Ink in my veins!

Some ads aren't welcome

2012-02-22T08:17:00.000-08:00

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?

2012-02-21T08:55:00.000-08:00

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

2012-02-09T17:00:00.000-08:00

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

2012-02-07T10:55:00.000-08:00

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?

2012-02-04T06:25:00.000-08:00

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?

2012-02-02T04:50:00.000-08:00

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

2012-02-01T08:30:00.000-08:00

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 ....

2012-01-31T08:16:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-28T07:19:00.000-08:00

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?

2012-01-27T07:54:00.000-08:00

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

Has it really been 27 years?

2012-01-26T08:05:00.000-08:00

Gosh, it occurs to me that I'm starting my 28th year in the world of publishing. My goodness. Am I really that old? Well, considering Jennifer will turn 30 in May, I guess I am pretty old. I never, ever thought I would work in the publishing field. My teen years were spent working in credit unions. My grandmother was a credit union manager, as well as my mother. So, I was destined to work in the credit union field. I can remember spending time with my grandmother when I was young - at the hospital credit union in Lewiston - helping her lick envelopes, put on stamps and send out hand-written dividend statements.

I worked at the first credit union in our town that offered share drafts - a credit union's version of a checking account. In fact, I remember the very first day they went online. I also worked vacation time at several other credit unions throughout my high school years. When employees would take vacations, I would be the fill-in work. So, it was only obvious I would end up running a credit union someday.

And I did. Well, I was the Assistant Manager, but it was just me and the actual manager as employees, so I pretty much ran it day to day. In fact, I was one of the youngest credit union assistant managers in the State of Idaho at the time. And I was actually called and offered the position, due to my years of helping out around the other credit unions in the area. And, both my mom and grandmother were presidents of the North Idaho Credit Union League at times, so I was always involved in those events.

But, alas, I grew tired of doing the same old thing every day. It was a challenge during dividends time, first of the month reports, and the like. But, it was basically the same old thing. Just different numbers. So, as I always have, I grew restless. I walked into the local newspaper one day and interviewed for a job as a typist. And, gosh, I really hated typing. But, a new adventure was ahead of me and I was ready for the challenge.

So, my days at the Clearwater Tribune started. Who knew I would be in the publishing field this many years later. Cloann was my first newspaper boss. She was - and still is - a hoot! She grew up in a newspaper family, but actually came by the Tribune through a divorce. So, in a way, she was learning the day to day operations the same as I was. And I'm not in any way considering my knowledge anywhere near her knowledge. But, we were learning some of the same things together.

Back then things were very different. We did pictures on a PMT camera. I hated it. But, I grew to understand the workings of it. That happens after you shoot two different high school's graduation pictures! My goodness, what a process it was. Shoot the picture in the darkroom, run the film through a processor, let it dry. Cut the picture out - and put border tape around it on the page. Oh my. How things have changed!

The first machine I typed on was a huge contraption. You looked straight ahead at this screen and it held the line of type you were typing. Once it returned to the next line you couldn't see it anymore. Made a person really not watch the screen, but concentrate on your typing. For you see, if you made a mistake it was a whole other long process to correct it. It involved cutting out the line of type and pasting it over the error - in a straight line, without getting it crooked. The first time I did this, which just happened to be my first day on the job - I thought to myself, "this isn't for me."

But, I stuck with it. And what a blessing that was! For you see, I also learned how to work on a Mac computer at that newspaper. And the places that has taken me! I was hired away from the Clearwater Tribune to design grocery store ads at a bigger newpaper in Lewiston. And after a time there, I was hired at the Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon to design car ads. So, I just kept moving up!

My favorite of the three papers? The Clearwater Tribune. Small town, weekly newspaper. Local news, mostly good back then. I still read it when I get the chance. Thankfully it's online these days. And I still keep in contact with Cloann and her family.

Of course, I guess I should say my favorite of all time is All Things Country Magazine. I love what I do. I love marketing. Promoting small businesses in our area, and all the wonderful things there are to do in our area also. Maybe I'll just make this my career................

Hope you all have a great day!
Blessings, Pam

Ramblings of an editor

2012-01-25T11:35:00.000-08:00

Gosh, for being the editor of a magazine, I sure don't have much to say today. I sat down here to type my blog and have started - and deleted - several different stories. Just not sure what to ramble on about today. I guess I should have saved them all and combined them to make this worth reading!

I started off with a Sister Adventure story. But, hey, we just went to Lexington. Who really cares about that? It was a beautiful day for a drive yesterday and I really enjoyed meeting a few new business people along the way. I very rarely travel to Lexington, so it's big news for me. Kind of sad, huh? I'm more of a small town girl, so heading into Lexington mostly gives me a headache. The traffic is horrible. Waiting at stops lights is horrible. Watching some of the folks around me, well I must admit that isn't so horrible. I am, afterall, a people watcher. You know, everyone has a story!

My next attempt was a Puppy story. I'm falling in love with these puppies. But, those who know me know how much I love my dogs, so it's only inevitable that I would love these puppies. Thank goodness they have homes or else our feed bill would be rising!

Then, I looked outside. Hmmm, maybe a story about the weather. It's sure gray and ugly looking out right now. Rain is arriving ... again. Not snow, just rain. Wet, yucky, muddy yards to enjoy for the next few days. But, you know, I'm tired of talking about the weather. It's winter and we haven't had much 'weather' to speak of, so there isn't much to say but 'more rain.'

I could write about all the yummy recipes I've been typing up for the February magazine.......

Funny how things work. As I'm sitting here pondering all of my thoughts, the door bell rings and one of our great readers was standing at the door with her granddaughter. They brought us a poem for our magazine. Ahhh, respite from my ramblings! And we had a lovely conversation ... about life, kids, critters. I only see Deborah every few months, but I always enjoy catching up with her. She has frequently submitted articles to the magazine over the years and we love her contributions.

As I walked her and Harmony to their car, I heard a familiar sound in the barn. Babies!! Yep, one of the momma goats was cleaning them up in the breezeway when I opened the door. Oh goodness, I think. I'm home alone. Deborah offered to stay and help me, but I figured Dad was just up the road ... no problem. Only problem was, Dad was in town - not at home!

It's a good thing I pay attention, because I actually knew what to do !! And I was successful with it at that. They are now calling a new stall their home - and are both eating off their momma. I have to go back out in a bit and check on them and will take a few pictures to share.

I guess, somehow - someway, when you live on a farm, you can come up with a story!

I hope you all have a blessed afternoon.
Pam

Some days are tougher than others

2012-01-23T11:31:00.000-08:00

I am really trying hard to find the good in every day, even when it's hard. Today is one of those days. Every time the Dave person calls, he sounds more and more down. Every person he has talked to today has said no. Again. He had the same type of day on Friday. It breaks my heart, to hear him so down on days when everything is going wrong for him.

I don't have those type of days, I am the one staying here and managing the phone calls, emails and other stuff that comes along. Dave meets many more people than I do - and therefore hears all the 'no' answers more than me. And I know it's hard to keep going from one store to the next. But, that's what we do.

It seems that most businesses anymore don't have the funds to advertise. That's what they tell us anyway. Then, of course, we open other publications and see their ads. And realize why they don't have the money to advertise. They spent it elsewhere. I'd rather hear that than "I don't have any money."

Of course, they also follow that 'no' with "but make sure you bring the magazine in, people sure love it." Like, we do this magazine to bring customers into their businesses for the heck of it. We do this magazine to bring people into the BUSINESSES THAT ADVERTISE. Not the ones that don't.

Then there are also those businesses that say "I'll advertise next month". Of course, they might say that for six months before they take out an ad. So, for five of those months Dave takes his time to go to their business for them to say "next month."

Ahh, this felt good. I'm sorry you've had to read about me ranting and raving. It's been one of those days. Here's hoping the rest of your day just improves from this moment on!

Blessings to you,
Pam

You just never know where you'll see a copy of ATC

2012-01-20T07:37:00.000-08:00

There were several cool pictures posted on Facebook recently. A group of ladies from the Irvine area took copies of ATC on their mini-vacation down to the Smokey Mountains, and got pictures of several of them holding copies of it during their vacation.

We've had several different pictures sent to us over the years .... a few from a Georgia vacation taken by the Snowdens and the Honchell's took it on their trip to Mount Rushmore last year. There have been more, it's just my feeble mind can't recall them all :-)

We take ATC everywhere we go, so you just never know where you'll see a copy of it. Sure, we deliver it all over the state, and send out copies to subscribers in several states. But it's the readers that take it with them on vacation that we appreciate, the ones that send it overseas to those fighting in the war, or send it to their loved ones in different areas of the country. How cool is that?

Our goal is to promote your business - and promote this beautiful state we live in. And we try our hardest to get the word out about ATC through Facebook, Twitter and our website. We hope you'll give us a try if you have never run an ad. And for those that run every month .... thank you so much for helping to keep our magazine free.

Well, time to get back to work...... have a great Friday everyone!

Blessings to you,
Pam

Winter has hit the Northwest ... finally!

2012-01-19T06:33:00.000-08:00

A big weather system has hit the northwestern states and it's been very interesting watching news coverage of it all on the weather channel. I talked with Jen a couple of times yesterday and she said the roads in the Lewiston area were bad and they had 6 or 7 inches of snow. Now, Idaho is used to getting snow. But in the Lewiston/Clarkston valley, not so much. Sure they get it. Just not in depths of inches at once. In fact, Lewiston closed their schools yesterday early and Dave and I don't ever remember that happening when we went to school. They have even closed the University of Idaho today, unheard of.....

I have mixed feelings for all of those involved. The folks in Pierce, Idaho - I'm overjoyed for them. Snow, finally! They have a big winter festival coming up in February and I can't imagine how they'd have one without snow. But, they are getting their share of it now. Linda, one of our readers - and a dear friend - living on the Weippe prairie posted they had over a foot and it was still snowing. I've drove across that prairie with over a foot of snow on it and the roads can get pretty dicey. The good part of it, if you slide off the road you usually just go into a field.

My friends in the Portland and Seattle area? Not so tickled for them. Sure, the Northwest needs snow. Without snow, all the ski areas can't open and that's devastating financially. And with no snowpack, the wildfires are almost unmanageable in the summers. So they need snow in the mountains.

But downtown Portland and downtown Seattle? Nope, they don't need snow! It's scary enough driving in those areas on a good day, add the elements and there are wrecks everywhere. What's sad is that the snow doesn't last too long in those areas, it switches back to rain and melts it quickly. And that brings another mess .....

Flooding! We lived in Salem, Oregon during the floods of 1996. I worked at the Statesman Journal then and can remember one night when Dave drove me as far as he could towards the paper and then I walked the rest of the way. All the bridges in the downtown area had water coming over the top and the city crews were closing them. That really didn't mean much to a newspaper person. I had to get there somehow. So, Dave drove to several bridges in the downtown area and we picked the one we thought I could walk over safely to get to work.

We have pictures from that flood, lots of them. It was quite the experience to go through. For two whole days - with a pump running constantly - we had 4 feet of water in our basement. Jenni and I did our best to get all of our belongings out of the basement before the water got too deep. I remember that last trip down the basement stairs and seeing all of our ski boots floating. I kind of knew it was too late to save anything else. The entire Willamette Valley was flooded. All from a big snowstorm, followed by an ice storm, followed by a warm day. That's exactly what is going on there now. So, I'm hoping the damage doesn't get as bad as 1996.

As I look out our windows this morning, it's beautiful. Yeah, a bit frosty, but blue skies and sunshine await us today. I'm sure in several days we will be getting the backlash from these NW storms though, so it makes me wonder what the week ahead brings for us.

Have a great day everyone. And God Bless you.....
Pam

Food dreams

2012-01-17T05:53:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning hungry - and I'm never hungry in the mornings. I've spent the past couple of days typing up recipes sent in by our viewers and I guess I slept the night away dreaming of all the dishes I want to try out.

I'm not a very good cook. You have to have a mother that's a good cook - and I didn't have that - therefore I never really learned to be a good cook. And to compete with a Southern cook? I wouldn't even try. But I am trying to learn new things in the kitchen and all of these recipes just sound so yummy.

I hear about it when we don't include recipes in our book. When space allows I put them in, but I don't always have the room. The number of pages we produce each month is dependent upon the ads that we sell. We try to run it about 50% advertising, 50% good news, so you get some variety. We have had letters from readers saying they even enjoy reading the ads, so that's always encouraging.

So, for February, it's our goal to sell just as many ads as we can, so I can include just as many of these recipes as possible. It should be a good edition, especially for advertisers. Since the copy will be kept for the recipes, the ads will be around for a long, long time.

After completing a 'mini-book' of Uncle Bobby's Poetry over the holidays, my sister has suggested I do a "Reader's Recipes" cookbook, something I may just have to think about!

All this talk of food has made me even hungrier, guess I should get off of here and get to cooking! Have a blessed day everyone. We have a weather front moving through Kentucky today, so hang on for a bumpy ride. The winds have really been howling this morning.

Be safe all .... Pam

Be careful out on the roads!

2012-01-14T15:58:00.000-08:00

As I sit here this evening watching the snow falling outside the window, I dread the thought of all the accidents that will happen out there. When it snows, there are wrecks. And this week has brought the tragedy of wrecks clear to the forefront of alot of people's minds in our county.

There was a terrible accident here this past week. I rarely know the occupants when there is a wreck - and I didn't know the occupants of these two vehicles. Not really. But, it happened within a few miles of our house. There are only a couple of roads off of Highway 89 between Kim's house and ours, so, chances are, the wreck has involved someone from our part of the county.

As we received phone calls making sure it wasn't one of us involved, news started to trickle in through Facebook. You can almost bet that if there is a wreck out here, it's around Young's Corner someplace. And this one was located there too. It's a horrible corner, and I'm sure we've seen 50 wrecks there since moving here.

Now, logically, what does that mean? Fix the danged road in that area! This wreck should be a reminder to everyone that Highway 89 is a dangerous stretch of road. The injuries to the passengers in these two vehicles are horrific. Three adults and three children were involved. I don't know specifics and don't want to speculate, but it seems to be just a horrible tragedy for all. The posts I have seen have included every broken bone imaginable.

In my humble opinion (and that doesn't account for much!), all the roads around here are dangerous stretches of road. The speed limit is much too fast in most areas, when you consider the fact that just the tiniest error leads to tragedy. There are no areas off the road to allow for error. It's not like that where we are from in Idaho. The run off lane is wide enough for a car to pull off on! Not here. You run off the road, you wreck. Plain as that.

My thoughts went to all the rescue workers too. You see, living in a small community, you can bet rescue crews will know at least one of the victims. And the workers at the hospital will know more. And that was the case with this wreck too. The emergency personnel see the worst of it. And they work their butts off doing what they can to fix everyone back to new - or in this case, just to stabilize them for transport to a bigger facility.

The fact that my sister works at the hospital made me realize what an awful day for those there. Very, very hectic - all day long. It's those types of days that we can hope our medical workers don't have to see very often in their careers. I know there have been days in my newspaper career that I wish I could forget.

So, everyone, please be safe out there. We need to remember that thought - even on the sunniest of days, and really remember it on these snowy days. And everyone, please keep the accident victims from this past week in your prayers. They all have long roads ahead of them...........

Blessings, Pam

The week I've been dreading has finally arrived.....

2012-01-11T07:33:00.000-08:00

It's a sad week for me. One I have been dreading for about six months. I've known it was going to happen, just didn't really want to believe it. But January 13th is day after tomorrow and it will all end.

You are really going to laugh, at least some of you are. You see, One Life to Live - my beloved soap opera is going to end on Friday. I've watched it my whole life. Yes, I'm a soap opera watcher. Got it from my mom, who always watched them. It's funny, too, because my mom always worked. I'm guessing that we watched them together through her many back surgeries through my younger years. But, she's not here to ask, so I'm just guessing.

I remember watching soap operas before they were in color, and that was a long time ago. Several soaps have went off the air that my mom watched. The Doctors and Search for Tomorrow to name a couple. And I don't remember being so torn up about them. But, the thought of never seeing Victoria Lord again, man what a bummer it's been.

During my many years in the newspaper business, I generally worked night shift. For many years I went in at 11pm and didn't get off until 6 or 7am. So, my 'prime time' television was in the afternoons. My soaps. Or stories, as my aunt Ruthie would call them. I didn't watch shows like Friends for years, I was usually taking my nap before work. There are still some episodes of Friends that I've never seen.

But, I've rarely missed an episode of One Life To Live. I'm pretty sure that since recording capabilities became available, I haven't missed an episode. I wore out many a VCR tape rewinding it every evening for the next days show.

So, the thought of never knowing how Starr Manning grows up is heartbreaking. I mean, I've watched since the day she was born - and she is one character they've never replaced actresses with to age her. So, I've actually watched the actress grow up too.

And Victoria Lord, my gosh! She has been on the show since it started. My whole life I've been watching her, through her marriages, alter egos, various trips back in time. The whole 'outlandish' world of soaps.

And though soaps have outlandish storylines, they also have telling ones too. Like when Megan died of Lupus. Or the current storyline about teen bullying. They also deal with real life issues, and thankfully most of them do it accurately.

So, each evening this week I've watched the last episodes I'm ever going to see. I've wondered how the writers will end it for months and we are finding out this week. Yes, I said we. Because Dave watches every evening with me too. And next week, the 2pm time slot will be filled with another news show. Something this world doesn't need.

Oh, well. I've still got two left. The Young and the Restless on CBS, which I've only watched since the late 1970's and General Hospital, which will be the only one left on ABC. I've watched it since Jessie was the head nurse and Steve was Chief of Staff. A very long time ago. I'm sure both of them will end in the future too and pretty soon the end of a television era will be forever gone.

Yet, as I mourn the loss of my beloved soap opera, I have thoroughly enjoyed the 60 year anniversary of The Today Show. Let's hope it's on for another 60 years. The Today Show is the only show that was allowed on our television in the mornings. Again my mom was a faithful watcher/listener in the mornings, so I've always continued to watch it. The Friday show is going to have all the past anchors that have been on the show and that's going to be fun to watch!

Well, enough of soap operas and such .... I've got work to do! Have a great day everyone. And stay safe out there. It's cold and rainy today, very rainy! But, they are saying it'll probably turn over to snow tomorrow, so the fun of winter will 'finally' begin.

Blessings to you all. Pam

The delivery rush brings joy too

2012-01-10T06:26:00.000-08:00

You've got to find the joy in everything you do. I try to do that at least. Whenever I hear something that makes me mad, I try to listen to it with a different point of view. And usually, my opinion changes somewhat. The rush of delivery has it's highs and lows too. It's hard on my old back. Between driving so many miles and getting in and out of the car so many times, by the end of the first day my back and shoulders really hurt. It sucks getting old.

But, I have to look at delivery on the flip side too. We get to go out and visit so many people when we deliver the magazine. And everyone gets a smile on their face when they see us coming, so that's equally as nice. I don't get out and about like Dave does during the month. It's common knowledge that I'm pretty much a homebody during the week. It's a good thing I have so many meetings to attend each week, or I'm afraid I would never leave the AlpacaBerry Farm. I have too much fun with the critters and everything else that goes with farming.

Dave likes the fact that I don't get out too much. Well, most of the time he does. You see, I hardly ever go shopping. I'm not a shopping type of person. I'm a list type of person - and when I do get out I just get what I need then. So along with delivery, comes my shopping time too. If I were out more, I'd probably want to spend more money. So, the Dave person really saves when I stay home :-).

We'll finish up delivery today. Yesterday my sis and I delivered Winchester, Mt. Sterling, Camargo, Owingsville, Farmers, Cave Run, Morehead and Olive Hill. Today we're headed north - and south. We'll be leaving the book at the Welcome Centers along I-75 now. So we're headed to Paris and Cynthiana, then up to Florence. Hopefully, we can then get back on I-75 and drive south to Jellico. It depends on the time, of course. Sometimes the visiting gets in the way of the driving.

And, heck, the visiting brings the joy. So I'm all for that.

Have a great day everyone! And be safe out on the roads. I know I will be!

Blessings, Pam

Bluegrass on a Saturday night

2012-01-08T14:02:00.000-08:00

You can find a nice article about Meadowgreen Bluegrass Park in our December edition of All Things Country Magazine. For those who haven't seen it, you can find it in our archives at www.allthingscountryky.com. You can even find their upcoming schedule. We really had fun when we went back in November, before their Christmas break.

Well, the Saturday night shows started again last night and talk about fun. I think I'm pretty well hooked on bluegrass music. Not that I haven't always liked bluegrass, I like most any form of music. I can even find a few rap songs that I like. But, I didn't really know much about bluegrass music. I can actually say now that I recognize some of the songs. And ... I'm getting a favorite or two!

Last night's show featured the Glen Ritchie band out of Eastern Kentucky, who warmed up the show before the main act - The Grascals - took the stage. We've seen the Glen Ritchie band before and really enjoy them. What a diverse group of musicians, one of them being from here in Estill County and all of them ranging in age. That's what we've noticed about bluegrass bands. Age doesn't matter. How many rock bands have a father and son playing together? Glen Ritchie's son plays the stand-up bass and he's so good, especially for 19 years old. You can see how proud dad is of son.

The Grascals took the stage soon after the Glen Ritchie band finished. What a blast they are! And such world class performers. The mandolin player was mandolin player of the year several times, and their banjo player is this year's banjo player of the year - for the fourth time. She is very good, obviously.

I find it incredibly cool that we can drive 15 miles from our house and see such great music on a Saturday night. Sure, we had great music in Idaho on a Saturday night. But it always involved going to a bar to see it, which meant a cover charge to get in. It also meant having to get a babysitter, which of course meant even more money. The admission to Meadowgreen last night was $15.00 a piece. And children under 12 are free. So, for very little money, you can have a great time on a Saturday night - within a few minutes from home - and you can bring the kids! And for those with hunger pangs, the tenderloin sandwich there is one of the best I have ever eaten.

So, the next time you are looking for something to do on a Saturday night, head over to Clay City and listen to some good music. Chances are you'll see Dave and I there!

Have a blessed day everyone.
Pam

Going Blue

2012-01-07T06:05:00.000-08:00

I live in a world of blue. Almost daily you hear at least one Big Blue comment. You know, we bleed blue, big blue madness. This is life in Kentucky. After all, we've got the best basketball program in history at the University of Kentucky. I was always a Kentucky fan, of sorts, no matter where I lived. But I wasn't always a UK fan.

When I lived in Kentucky in the early 1970's, we lived in Carter County. Close to Morehead State University. That is where I always wanted to go to college - had I been a good enough student to go to college. My mom worked in Morehead and I just always loved that town. Don't have a clue why, just did. So, when we moved away and I was far from where I wanted to live, I watched Kentucky sports. And always rooted for MSU, not UK so much.

How on earth I got off on Kentucky sports, I'll never know. I guess because UK plays today. Everyone in Kentucky knows that!

No, I started off writing this about my fingernails. Currently blue fingernails. I've gone blue for a couple of months, which is bad in a way. If UK has a winning season, then I'll be scared to take the blue off until they win the championship. And who am I kidding, UK will have a winning season; so I'll be blue for a while.

My fingernails are my weakness, something I attribute to my late grandmother. She had this thing about painted nails. If mine weren't painted, she would fuss at me. If they weren't painted 'perfectly' she would fuss even more. She was, after all, an Avon lady. But, she didn't do that until later in life and she always seemed to fuss about my fingernails. I'm cursed with long nails. I had to file them off daily when I was younger, just to keep them shorter.

But, long they still are. And always have been strong too. Which is good since I'm a typist. But I learned to type with long nails, so it's no big deal. What was a big deal ... when I turned to gardening. Pulling weeds with long nails turned into a problem. Between going through gardening gloves like crazy, and breaking them once in a while, I thought my days of having nice nails were over. Not so.

One of my friends in town showed me how to fix a badly broken nail with acrylic and I've been hooked ever since. It has turned into my one extravagance in life. Instead of doing my nails every few days like I did for some 30 years, I now have them done about once a month. A good 3 hours of relaxing and enjoying a break during my hectic month. And hey, Dave loves it too. He hasn't had to smell nail polish remover in several years. He hated it when I did my nails at home.

Yes, it's an addiction. But, of all the addictions I've had in my life, I consider this a healthy addiction! And my dear grandmother is smiling down knowing my nails ALWAYS look good now. She is really smiling down now, because blue was her favorite color.

Have a great day everyone. And go Big Blue!
Pam

Trying to breath before we pick up the magazine

2012-01-05T17:55:00.000-08:00

The newest All Things Country Magazine is on the press as I type this. It heads to the bindery department tomorrow and we will pick it up Monday morning in Winchester. The days leading up to sending the magazine off to the printers get to be pretty hectic. Everything else seems to take a back seat during these few days. Once it's been 'fetched' to Dayton, I can breathe a little bit. I usually sleep the first few hours, because I work about 24 hours straight leading up to the finished product.

Thankfully, I have these few days to get caught up on laundry, housework and farm work before the rush of delivery begins. Otherwise I would always need one of those door mats that says "The house was clean last week, sorry you missed it." Sometimes I think that would be a pretty handy doormat to have!

Once the magazine is gone though, it's hard for me to breathe until I see the finished product. And that's usually a scary event too. What if I've made a mistake? Hate it. Hate the thought of it. But I know that errors are inevitable. It's hard with a monthly publication to correct an error, like with a newspaper that prints more often. I can correct it with the online version, but can't do much about the printed version. And, trust me, we've had to stuff the entire 12,000 papers with a correction before! It's not fun. But, I hate it if an advertiser is unhappy too.

I've got my list going for tomorrow, and the weekend. It's not like we can relax much, it's just that we aren't doing much with the magazine during these three days. So, I try to catch up, at least what I can do depending on the weather. We are supposed to have a pretty nice weekend, so remodeling work in the barn might be on the agenda. We've got several mommy goats that are due in the next few weeks, so birthing stalls are in order. Dave had been in and out of the barn all day checking on our Barbie girl. She's so big, she can hardly move! Are triplets in there? We'll see soon.

I've been wanting to try a new recipe too, maybe I'll be able to get that in the schedule too. I'm a big fan of chocolate covered cherries - and found a recipe that sounds pretty easy - so I think I'm up for the challenge. They can't be eaten for at least 10 days, so it will be a treat once deadline week hits again.

Whoa, I don't even want to think about deadline week already! Guess it's time to end this and try some relaxing for the evening.

Blessings to you all. Thanks for reading along.....
Pam

Kentucky lost a friend today

2012-01-04T13:22:00.000-08:00

Gatewood Galbraith, a recent (and often) candidate for Governor of Kentucky passed away sometime during the night. I saw the news posted from his running mate Dea Riley this morning on Facebook and the news hit me like a brick.

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Galbraith - known simply at Gatewood to many - at a picnic out at the Glass Garden in Ravenna several years ago. What an interesting gentleman he was. I was very skeptical about going to the function, but a friend was catering the event and we wanted to show our support to her. I had seen the stories about Gatewood since arriving in this state. And saw the pictures of him fighting his causes by disrupting events at times. So, as I said, I was skeptical.

When I worked at my very first newspaper in Idaho, a weekly called The Clearwater Tribune, one of my co-workers was a great influence on me, both personally and professionally. I have often reflected how Cheeta Brown shaped my early newspaper career. She was just so knowledgeable - about everything. She took me to the woods and showed me vegetation that I could eat to survive, she showed me how to paste up a newspaper, she taught me to cook and showed me a thing or two about sewing. She was a poet too! I've still got a poem she wrote for me back in 1984 that was about a true-a-thing written about me as anything ever has been. (Goodness knows that sentence doesn't make perfect sense ... oh well!)

Anyway, one of the things I remember Cheeta telling me? Never indulge in politics publicly. Not if I intended to remain in the publishing business. Never put a bumper sticker on my car, nor a yard sign in my yard. Quickest way to ruin your career, she told me. Now, I'm not entirely sure that it's true in today's world, but I have held that close in my mind my entire career. So, publicly going to a political event was scary ground for me.

But, like I said, I was going to encourage Kim and show my support. Who knew that I would be so intrigued with the speaker that day - Mr. Gatewood Galbreath. A very fascinating man. He had some good ideas too. Yes, he had a few quirky ideas too, but don't all politicians? Do we really support every platform that a person runs on? Well, I don't at least. But I won't talk politics with you. Not ever.

Back to Kentucky's loss. It is a loss, in my opinion at least. He surely cared about this state. Who can't say that? He ran for governor FIVE times. He stuck around. Between campaigns, he still voiced his opinion. He still tried his best in everything he did to improve the state that he loved so much. He was truly a "Kentuckian" through and through. He held to his convictions, with a true passion. It dawned on me today that had he won the last election, he wouldn't even have served a day. It's a sad day for many Kentuckians, myself included.

Until next time......
Pam

Explosion lights up the night

2012-01-03T07:06:00.000-08:00

Goodness, another gas line explosion! This is the closest one we've seen, but about the fourth or fifth we've had in the area since arriving here. I'm sure thankful that we don't live close to one of those lines, or at least I don't think we do.

Estimates put the flame on last night's explosion at about 400 feet into the air. You could actually see the flame from Harris Ferry Road and the entire horizon was orange. Dave and I almost saw the explosion. We were out on the back deck watching a little mini blizzard and heard the 'jet engine' noise that is associated with these explosions. Dave kept insisting it was just a jet flying low and it was louder due to the weather. So we headed back inside. We were frozen from watching the snow anyway.

About the time we got our coats off and settled in, the news flashed of an explosion. We looked outside and the entire skyline was orange. We instantly knew it was a gas line explosion. There have been too many of them recently. Scary stuff, knowing these gas lines go through our area. Thankfully they don't service any of the homes in the area, just piping it to some other east coast location.

Of course, being in the news industry for so long, we naturally wanted pictures. Maybe not a good idea, but the Dave person and I have been known to do some silly things. Once we got to the corner of Fox Road and Highway 89 we knew we shouldn't be there. Everyone else was there too. It just made for a mess and I apologize to the police for being in their way.

We took a quick picture and got out of there. As quick as the snowy roads would allow anyway. That surely didn't help, having snow covered roads. A few cars and trucks were going sideways trying to get up Fox Road, and I felt really bad that we were just contributing to the mess. Needless to say, Dad wasn't too happy we were there either .... as he called to see if we got pictures.

Thankfully, as of this morning, reports indicate there were no injuries and no damage to homes. I'm sure they'll be there all day trying to determine the cause. I'm guessing that the lines are just getting too old. For there to be so many of these, there is a problem somewhere. And thankfully no one has been injured, but that might not be the case next time. And I imagine there will be a 'next time' until they get something done about these aging lines. Just my opinion tho .....

Here are a couple of the pictures we got, it was quite spectacular. (You can tell it was still snowing in some of the pictures too).....

This was taken from Harris Ferry Road, about 5 miles away.

This was taken at Ivory Hill Baptist Church on Highway 89.

Have a good day everyone!
Pam

First snowfall of the year

2012-01-02T06:36:00.000-08:00

As we gaze out the front window today, we are watching the first snowflakes of the season. Hard to believe we haven't seen snow yet this winter, but it's been pretty warm actually. In terms of winter at least. The first year Dave and I lived in Kentucky it was an unseasonably warm beginning to winter. We were amazed that on Christmas Day that year we were outside with no coats on.

We arrived in Kentucky on Halloween Day of 2002 and drove just ahead of a snowstorm most of the way across the states. Driving over Lolo Pass in lots of snow in a Ryder truck isn't a whole lot of fun, But we were headed off of a new adventure, so the drive over the pass was kind of bittersweet in knowing we wouldn't see it again for a while. We actually stopped at the top, on the Idaho/Montana state line and slept a few hours, before heading off across the very wide state of Montana.

We arrived in Kentucky and it started raining. It actually rained for several days after we arrived. We unloaded that Ryder truck into a storage shed in the pouring down rain. We left Oregon because it rained so much ... never thinking that it rains just as much in Kentucky. When the northern states are getting snow, we are usually getting rain.

We learned that Kentucky doesn't always have such nice winters though. We've been through two ice storms since moving here. Whoa! When we have an ice storm, we really have an ice storm. We lost power for three days when one of them hit and that surely wasn't much fun. In the west, most everyone uses some form of wood heat, but not here. We couldn't have survived without a couple of kerosene heaters ... and they worked pretty good for heating up water for coffee in the mornings too!

One thing we do miss from the west though is snow skiing. Yeah, there are several ski hills in the area, but nothing like we are used to. We had several favorites, but I'm telling ya I'd be happy to ski at any of them, right down to Bald Mountain in Pierce! One of our favorites was Mount Bachelor in Central Oregon. 10,000 feet up and you could look 365 degrees around from the top. The longest runs back there are measured in miles, not feet. Most of the big mountains are actually volcanoes. From the top of Mt. Bachelor I think you see the tops of seven volcanoes. Kind of scary to think about it, but they aren't active. Not too active at least :-)

Another favorite was Big Mountain in Northwestern Montana. It was fun to go there because you can actually stay right on the mountain if you want to. Of course it's pretty expensive to do that, but we did it once and it was alot of fun. Most ski hills involve kind of a scary drive in, so staying right on the mountain is pretty nice. - one drive in and one drive out! The thing about the big mountains, they get their snow in hundreds of inches. When you ski past a tree on one of those mountains, it's actually the top of a huge tree! You only really realize that when you go to the mountain in the summer and see it for yourself.

Yes, we are used to lots of snow. Not exactly what we see in Kentucky. Or at least we haven't since we moved here. Maybe this year will bring it! Let's just hope we don't see an ice storm!

Have a great day everyone. And be safe out on the roads! It is still snowing after all.......
Pam