Freeze prep, Mama’s ornaments, goat sales, measuring failure

This afternoon, along with the preparations for our Open House, I will need to prep our waterlines for an overnight freeze. This will be the first one of the season and is forecast to only be for this one night, so I will not have to make lengthy investments of time. I will need only to remove hoses from the yard hydrants, cover the spigots at the house and wrap the waterline at the corral. The line at the corral is the one I am most concerned about. Because of limited funds when I had to put that line together it is my most vulnerable waterline. It is comprised of all plastic parts – none of which will survive even a relatively light freeze. Fortunately, I have the means of getting that line through this freeze and because we now have the money available to do so, I can replace the plastic line above ground with a yard hydrant that will be far more tolerant of cold weather. It is a disappointment that for the first of our two Open House get togethers it will be that cold. I was hoping to have a fire in the burn pit on the patio, but it may be too cold for that. Saturday night should be great for a fire.

Mama got a text from the young lady who puts together the monthly boxes for her subscribers. In that text  was a picture of the contents of the boxes going out for November. Among the items included in those boxes are the ornaments Mama made for that occasion. Everyone was thrilled with how well the ornaments turned out. Me included, but I have to keep reminding Mama that it is far easier and more profitable to sell Color Street nails than to sell crafts. Mama loves the crafting, and it is more a labor of love than a business venture, but as a practical matter of producing income and being able to share a business with others, Color Street is the way to go. Nonetheless, Mama was well pleased to have been able to participate in the creation of those sixty ornaments.

Speaking of crafting, we were able to clear out all Mama’s craft supplies from the living room over the course of the day yesterday. Everything was packed in totes and staged in various locations around the house, mostly in the garage. I have a strong suspicion that most, if not all, of those items will eventually work their way back out into the open between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but for now we have a usable table in the living room. That will definitely help tonight. Though we do not know how many to expect, we know that several are planning to come. Some of those will be exposed to Color Street for the first time.

Last night at church Mama received a check for the sale of two of our goats to a family that is buying the little ones as a birthday gift for their granddaughter. Last year the same family bought two mini-Highland cows as a birthday gift for the same grandchild. It did not take long to realize that the tiny heifer and bull would not fit in the category of pets long-term. A year later and they are both quite large – especially for a mini breed. So, the family decided that goats might make a more enduring pet for their granddaughter. With that in mind, Mama sold them a little girl and a little buckling to raise and eventually breed to produce their own offspring.

I am certain, they will have more fun out of the goats than the cattle. The two little ones will be picked up tomorrow afternoon and presented to the birthday girl at a party tomorrow night. It will be fun to keep up with the experience over the next years. I am also hoping that they toy with the idea of selling us the Highland cattle in the years to come. Mama and I would love to have some on the farm, but they are far too pricey for us to justify the cost at this time. However, we would happily provide a home to some that were being moved off a property where they were no longer desired.

So, Mama and I have a busy afternoon and hopefully a busy evening. I told Mama last night we will keep trying different ways to communicate the Color Street opportunity to people around us. Obviously, we are destined to more failures than successes, but we will eventually find out what makes sense for us and what connects with those in our area. It is too often true that we give up too quickly on opportunities for growth because failure is difficult to take, but every failure can direct us toward eventual success. Learning what does not work is the way to discover what does work in any given circumstance. So, we will keep trying and use every failure to move this business along. Tonight, we will see if our Open House produces attendees/contacts or not.

One step closer to getting this right.