Jean and I started the day off quite early, exploring the tent, staking out our creating area, locating the coffee and bathrooms and enjoying the lush beauty of the man made forest we were residing in. The view of the mountainside out our back window was just lovely as were the views of the winding drives thick with varied plant life and blooming flowers and the tailored parks for picnicking and lounging. We forsake breakfast and feasted on our yogurt and coffee while waiting for other clayers to arrive.
Among the first clayers to arrive besides ourselves and the Katzes were Susan and Rita. Susan is a slim bundle of energy with a different view on the world, a quiet smile and a huge heart while Rita is a lively, mischievous, rubenesque and adventurous redhead. We wasted no time becoming friends.
Later in the morning, people began to trickle in and set up. Then Ellie, one of the coordinators from the SDPCG, arrived and found the table layout did not meet their specifications. All able hands fell in and the tables were relocated in short order. With much anxiety and stress, Ellie fielded all the discrepancies, running herd on the service personnel - who were terrific folks - and making impromptu changes that met our needs with the ranch's available supplies. Pam, the SDPCG president, arrived later in the day and took over the task of last minute set up with her own share of stress and frustration and had everything in order by the time the rest of the early attendees arrived late Wednesday. There was a set of tables where a microwave was installed with lots of room for foodstuffs volunteered by the attendees. There were several convection ovens arrayed along one side of the tent to meet the baking requirements and several large butane heaters scattered throughout the tent to ward off the chill as the night time temperatures swooped into the freezing zone. Outside the tent there was a canopy and table set up for daytime demonstrations, a station with power for the heavy duty tools like fordhams, drill presses, etc. and another spot for wet sanding. The smoking hole was, initially, outside the fence around the tennis court and migrated into the area around the sanding vats. For the cold afternoon and evening demonstrations, room was made inside the tent to accommodate the teacher and the surrounding avid note takers. Set around the inside perimeter of the tent was a score of very large trashcans with spare bags to insure a clean environment.
I brought with me some work to complete while I was waiting for the demonstrations to begin that afternoon and a small handful of beads to trade. I had enough ostrich feathers for a handful of feather dusters. They were a resounding success and I was unable to make them fast enough to get them into the guild's store as they sold before each was finished.
I began trading almost immediately. Since I make jewelry, I was especially interested in acquiring unique beads to create art jewelry for next year's market. I was not disappointed. Myra and Sam had some exquisite beads they made along with some from Corbi's stash before she sold all her inventory. I was lucky enough to trade my Sue Lee bead rollers for several of their beads, a scissor fob and one of Sam's angels.
Sometime during the late morning Kim Kennedy (aka Irish Red or Beady Eyed Brat online) and her room mate, Tom, arrived. This brave couple had agreed to take on the responsibility of running the store. They had no idea of the scope of the enterprise they'd agreed to. They were given one very small room to live in and sell out of and, even if the inventory had been modest (which it was not), the space was unviable. Pam fielded the problem and the ranch ended up giving them the adjoining room of their cottage to use. It was most fortunate because there was a wide array of inventory offered in amazing quantity. Tom and Kim were able to arrange everything in the small adjoining room tastefully and still leave a modicum of space for shoppers. It was hip to hip browsing, but everyone ventured in with expectation and delight while literally rubbing elbows with other shoppers. I was able to offer a modest number of items and pleased when all but one found homes. Ten percent of all proceeds were rendered to the guild. (For the hard work they all did, I think that was too modest a cut.)
Judi Summer began the demonstrations by showing how she builds the armatures for her horses. It was most informative. Jean's demonstration on how to make two-part bangle bracelets two hours later was a smashing success and she spent the evening coaching various folks who were making them. Bonnie Mraz had a very inquisitive crowd as she showed various ways to assemble jewelry and how to trouble shoot the mechanics of the various designs.
Jean and I had dinner in the Anza Restaurant again and discovered there was not a meal to be had that even resembled mediocre. The food was more like cuisine, superbly cooked to perfection with perfect seasoning and offered up in a rich ambiance by smiling, friendly and very efficient servers. Again we ate to capacity.
By 10.pm Jean and I were plumb tuckered, so we called it a night and headed for our cottage. To wind down Jean watched Lord of the Rings: Two Towers on her palm pilot while I knitted on a loom for about 20 minutes before we succumbed to sleep.
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Copyright 2004
Colleen D. Bergeron.
Last revised: November 27, 2004.
