it just for fun.

The art is something for the store, just a little bit quirky and colorful.  I can't see the other dealers interested in it so hopefully I'll get it for a good price. 

Favorite Morning Breakfast

I'm not a morning person but after 11 years with Annie I'm use to getting up at 5:30 am. Even with her being gone now for several months, I'm still waking up before sunrise. I know my best creative time is late at night but the two schedules just don't work out. Plus I also have my work schedule to throw into the mix. 

I do have to prep ahead for my meals since eating out all the time gets boring (food isn't all that great) and I hate spending money on over fried and heavy sauced food. My favorite breakfast is avocado toast (toasted with olive oil) with spicy pico de Gallo salsa. I add Trader Joe's everything but the bagel seasoning, black pepper and if I remember fresh grated cheese.

I do have to plan out my avocados so I always have a ripe one ready. Does make a nice fresh crunchy breakfast.  

Tim Holtz's crazy cat card 2021

It takes me weeks to make one card. Crazy work schedule and no creative mojo after spending all day making creative choices at work. Always like watching (really more listening than watching) Tim Holtz's very long videos.  He goes into details on the how and why a product was developed and how to use it. I find that information more helpful than seeing the samples. I love the crazy cat and bird series he has. The snarkyiness of it all is just too funny. 

I took out my gelli plate (after watching Sandy Allnock's video) and just played with color. I didn't have any idea what I would do with all the backgrounds I made but I knew at some point an idea would pop up. It's sort of how I design the displays at work. Being a thrifty store, I never know what is going to be donated so I can't really plan too far ahead. Things can lay around for weeks before I do something with it, which I'm sure drives my staff nuts as they have to step over everything. 

Busy Busy Month - meal prep

It's been a marathon at work. Getting things done around the house afterwork just doesn't happen. 

When I turn on the oven, I like to use it to the max. I roasted my veggie and made roasted chicken wings. All this will be my lunch and dinner for the rest of the week. I do come home very tired so it's nice to have a meal already done and waiting.

I make an olive oil toasted gluten free bagels (Trader Joe's brand) to go with my avocado with salsa for my breakfast. Simple but very tasty.

Make over for the store displays

At the store all the volunteers at one point want to do the displays, thinking it's easy. When they find out how much work it takes, most change their minds. The windows were getting a little boring and very flat because getting on a ladder or set stool isn't something my volunteers want to do. I'm doing a whole new looks - well, I hope it turns out the way I envision it. :)

For my store, the display format changes, depending on what donations we get in. With the holidays coming up I had plans to put up Christmas lights. With the high ceilings I had to bring out the big ladder that barely fits in the window. Going up and down it all day is a work out! I hope to finish before I go. in vacation at the end of the month but it's very slow going doing it myself and with no budget. I'm off to find thin fishing line to hand stars and silver ornaments.