Mayhem, Mischief, Destruction & Puddles - My Day's Work is done!

The other day while cleaning, we found Spike's cache under Pep's chair

We took all of his "toys" and put them in a bowl on a chair -

in front of his favorite puppy.

He soon made short shrift of emptying the bowl - he just loves this chore - but

all of this playing and growing too is hard work!

He does keep me occupied. The bowl and toys go with us when we head back for the computer. The toys are properly scattered again and he's asleep at my feet.

We've received our first shipment of my books and another is on the way. I really can't thank the ladies at Quiltmania enough for the stupendous job they did (and Guy for his photography - can't forget him). It is just loaded with patterns for 20 of my favorite quilts. The cost for a signed copy is only $52.50 (that's just $2.63 a pattern for each of the 20 quilts)

Right now we're having a sale of some of the kits of quilts that are in the book.

This is Blessings Baskets - regularly $149.95. It's on sale for $129.95 if you buy a signed copy of Country Quilts at the regular price . Email Byron at janpatekquilts@yahoo.com or call him at 816-632-7632. We still haven't figured out coupons for the store :( but we will someday.

Lastly but definitely not leastly - here is our latest Mini-Quilt - "Liberty Star" 28" x 28". If you belong to the Mini Quilt Club yours will be on the way at the end of the week. I will post a notice under the picture on the sidebar when it ships. If you don't get it within a week, please let us know.

Someday when I have 2 or 3 hours I will tell you all about all of the trouble we have been having with the mail since March. One good customer finally got an order yesterday that we shipped May 2oth. We're in Missouri - she's in Michigan. I got a call from a woman today who still hasn't gotten her Bible Quilt Block we shipped the same day. She lives in Massachusetts. One lady in Pennsylvania never got 3 orders we shipped in March & April. Yada, yada, yada! We have tried shipping through Stamps.com because they have tracking #'s. I found out yesterday from the hatchery where we get baby chickens that it doesn't do any good to use them because the post offices don't scan things in. She said the tracking # would show that the chicks were still in Lebanon, Mo. where the hatchery was. It did.

We have been mailing through our local post office for years and I know it's not them but there is a hitch in the get-along somewhere.

Here's what we're doing.

All orders over $75.00 are going UPS - they cost a little more but we don't have to keep replacing the kits.

We will still send the BOM's & Mini-Quilt, etc 1st class but we'll take them to another post office to mail them. It's not our post office, I know that, but it is probably the route they follow when they leave here. When we first started looking into the problem we were told things could hold for 2 - 3 days at each post office. It feels more like 6 or 7 days to us. We will continue to post under the picture on the side bar the date that we mail them so you can know.

Never let it be said that owning your own business isn't interesting. :)

To end on a less stressed note - here are our new soft and fuzzy baby chicks - 15 Buff Orpingtons and 20 Cornish Cross. I just love new baby things.

And I can't end the blog post without saying a big thank you to everyone who so kindly commented or sent me emails about Bully. They do ease the pain. I will probably always miss him - he was part of our family and a big part of my life for 11 years. Spike helps - new baby things do. So do friends.

Thank you again.

Jan