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We received several custom orders for holiday gifts. We wanted to wait long enough to ensure that we did not ruin any surprises, so we are going to show a few of these items over the next month.    The Grinch Sign.  We started with a bourbon barrel lid and sanded it down to get a smooth surface.    A conditioner was applied to bring out the natural beauty of the wood.    The wood design was cut and used to determine the best placement.    The design for the lettering was sketched to obtain an idea for proper spacing.   ...

I keep reading articles about how the hospitals are struggling under the massive patient case load and inability to hire qualified workers. Some hospitals have resorted to utilizing National Guard services (paid for by government use of tax dollars). One common theme that each article points to is the stress of dealing with complicated Covid patients as the primary reason why so many qualified healthcare professionals are leaving the field.  A virus is constantly being given a lot more credit for destruction and devastation than it deserves. Healthcare people are a tough breed. You have to be tough to see...

  As I have mentioned in previous posts, we have recently moved to a larger and more rural place. In preparation for the move, we made plans and more plans. We tried to anticipate all of the new things that would cause problems or that would change the way that we normally do things. Despite this preparation, there were a few things that snuck up on us.   #1 - A Circular Staircase is a Cat's Paradise It didn't take the cats long to discover that the dog couldn't climb this particular staircase. They have taken to it as a refuge...

Dear Customer,   We have seen the headlines everywhere: "Prices Are Surging" - CNN, June 2021 "Shipping and Logistics Costs are Expected to Keep Rising in 2022" - WSJ, December 2021 "US Prices Rising at 6.2%, Fastest Rate for Three Decades" - BBC, November 2021   And we have personally seen the prices of our supplies continue to rise. We work hard to shop sales and be frugal (but not cheap) in obtaining the materials needed in order to keep our prices affordable. Unfortunately, we cannot keep up with the rapid rise in production costs. We will have to raise...

Our animal-loving son was very predictable this year with his holiday wish-list. The main theme of his list included an animal and feed.   Since the weather has pushed off the build for the barn a bit, we were unsure if we could take on any of these animals for his Christmas present. We discussed it and found a referral to a family selling Pygmy goats. We have never owned goats before and may be naive, but the smaller size seems a bit more manageable. My thought was that if they are smaller, we may be able to contain them...