You Get What You Pay For

Saw this on Yarn Pals this morning.  It is so true!!!   I couldn't resist copying it and pasting it here on my blog.  I'm not sorry if some readers are insulted but my arms, fingers and back resent 'customers' who expect a 'good price' for a handmade article.  

 Yarn Pals

Ann Mim Lambert  

This has never happened to me . So it’s not directed to anyone I know.

A lady wanted to purchase a beautiful hand knit dress and spotted a crafter who did absolutely amazing work, but she charged a good price too. The lady thought that her price was way too high so she approached the knitter and in quite a brusque fashion stated "I want to buy a dress from you, but I think you charge too much." The crafter was a little taken aback but replied "Ok, how much do you think i should charge?" The lady replied “I think you should charge “X” much, because the yarn will cost this much, and ribbons this much, and buttons this much. I even factored in the price of scissors." The final price the lady had calculated was a lot cheaper than the crafter's original price, but she said "Ok, deal. You will get your dress in a week". The customer is very pleased with herself and can’t resist telling all her friends what a fabulous deal she has negotiated and how smart she is, and that in a week she will have her gorgeous knitted dress.

A week later her parcel arrives in a lovely packaged box. She opens it and inside is yarn, ribbons, buttons and even scissors. Angrily she contacts the crafter asking “How could you do this to me? I asked you for a dress and you sent me a box of yarn, ribbon, buttons and scissors?!" The crafter quietly replies "My dear, you got exactly what you paid for, if you think there is something missing, you need to pay for it."

Moral of the story, when you buy handmade you are not just buying the materials you are buying the crafters, time, effort, love and dedication that goes into making your items…

I have seen many "memes" about how people will buy top $$$$$ for anything brand name but when it comes to something handmade that always want to pay peanuts. When buying something handmade you are buying quality work, in which the crafter has put her time, inspiration, imagination and pride to lovingly produce a beautiful end result......... ! Please be respectful of their hard work and dedication..... Enjoy your evening....((HUGS)).

Retired...Again!

    It's official, I am retired from the craft shop...at least for the rest of this year.  And I'm walking without the walker more every day.  At first it was just thru the house, but I've been grocery shopping without it and walking around outside the house without it.  I have to admit, I go a lot slower without the walker...especially outside the house...but I'm trying!!  I used it when I went to the library the other day becoz Ilion library has a ramp and I felt like I need some extra support.  I've also used it whenever we stopped at a restaurant. I don't feel confident with all those double doors and extra rugs!  (Hey, the walker even causes the rugs to roll at the edges, so I'm actually beginning to think it may be time to go back to a cane.)  I haven't started to drive again...I don't feel confident enough, my reflexes aren't quick enough yet!

   Last week Zoey got loose and we both had to work to capture her.  Jeff followed her to Wally's house and got her hooked up to the leash.  By the time they had walked back to the fence between our properties Jeff was slowing down so I took the leash and 'us girls' walked home alone.  I had her cut across the front lawn so she would stop trying to walk so fast and Jeff actually beat us home! I had to be extra careful looking out for chipmunk holes in the lawn!!  Made it without tripping or falling but we both had trouble going up the stairs to the backdoor.  Zoey took a nap when we got inside but Jeff and I had to go to town so no rest for us!

   This morning I had to untangle Zoey from around the pine tree by the porch.  She believes everything is 'one-way' and stops moving when she feels the lead pulling on her neck.  I got her untangled and into the house but the lead was still wrapped somewhat around the tree.  Jeff untangled the lead later.

   Although I am now a retired shop worker, I'm still knitting for the shop so yesterday I started another baseball sweater.  This one is red and white and will be a size 4.  I'm about half-way finished with the v-neck and I hope to finish it this weekend.  Next week I'd like to do some girly sweater and some summer hats.  I want to restock for Independence Day by June 29th and I'll be sure to post photos here first! 

   

What's New!

    A lot has happened since I last posted anything...starting with the days just before Easter when I was having a hard time standing up and walking. Jeff  called an ambulance for me on Good Friday and tried to convince me I needed to go to the hospital, but I resisted...no, make that refused!

   Finally on Easter Sunday, I gave in and he called them again and I allowed myself to be taken to the 'only available bed' in the system at...Cobleskill Hospital!  I tested positive for Covid twice...once before getting in the ambulance and again in the ER.   While in the hospital I was put in an Isolation Room but never treated with any medication for Covid.  On Monday, they discontinued my Warfarin and put me on Lovenox, an injectable blood thinner.  On Tuesday, I was discharged and sent home with a 'kit' for self-injection and an Rx for Lovenox.  

   If you remember Monday had been the Easter Blizzard and the ride home in the ambulance took 'the long way around'.  We went north of Little Falls, turned west to go around Ilion and head towards Utica, finally turning back east onto the Thruway and going to Little Falls.  Then we turned again west on to Rte 5 and back towards my house.  Smallsbush Rd was clear and our driveway had a track to follow in but out car was parked besides the house and the ambulance attendants said I had to walk to the porch.  With one attendant on each side and a walker, I just walked home. No problem. 

    I didn't discover until I was getting ready for bed that night that I had been sent home with an Rx for Lovenox but without any Lovenox, so I just took my regular dose of Warfarin that night.  Part of my discharge orders included having an INR done ASAP, so I called Herkimer Bassett the next morning and made an appointment for an INR for that afternoon.  

   I was not popular at Herkimer when I got there and they found out I had been hospitalized due to Covid, but they did do the INR (1.7) and sent me home with another appointment in one week.  By then my INR (4.6) was totally out of control and we started a weekly routine that lasted until this past week when it was finally back where it belonged (2.3). 

   Cobleskill also sent me home with orders for a walker...and a commode which didn't fit around/over our toilet so I never used it.  The walker I did use.  I had adjusted it to match the walker I was using in the hospital but Sharon, my nurse at Herkimer, agreed with me that it wasn't adjusted properly, so we raised it.  I found the walker easy to use...except going into stores that had rugs just inside the doors.  I kept tripping over them! This week I started walking without the walker thru the house and from the car to a grocery cart.  (I used a grocery cart and walked around Walmart this week for the first time in 2 months!  We went in thru the Grocery entrance and I pushed the grocery cart back to the Yarn and back to the check-out before going to sit in the car and wait for Jeff to finish his shopping (Rx's).  I was exhausted!!) I've been doing short grocery trips to Hannaford.  That's my size store!!

   I was lucky enough to be given a large gift of yarn from Maggie, my college friend (and after choosing 20 skeins to keep) I shared the gift with a high school friend who knits for her church.  I have more than enough yarn in my stash to keep me knitting for a couple of years!!   I've also done a couple of shawls for the shop with some beautiful hand-dyed superwash wools that I received in my Yarn Pal swaps.  

   I haven't driven a car in over 2 months and am hesitant to start right now.  I can't raise my right leg fast enough to get it off the gas and onto the brake for me.  I'm just not comfortable with the idea of driving...and the idea of driving over 30 miles one way to the shop is not something I want to do.  If I did have Covid, it made my arthritis worse...especially in my arms and shoulders.  I have to make up my mind in the next couple of weeks about the shop.  Maybe it's time to become a non-worker...just knit and send my sweaters and shawls to Cooperstown. Just the idea of that makes me feel old!  Oh, well!! 

Another Automobile Adventure

    Well, the never-ending saga of our Automobile Adventure added another chapter today.  I had a 1pm appointment in Ilion for my eyes at Woolner's so we headed out about 12:30. By the time we had turned on to Rte 5 from Smallsbush, Jeff had decided something was wrong...maybe a tire was soft...so he headed to Stewart's in Herkimer for air.  As he turned off Rte 5 to take the less traveled route thru the southside, the trip got bumpier.  The last block or so we knew we had blown the tire and were probably riding on the rim.  Yep, the right front tire was no more! (Hopefully, the rim survived!) When we got to Stewart's, Jeff got out the 'donut' and jack and started to change the tire.  Another man had just finished putting air in his tires and he offered to help, so between them they were finally able to get the jack to lift the car and get the lug nuts loose (a real feat since they had been tightened with a hydrohalic wrench on Monday when the brakes and rotors had been done!)  Another guy lent me his phone and even got the number for my optometrist in Ilion so I could call them and tell them I wouldn't be there and why.  Without those 2 guys we probably would still be sitting there in Stewart's parking lot. After they got the tire changed, we went to Tallman's Tire and ordered a replacement. It will be here on Monday. 

    I had to call Herkimer Bassett when I got home and reschedule my regular INR which was suppose to be after my eye appointment.  There was no sense having it done today as stress can effect the results.  I was still shaking when we got home and I'm sure my numbers would have been out of range again. I rescheduled my INR for next Tuesday afternoon and my eye appointment for May 19th.  Let's hope nothing unusual happens those days! 

    I had hoped for something special for my birthday (tomorrow) but a $110 tire wasn't it. Everyone kept saying 'don't drive too much on that donut' so I don't think this will be an exciting weekend...just another quiet weekend at home in the country.

 

The Strange Legend of the Christmas Pickle

As the legend goes, the Christmas Pickle is an old German custom that started with parents hiding a pickle-shaped green ornament deep in the boughs of the Christmas tree after the children had gone to bed on Christmas Eve. Then on Christmas morning before presents were opened, the children would search for that hidden pickle on the tree and whoever found it first, would get an extra gift. (One flaw with this German tradition story is that children in Germany open gifts on Christmas Eve, not Christmas Day.).

So, where and how did this strange quirky legend start?

One origin story goes back to the American Civil War (1861-1865) and a Bavarian-born soldier Private John C. Lower. He was enlisted in the 103rd Pennsylvania Infantry, captured in North Carolina in April 1864 and sent to the prison in Andersonville, Georgia (also known as Fort Sumter) where by August 31 there were over 31,000 prisoners. According to the Lower family history, by Christmas Eve he was starving, weak, and near death when he asked the guard for a pickle, which the guard provided. Miraculously, John recovered and credited the pickle with saving his life. After the war ended in 1865, he returned to his family in Pennsylvania and began a Christmas tradition of hiding a real pickle on the Christmas tree each year, with the first person to find it being assured of good fortune in the coming year.

Another tale is set in the Middle Ages (some versions say Victorian Era) when two Spanish children were returning home from boarding school, stopped to stay at an inn, and the innkeeper put them in a barrel of pickles. St. Nicholas happened to pass by, tapped the barrel with his wand, and set them free

CLEAN HOUSE

 

Insurance Companies

   The company who holds my house mortage has always provided my house insurance and I never complained about the cost until recently.  Last year the insurance went up to $500 a year and I thought it was too high so I decided to bundle my homeowners and car insurance thru All-State and try to save some money.  It seemed too good to be true!  The insurance payment went down to 1/3rd of what it had been and I was happy.  Then All-State decided our property wasn't clean enough.  There were tree branches over the yard that they felt should be picked up, our wood pile wasn't stacked properly, our lawn furniture wasn't put away...the list went on, so they cancelled our homeowners insurance.  Our house is on a clearing in the woods.  There is only 1 access to our house from the paved road and the back of our house has been used as garden and wood pile till now.  We do not allow access around the house because of the placement of the septic tank.  The back of our house is not even viewable from the front of the house or the road! 

   I contacted Progressive Insurance and inquired about bundling homeowners and car insurance thru them.  The price was lower than it was thru All State so I cancelled my car insurance and signed up with Progressive.  I was surprised to get a refund from All State!  But I was shocked to get a bill from them for cancelling my auto policy. That's where we are right now. More to follow.