Ink in my veins!

The older you get, the busier you get?

2013-05-01T11:33:00.000-04:00

It sure seems like I get busier and busier every day. What's up with that? I always kind of figured that the older you got, the more you slowed down. That's certainly not the case for the Dave person and myself. We got to looking at our calendar last night, thinking things were going to slow down now that the Mushroom Festival is over. Nope. Not gonna happen. We have something going on just about every weekend from now until the end of September.

How can that be? Is it ever going to stop? Not until I learn to say no. That's what the Dave person would tell me. I guess it runs in my genes. My grandmother stayed busy up until she went to heaven. Heck, I think she was worried about an Avon order in her hospital bed the day before she died. I'm going to throw it out there and just wonder to myself, "what will I be worried about" when that day comes. Probably promoting someone's business, ha ha ha.

It seems like all these weekend gigs would be for summer vacations during the coming months, but most of our activities are related to work. And that's okay. It is our intention at All Things Country Magazine to spread good news. And good news to me doesn't always mean a good story. We have some wonderful businesses in the area. In my humble opinion, every time I can promote a small business that is hanging in there, well that's good news too!

I go back to It Takes A Village all the time. That saying has stuck with me so many times over the years. It takes all of us to keep these small, locally owned businesses going. It's my sincere hope that some of our readers pick up the book on a weekend day and say, "let's go check this place out." Heck, you are already getting a beautiful drive if you are going to a neighboring county, without the visit to the business. And if you find a new place to shop, that's an added bonus. An even better bonus is when you go home and tell your friends about it. Because, really, it truly does take a village.

I love hearing from our family of advertisers about the visits they receive throughout the month. It tickles me to hear Wanda down in Kingston tell me that she actually shipped yarn to someone in Beattyville because of her ad in All Things Country. That, my friend, is good news to me!

Have a great day. It's so beautiful outside that I might just take my lunch break out there and, what else, pull a few weeds and work some more! Many blessings to you.

Pam

Another beautiful day ... followed by snow on Tuesday?

2013-02-18T10:50:00.001-05:00

It is gorgeous outside, well at least here in Palmer it is. Bright blue skies overhead, crisp morning temps that are supposed to raise up to nearly 50 degrees today. This is winter? Well, I guess it's winter in Kentucky. Weird and wacky weather for sure. Tomorrow they say we may see snow! What's up with that?

Even more of a question? Will we really see it tomorrow or not? It seems to kind of go over the top of Kentucky and hit the states around us. Some people on the weather blog refer to our area as the snow dome of Kentucky. It falls, then just rolls off the dome onto the states surrounding us.

After living here for over ten years, I've come to the conclusion that Kentucky will never get another monster snow. I've heard about the 'dusting' for years, but have yet to see over 3 or 4 inches on the ground at once. I am really not complaining. Not much at least. When we do get severe weather of any type it usually results in a disaster of some kind for someone in the state. And that's just plain awful!

I've lived in the north enough to know that snow is very pretty on the ground. It gets very old by April or May..... Sometimes in the mountains of Idaho, roads don't even open up until June or July. The snowplows can't get through some of the roads so they just close them off for the winter. Snowmobiles are very popular in these areas.

I remember living in northern Maine as a child and not seeing the ground except for about one month, walking over a raging river to get to school - until the spring thaw that is. We also lived in northern Michigan and all I remember about that is the snow. I barely remember seeing the ground there. My dad has pictures of us camping in the snow while we lived there. That's dedication to camping I'd say.

As much as I'm ready for spring, I doubt we've seen the end of winter. I'd love to spend today - President's Day - planting seeds to get a head start on my garden. But, I'm pretty sure I've got another week or so to get it accomplished. Maybe the next snow day???

Have a great week everyone. It's deadline week for me, so I'll be attached the this keyboard for the better part of the week. And for that, I'm grateful. Without our wonderful advertisers, I wouldn't be!

Do you have a dog? We've got two, sometimes three!

2013-02-12T11:01:00.001-05:00

Dogs are filling up the television screens this morning. Tonight the winner of the Westminster Dog Show will be chosen. I can't help but watch each of the breeds as they walk around that area. I find several breeds I would love to have each and every year.

The only problem is I already have dogs. Two of them - sometimes three! Everyone knows about our Abby dog. We got her from a friend in Irvine who couldn't keep her. The first week .... adorable. The second and third weeks .... ready to give her away! I hadn't had a dog in years, since living in Oregon. And Abby was such a cute puppy. We took her to the vet for her shots and found out she was part beagle. Oh, so that explained her need to run every time we let her out the door. She's a leash dog. Yup, runs off every chance she gets.

Then there is Gracie, our great white pyrenees. What a big ole' lovable thing she is. All 85 pounds of her. She was actually another rescue .... her owner had a heart attack and couldn't keep her. We got her when she was about 6 months old. She lived in a kennel for several months while we waited for the sale of the farm to go through and then she lived in the barn with the critters.

Well, she lived in the barn until her first big shock at hearing thunder. She's the biggest chicken. I think she would come through the front windows if she could when the storms hit. And we're pretty sure she heard a pretty big boom in the barnyard because she doesn't like it out there anymore. She's perfectly content lying on the front or back decks, out in the yard, down by the pond. Just don't lock her in the barnyard. She'll find a way out every time. She's climbed over bull gates, snuck under woven wire fences, we've even caught her squeezing her body through a 4-inch woven wire. She's just spreads the wire out to allow her body to get through.

Our third dog, Sheba, actually died a couple of days after Thanksgiving last year. She ingested some type of poison while ---- wait for it ---- running off! Yep, she was another of our wonderful dogs that wouldn't stay behind a fence. We certainly aren't very good at training our dogs, are we?

I did mention that we sometimes have three dogs. And we do. The neighbor's dog, Boomer, seems to have fallen in love with our Gracie dog. He hardly ever leaves. He's a good dog, just not ours! He runs down the road every day when the bus runs, since there are three kids on there that actually own him. He walks them down the road .... and then comes right back to our porch. Boomer's 'dad' drives by in his big red Dodge truck and the dog's ears perk right up. He follows him up the road too. I guess just to make sure his master gets home okay, because he comes right back to our house.

He's taken up residence in our back screened in room, taking full advantage of the couch back there. He stays comfy, that's for sure. We aren't sure whether to feed him or not. Gracie certainly doesn't let him eat her food. We sneak him food once in a while ... not really knowing if his 'owners' feed him. I'm guessing that we should head down to the neighbors one of these days and talk about visitation and support!

Well, have a great day everyone! Enjoy every bit of this wonderful sunshine as you can. My friendly weather-blogging dude says snow may return tomorrow.

Blessings, Pam

February is always a weird month

2013-02-11T09:58:00.000-05:00

February is always just a weird month for me. I guess because it's shorter than the rest of the months of the year. In my business, it means less time to get the next edition ready to print. And to make matters worse, the printers need the book on the last day of February to get us printed on time! So...... the rush begins.

I'm excited that we can actually print before the end of the month. Delivery will begin on the 4th, about as close to the first of the month as we've gotten with the new printers. Maybe we can slowly adjust to where we come out before the 1st each month.

My original idea for All Things Country Magazine was to pick up ads for the next edition when we delivered! That didn't work. For a couple of reasons. We are in a bit of a hurry when we deliver. It takes alot for two of us to deliver a good 10,000 magazines in three days. If the weather is good, we can get it done in two VERY LONG days. During the winter months, it's a bit tougher. So, that kind of hinders picking up ads due to the time constraints. If we picked up the next month's ads along the way, it would take even longer to get the magazine out to 20 counties.

The second reason? Advertisers are never ready a month in advance. I'm not quite sure how they do it when they advertise in Kentucky Living or Southern Living. The deadline is months in advance. And the prices? OMGosh. A full page in Kentucky Living is well over 5,000.00 per month. A business card in Kentucky Living is costly too.

All Things Country Magazine is not nearly a Kentucky Living or a Southern Living and I readily admit that. But we're getting pretty darned popular in the areas that we deliver to. And for that I'm very thankful. Going to the mailbox after the book comes out is alot of fun (maybe not for the mail lady). And this month there will be even more mail due to the kid's Abby Track drawing. I can't wait to read all the great comments about the publication. Even the critical ones I receive from time to time. At least I try to learn from the critical ones!

The March book kicks off Spring for me. I guess that's the exciting part of rushing to get it ready. We're rushing right along into the best season of all for me. I love the re-birth that happens each March and April. The trees start budding out and giving us brilliant color. The red buds. Oh, what can I say about those beauties? Daffodils and early blooming bulbs start showing their colors to welcome back all that springs brings.

As I look out the front window this morning, it's breezy and clouds are dotting the blue sky. The days are getting longer and more and more activity can be seen out there. More birds are out and about. I've even seen a robin already! I hate wishing my life away, but come on Spring.

Have a great Monday .... wherever you may be. Remember to count your blessings and give an extra hug to those you love.
Pam

Another edition put to bed

2013-02-04T11:20:00.000-05:00

The February edition of All Things Country Magazine is at the printers. Took a whole 4 minutes to send it from our little farm in northern Estill County to Dayton, Ohio! I sure wish we could have 12,000 copies delivered in 4 minutes.

Times have sure changed over the years in publishing, although some things still remain the same. When I started in the newspaper business, I worked on a big old machine that didn't have a screen. My copy sat directly in front of me and I had a little bitty window that showed about 4 words, maybe 5 if they were short ones. And they disappeared every time you 'returned'. If you made a mistake, too bad! And you didn't know if you had even made a mistake until you took a film canister out of the big old machine, walked back to the darkroom and developed the 'galleys' - long strips of film that the type was printed onto.

You then took the galleys and read through them. Using a blue printers marker you crossed out lines that had errors. If you were lucky there were none. This rarely happened! You then had to sit back down at the big old machine and type JUST THAT LINE. If it happened to be longer than the line you were correcting was, then you had to keep typing until you caught up, so to speak, on your galley. Once corrections were typed you then had to repeat the developing process to get your galleys again.

The next step? The one that had me thinking my very first day on the job whether this was the job for me or not! You ran your galley through the wax machine, laid it on your light-table and using a pica pole (a printer name for a steel ruler) and your trusty x-acto knife - you cut your lines of corrections out and placed them over your error on the original galley. And of course, it has to be perfectly straight so you don't see a crooked line when the paper is printed.

Whew! Did you get all that? How many of you remember those days? This was only the first step in a very long process. I spent hours standing in front of light boards laying out pages of type. As straight as possible. I got pretty good at it by the time I started on my first 'apple' computer and didn't have to do it anymore. Another thing you got good at? Keeping a firm hold on that x-acto knife. You wouldn't believe the times I've dropped one and it just missed my foot. Trust me, an x-acto knife falling from about 4 feet straight down puts a pretty good puncture in the top of your foot! May not seem like it would, but the sharper you kept your knife the better, so it was very sharp - with a very sharp point!

So many changes, yet so many things remain the same. Delivery is one of those things. We've gotten pretty good at it, but still can't get it all done in one day, two days is really pushing it sometimes. The winter months are much harder obviously. I guess it has changed in some ways - we don't have to deliver it by horseback! Although when the gas bill comes in, it makes us wonder!

Another thing that never changes .... putting an edition out without some kind of mistake in it. I try. I try my hardest. But it never seems to happen. When we pick up the book, it usually doesn't take me long to find an error. A good part of the changes that have come around down the road ... the ability to correct my errors and upload it to our website. I can't fix the printed edition .... but I certainly can fix the online version!

I try not to look at the book more than a couple of times when it comes out. I get too disappointed. And heck, I've seen enough of it by the time it prints. By the time it prints and is all delivered, it's time to start on the next edition anyway!

So, February has been 'put to bed' as they refer to it in the printing industry. It's time for a nap .... and then to enjoy my one true time off each month! The day before delivery begins. And I say a day off, but I'm never too far from my emails .... or the critters outside, which is our other non-stop job!

Thanks for following along ... and have a beautiful day!
Pam

What a temperature swing!

2013-01-31T18:10:00.003-05:00

Man, what a temperature change! Just a couple of days ago we were outside in T-shirts. Today? Coats, gloves and hats. Kentucky sure has wild and wacky weather. From tornadoes to slick roads in less than 24 hours.

The weather blog says we may even get another inch or two tonight. Oh, my! I sure do love snow, I'm just not too sure if I like it in Kentucky. Everything just kind of shuts down when it snows and that surely doesn't help our little home-based business one bit. It's a toss up about whether to get out and sell ads or not. Some business owners just shut down when it snows and that makes it hard. It's not really worth the gas - or the danger - of getting out.

Thankfully we have a great family of advertisers and we always manage to get the magazine out, no matter what. And sometimes we just have to take it at what it is and put out a smaller magazine. The winter months are really tough on small businesses, businesses that depend on even a few sales each day to keep going.

This month we've had more days of not a single sale than we have had with good sales days. And a snowstorm on the very last day we can get ads in is not ideal. But, hey, we'll just keep on going with the flow and do what we can! We've never been one to give up, and I don't suppose we will just yet either.

Through the bad months, we always have to think ahead to the good months. And thankfully Spring is just around the corner. A bit of a re-birth that we are granted each and every year. New things popping out of the ground. New leaves on the trees. Oh gosh, I'm so anxious.

It's funny because living in the West - and being snow skiers - you just hate the thought of spring. Spring signals the end of skiing season. Spring skiing can be fun, but by noon the slopes get pretty sloppy. The upside? You get a head start on your tan. Yep, you can get a suntan skiing. I was never brave enough to ski in shorts, but have seen many people do it.

Gosh, how did I get onto skiing? I guess it's the drastic temperature change, going to my head!

Have a great evening everyone. And be safe overnight and in the morning during the commute.

Blessings, Pam

A Rough Start to the Day

2013-01-30T08:28:00.001-05:00

It's been a wild morning for Kentucky, at least weather wise. The line of bad stuff is past us here in Palmer .... but it's still moving eastward and I'm sure many people will be affected by this in the next few hours, not just in Kentucky but the entire East Coast as it travels that way.

The weather in Kentucky can sure be crazy. Tornado warnings this morning and then snow for the weekend. The same thing happened last March when that crazy tornado outbreak happened. All the many people who lost everything dealt with snow just a few days later. As I'm typing this up, West Liberty is in the eye of the storm again and I'm sure there are more than just a few nervous people down that way.

Our weather alert radio went off at 4:30 this morning. Woke us right up, let me tell ya! But they are certainly a good thing to have. At least they make you aware of weather headed your way. From watching the radar on Lex18, you could tell it was going to hit us right about the time that the buses ran with all the Estill County kiddos.

What a decision the superintendent must make when weather happens. It's never going to be right for all of the people. If nothing hit the county, then he was wrong for keeping them out. And vice-versa. Since we have a scanner, we were listening to the bus drivers reporting in. They had a rocky ride getting the kids to school. They deserve many, many kuddos. They were just doing their jobs. And they kept all the kids safe - with several of them pulling over to wait it out. I'd say there were some panicked kids on some of the buses and the monitors had their hands full also.

Personally, I am not sure I would have sent my child this morning - delay or no delay. As a parent, it's essentially my decision to send them or not. With a bus being a high-profile vehicle and the warnings for high winds, it just would have been my decision. Sure, everyone can't choose that option. But, hey, if you have a car and can get your kiddos to school, why not keep them until it's over.

I'm guessing they figured they could get everyone delivered before the storms hit. Which means, had a tornado hit .... the kids would have been in the school and who knows what could have happened then. Chaos for sure. I was never known to be too protective of my kidlet when she was growing up, but we never dealt with tornadoes in Idaho, Washington or Oregon either! Just snow storms. And school never closed for a snow storm, not back in my days of school. You just added another layer of clothes before heading out the door.

Well, enough of my crazy thoughts for the morning. Have a Blessed day - and stay safe where-ever you may be!

Another big weather day

2013-01-29T08:37:00.003-05:00

Goodness, have you seen the weather forecast for central Kentucky? We've got a roller coaster of a ride for the next few days. But, it's not just Kentucky that is affected. The storms are starting today clear down in Texas. They'll sweep across the plains today headed right for us.

Those of you that know me, know that I love watching the weather. I subscribe to Chris Bailey's weather blog and follow along each day as he makes his predictions. They are usually pretty accurate and that's because Mr. Bailey loves the weather about as much as anyone! You can follow along at http://kyweathercenter.com/ if you like weather too.

The Facebook world has opened up weather for me all that much more! You see, I have friends all over the United States and weather affects them too. For instance .... cousin Doug Atkinson lives in Texas and they have some wild weather. Today, Oklahoma is in the bullseye .... classmate Brad Duncan and his wife live there. Not to mention, the storms will eventually reach Nashville and I've got several FB friends down there. Not to mention my MaMichele - tonight is an Opry night!

Of course, I still keep up with the Northwest's weather too since the kidlet lives back there, not to mention all my former classmates and many friends and family that still reside in the West. The kidlet has a 40 mile drive up the Clearwater River each morning to get to her teaching job and it worries me to death. It's a pretty wild drive on dry, clear roads. Throw in snow and it becomes very treacherous. But, hey, that's where I learned to drive so I have to remember that!

It's almost been a year since the horrible tornado outbreak that wiped out several small towns in Kentucky. I'm just hoping today's weather doesn't produce nearly the outcome that we experienced last year. Be safe everyone and have a great day.

Why, yes, I do have a blog.

2013-01-28T12:01:00.001-05:00

The blog has been speaking to me lately. Wondering where I've been I guess. I get up every morning with lots to say, I just fail to sit my butt in this chair and type it up. I guess I don't figure many people read it anyways, so no one is missing me either. But, I'm going to correct this little dilemma by being more diligent in staying in touch!

Sure, I do Facebook. Lots of people do. I've found out recently that lots of people don't use it too! In fact, I've learned lots of my readers don't even have an email. Hard to believe in today's society, but it is the truth. No everyone is hooked up to a computer like it's an IV in their arm. I find it harder and harder to be on Facebook anymore anyway! It's all advertising and political views. I joined FB to stay in touch with my family and friends, not to read ads and trash talk regarding our beloved United States.

I've been trying out Twitter a bit lately. I can't say I understand it. How on earth does anyone keep up without sitting right there with the window in front of you? There are millions of 'tweets' going on and I'm pretty sure mine get missed in all the hub-bub. Oh, well. Not much of a success there either!

Another social site I'm having problems with is Pinterest. I just don't have the time! I've went there several times and tried 'cruising' around looking at ideas. Next thing I knew hours had passed and I hadn't gotten a single thing accomplished. I've kind of stayed away since. If I've got to be on this computer, I may as well do my work and be done with it.

It's deadline week here at the magazine. Always a bit rushed and hurried the week the magazine goes to the printers. Last minute ads are always a kink - yet I'll take them! I'll put your ad in the book right up to about 12 hours before I send it north for printing. That's the way it is with a small business with few employees. Between the two of us, we can't possibly hit everyone every month for an ad. Thank goodness the internet does work in that way. I'd be lost without my email.

Speaking of that, I've got about a dozen emails I need to answer so I'd best get to it! Have a great day everyone. Be safe in the stormy weather heading our way. Rain is just on the other side of Lexington as I type away..... I'm sure it'll be in beautiful Palmer, Kentucky before too long!

Shop Local whenever you can!

2012-11-26T09:45:00.001-05:00

Good morning everyone. Today is known to millions as Cyber Monday. Where 'all the deals' are to be had by shopping online. And, yes, you can find some good deals. But, let's face it. Most people are shopping for themselves. Not others. Not everyone, mind you. But a major portion are just finding good deals for themselves.

The problem with online shopping? Your community benefits in no way by online shopping. We just celebrated Small Business Saturday this past weekend and I'm sure every small business owner - and most of the time operator - appreciated every cent of business they made. Not to mention, they like seeing community members out and about in town. I'm not sure how well businesses did on Saturday due to a family emergency, but I'm praying everyone saw an increase in business.

It seems to me that the holidays are getting away from the real spirit of the season. Growing up, I always made everyone's gifts. I still like to do that. The perfect gift to me is an ornament! We put up our tree yesterday and I sure enjoy hanging all the ornaments. Our tree is covered with ornaments from every year we've been together - and even before. I have a seashell that has hung on my tree for close to 30 years, given to me by my dad and former step-mom Jan. How simple it is, but I hang it every year. Of course, I hang it right next to the personalized ornament from dad and former step-mom Michele! There are ornaments from my loved ones who are in heaven too. It is very meaningful to me every year to pull out the ornaments.

Nowadays, everyone wants electronic gadgets, televisions, four wheelers. Not small, personalized gifts. Heck, do some even remember what they received last year?

The best way to find meaningful, homemade gifts is to shop your local stores. You'd be amazed at what you can find. And you are shopping local, helping out your friends and neighbors. The things you will find in a small, locally-owned store aren't available in WalMart. I mean, come on? How many things are made in Kentucky at WalMart?

You can actually have a pretty good day by shopping local - and with the cost of gas never the same from day to day - you'll save money by sticking close too. Just think if you did a 'shop local' day in Estill County? You could stop by Rose's on your way into town and pick up a couple of gift certificates for gas. The perfect gift for your mailperson, hair dresser or a teacher! Then you could stop by the Animal Clinic for a bag of food for your furry pet at home. Dr. Grimes would surely appreciate the business!

Your next stop could be Fancy Pickens for a primitive gift for your best friend. Don't forget to grab a gift certificate or two next door at Little Caesar's for your high school or college age gifts. They love pizza and would fit great in a stocking.

For the man in your life, be it a husband, your dad or a friend .... stop by Honchell's. They have a great selection of Carhartt clothing - or plenty of UK Blue for that UK fan on your list. Make your next stop at Plaza Pharmacy. Have you seen their selection of John Deere Tractor items? Oh, my. You're likely to find something in their for a little (or big) boy on your list. And if not, you can at least enjoy some Katie's Korner Ice Cream. It's wonderful!

Are you getting my drift here? Continuing on, don't forget the many shop in the mall leading into town. There are beauty shops offering gift certificates for the holidays - or make your appointment before it's too late to get in! There's also Baker's Pool Supply - a great time to stock up on next year's chemicals. Or heck, buy a pool for the family for next summer!

You can't possibly drive by Silo Mill Gift Shop and not stop in and say hello to Barb and the rest of the girls there! If you can't find a gift in there then you are buying for a really tough person to buy for. They have such a great selection, everything from Boyd's Bears, Candleberry Candles and pottery items from Clay City Pottery. If you don't see what you'd like, ask Barb. She has some great ideas for the perfect gift.

You can stop at Every Body's Gym next and get your membership for next year. I'm sure they are offering deals on those at this time. And you know, right next door at Hardy's you can find all kinds of propane and gas ranges. Think about it. Buy one of those from Lowe's and you don't even know who the person is that is delivering it. Buy it from Hardy's and you'll know - it'll be someone from your own community. Pepper will make sure it works right - and even if it goes out on the weekend - you know who to call! Certainly not Lowe's.

I'm sure you are getting kind of hungry right now .... so stop by the Twin for a hot dog and coke before venturing on. They have pretty good milk shakes too! It will give you the added energy to get up River Drive. You can stop by Meade's Do It Center next. They have a great selection of gifts for everyone on your list. And check out their banners and flags. Buy one and get a deal on the second one!

Once you get to Ravenna, don't miss Sharon's. She has a great selection of Peace Frog and Fox Racing items, plus make up and more! Next door is Bryant's Paint Store - Tobo offers a great selection of Case Knives for the knife lover on your list.

On up the road is Ravenna Florist and Greenhouse. What can one say about Ravenna Florist and Greenhouse? Well, if Francie and her crew doesn't have what you are looking for - they'll create it. Lots of Christmas decor and lots of gift items. They have Willow Tree, lots of candles, pottery from Tater Knob and many other items. You can't walk out of their without a gift for someone special on your list.

Whew! What a day of shopping. Local shopping. How many gifts could you cover with one day of shopping local? And think of all of your friends and neighbors you are helping out along the way!!

It will be over tomorrow, or will it?

2012-11-05T10:44:00.004-05:00

Good Monday morning to each of you. We are less than 48 hours away from knowing who our next president is. Which means the television coverage today will be ridiculous. Ads calling each other liars, not a one of them telling us what they are going to do.

I took a trip to Olive Hill and Grayson on Saturday, and was so thankful I had several CD's in the car to listen to. Every other ad on the radio is political. I got to thinking about how well off most media outlets are about this time of year. With the amount of advertising that candidates are doing, they must be making a mint.

And All Things Country Magazine never had a political ad one. I guess they forget about us. I should be upset, the magazine could really use some of that money to get us back on solid ground. But then again, our magazine promotes good news and I haven't seen a good ad yet. So really I'm a bit pleased that we are involved in that mess.

I can't image the amount of money that has traded hands over the past year. The amount of political advertising on the television shows me that alot of money has been spent. Just think if they would have taken that same amount of money and helped out small businesses. Helped out a food bank somewhere. Donated to a children's hospital. They might have my vote then. But when the ad says it's paid for by some PAC, well then that shows me one thing. They aren't out for us, they are out for the agenda of the PAC.

One of the first lessons I learned in journalism was to never promote politics on either side. I've adhered to that. The only thing I would suggest is that you get out and vote. You can't complain if you don't vote.

Tomorrow will be a big day in our country, one that will change alot of things -no matter which way it goes. So, while you are in that voting booth - say a prayer for our country. We can use all of them that we can get!

And after you have finished with your voting, stop by a locally-owned, small business in your community and make their day!

Our "family" of advertisers

2012-10-15T11:07:00.003-04:00

Last week was delivery week for the October magazine. Between Dave and I we delivered over 9,000 books in one day. We do alot of traveling throughout the month, but it's pretty hurried during the delivery process. It's not too hurried though to enjoy chatting with our family of advertisers along the way. I'm constantly saying 'it takes a village' to get things done - and it definitely takes a village to publish All Things Country Magazine each month. We literally couldn't do it without our advertisers and the many friends and relatives that also take the magazine around with them to other locations.

We really do count our many advertisers and friends along the way as family. We care about your business, whether you've had a good or bad month. It seems way too many people are having bad months now. We lost three 'family' members this past month with the closing of Pizza Palace, Conrad Motors and South Irvine Market. Sure, it hurts losing them as advertisers, but we also feel for them as people who can no longer survive the struggles of running a locally-owned small business.

There are many times that the Dave person and I consider whether to continue on - in both of our businesses. There are so many avenues for advertising out there, and it seems like many of them use ATC to sell their ads. I know this because business owners have told me. "Such and such came in last week with a copy of your magazine, wanting me to buy an ad with them." We hear it every month. But, there is a difference when you take out an ad with us. We continue to push your business in all aspects of our lives.

When we have get-togethers at the farm, your brochures and business cars are displayed. During our travels we recommend our advertisers to other business owners. Because we care. If your business doesn't do well, our business doesn't do well. Dave and I are true believers in shopping locally. With small, locally owned businesses. Where you know the owner. Kind of like us when we deliver. The owner of the business is most often delivering you your copies of the magazine. And I appreciate each and every hug I get each month too!

I also try to share your updates on our Facebook page - and will even include your events in my weekly emails. It's a full circle type of thing. I'm helping you out as you are helping me out.

Our November book is going to be full of recipes from our readers. It's a great edition, one that is saved by most everyone! So if you are considering an ad with us, this is the best one of the year to try us out. And you too can become one of our family.

Have a Blessed Monday everyone. I'll try to keep this blog going on a more regular basis!

Well, I'm a bust at blogging

2012-06-12T12:50:00.001-04:00

I have come to the conclusion that I'm not a good blogger. I am just too busy at times to remember to do it. So I procrastinate, which is entirely the wrong thing to do when you get behind. And this time I've procrastinated since March! Oh my. I should be fired, except I'm the person that would fire me.

Where does the time go? This time of year, it goes to gardening I suppose. It seems like Dave and I are outside later and later each evening. By the time we get in the house and grab something to eat, it's bedtime. And eating before bed is not good either. It tends to mess with your sleep! At least it does mine.

The June magazine came out a bit late this month and we are doing what we can to prevent that from happening again. When we switched to the new printers we had to make a sacrifice. You see, they were already booked the entire last week of the month. Which means we can't print until the first week of the month - which means our book doesn't come out until about the 10th of each month. We have to take the good with the bad - and I'd rather have an awesome looking book. Young's Publishing does a wonderful job of printing our book and I just can't switch back to lower quality just to allow for earlier printing. So, for those advertisers and sponsors that are disappointed, please understand that I have to take the good with the bad.

July's magazine is already in the works. I'm through with procrastination. We'll be printing it on July 2nd and it will be delivered by July 7th. It would be delivered a day earlier, but the July 4th holiday falls right on the day we should be getting the book back. So we will be out in full force on July 5th delivering to all of the great advertisers that support us each month.

Our June book was a tough month. Most people advertised in the Estill County Fair Book - and we can't blame them for that. We do, however, thank the many people that also took out an ad with us. It is most definitely appreciated. We don't have legal advertising sales to fall back on, nor do we have other publications like some of our competition. We have one publication, that comes out once a month. Without our advertisers we wouldn't have a book - and without advertisers we find it rather hard to eat at times. Thank goodness we grow most of our own food.

I talked with several advertisers last month that took out ads in other publications too. One such publication was out of Cincinnati, Ohio. I guess I should be honored that their salesmen took my publication around to our dedicated advertisers and asked for ads. But, I'm not honored. They are just messing with my small, locally owned business! I've never been one to take another publication around and hit their advertisers. I guess I should, huh?

When you advertise with All Things Country Magazine, rest assured that you are helping out a small business. A locally-owned business. With one full-time employee that hasn't been paid in months. Yes, times are tough. For everyone. That's why my appreciation to those who support us is unwavering. This one employee couldn't possibly publish this magazine without the help of my dear husband Dave and my sister Roben. It takes a village, right? Well, it takes my whole family to help get this magazine out and I am forever grateful to them.

So, as I sit here and ponder what to include in our next edition, please know how thankful I am for every advertiser, subscriber and reader that comes in contact with All Things Country Magazine. And I'll keep publishing it as long as I can - as long as all of you keep supporting my dream too! Have a great day. Pam

Blanket, Bedding and Dishcloth Drive

2012-03-13T09:26:00.001-04:00

Yes, I'm still tore up about the damages I saw last week during my travels. Since I've been through my share of natural disasters, I somewhat understand what all these people are dealing with each day since the tornadoes hit. Day to day life has changed for so many people in our great state - and many states around us too.

I heard my share of horror stories last week too, dealing with the recovery process. Good people with donations or services that drove down there and were turned away. Truckloads of generators turned away. I've even seen reports that clothing items would be buried at the dump rather than given away. Oh my gosh.

Of course, I do understand the logistics problem - storing all of the donations must be an issue in itself. I have also seen posts of people begging for items. Where does a person start? How do you know what is right?

I pondered for days what I could do. I really want to help, but how? I've donated money through my church to go to the relief funds. I even 'mistakenly' donated to the Red Cross fund, which I doubt is the right thing to do at this point. The money donated to them just goes into their General Fund and that's not right. I would be curious to see how much goes to tornado victims out of that fund. It didn't work during Katrina, I doubt it will work here.

Since I'm a fiber arts fanatic, I have decided that I can make things to give to them. Like dishcloths. Who doesn't love a homemade dish cloth? And I have friends who knit, quilt and crochet. I keep thinking of all the kidlets down in that area that lost their blankets. So, I'll be hitting up everyone I know in the next three weeks asking for donations of items. I figure that in about three or four weeks, these folks will have a better grasp on their lives. Right now, many don't even have homes. So bedding isn't a direct need. But it will be.

You might wonder what you can do if you aren't a knitter or crocheter? Well, I'll also take all sizes of towels, sheets, crib sheets, pillowcases. I plan on collecting just as much as I can and store them at my home until it's time to deliver them. I've already sent out emails to several of our readers who are going to direct me where donations need to go in their towns.

So, at least I'll be doing something. And I hope you'll join in with me. God Bless you all......

Traveling through the destruction

2012-03-10T09:03:00.001-05:00

I have spent the past three days driving hundreds of miles delivering All Things Country Magazine. It's a great opportunity to catch up with our advertisers when we aren't trying to sell them something. Everyone is happy to see you, they don't dread it. That is how most months go at least. That hasn't been the case this month.

Now, don't get me wrong. I have enjoyed seeing everyone. It's just the other sights I have seen are heartbreaking. It's good that the people of Kentucky are resilient because that is what it's going to take. Everyone working together to help put these areas back together.

My first day of delivery takes me from Winchester to Olive Hill, and areas in between the two. My sister Roben always goes with me during this trip, so she also got to see some of the devastation. I really didn't think we'd see much since we weren't going southeast at all. Boy, was I wrong.

We took the exit off of Interstate 64 that goes towards Salt Lick and the Cave Run area. We leave magazines at the Kentucky Market Pavilion at that exit. After leaving there, we decided to turn left to see what all the trucks were doing up the road. It was then that we noticed the old Boot Store building across the road. The roof was gone, for the most part at least. Once we started looking around we saw another house with no roof. There was a crew on top fixing it.

And insulation! It was everywhere. In the trees, in the fields. Stuck to signs. Trees were literally spun out of the ground and were laying beside the roads. The trucks we saw? Well, they were still clearing the roadway of trees that had been pulled up by the roots. This was 5 days after the tornadoes had hit. And I hadn't even heard there was damage there!

Between that exit and the Salt Lick area I imagine we saw at least 10 barns or buildings of some type laying in rubble. Lots of roofs gone. And even more insulation. It is blown everywhere. I had the camera with me too. But I just couldn't stop and take pictures. It is still too heartbreaking to record for me. I'd rather stop when the rebuilding process is going on I guess.

I have continued to see destruction each day. The Campton area was hit pretty hard - with hail! The houses are just dotted with hail damage. At least this destruction is fixable. In many cases fixable isn't an option. Yesterday, I saw the destruction along I-75 near the East Bernstadt community in Laurel County. Words just don't do justice to it. The people just standing there, staring at the piles of lumber. Again, I couldn't pick up the camera for that.

I have also heard lots of stories each day. Most of them disturbing. Like generators being turned away from the West Liberty area. Or a local Cattlemen group being turned away - from serving meals to workers! And that is all I am hearing about. West Liberty. And I feel for everyone there. If supplies and equipment are being turned away, the residents aren't getting the help they should be getting.

Who's in control down there? Just who is turning them away? The Red Cross is one report I've heard. They don't want supplies or anything else. Just money. Yes, I'm irritated with this. And I've given to the Red Cross, don't get me wrong. But I also think alot of good, caring people are contributing to the Red Cross fund and I'll be curious to see how much of this money actually gets into the hands of tornado victims.

And it's not just West Liberty that needs help. West Liberty just needs the most help. There is Salyersville, parts of Johnson County, Boone County, Bath County, Laurel County. Schools are gone, homes and businesses are gone. And you can't tell me that there isn't an immediate need for things. Not just money. These people don't need money right now, they need shoes and something to eat. They need to know we all care.

I will be out with my camera soon. I've got one more day of delivering the magazine and tomorrow I plan on taking off for the West Liberty and Salyersville area. It's the reporter in me........

And I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. But I'm going to do something.

Have a blessed day everyone. And keep all the storm victims in your prayers. Not just in Kentucky, but in the other six states that received damage too.

Pam

Some ads aren't welcome

2012-02-22T11:17:00.000-05:00

It's hard to say it, but there are some ads that are just not welcome in All Things Country Magazine. With the economy the way it is, and the lack of ad sales during the past two months you really wouldn't think you'd hear that from a publisher. But you will from me. And I guess that might just be my downfall. But, hey ... it's my book and I can make that decision.

There aren't too many things in life that you really have a choice in. Thinking back to a recent post about the price of gas is just one example. We wake up every morning wondering what the world will bring us for that day and how much the gas prices have gone up or down. Our paychecks are dictated by the government. Heck .... our schools, our churches, our banks - everything is dictated by somebody, somewhere in the world.

But, my magazine - nope. If I don't want to run your pain pill clinic advertising in my paper - I don't have to. Sure, the money would be nice. Probably big money too. They can afford it. A small business person, they can't afford to advertise. A semi-legal pain clinic - with a sign on the building that says weight loss - they can afford it. Sad, isn't it.

I think about what my readers would think when I accept advertising for the magazine. If I go into a store - and find it's not a business that I can promote with a clear conscience - then I turn around and leave. I have been known to accept liquor store ads, but hey - every once in a while I have a drink. I certainly don't run ads from bootleggers! And I don't mean to offend people by running them, but I'm not telling my readers to drink if they don't want to.

Running this magazine is tricky business. I have certainly found that out over the years. This magazine rules my life, it really does. It's like my baby. I care about it. I worry about it. Every single page means something to me - and I absolutely hate it if I have an advertiser that doesn't like their ad. I take it personally, because I design nearly every ad in the magazine too. I design every page. I type up every story - well the ones that are sent in. If they are emailed in, I get a reprieve :-)

So, when you are reading All Things Country every month, know that you are appreciated. By me, at least. I appreciate each and every comment, each and every ad placed with us, each and every poem written about us or for our book. I appreciate each of you that take the magazine with you on your trips - the pictures are awesome.

Spring is just around the corner, and I'm sure ad sales will pick up. And rest assured, you'll never see an ad for some shady business in my book. No matter how bad I want to sell an ad. And if you are in a business that you think would be a good fit with All Things Country, please leave them a copy and recommend us. I'd appreciate that also :-).

Have a great day everyone! Blessings to you and your family.
Pam

Are my traveling days are about to end?

2012-02-21T11:55:00.000-05:00

I have been on the road alot in the past 10 days and will be out and about again tomorrow. Since the Dave person is trying to find employment elsewhere, it's now up to me to get all the ads sold, then come home and build them. Yeah, it's getting tougher to make a living. And not just for us, for everyone. So I won't even begin to complain. We have our health, family and all the other important things. Many in this world don't.

What I will complain about it the rising price of gas. Again. It's ridiculous that our net income each month is determined by how much money we put out to get to work everyday. Some days it might cost you $5.00 in gas, the very next day it might cost you $7.50. And the balance of this equation lies with the powers to be? Not a bit fair is it?

My sister just lost a very dear friend to cancer and her obituary came out today. Reading through it, you realize how much Laurie disliked cars. She rode her bike everywhere. I have heard that the only time she drove her car to work, which was ONCE, she got a ticket. She even rode her bike to her chemotherapy and radiation treatments. It made me wonder just how much money that girl saved in her life by not driving a car everyday! Amazing.

I'm not sure I could get 10,000 copies of All Things Country Magazine delivered in two days to 20 counties riding a bicycle! No, I'll change that. I know I can't. But, if the cost of gas keeps rising, what are we all going to do? Go back to horse and buggies?

I would estimate that I have driven over 1,000 miles this month already - and there are 8 days left in the month. At $4.00 a gallon, that means I've burned up at least $140.00 in gas, not to mention wear and tear on the vehicle. If it goes up to $5.00 a gallon, I'll be spending a minimum of $175.00 on gasoline each month. Gosh, that's alot. And I'm not talking distribution in these numbers. Add those two days to the mix and it's just downright scary to think about how much we pay to deliver a free magazine each month.

The real bummer on all of this is that I haven't brought in any income in all of those miles. I've got several leads that I have to GO BACK to next week. You guessed it, more gas and mileage on the old trusty car. And I've had calls from several people wanting us to run free items for groups. You know, the newspapers does it, why can't we? Well, we don't charge 50¢ per copy for All Things Country. If I did, I could afford to give away free ads. We don't collect income from publishing legal notices. If I did, I could afford to give away several free ads each month. But, that's not the case. Every dime of income at All Things Country comes from us going out daily and pushing the magazine and it's advertising.

The great part of my business, traveling around visiting with people. The bummer part of my business, not being paid to travel around and visit with people. I am in the wrong business I guess. I should be involved in the tourism industry. I see posts from local tourism groups and all the traveling they do. One fellow posts his meals every day, all across the state of Kentucky. Maybe that's why I have NEVER gotten a reply from him regarding our magazine. He's always busy eating!

I could do that too, because as I'm traveling around searching out antique malls and craft stores and the like for advertising, we also have to eat. We've found some great spots to enjoy a meal over the years. Maybe it's time to start my own non-profit. I've been wanting to do a "Community Spirit" type of deal for quite a while anyway. I could even write advertising into the grant and help spread the word through our magazine. Hmmmm.

Well, it's time to get to work. With all the traveling I've been doing, it takes me a whole day just to catch up on office work. Today is that day.

Until next time..... have a blessed day.
Pam

Delivery day adventures

2012-02-09T20:00:00.000-05:00

We are almost done with delivery of the February edition of All Things Country Magazine after picking it up from the printers yesterday morning. With the help of my wonderful husband and sister, we have completed delivery in Estill, Powell, Lee, Wolfe, Madison, Fayette, Clark, Bath, Rowan, Montgomery and Carter counties. I'm pretty sure I'm leaving out a county or two, but I'm a bit tired tonight :-). We've got eight or nine counties left tomorrow and we'll be done ... for this month anyway.

It's really kind of fun going out to deliver the magazine. Who doesn't like it when the door opens and someone is bringing you something for free? So people are happy to see us! Of course, most of these businesses have ads in the book, so it really isn't free. But, our hope is that they get business off of their ad too, at least enough to pay for it!

It's interesting to hear people say, "Oh, I thought you'd be here today." Or the one we hear the most, "people have been calling to see if it's here yet." It's very gratifying to hear so many people say they like the magazine. It makes it worthwhile. For the most part. We certainly aren't getting rich off of All Things Country, but things are starting to pick up and that's good news too.

Our delivery days are very hectic. We usually pick up the magazine about 7:30 in the morning and load both of our rigs to the very top with them. I deliver part of Winchester, then head for Carter County and leave Uncle Bobby bundles for the Carter, Elliott and Lewis county areas. We've got some great readers in the Eastern part of the state. On my way back towards Winchester, I deliver to businesses in Morehead, Farmers, Cave Run Lake area, Owingsville and Mt. Sterling. I finish up the rest of Winchester before heading back to the farm. I can't do all of Winchester that morning because some businesses aren't open until later on, so I kind of divide it up.

Dave's day includes dropping off bundles at the farm and then delivering all of Estill County. His second day he takes them over to Powell, Wolfe and Lee counties for me, while I head to Lexington for a few stops over there and on to Richmond to deliver Madison County. Whew, lots of miles go on our rigs over two days. Good thing I don't mind driving! It's actually Dave that hates driving, it makes him tired.

We wrap up delivery of the magazine by, again, going in two different directions. One of us will take the southern route, which includes Berea down to the Welcome Center near Jellico, Tennessee - the other, up to Paris, Carlisle, Cynthiana and then up to the Welcome Center near Cincinnati. We kind of switch back and forth on day three, usually depending on the weather.

It's supposed to snow tomorrow, so we'll be out of here early in the morning and hopefully we can both get home before the roads get too bad. I've driven in my share of snow, so it doesn't bother me too much to drive on snowy roads, it's mostly the other drivers around me that make me nervous. Of course, yesterday when I couldn't make it up my Uncle Bobby's hill in Olive Hill, now that wasn't a whole lot of fun. I don't much like backing down a snowy road! And the brakes on these cars nowadays are kind of weird feeling when you are sliding...... enough said!

I do get to meet some mighty interesting people along the way though. Marty, the owner of Lying Lee's Used Cars between Morehead and Olive Hill. Now what a character! And they were one of the most hopping places I'd been to that day. What a bunch, that group. I'll probably never drive by that place again and not at least stop in and say hello! Heck, they'll probably be eating something while I'm there and I'll get lunch too. And to think that I've been driving by there now for six years and never did stop. Come to find out Marty is one of the organizers of Poppy Mountain Bluegrass Festival, which I've wanted to go to since moving here. And good news .... I walked out of there with tickets :-). So, we'll be there this year! And, better yet.... he's going to sponsor several Abby Tracks prizes before the festival in September, so some of our readers will be able to go too! You can find details about Poppy Mountain in the March book.

Today I had a great visit with Mike Chaney over at the Country Place in Richmond. They have such beautiful stuff in there. If you have never been there you really should plan a visit. They carry a fine line of antiques, pictures, candles, just all kinds of decor and other items. I could literally walk around there for a couple of hours and find stuff I'd love to have in my home. They are going to sponsor an upcoming Abby Tracks prize also.

So, all in all, we've had a great couple of days getting out the magazine. And now, the whole process starts again. I'll be out again Monday picking up ads for the March book. The Dave person thinks he has a job lined up starting Monday, so I've kind of lost my help all of a sudden. I panicked for a minute when I thought about doing all of this myself, but it only lasted a minute or two. I'll be okay. And I'll get to meet that many more people.

Have a great evening everyone! Time for some knitting before bed.
Pam

My in-between day

2012-02-07T13:55:00.000-05:00

Today is my in-between day. I have one every single month. It is the day between print day and pick up day for the magazine. I could say that I have nothing to do, but that isn't true. I have a million things I could do. Don't we all? The question is, what do I want to do?

There is housework to do. That never ends. Even with just two of us, the housework remains the same as when we had a kidlet living at home. The only thing that really changed once Jen left home was our cooking patterns. It's not uncommon for the Dave person and I to just have a sandwich for dinner on some nights. You just can't do that with kids. They kind of expect some form of a dinner.... ha ha ha.

There is farmwork to do. But, hey, that never ends either! It's hard for me to do farmwork on such a nice sunny day. Because I would do the farm work that I WANT to do, not the farmwork that needs to be done. That's out anyway, because Dave is up at dad's installing a dishwasher for them. So, I can reasonably put off the farmwork idea 'til he returns home.

I could sit and spend the day knitting or needle felting. I'm working on an awesome needle-felted hat that is taking up my evenings right now. It is my first one, so it's a tester model. Tester models stay on either my head or Dave's head. This one is more for a girl, so it's mine :-). I'll post pictures when I'm done.

Office work is another option. I could clean off my desk! What a novel idea. But, really, on my one day off each month, do I really want to do office work? Not exactly. I sit here all the time, in our 'dining room' converted to office space part of the house. Why would I want to do it today too? My sister actually told me to not get dressed today, since I don't have any plans. Yeah, right ....

I tried that. Staying in my robe. Guess who showed up here at noon today? Two representatives of the American Cancer Society to talk to me about Relay. I wonder if my sister heard me in her head when I was saying to myself, "Sure Pam, stay in your robe all day." Fine idea sister person. But, hey, guess what? I'm still in my robe!

I guess that by the time I decide what to do with my free day, the day will be about over. It's already 1:30 ... and I have a Relay meeting this evening at the hospital. So, I'm down to about 4 hours left of my free day. And if I don't get some laundry done, I won't have clothes to wear. And if I don't clean the kitchen up some, we won't have any dinner. And if I don't get these dogs fed, they are going to bug me until I do. So, I'm right back to doing housework, farmwork and thinking about my evening meeting.

Not much of a day off. But, that's okay! I was blessed to wake up this morning and that's enough to carry me through my whole day, whatever I decide to do .......

Have a great day everyone! We'll be out and about tomorrow delivering the newest edition of All Things Country Magazine.

Blessings, Pam

Is it really Super Bowl weekend?

2012-02-04T09:25:00.000-05:00

Gosh, it's so hard to believe that it's Super Bowl weekend. But, if you watch TV at all, you certainly haven't forgotten it happens this weekend. I'm kind of split on the Super Bowl coverage of the past week. I have a friend in Indianapolis, so I've tried to watch for her during the morning show all week. Most of them have been filming from there all week, so it's been hard to miss if you watch television at all.

What I'm split on is the fact we've seen so many of the commercials. I understand, from a marketing standpoint, that it is only beneficial to put them online. I mean you are getting so much more coverage and it's for the most part free. I guess it's up to a person not to watch them online if you are interested in watching them during the game. I must say I am looking forward to seeing the entire Elton John/Pepsi commercial. But it would have been so much better to see it the first time during the game, not days before on The Today Show. Oh well. It's just my opinion, which I've learned doesn't mean a whole lot.

Super Bowl usually has meant some type of a party most of my life. My folks watched football, so we watched football growing up as kids. My first real memories of football come from our time spent in Woodbridge, Virginia. We were huge Redskins fans. Dad worked for Lowe's back then, when Lowe's was barely a store, not a huge chain store. He had Redskin players as customers, so he actually knew some of those on the field. We always thought that was kind of cool.

I remember Dad coming home with tickets to a big year-end NFL banquet one year, compliments of Lowe's. Mom shopped for the perfect clothes for a month, Dad even had to have a tuxedo I think. Mom was so excited to go. She went to the beauty shop a day or so before the big event to have her hair colored .... and came home with hair that had a purple tint. Oh my! She was devastated. Nowadays it wouldn't mean a thing, would it? But back in the 1970's, it meant something. We assured her that it would be okay. And it was. She looked fabulous in her dress, jewelry and make-up. And the hair wasn't that PURPLE, it just had kind of a weird tint to it. Back then they wouldn't re-do your color for several days, so she really didn't have much of an option but keep a smile on her face and go.

They came home with stories galore. Mom talked of sitting with football players at their table that were twice her height. Sure that's pushing it a bit, but she was only 5 foot tall so it must have felt that way. I can't remember her talking about the food, but I'd say it was mighty tasty too.

Most of my super bowl memories include food and big get-togethers. I spent many years in the mountains of Idaho at Super Bowl parties. We considered it Super Bowl weekend though. Any excuse for a party back then. Of course, I'm sure those I gathered with back then will still gather together again tomorrow and enjoy the game. Although I'm sure it's not as exciting for them since there isn't a west coast team in the mix.

For several of my friends back there the party starts today!! You see, it's the annual Pierce Winter Carnival weekend 'on the hill.' I'm sure they are glad to have finally got some snow, so most of the events can go on as planned. They have snowmobile rides, snowman building contests and just fun in the snow. This is the second year for the Barstool races, and I'm sure hoping I get to see pictures. Or like one of my friends said, a video! They put skis on barstools and race them. What fun that must be to see. I'll share it with you in a future post if I see one posted.....

Well, time to get some work done around here! I've got company coming for the game tomorrow ... and we'll be having our own little party on the farm. Hoping your weekend is blessed, no matter if you watch the game or not......

Pam

Groundhog Day has arrived, is Spring next?

2012-02-02T07:50:00.000-05:00

The day has arrived. The folks up in Pennsylvania are having quite the party this morning, at least that's the looks of it by the coverage they are showing on the Today Show. Is Spring around the corner or not? The big question of February 2nd of every year.

I am guessing that the little guy is going to crawl out of his hole and ask everyone what happened to winter.... what if he says Spring will arrive 6 weeks after winter finally arrives? Oh my goodness, we'll be in trouble then.

In the West, we never took much interest in groundhog day. Usually on February 2nd the entire western side of the United States is covered with snow. Not this year. Not by a long-shot. I am not completely sure if anywhere in the good ole' USA has a normal snowpack. This means lots of bugs next summer. Yuck! And lots of wildfires. Yuck! So, Mr. Groundhog won't be too pleased.

I could use some spring right now. Even some spring for my step. It's been a long month. We travel to approximately twenty counties each month, trying to sell advertising and delivering books. This month, we got ads out of five counties. Very few ads. The worst month ever for All Things Country. Which means another small book.

If I hear I'll take an ad in March again, I might scream. Should I reply, "well, we'll have a book again in March?" Or, "I guess I'll eat again next month." I guess I really sound ungrateful. And I'm not. I appreciate every single ad that we get every month. And, from the sounds of it, I will be busy next month. Thank goodness! Lots of people have already said they want an ad in March, so I will go into February with hope.

Much more hope than I have today. Do I spend the money in gas to drive around and ask people for ads or do I just give up the ghost and go from here? Decisions, decisions, decisions. I feel like I'm in the movie Groundhog Day every day. Every day we get up and wonder how many times we will hear no. And pray we'll hear yes.

Oh, well. Every day that I wake up is a blessing. And if God wants me to go broke, I guess that's what he wants.........

Blessings everyone. Have a great day!
Pam

Twelve times a year

2012-02-01T11:30:00.000-05:00

I posted a question yesterday on the ATC Facebook page asking whether people knew the magazine was uploaded to our website each month and was absolutely amazed at the responses. Most people said no. This news took me by surprise. I push All Things Country every day - online, through email, on Facebook, in person. And still, after all this time, we meet people who have never seen our magazine.

The last twenty-some years of my life have revolved around marketing and promotion. And I guess I'm finding out that I'm not very good at it. I certainly would think most people that have seen our magazine also knew it was available online. And advertisers, I always figured that was kind of a selling point to them placing an ad.

You know what they say about assuming something. Well, I've done it to myself! And it's not been pretty.....

I guess I need to explain a few things about All Things Country Magazine:

• We publish 12 editions each year. That means we only bother you for an ad 12 times a year. Or once if you take a 12 month deal!

• Our magazine is full color, printed on glossy stock. It averages between 32 and 40 pages each month, although January and February are sometimes only 24 pages.

• We print on Monday of the first full week of each month. Delivery begins two days later and we distribute 10,000 copies the first two days. We save back 1,000 copies to re-stock later in the month. 1,000 copies are used for subscriptions and mailing out with Rate Cards.

• Yes, we have subscriptions! Sure, we know it's a free magazine, but if you'd like to receive it in your mailbox each month, we can accommodate you. The cost is $27.00 per year and we currently mail out subscriptions to 21 states.

• I have no staff. It's just me! My husband will pick up ads for me, but he's a busy person so I'm trying to ask him less and less. Of course, delivery wouldn't be nearly as quick without his help also.

• We have no legal advertising, which is what helps out your local paper each month. We have nothing to fall back on. The size of each magazine is dependent upon how many ads we sell. Thankfully we have several advertisers that never miss a month, so without them we would really be sunk during these lean months.

• Delivery includes businesses and advertisers in approximately 20 counties of Kentucky. We leave them along I-75 from Jellico, Tennessee north to the Ohio border. We also leave them at businesses along I-64 from Lexington to Olive Hill, Kentucky.

• Coming back to your business 6 times in two weeks and then you stating that you think you'll pass doesn't make us a dime of money. With the price of gas, coming back to your business 6 times costs about what the ad you might have taken costs.

• Every edition of All Things Country Magazine from 2009 to the current one is available to download at our website, www.allthingscountryky.com. The only edition you will find missing is the edition when our computer was hit by lightning, so it wasn't available to upload.

• I design 95% of the ads that are included in the book each month. I lay out the pages and I stress out while it's at the printers. I hate mistakes!! And when I make a mistake it's pretty public!

• We have the best readers there are!

So, there ya have it. Did I answer any questions you might have?

Have an awesome Wednesday everyone! And if you feel the need to take out an ad now or in the future, it would be greatly appreciated.......

Blessings to you .... Pam

Recipes, Recipes, Recipes ....

2012-01-31T11:16:00.000-05:00

Our February edition will be full of recipes, a favorite among readers. I've been typing up recipes for the past month and we have quite the collection. It's so much fun reading the comments from those who submit their Abby Track entry each month, in which recipes were to be included this month. I try to include as many comments as I can in each edition of the book.

I am a bit worried about our February book though. I keep looking at the long list of recipes I have to put in there - and then I look at the short list of ads that we have. The past month has been a month of hearing no everywhere we go. I know, I know ... complaining again. I am not trying to though. It's been a good month as far as meeting people, and that accounts for a lot.

Just yesterday the sister and I went East, all the way to Olive Hill. It was an enjoyable trip. We got to visit with Uncle Bobby and his beautiful wife Penny. That is always a treat. We ate a fabulous meal down at the Smokey Truck Stop - goodness, try their Smokey Burger sometime. I can see why it made it on that Diner's, Drive-Ins and Dives show. Of course, I didn't have any luck selling an ad. I guess they figure they are famous enough from the show. But hey, they love the book and want us to keep bringing it back. [Insert Sarcasm].

We drove home from Olive Hill along U.S. 60, the road paralleling the interstate. It's an enjoyable drive, especially on a beautiful day. And yesterday was a beautiful day, there is no arguing that point. It was actually hot in the car, with that bright sunshine beating down through the windows. We stopped about half way between Olive Hill and Morehead at the Globe Funeral Home. Again, trying to sell an ad. But more than that, I wanted to show my sister their car collection.

You see, I had stopped there another time to leave a rate card and was just so impressed with the die cast car collection. When you enter the building, you see the main hallway lined with curio cabinets of all sizes. The main hallway holds just a small sampling of what is elsewhere in the building. Old pedal cars sit atop the cases too. It's just fun to look at it all.

I really didn't expect to find the owners in, but I had my business information just in case! But, lo and behold, one of the owners was there. And sat and spoke with us about advertising. It was a plus in my book. Sure, I didn't walk out of there with an ad, but I did walk out of there with hope. And, as we were leaving, he told us to make sure we looked in the room to our left down by the door.

Oh my! What a room. It's the actual room where services are held, but along those walls were even more cases of cars. And pedal cars. One case held nothing but die-cast hearses from years past. We even saw a horse-driven one from many, many years ago. It was quite a treat. And such a good stop along our way.

Our next stop was Lying Lee's Used Cars. What a great name, huh? As I told the owner, I have been driving by that place for six years, always saying to myself "I would love to have them in our book." I just love their name. We were interrupting the owner's lunch, but he didn't seem to care. He even offered Roben and I some of his lunch. After a few minutes of chatting, I found out that this same gentleman puts on the Poppy Mountain Bluegrass Festival. Oh my. Another good contact. I'll be working up something for him later today!

Again, we walked out of a business with no ad for February ... but more hope that things are going to turn around. Spring is just around the corner and business will pick up for everyone. It has to, or we'll all be in the same boat. Out of business!

After two great visits, the sister person and I headed home. And, as disappointing as it was to come home - again - with no advertising to help us with our February book, it was a great day overall. Of course, we had a few more adventures before we arrived home. Like getting lost once. Yes, we got lost. I thought I'd try to find Sharkey - and thought maybe it would get us to Owingsville somehow. And I'm sure it does. But the route we took? Nope. We ended up back on the southern side of the interstate on Highway 801 again. Right exactly where we had been approximately 1 hour previous to that.

Oh well. The Roben person and I have been known to be lost many times, so it was just par for the course. And I'm guessing that if I have to be lost, she is a pretty good person to be lost with.

Well, I'd best get off of here and get to work! That ad spec for Poppy Mountain awaits :-)

Have a blessed day. Pam

I broke down and went to Pinterest

2012-01-28T10:19:00.000-05:00

I have been trying my hardest to stay off the new site Pinterest. I don't have enough time in my day now, much less start something else. But, in the world of internet marketing, you just about have to check everything out. So I went to check it out. And it's exhausting!

I have spent the past couple of days working on our website and my blog page. I remember when this stuff was easy to me. Not anymore! Technology has changed so darned much - almost daily in fact. I plainly remember sitting at my computer in the mid-1990's, saying I wouldn't have a computer at home. I worked on one 10 to 12 hours a day for many years, why on earth would I want one at home?

I worked with a fellow named Jorge in Oregon who introduced me to the internet. He had all the latest gadgets and would bring them to work to show all of us. I wasn't a bit interested. He would show me what I could find on the internet and I will admit, I didn't understand a bit of it. And heck, I had enough to keep track of in my brain already, so there really wasn't room for more.

I thought that clear back in the 90's? Boy, wasn't I naive? By the time Jen graduated in 2000, we had two computers at home. One upstairs, one downstairs. The kidlet and I actually chatted with each other in our own home. Who'd have thunk it? Nowadays, Dave and I have been known to text each other in our own living room!

Computers were inevitable I guess. I finally gave in to Dave and Jenni when it dawned on me that it was the only way Jen was going to learn to type. She took so many pre-college classes in high school that she ran out of electives to take typing. And she kept putting it off. Until the computer. Boy, she learned to type quickly! All of her friends were chatting, seems like our phone quit working once the computer came into our home.

Building websites over the years has evolved so much, that I'm just so confused most of the time when I stumble through updating our sites. I want to do so much, just don't have the know-how to do it. But, I'm learning. In my spare time, ha ha. I've found that with satellite internet, the very best time to be online is about 3am. Not fun, but I'm used to doing the night-shift thing. I did it for many, many years. There is something peaceful about working in silence in the middle of the night. I seem to absorb more that way.

I guess I will be spending quite a few nights working, because I want to get it right. And it's not right yet. But, hey ... at least Pinterest informed me that I was put on a waiting list for an invite, so I guess I'm okay there. And really, put on a waiting list? My goodness.

Have an awesome Saturday everyone. Make the most of the day you are given.

Blessings, Pam

A new direction?

2012-01-27T10:54:00.000-05:00

Business is slow, not only for us but for many. And the sad part is when business is slow and folks don't take out ads, our magazine is small. Not only is it small, but our income disappears. Literally. We have lost so many advertisers in the past two months that we will no longer be able to go to all the counties we used to. We haven't ever had an ad out of some of the counties we deliver to, so we're going to have to switch directions and go towards a different target area.

It is so sad to watch the little towns slowly disappear. I went back and looked at some back issues and it's apparent how many advertisers we've lost by the number of them that are no longer in business. Of course, we still have lots of readers in those areas and the remaining businesses always want us to bring the book in, but it's just not feasible any longer. Thank goodness, it's still always available online, so I'm hoping many will be able to continue along on our journeys.

All Things Country Magazine will be available in twenty counties, just the same though! We're just focusing on a different list of counties. I was taught when I was very young to never give up. And I'm pretty hard headed. So, instead of defeat, another plan is in order. We'll obviously always be available in Estill, Powell, Wolfe, Lee, Clark, Madison, Montgomery, Carter and Bath counties. And hopefully enough of our find advertisers from these counties will continue to believe in All Things Country Magazine by taking out ads.

New to our list will be counties along the I-75 corridor - from Tennessee to Ohio. So essentially our distribution area will be I-75 North to South and counties bordering I-64 from Fayette County to Carter County. Unfortunately this is where the businesses that can advertise are located. I say unfortunately, because most citizens of the smaller counties take their business to these larger counties. This is why the smaller businesses are closing!!

Again, this makes me sad. I would so much rather promote the businesses in the smaller towns than try to get business from Lexington area businesses. But, in the scheme of things, we are business-people too. And publication of All Things Country Magazine is important - to many of our readers at least! I see that from the letters and comments I get every day. I hear that from the many comments I hear when I'm out and about. Like when someone stops me in the grocery store to ask me about Abby Tracks. Or when they get excited because they found it for the very first time! It's these people that are our driving force.

I also love promoting the advertisers that do have that faith in us! I sit on this computer all day, most every day, promoting ATC and the fine businesses that advertise. I push them on Facebook. I promote their businesses like they were my own. Because without them, we would be nowhere.

Well, I guess I'd better get off of here and on to my next project for the day. Hoping you have a great day, wherever you may be. It's Friday, so have a great weekend too!

Blessings to you. Pam