We have been experiencing one the busiest summers in the history of Little Jack Horner’s. So busy, in fact that, I have seriously neglected writing for this blog. I enjoy doing it and have missed it, maybe you have too. I missed posting at the beginning of summer, so I thought today – a day celebrated as the unofficial end of summer – would be a good day to catch up a little.
I mentioned being busy. Today is Labor Day, a holiday set aside to celebrate the contribution of the American worker. Well, I’m American and I’m working. So while I sit and watch finish dry, here are some tidbits of our summer.
We are always thankful when projects come in the door. This summer has presented us with a larger than normal number, of which many are chairs. Quite a few have cane and wicker to be replaced – one pair is unlike any that I have ever seen. We had to have material made to order as none of my cane importers have ever seen this material either. More on that project later. A long time client brought us another Jolly Car to weave the seats for. Look for a before, during, and after report on that one. Moving damage brought us a new client. They hired a “specialist” to move their antiques from California. About 20 pieces suffered at the hands of the specialists. For whatever reason we are seeing furniture in much worse condition than in years past. Fortunately, we are up for the challenge,look for a future post titled “Lost and Found” about that subject.
One of the things I look forward to is getting to help design and fabricate furniture. Whether it’s a dining table that has to be a certain size, or a piece for a special purpose, I love to create heirloom pieces for our clients. We have completed several commissioned pieces this summer and have several more in the schedule. I’ll post about them as they go to their new homes.
Several new faces can be seen in the shop. Carlos and Brent replace a couple of people that moved on to other things earlier this year. Each came to us with different skills and have settled into our way of doing things well. In addition to replacing two, we added one more. Although the workload demands that we increase our output, we do so gently. Our number one focus is always the quality of our work. This means that when a new person joins us we spend a lot of time training them in our methods and expectations. Shane started with us recently and we have great expectations of him.
For me personally, it’s been a summer of learning. Patience and self control being two of the lessons. My eyes have always been my phobia. No eye drops for me thank you, and don’t even talk to me about them. Just talking about my eyes would start them watering. I know better, but that’s the way it has been since I was about 3 or 4 with pink eye. Two eye surgeries later, thanks to Dr. Ann Ranelle (here’s a free plug for Fort Worth Eye Associates), and Chrystalens, I can see better than I have since 7th grade. It’s been a real experience for the last couple of months. To get the whole story, you’ll have to visit in person.
You’re going to get tired of hearing it, so I’ll only say it once – the holidays are just around the corner. I only mention this because every year we have to disappoint a few folks who wait too late to bring us furniture they want finished for the holidays. As busy as we have been this summer, we are already booking projects for holiday completion. Let’s talk about your holiday projects now.
Also just around the corner is Election Day. This is a crucial election for our future and the future of our kids and grandkids. I’m not going to preach politics or debate with anyone about the candidates. I just want to say this; WE BUILT THIS BUSINESS WITHOUT ANY GOVERNMENT HELP. Our clients and suppliers, all of whom are hard working Americans, helped us build our business. And I don’t need, or want, the government telling me how to run it.
I hope you are having a relaxing Labor Day. Your comments are always welcome, thanks for reading. Oh, I almost forgot, don’t forget to put away those white shoes.
