Weekly Mileage #179 and Product Photos

Monday after school in the morning, I started sourcing tools for my tool kits. It took longer than I anticipated since some of the names of different items are not as obvious as I'd think. I have sources for most of the tools, now I need to order samples so I can make sure I actually want to buy 100, 200, or more of that item.

looks super comfy, right?

I want to open for registration/enrollment around the middle of November so I can ship kits the last half of December and start classes the beginning of January. But I need to have everything ready to go before then: videos recorded and edited and their corresponding materials kits for the first four projects, and the tool kits for at least 100 families. I have no idea how many will enroll, but I'd rather have too many than too few. I may offer perspective students a signup so they receive notification when enrollment actually opens. That should give me a ballpark to work off of.

cute little dragon neckerchief slide I made for Sunshine

Monday evening Sunshine and I went to her socially distant court of honor. She received her first class advancement and several merit badges.

pretty sunset during the court of honor

Tuesday Jeremy and I celebrated our 19th anniversary! Our celebration consisted of ordering Five Guys so neither of us had to cook dinner. Sunshine suggested going out to eat, but most dining rooms aren't open, and even if they are, we don't want to eat in them right now. It was easier just to stay home.

After school and music lessons I worked on my batch of buckets from last week. I also worked a bit on the structure of my course. I'm thinking 3 semesters a year = enrollment open three times a year. I researched the difference between courses and memberships a bit more, then tracked down some companies that offer physical product subscription memberships (a lot of people offer digital product subscription memberships). Got some good ideas from what others are doing, but still thinking about how I want to do it.

little boys jumping on the trampoline with the hose

Wednesday after school I finally finished the batch of buckets. I also finally moved the trunks from the basement upstairs, which opens up some space in the basement. Jeremy got a good start sorting all the papers still in the basement (the trunks were full of army crap). We had the boys haul all their toys up to their room. Half of them were already up there anyway and they're forever leaving toys scattered across the floor. Moving them upstairs will allow me more storage space for all the tool kits and materials kits. Once Jeremy finishes sorting his papers, I'll sell the train table I built years ago. It's the right size for me to work on, but it's too top heavy for me to add legs to, so it's time for it to go so I can bring in a taller table or two.

she loves snuggling on soft cushions

Thursday I worked on lighting, setting up backgrounds, taking pictures of buckets, and so on. Having a proper setup makes photos so much easier. I also tried out positioning cameras for video and moved things around in the basement a bit more. I also purchased my school domain!

We had a large deposit show up in our bank account that took us a minute to figure out its source. Turns out it was back VA disability payments. They date it back to when the process was originally started. We haven't received the paperwork yet, but apparently he's got at least a partial disability rating.

sitting quietly in the car

Friday we went for a hike to the river with kids and friends. The heat is draining me so bad- even just sitting outside for two hours leaves me feeling awful. I made an appointment to see my sleep doc next week- hopefully she's got some ideas that will be helpful.

I worked on my school logo, which is a variation of my shop logo.

Saturday I started cutting out music notebooks, notebook covers, and medium totes (two each) to list in my shop for sale.

I stayed up late Friday night chasing a random thought, which was a big mistake. I've finally been getting to sleep at a decent time for most of the last week or so and was feeling fairly decent for me. Saturday and Sunday I didn't feel so great. It's disappointing, but is added incentive to make sure I get to bed on time each night- no more late nighters.

I did 5 mile bike rides Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday (doing some catch-up). The shorter distance fits into my schedule better than 10 miles and is less tiring.

looking for minnows

Weekly Mileage
Tuesday- 5.00 miles biked
Wednesday- 5.00 miles biked
Thursday- 5.00 miles biked
Friday- 1.30 miles hiked
Saturday- 5.00 miles biked
total- 21.30 miles

2020 totals

29 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
0 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

166.79 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
22.50 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
250.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
439.29 miles total

Sunday Funny

Now that we have another member in our family, we have another contributor to the Sunday Funnies.

The other day, Jeremy got the propane tank filled and hoisted it from our parking area onto the railing of the back deck. Then he went through the house and out to the deck to put the tank away.

Oreo followed him out to the deck, got agitated, and started barking loudly. She rarely barks, so this was notable.

She was looking in the direction of the propane tank, but we thought maybe there was a critter behind it, near the cars. Then Jeremy grabbed the tank and brought it over to the grill and we realized that no, she was barking at the propane tank. Maybe she didn't like the looks of the small blue rhino on the label? Who knows.

In the picture, she's trying to bite the offending label off the tank.

Weekly Mileage #178 and a Big Step Forward in My Leather Working Business

Monday we officially started our school year. This year my goal is to be better about separating school time from work time, which I haven't done as good as I'd like the last couple years. I'm also working on getting started at a consistent time, which we also haven't been good at. I like getting started on school work earlier in the day since it means I can have the afternoon for work, but it's tiring getting up earlier. Hopefully that's just the keto flu talking (a fun part of eating low carb), in which case next week shouldn't be quite so bad as I get more adjusted to eating low carb.

Since they weren't able to do their Spring Session, the kids' music teacher has them recording one of the songs they've been working on so they can be uploaded to a central location for the students to watch. We did River's recording this week and isn't he so adorable?!

Part of eating low carb is making sure to supplement electrolytes, and I've realized I have to keep a close eye on them, especially if I've been outside. Friday morning was a little cooler, so we went down to the river, but we stayed too long again. I was so wiped out. I felt a little better after drinking some electrolytes, but I was still more tired than I'd like. I've decided to go back to  my sleep doc and see if there's anything we can do about the heat affecting me so badly.

her first hike!

I've been working on a batch of 10 buckets this week. The assembly line process really is good for identifying weak points in the manufacturing process and tightening things up.

just hanging out on a fallen tree

Thursday night we met with a few of our YW for class activities. The other leader there just launched a course on how to unschool your children (her oldest is a year older than Sunshine and she's homeschooled from the beginning as well), and she saw one of my buckets and mentioned she'd love to have me teach her kids to do some leatherwork and that she thought I could offer classes in our home to small groups.

Sunshine and her friend made a bench out of rocks and a piece of driftwood, but the wood was wet so they put large leaves on the board

As we talked, I realized this is the idea I've been looking for. I've known for awhile now that I wanted to teach some kind of online course, but I hadn't figured out who my target audience would be or even my topic. Considering that my target audience for my buckets and totes is homeschool moms, it should have been an obvious leap to teach their children the basics of leatherwork. I'm so glad she said what she did since I had managed to miss this.

just sitting on the bench

I'm not sold on the logistics of hosting in-home classes, though. Aside from the whole social distancing thing, our basement where I work is not large (and is currently cluttered with stuff Jeremy still needs to finish sorting) and people would have to traipse though the house to get there, which would mean the house would need to be cleaner than it currently is... However, the benefit of teaching this in-person first would be invaluable when it comes to recording lessons that would be available as part of a membership or course (still deciding which one- there's pros and cons to each).

little boys taking the offshoot trail that diverges, then converges with the main trail

In a membership, I'd provide new patterns and materials every other month or quarterly, along with videos on how to put that item together. In a course, I could have a variety of patterns that get progressively more difficult, and can be completed at their own speed. What will most likely happen is that I start as a membership, adding new patterns every other month or quarterly, then when I have enough, I convert it into a course, using the patterns I previously released.

There's some logistics I still need to figure out, like whether people could sign up anytime or only at specific times, which would in turn impact the materials kits and tool kits that would be needed. I don't want to be sending kits out every day- I'd rather do it all at once, every other month or so. And the kits would be an integral part of the membership so that busy parents don't have to find the tools and materials needed. They arrive at their doorstep, they watch the video, they do the project. Kind of like KiwiCrate, but a bit more involved.

my shirt arrived for the next race I'm registered for, but it's still a month away

Before I can move forward with any of this though, I need to start doing a lot more videos and get comfortable in front of the camera. I also need to source the tools to go in a beginner leatherworkers tool kit that will be offered for sale along with the videos and materials kits for each pattern. Speaking of which, I also need to come up with simple patterns that kids can hand stitch. I have patterns that would work, but they're someone else's designs and I'd need to pay royalties if I used them. I'd rather keep as much money as possible and invest in hiring people to help with other aspects of the business: social media, videography, cutting fabric and leather for products, and maybe even helping with the sewing if I can loosen up my control issues enough.

As much as I like the idea of not having to worry about employees and all the things I'd have to do for them, if I want to grow my business to the point where it replaces Jeremy's income, I will need to hire help. Some people can run a business all by themselves, but I can't do it all, especially with my health issues. And I don't want my life to revolve around my business- I want to be able to take time off. Hiring help will free me up to focus on the more enjoyable aspects as well as allow me more free time in general, which is needed since I have no desire to keep working at the pace I've been going- I would like to work a lot less each week.

Sunshine's out there on the dock, waiting to dive in and retrieve a weight off the bottom

Saturday Sunshine went to an aquatics event at the local Scout camp so she could work on her swimming merit badge. I thought about driving home, then returning to pick her up, but ultimately decided it would be a better use of my time to stay out there and just work in the car. I worked on posts for both my websites, prepped social media posts, and tried to stitch a neckerchief slide.

I'd gathered everything the night before, but forgot to put my cutting board in my tote bag with the rest of the stuff I needed. Without the cutting board I was dead in the water.

Sunshine didn't quite finish her swimming merit badge- she doesn't have the endurance for the longer required swims and wasn't able to complete them. This December we'll have her do swim lessons and build up her stamina. The council offers another aquatics event in January, so she should be able to finish the merit badge then.

The original plan had been for her to do swim team this spring to build her skills and endurance. Then she'd go to Scout camp and do her merit badge there. But we all know how this year's gone, so neither happened.

Last night we had another casualty of Oreo's teeth: one gray running shoe, size Ocean.

Add that to the chair in the library (she chewed one arm, one corner of the seat cushion, and one corner of the frame), my phone charging cord, her first doggie harness, multiple tennis balls, and every soft chew toy we've bought her. She does like to chew on things....

Weekly Mileage
Friday- 1.30 miles hiked
total- 1.30 miles

2020 totals

28 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
0 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

165.49 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
22.50 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
230.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
417.99 miles total

Sunday Funny

This is a box that Sunshine had turned into a LEGO dollhouse a couple years ago. She finally got rid of it and Ocean claimed it before it ended up in the recycling bin. Because who doesn't want to wear a box house?

Weekly Mileage #177 and Our New Puppy!

Tuesday Sunshine had an orthodontist appointment and the kiddos had their music lessons.

I'm working on shop products again, starting with the buckets. I'm working on 5 at a time, which has been eye-opening and resulted in some changes in how I will put together future buckets. I need to cut down on production time, so any time-saving measures I can employ are good.

Wednesday it wasn't raining, so I power washed a bench and the roof of the RV, then replaced the rotten vent covers. I was afraid it would be a huge pain, but it was quite easy to do (for once!). Since I power washed first, it was wet and dirty, but I figured that was better than sitting on who-knows-what that was on the roof. 

what it looked like last week

more holes and cracks appeared, just from touching it

clean and shiny new cover

We finally gave in and bought a new dishwasher. We'd hoped we could put it off till we re-do the kitchen, but it's gotten to the point where it wasn't even washing the dishes. It had a good run, though. I think it was original to the house, so it was about 22 years old.

Thursday I rode my bike before going to the chiropractor and running errands. I'd worked on my buckets on Wednesday, but then decided to change up the handles from what I'd originally planned. So Thursday I tried a few different options before deciding on what I wanted to do.

Friday morning it wasn't raining so we had a socially distant playdate with our friends. We brought Oreo (more on her in a minute!) along and she did pretty well.

I finished my batch of 5 buckets and immediately started thinking about what I wanted to work on next. I want enough to have on hand when I list them in my shop, but I also want to get going on tote bags, so I don't want to do too many just yet.

Saturday I started working on a batch of 10 buckets. Doing a bunch at the same time is much easier when it comes to stopping and starting. Assembly lines are more efficient and I can pause in between each step if I need to.

skipping the edges of the handles so they have a slight rounded edge

I sit down, cut a bunch of handles, trim them out, coat them in neatsfoot oil, then set them aside. Then I get my tags engraved and cut and then coat them in neatsfoot oil and set them aside. Then I cut all the canvas pieces. Then I sew the center seam on all of them. The longest part is sewing the leather strips to the canvas and then the bottom to the rest of the bucket.

I'm not done with this batch, but I did make good progress on it.

And now for the buried lede:

Over the weekend we adopted a 5-6 month old puppy named Oreo! We found her on our local shelter listing, but it took about a week for them to get back to us, so we weren't sure if we'd get the chance to meet her.

her listing photo- not a great one, and definitely doesn't show her personality

They're currently doing appointment-only visits, so we couldn't just drop in (this is a larger shelter than the two we visited last week).

Anyway, they finally got back to us, so we went to meet her and take her for a walk on the grounds. She'd actually been adopted around the middle of July, along with 4 litter mates, but she was returned at the beginning of August because of "high energy". While she does have energy, it's not consistent, so we can't figure out what exactly the complaint was.

RIP phone charger....

She does like to chew stuff, so the house is more tidy than it's been since the boys were born 😂 Shoes are put away, toys are off the floor, counters are cleared off... it's great!

Her paperwork said she's an Australian cattle dog (also known as a blue heeler) cross, I'm guessing because of the markings on her chest and feet. However, going off her ears and face shape, she looks a lot like a miniature black lab. She doesn't have the stocky body of the blue heeler. Maybe she's got some whippet in her as well?

Ocean wasn't super thrilled about her at first- our neighbors with the Great Dane moved more than a year ago, and we really haven't been around any dogs since then. We'd forgotten that he is hesitant around dogs. He's doing better, though she thinks he's a puppy and keeps trying to play with him like one. But overall, her issues aren't too bad, all things considered.

she thought she heard something...

She does seem to be mostly house trained, though she's had a couple accidents.

We don't have a fenced yard, so multiple daily walks are a new thing, so everyone is getting more exercise than they usually do. Once it cools down a bit, I'll start taking her for trail runs a couple times a week. We've had two weeks of daily rain, so the trails are way too wet to even attempt a run right now.

I'm definitely glad we didn't do this earlier. While she's not a young puppy, she does need constant supervision since she likes to chew on things and investigate all the places. It's just like having a toddler around again. I would not have had the energy for this when the boys were younger. It's debatable that I have the energy now, but with Jeremy home most days and Sunshine more than old enough to help, at least it's not all on me to take care of her. The boys want to help with walks and stuff, but she's got a strong pull and can bowl them both over.

heard another sound outside... and she's knocked the blinds and lamp shades askew because she thinks the table behind the couch is the perfect spot to sit and watch what's going on outside (not a lot, unless you count the squirrels)

She's a sweetie and seems to be adapting well to life in our family 😀

Weekly Mileage
Thursday- 10.0 miles biked
total- 10.00 miles

2020 totals

27 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
0 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

164.19 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
22.50 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
230.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
416.69 miles total