The end of July! Days are getting shorter, folks on Etsy are getting antsy to hear Holiday Plans from the top dogs, the ones with initials: CEO, CCO, CFO, CTO.

What kinds of promotions will be featured? What kinds of advertising will occur? Will EtsyKids finally end? Will the issue of copyright infringement be dealt with? And especially-- will sales pick up?

Ah the many questions of an online handmade seller...

"Monsoon" rains and Crabgrass.

When it rains, it pours. It's Arizona, so it's not like a real monsoon - just a time of thunderstorms, humidity and rain. Generally it starts around the 4th of July and lasts until September. During this time, the crabgrass grows about 3 feet a day, and the ants try and move into the house.
We've been doing battle with the ants, and I think we'll try hiring a young and healthy gardener to remove the crabgrass. Woman or man, it doesn't really matter, just so long as they can identify tomato plants, squash, beans... and are willing to pull the grass out by the roots. Crabgrass puts down roots along the length of its stems- spreads out and digs in and is very difficult to get rid of. Believe me, if we weren't both a couple of arthritic old people, we'd be doing it ourselves. But It's hard work.

Doesn't sound like rocket science though, does it?

I assume in this economy, we might find someone willing to pull weeds for money. Or a gas card...

Meanwhile, we continue to make things and stay busy in a non-painful way. We'd rather not damage ourselves any worse than we are already. After all, it's only money, right?

Random Thoughts

As soon as I say it, they'll probably be back, but: The Ants are Gone! for now. Which is a good thing.

Speaking of good things, I read where Martha Stewarts' company is predicted to be on the downhill side of the bell curve. Apparently making fancy stuff to sweeten up your home is becoming passe. When the economy falters, does that impact the crafting venue?
Folks have been crafting for hundreds of years, so I don't expect that to stop. But as finances tighten, disposable income fades. "Good things" cost money- more so than "Just OK" things... Walmart (the home of "Just OK") has a new logo and is said to be thriving in these tight times.They do have the advantage of offering everything in one place. It may not be what you'd really like, but at least you aren't spending wads of cash on gas to drive from store to store. And for some, that is a big deal.

I saw a really good paperback the other day, kind of like the "Whole Earth Catalog" from the 70's - all kinds of info to help you live off the land, or closer to the land at any rate. There are so many simple ways to cut costs and be "green" - things we used to do back then that saved us money. I thought- "Wow, maybe I'll check that out-" so I picked it up to thumb through.

The typeface was so small I would have had to use a magnifying glass to read it. Sadly, I set it back on the shelf.

The attack of the Killer Ants

OK, so to preface this entry, we're OLD, and we don't see that well anymore, either one of us. Mrfoxaz has Graves eye disease & he sees double most of the time. I have parafoveal telangiectasias- and when I try to focus, the center part of my retina has some dark spots, so I can't focus for close vision. I have to kinda look off to one side.

So the other day, we decided to take a little nap. We snoozed for maybe a half hour or so and I woke up itching and scratching. I had big red welts all over me!
We took all the bedding off the bed and looked everywhere. I thought it must have been a Walpi Tiger- a bad bug that sucks blood from people & pets. After moving the whole bedroom around & crawling around with flashlight, mrfoxaz found an ant. A teeny little nasty ant. A pissant. Ouch!

The other day, we had pissants swarming the cat food, and we sprayed and vacuumed and cleaned and we hadn't seen any more. Ahh, but we were wrong!

Tonight, Mrfoxaz went in the bathroom to take a shower and the sink and counter was covered with those damned ants!! So we cleaned and sprayed and took everything out of the drawers & cabinets... Then went outside and dusted all around the foundation and vents.

It's been really hot the last week or so- over a hundred during the day- that's when the ants come in. We're waging WAR!!

Got my foot fixed, Mrfoxaz got his pain shots...

Ah, yes, the booboo report... We're slowly getting back to normal- I had my toe straightened out Friday (it was hammering, but not in a productive way) so I'm stumping around with a funny shoe- the kind that's oh-so-fashionable... Thankfully I can drive, so today I drove Mrfoxaz down to the surgery center for his pain block shots. He gets them once a month and they seem to help. It's amazing the number of people who are disabled in this way- chronic pain.

Sunday my faithful computer decided 5 years was long enough- and it told us something was corrupted and it just wasn't feeling up to booting up. After dusting and checking all the connections and basically spending the entire day trying to figure it out, I decided my stimulus check could best be spent on a new one. I mean. I was having serious Etsy forum withdrawals and needed my "fix" So now, all I have to do is restore al my favorites and my email addresses and retake my photos... you get the drift. A big pain in the patoot.

I'm working on a couple freeform crochet projects- when I get the camera software back up and running, I'll post photos...

Stay cool, and enjoy yourself.
Mrs foxaz

Rearranging my "blog furniture"

When I was younger, before computers and the Internet - (yes, I could be your mother) - I used to enjoy moving furniture around , often, to make it seem like the room was new. I just enjoyed seeing things from a different angle, making a new space.

Now, I can change my blog page around to satisfy that urge. And it isn't half so painful, in terms of lifting and back injuries.

Today, I added a hit counter (so I'll know how many times I've visited) and a slideshow of some of our work. Some of these are available at our etsy store - www.foxaz.etsy.com. I've been experimenting with ACEOs-(Art Cards Editions & Originals) using some of my digitally tweaked photos. They are a lot of fun to make, like little baseball card-size art pieces.

In the slideshow you'll also see antler pendants and earrings are by mr fox, crocheted stuff by me, and some photos of the iris in the garden this year. The iris blooms are so beautiful and short-lived. And this year, the wind has been so strong. It really sucks the life out of plants, drying everything out and knocking it over.

Now that I've changed things up and added some deep thoughts, I think I'll go craft...
Don't forget to check the Sunday Secrets at www.postsecret.com !

Arizona's getting hot-

Time for summer crafting by day, and gardening early in the morning and later in the day. I'm out of commission for the garden - have a diabetic ulcer on my toe, and will have surgery next week. Diabetes is certainly one of the biggest bummers that life can hand you.

But I can sit with my foot up and make my little crocheted pins and pendants for my Etsy shop. And read the forums and look at all the pretty treasuries. Life is good. Sorta.

I marbled some paper the other day, and will probably make some little notebooks with the many kinds of paper I have collected over the years. Can you say "hoarder"? That's me.

Mr fox is doing all the weeding and continuing to work on his beautiful jewelry. Stop in at our store to see more!