Workshop Schedule 2009

Well finally I think I have all the workshop dates figured out so here they are. Also I should add that I'm not going to put the word out in an email until next week that I've put up the schedule since the next 2 days I'm going to be at the Bench and a Few Good Chairs show so don't call to register until at least Sunday. My dear husband Tim isn't up to speed on all the details and I'll have the sign up book with me. Next week I'll be going full force into putting the word out with the classes so once Monday comes don't delay signing up most of the classes only have room for 8 or 9 people.

Hope you are all out enjoying this awesome week of sunshine and warmer temps. Of course I've been trapped inside but at least I get to watch the ducks enjoy the weather in our backyard while I slave at the computer!

Hpertufa Birdbath Class - evenings 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm - (cost $28) - (Taught by Lesley Snyder)
Dates: Wed. May 27th, Thurs. June 25th, Fri. July 10th, Saturday August15th, Saturday September 12th.

Dichroic Glass Jewellery Workshop- Monday evenings 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm - (cost $30) - taught by Marg Seaton
Dates: May 11th, June 8th, July 13th, August 10th, September 14th.

Fused Glass Window Workshop - All Day Saturdays - 9:30 am to 4:00 pm - taught by Marg Seaton or Wilma Kropla - (cost $80)
Dates: May 23rd, June 20th, July 11th, August 15th, September 19th.

Wood Carving Workshops - taught by Diane Irwin
Saturday May 16th - 9:00 am to 12:00 pm - carve a musical frog (cost $38 )
- 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm carve a shelf elf (cost $38 )
Sunday May 17th - 9:30 am to 4:30 pm - carve & paint a fish decoy (cost $55)
Sunday June 21st - 9:30 am to 4:30 pm - carve a bark house (cost $65)
Saturday July 18th - 9:00 am to 12:00 pm - carve a shelf elf (cost $38)
Sunday August 23rd - 9:00 am to 12:00pm - carve and create a medieval shield (cost $38)
- Kids -ages 7 and up can do this class too.
- 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm - carve a musical frog (cost $38 )

Wood Relief Carving - taught by Terry - (cost $40 ?)
Thursday June 11th - 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm & Friday August 21st 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

All Natural Lip Balm or Ointment Workshop - taught by Bay Woodyard - (cost $30?)
Wednesday May 20th - 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm

All Natural Soapmaking Workshop - taught by Bay Woodyard - (cost $30?)
Sunday June 28th - 9:30 am to 3:00 pm

News Flash!!

Ok so we had our neighbour tree guy come and check out Great Grandmother Willow and it looks like we can do some drastic trimming so that she won't be carrying so much weight and also when she does decide to actually drop to the ground she won't hit our barn/shop! So now we just need to get Glen to come and do the trimming, which hopefully will now be next week since the 2 days we were closed this week have past and he didn't show up.

Anyways so busy, busy, busy at the Goat. I decided to take on another thing and now we are going to have a booth at the Bench and a Few Good Chairs Garden show at the Crystal Palace in Picton. I must be nuts! All this packing of merchandise and stressing as to how to set up a booth that looks good from a couple of folding tables and some crates seems impossible at this point. The good thing is my shipment from B.C. came and it's all this really awesome iron work grills, trellis' and obelisks and stuff so I'll be able to show it off at least. I've been told it's a good show, though I've never been but then I don't go anywhere since I'm always in the shop on weekends. At least everyone comes to visit me and keep me up on the gossip!

For an update to the Good Friday excitement with the by-law officer, here is how it went down. Apparently the by-law officer went to the stores in Bloomfield and later in Picton and told each of them that they had to close their businesses since it was a statuary holiday. Which they did to avoid the fines. Now this by-law is in place mostly these days to protect employees being forced to work on holidays. If Prince Edward County had a "Designated Tourist Season" than we could be exempt from this by-law. The paper work for this must be done at the municipality level and it's arduous work according to the person who was telling me what must be done. Hopefully the local business groups of Bloomfield and Picton will jump on this so it gets sorted out soon.

At the Galloping Goat we are exempt from the by-law since we don't have any employees currently and even then we are smaller then the minimum square footage, plus we sell handicrafts. Hopefully I never have to deal with this problem and I can continue to enjoy the freedom of being open for all the holidays so I can keep trying to make a living!

Othery gossipy news I'm receiving by next weekend a load of brand new hilariously funny signs from a new company I found. Be prepared for serious guffawing, my new favourite one that I'm going to seriously keep for my very own is the sign with a cute little girl with golden curls smiling in the corner of the sign and it reads "All unattended children will be given an expresso and a free kitten!" Hee hee! That made me laugh hard! Luckily, so far I've never had any trouble with unattended kids at my shop, I think it might have to do with the fact we are sitting on a riverbank so most parents are pretty conscientious with their kids around water. Or maybe it's Godzilla coming up out of the river that makes them keep their kids close!!!

Great Grandmother Willow Tree, sad news

Well, thanks to Baxter and his fascination with a squirrel that lives in our favourite tree Great Grandmother Willow beside our little shop we discovered a very large and deep crack in that tree.

She is a fabulous, unique and gigantic willow tree. I think, quite possibly one of the oldest trees in the County because of her mammoth circumference. It takes 4 adults with their arms outstretched to go around her trunk. As far as willows go they usually fall down around 60 yrs old or so. We had 2 willow trees in the back of our house fall down, one week a part. We have been cutting them up slowly over the year and counted the rings to find they were both around 60 yrs old. Those trees are about a quarter of the size of our dear Great Grandmother Willow.

This old dame always gets lots of oohs and aahs from our visitors and everyone seems to be unable to resist pressing a hand on her in wonder. She also gets probably as many photos taken of her as our dear little godzilla rising from the riverbank.

I've taken to tucking in all the little elves, fairies and such that have been damaged, mostly by me moving stuff around, since her bark looks like a magicial wonderland where elves would happily live.

So here it is, the sad news, while Baxter was starring so fixedly on the tree we walked around to see what was so fascinating that he wouldn't even blink. When we looked there was a giant crack running from the base of the trunk up about 15 feet. It was so deep you could actually peer into the tree and see snow hiding in the crevice and it was deep enough I could have put my arm in up to my shoulder. This crack wasn't there before the winter and now that it is there we can see that the tree is practically hollow. This is very scary since the weight of the top of the tree is massive so without some intervention she will fall. Considering how close she is to our barn there is a good chance she will knock the corner as she drops and do serious damage to the building.

We have put in the call to the tree service and are hoping that if we can just take the top off we may still be able to keep a large portion of her. It's bad timing since the number of critters that have made their spring homes in all her lovely nooks and crannies are going to be very upset.

I'll keep you posted as to how this plays out but I'm going to be shedding alot of tears if she really does need to be cut down. Even if we manage to keep 15 or 20 feet of her so the animals and woodpeckers can still use her for homes it is going to be very sad. I know willows don't ever normally get this big and she has lived a grand life but I really, really don't want to loose her.