Oh My God, We actually sold our house!

It's been a very long time since I wrote a post on this blog.  So much has happened in that time.

After five years(off and on) we finally sold our house in June 2014.  Our goal for those last 5 years, has been to move closer to our daughters and granddaughters in NC.  Well, after the initial panic and "Oh my God, we actually sold our house", I had to jump on a plane and find a place for us to live in NC as we only had 2 months until we had to close on the house.  I guess it was all meant to be as I found a very nice house for us to rent 20 mins. from our daughters.

 So the next two months were a whirlwind of packing and doing all the little things that need to be done before you move 4 states away.  My main concern for the move was my pets.  I had a good feeling that the dogs would be ok but I really worried about my parakeet and especially my 11 yr. old bunny.  8.5hrs in a car was not the best thing for them.  In the end, I decided with much heartbreak to leave my bunny in the very capable hands of a vet tech that took care of him when I took him to the vet.  I keep in regular touch with the tech and my bun is doing well.  So it was the best decision for him, I know.  As for my parakeet, he made the trip just fine.  In fact, I promised him that if he made the trip, I would get him a new cage!!  Which I did.....

The actual move went well.  We stayed in a pet friendly hotel for several days while we waited for our belongings to be delivered.   Luckily, the movers were able to deliver our items a day earlier then expected so that was very good.   We got unpacked and a bit settled into our new surroundings.

And then the unthinkable happened, 10 days after moving here, my mom had a stroke.  It didn't look good, so the next day after I received the call, we drove back to PA.  We ended up staying for a week as my dear mom passed away.  It was the most horrible time in my life......

We then made a trip back home every month except December to visit Dad.  It was so very hard and we never felt settled in our new home because we were always going back to PA.  This year things have settled down a bit.  We make a trip back every other month or so.

Good things have happened since we moved here also!  We are seeing and doing things we would never have seen and done in PA.  My hubbie and I are biking and exploring the area.  I even took horse back riding lessons thanks to my daughter's Christmas gift.  It was something I always wanted to do!  Now, I can cross it off my "bucket list".  The weather is awesome down here!  I hated the dreariness of PA.

The other good thing is, we are buying a house.  Closer to my girls.  It means another move in less then a year but at least this one is so much closer!!  The house has an incredible backyard that is fenced in for my puppies!!  That makes me very happy as the place we are in now doesn't have a fence.  So if all goes well, we will have the closing on July 23rd.  It will be nice to finally have our own place and feel settled, at last!

Pet Blog Lady

I was contacted by Lisa Taron(Pet Blog Lady) to do a feature on my shop.  I was very proud and grateful that she would want to do a feature about MY shop!  She is a wonderful and witty lady!

She asked me for photos of my fur kids in one of our many emails and I sent her a few.  To my surprise, I received a mug with my babies photos on it.  I was so touched and thrilled that now I have a forever memory of them.

She asked if I would send her one of my little Pomeranian dogs which I gladly did!

She did this awesome blog post about me and my shop.  It was so wonderfully done!

I am so grateful to her as I have gotten so much interest in my little dogs from her feature. Customers have contacted me about making custom dogs to look like their own dog.  I also have been contacted my more dog rescues to make dogs for their upcoming events.

Here is the link to the blog post:

http://www.petbloglady.com/2013/03/kates-cache-crocheted-dogs-to-melt-your-heart.html

THANKS, LISA!!!!!

Little Dogs

The Christmas season was very busy!  I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't retired....I am very grateful that so many of my customers are repeat customers.  I must be doing something right!

My new best sellers are my little crocheted dogs.  Thank goodness, as I was getting pretty tired of making Dobbies!   I was even contacted by Cavalier Matters Rescue in the UK to make Cavs for their gift shop.  I was so thrilled as animal rescues are dear to my heart.

I have had quite a few customers contact me about making dogs to look like their own dogs,  which I am more then happy to oblige.  I really like doing custom orders....always something different!

Here are some of my little dog photos.

Waiting for the Rush!

My hubby and I went to Wrightsville Beach, NC over Labor Day week.  We had an awesome time!  The weather was perfect and the beach was empty!  I just adore the beach!!!  My family went to some beach every year for vacation when I was growing up.

What amazes me though, is every time I am away from my shop, I receive orders!!!!  I had 6 orders while I was gone this time.  I contacted my fellow Etsians about it and it seems it happens to quite a few of them, also!  We all decided that we need to go away more often!!!

So now I am waiting for what I hope will be the holiday rush!  I know that I was very busy last holiday season and I certainly would like to be again this year.  I am praying that customers will not wait until the last minute to order custom items.  It makes me crazy and stressed to try to make things in time to ship for the holidays!  I don't want to disappoint customers.  I am also hoping that some of my stock will sell this holiday!  It would be wonderful to just put an item in a box and ship it as opposed to having to make an item and then ship it!

So I am waiting and hoping that it is not crazy but busy!!

Deer, Deer and More Deer

One very nice thing about living in the country is seeing all the wild animals come into your back yard.
Lately, there has been quite a few deer that visit very day.  Mostly a doe and her two fawns or two doe and four fawns!  They are so sweet as they frolic and compete over the apples that I throw out for them.

Then a few days ago, I looked out to see a buck, a doe and a fawn all together munching on my lawn!  I was thrilled to see an actual deer family together so I grabbed my camera and got a great shot of the three of them!