"It's a gray, gray gloomy day, a strange and moody-blues day..."  That's an old Carole King song if any of you are fans.  It seems to fit the atmosphere here today.  We have been having severe thunderstorms with lots of lightening and tons of rain over the last few days.  Then this morning we woke up to heavy dark clouds and rain.  That is unusual to say the least.  We usually have beautiful sunny mornings and the clouds build up over the day til the storms break out in the afternoons.  It feels unusual to be having this kind of monsoon activity this late in the summer too.  It is supposed to be dry and cool now, the start of fall weather but not this year.  Nope!  This year we are still sweating and melting in mid September!

I attended the St. David Farmer's Market again on Saturday after taking the hot summer off.  I was mildly chastised for doing that.  The manager of the market reminded me that people come one week and see something they like but may not buy it til the next time they come.  He said being here is the way to build up a clientele.  I'm sure he is right,but I'm also sure that people are not interested in buying blankets and fuzzy warm things when it is 102 degrees in the shade!  I did sell 2 aprons, one with chickens on it and one with dogs.  Now I have to make two more this week to take the place of those two.  I got some fabric for Halloween and some for Thanksgiving.  I am looking forward to figuring out the designs and sewing them.  Some people showed interest in my alpaca teddy bears too.  One little girl asked if she could buy one for $5.  Sadly, I had to tell her "no" as I purchased them for much more than that.  I am trying to make a profit after all.  

I discovered this time, or should I say once again, why entrepreneurs must develop a thick skin.  I had all of the raw blanket fleeces from my alpacas lined up just under the edge of my table so that they were open and on display.  A "lady" came by and admired them and asked me if I just sold them as a whole fleece.  She then said she would just buy a small amount and grabbed a handful of Prince's beautiful brown fleece.  As I put it in a bag for her, she exclaimed, "Oh, you haven't washed it either!"  I said, "No, it is RAW fleece."  I told her I wanted $5 for the handful she had pulled out.  She about freaked!  "Oh my gosh!  I won't pay that much!"  When I asked her how much she would pay she said, "Twenty five cents!"  Then she told me all about some store she went to that sold all their fleeces for that much all the time and how they had ALL the colors etc.  Needless to say, she did not buy anything and I was not sorry to see her go.  I know we all want a bargain and I have been known to barter myself, but sometimes it is unreasonable.  People often work hard to bring their products to market and it just doesn't seem fair to cheapen that labor by offering next to nothing for a product.  I will think twice before I bargain with someone next time.

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