I've knocked out most of the list. In fact, I've had to let workers go on to other projects with other people, as we're so close to being compltely done that I am unable to rattle off a ToDo list for anyone.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) we make Scotch Eggs. While it's not a food item I would eat myself, it IS a signature item of the new shoppe, and requires 2 days of prepwork. For those of you that don't know, a Scotch Egg is a boiled egg, wrapped in breakfast sausage, breaded, and fried. We'll fry them on the show day, but building them takes 2 days, in order to let them "set-up" enough to get breading to stick to the sausage.




I've dealt with some of the overwhelming beige-ness of the apartment by painting the walls of the main room. These photos show you some before and after. The loft stairs meet our Ren-construction requirement for steep/dangerous stairway. Fortunately we won't have to use them much. The ceiling is only at 5', so that's a guest room. (Naturally, guests must sign a waiver about the stairs first.LOL)

The flip side of this earthy plum wall is a color called dry sage. A neutral green that provides color, without being overwhelming. Both of the colors went well with the "Antique White" that we left visible on the trim, cabinets, and ceiling. All in all, it was an easy, cheap fix. We'll see how long I can stand the flooring.


The room is still a little junky from the move. I can happily say that the pile of unsorted crap is much smaller than it was earlier this week. It may be as small as 3 or 4 boxes, but as they are boxes that were dumped onto the floor, it's still pretty messy.

Phil drove out from the New York Renaissance Faire today in mid-afternoon. He will get here Wednesday evening at the earliest as I figure it. He's bringing some equipment and supplies for the new shop, but we should have plenty of time for installing them, as all the signs are hung save 1, and the prep will be done by then as well.


It's all good.

I'm in Texas

Todd Mission, Texas to be exact.
I'm at the Texas Renaissance Festival, getting our various businesses open, and moving into our new digs, which came as a bonus with the recent purchase of a food booth.

I've purchase 2 homes so far in my life, both of them sight-unseen. Both of them were lived in by very sweet people in their 70s. What is it about off-white walls and beige carpet? There seems to be a theme. I took down the pink and teal ruffled curtains within 15 minutes of my arrival, and draped some saris around, but it will be a longer process to make it feel like home.

The space is large by ren-home standards. There is a loft over the kitchen and bath. There are two small bedrooms (one will become a large closet, I think). We also have a big front porch balcony. I'm limited to furnishings which fit the period, but I think over time I'll come up with a nice space to sit and have tea.

There is something exceptionally sloppy about moving less than a mile. Boxes are not folded shut or labeled. Tubs are sometimes brought in, dumped in the appropriate room, then refilled shortly thereafter with another trip from the former digs. I've reused the same 5 boxes 4 times this week. I'm almost done, but since I'm also overseeing the set-up of 5 businesses, household chores are near the bottom of the list.


I did make a detour by IKEA to purchase a kitchen table and chairs, but currently it's just another flat surface on which to set things.

I took some photos to try and communicate the overwhelming beige-ness of it all, but I think that will wait for another post. The photo at the top of this post is a pic of the new booth, so you can see the front porch area, and get an idea of the size of it. The upper story is full-size, unlike some of the shops we've built where the upper story was just a facade. That black doorway that you see on the upstairs has an opening that is 6'6" tall, so Phil barely has to duck when going out onto the porch.

As for the business end of things, everyone here has been incredibly helpful, and I have a great crew helping me to get open. If I can just shut off the list in my brain in order to get some sleep, it will all be even more fabulous.