Laffing Horse Crafts

…what a week!

I’m some 30 orders behind, but I’m working on them as fast as I can as soon as I get done with this post. We got a huge surge in orders starting April 15… I wonder if taxes had something to do with that. seems like every time I get caught up, something like this happens. If you’re wating for an order, rest assured it’ll be coming real soon!

Meanwhile, Jen was busier than a one-legged man in a paper hanging contest… or something like that… as she got ready for and oversaw the opening of the Ozark Folk Center’s craft village. She tells me that, although records of opening weekend headcounts have not been kept in the past because it’s a free weekend (normally admission is, I think, $10), records were set or at least approached in spite of a rainy Friday and a breezy Saturday.

So, she’s at the Folk Center and I’m all by my lonesomeness manning the booth at the first ever Artisans Market on the Square held during the Arkansas Folk Festival in Mountain View, AR. We had participated in the festival last year, and we were disappointed. This year, with the added emphasis on artisans, things were great and we’ll be back!

That doesn’t mean things are calming down! The Ozark Folk Center is open at least 4 days per week through October and I’ll be there at least two days per week and Jen will be there all the time. I’m still hard at work in my studio, the Off The Beaten Path Studio Tour is coming in September and I have to get ready for that (can’t start too early!) and I’m starting an apprenticeship to learn the making of white oak baskets – like I need another craft – Ha! For those keeping count this’ll make white oak baskets, broom-making, woodturning, woodworking, spinning, weaving, soaping… and a few I’m sure I’ve forgotten… Ha Ha!

Keep in touch and I’l try to keep this updated.

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I just said one of the reasons we moved here was water. Colorado had been in such a severe drought that we could grow nothing, doncha know…

Well, safe to say we got our wish and then some. in the last 90 days, we’ve had more moisture (between the storm that spawned the 1st tornado that left us without power and phone for 7 days, the solid foot plus of wet snow that left us wthout power for 3 days, the 14-inches of rain that caused flooding allover southern Arkansas and last night’s more then seven-inches if rain… a total of about 30 inches) than we got in Colorado in 2004, 2005, and 2006 combined.

Last night, about 4 a.m., we heard a roaring and got up to investigate. The Bear Pen Holler was about 9 inches from coming over the banks and turning our sheep pasture into a pond. Anyone got some water wings for sheep? After checking the weather radio (Thank you Mr. Augustine) and calling the Sheriff for a local weather update (Had a dam burst up top? no. But a couple of bridges had buckled. One on 263 betwixt us and Timbo and one north of Mountain View on the Sylamore . I’m told JoJo’s and Angler’s both fine fishing and catfish restaurants are no more) we decided to go and check the Bear Pen again. It had receded and we felt cafe enough to go back to bed for all the good that it did… I kept hearing the roaring.

Ah, but why write this on a website about woodworking? Seems I have some overdue orders! It’s been the weather keeping me out of the shop. When the weather clears up and the power’s restored, I’m in there! Your orders are shipping as fast as I can carve ‘em. I’ve not been shirking my turning, either…

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Meanwhile, keep these folks that have been hurt by these storms in your thoughts and prayers – I don’t care which denomination. We’ve been inconvenienced and we got a little soggy, but we’ve not been hurt. Some folks have not been that lucky.

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