Greedy Groundhogs & Catholic Cards
August 2023 Newsletter
Happy August Everyone! Joe here. It is hard to believe it’s been a month since our last newsletter, but here we are, ready or not and holy smokes has it been busy! August is typically the time of year when I tend to be in a perpetual state of feeling like I am forgetting something that everyone else I know has remembered. If you have ever been the only person to show up an hour late (or early) on a daylight savings time switcheroo day, then you know what I mean, it’s that very feeling. I think it’s because August is the time that I realize summer is on its way out, and our summer list of stuff to do is feeling pretty lonely and not-crossed-off up there on the fridge. Meanwhile everyone else is out there getting sunburned, taking selfies with sunglasses, and making it happen. But hey, it’s not over till it’s over!
New Things Going On in the Shop
On August 5th, we participated in The Harmonium Project market in Steubenville, OH, which is held on the first Friday of the month during the summer until October from about 6-10 pm. It was a really great time for us, partly because the children were at their grandparent’s house for the evening, so Jessica and I had a little precious time to ourselves, but also because we got to meet all kinds of amazing people. This was our first in-person sale for the year so far, so it was a lot of fun, but definitely a learning experience.
There are a few things worthy of note in this picture. The first, is how happy Jessica and I look together. This happiness was both the joy of marriage combined with our temporary freedom from children, as well as the market just being a lot of fun. The second, is the spare tire and the dilapidated blue tent in the background. Despite the sunny weather, it was quite blustery that evening, so much so that some of the vendors (including us) were having a hard time keeping their tents on the ground. A few hours earlier at Dick’s Sporting Goods, Jessica and I stared at the canopy corner weights pondering on whether they would be worth the extra thirty bucks. My adamant statement of “It’ll be fine….” definitely came back to bite me. My frantic search for anything heavy resulted in the sad and pitiful sight of a spare tire from my mini-van holding down our little fort. We also had some help from our kind and more experienced neighbors, who lent us some weights for our tent. So, although we didn’t appear to be the most seasoned vendors at the market, we still had a great time and met a lot of great people. Thanks to everyone who supported, befriended, and talked to us while we were there, we look forward to doing more of these in the future.
On another note, we also wanted to mention that we brought back some more Catholic card designs in our Etsy shop! You can check them out HERE.
Family Goings On
In our last newsletter, Jessica made some mention of updating you on our gardening endeavors. So, I will try in a few lines to describe the depth of the abject failure, desolation, and disgrace that has occurred in our backyard. Jessica and I, as well as our children, joyfully toiled many days under the hot sun to till the land, cultivate the soil, and tend to the young flowers and vegetables (mostly flowers) in our yard all through the months of June and July hoping to see the fruit of our patient labor. Although, if I’m being honest, we only really did it when we felt like doing it, so that probably played into the overall failure that ensued. HOWEVER, most of the blame can be placed on… the groundhog, that is, a small growing family of groundhogs.
They ate everything, and I mean everything. There was a small population of wildflowers fortified in a high raised bed that survived the onslaught, so we are thankful for that. These survivors were ultimately the ones that got to decorate our home, and recently were the ones to be blessed at church, which brings me to our other family event worthy of mention.
From August 1st through the 14th we have been fasting and praying in preparation for the feast of the Dormition (falling asleep) of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 15th, celebrating the assumption of Mary into heaven. It really is a beautiful summer feast, and during the liturgy the priest blesses flowers and herbs for cooking and decorating the home.
The Sunday before Dormition was Transfiguration Sunday, in which berries and fruits were blessed. So, all this week we have been pigging out on cherry pie, cookies, and lots of feasty, and now blessed food.
A Word from Jessica
For the record, I DID faithfully water my baby flowers (which grew from SEED!) but I had a really hard time keeping up with the weeding. So yes, that and the groundhog(s) have basically wiped out the flower gardens. I did see two little surviving purple pansies last night, which made me very happy. (And yes, the “raised bed” in this pic is an old Paw Patrol kiddie pool… working with what we got!)
Finally, we also wanted to mention that this month’s newsletter includes a new donation button at the bottom. So, if you like what we’re doing and would like to support us, feel free to donate there.
Whether you’ve offered a prayer for our family, sent a kind message, passed our newsletter on to a friend, bought from our Etsy shop or donated, we are so grateful for every act of love and support for our business and our family. Thank you so much!
God bless you abundantly,
Joe & Jess
P.S.
You might be getting an extra e-mail in September because we’re hoping to roll out a few new products very soon and we don’t want you to miss them. Talk to you then!