"Distinctive Feline Giftware for the discerning collector."
That's what we are now. We dumped the old "Diane's Kitty Kat
Collectibles" name, and gone back to the original: "Lost in Time Collectibles," using as
a logo the antique clock replica we found in a wholesale wearhouse in
Ohio. We never take less than two booths at cat shows; we sell
high quality items; jewelry is sold in gift boxes, not tissue paper
like the other vendors; I try to dress the part; our shop is high
class, selling stained glass, solid brassware, quality sweaters and
hand painted tee shirts, jeweled denim trousers, and more.
Oh sure, this distinctive giftware comes to the cat shows in Rocinante, a very distinctive, beatup, falling apart camper that looks so impoverished that sometimes at state fairgrounds, the agents don't bother asking for the hookup fees, but all in all, the improvement is showing. Oh, we're not getting rich, but the company is paying for stock replenishment, all travel expenses, including repairs, occasional big bills such as Freddy's oral surgery and medicine, nd most of our food for the week. We do have chopped meat with our hamburger helper, but steak? That's a dream from the past right now. Like my Atkins diet, we're maintaining.
Oh sure, this distinctive giftware comes to the cat shows in Rocinante, a very distinctive, beatup, falling apart camper that looks so impoverished that sometimes at state fairgrounds, the agents don't bother asking for the hookup fees, but all in all, the improvement is showing. Oh, we're not getting rich, but the company is paying for stock replenishment, all travel expenses, including repairs, occasional big bills such as Freddy's oral surgery and medicine, nd most of our food for the week. We do have chopped meat with our hamburger helper, but steak? That's a dream from the past right now. Like my Atkins diet, we're maintaining.
Diane
has reopened Dianysus
Cattery, which will specialize in Siamese Cats. Sun-Nee
finally passed away in November, which was pretty devastating after all
he had been through, but life must go on. From various breeders
around the country, Diane purchased three cats so far, with another due
in a few months. The male is named Tam, or actually Coyaba
Tam-Su-Chi-San, to be exact. In the words of Dr. Strangelove,
Tam, being the only male, in our home capable of reproduction will have
to do "prodigious service." (Well, obviously Freddy is capable of
reproduction, but his mother has forbidden him from doing anything
which could lead to such activities, and besides, he goes to a private,
religious school, in which most of the other kids are similarly
forbidden.)
That's
Tam on the bottom, resting up, his tool encased in "stud pants," to
prevent him from impregnating his wives before marriage. The girl
on top is Sam, or Windance Sa-Man-Tha-San, a lilac point. Sam
will have kittens for sale by Christmas, but is yet too young to
breed. Of course, nobody has told Sam, who gives new meaning to
the word "Caterwauling," as she screams for Tam's body for hours on
end. (Seems like I knew a woman like that once, but that's
another story.)
One more kitten joined our family recently, Kat-Suchi, who has not yet gotten her formal show name.
One more kitten joined our family recently, Kat-Suchi, who has not yet gotten her formal show name.
Kat
won't be breeding for quite awhile. Her kittens won't be ready
until Easter 2005. You can probably see her favorite place to sit
in the picture above, but if not, here's a shot from further back:
Pooka
has never had pets smaller than himself around the house, so things are
a bit hard for him sometimes.
At
Houston, we met a fellow from Diamond Pet Foods, selling a new product,
"Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul." Diane needed cat food,
so she tried a bag. The cats went crazy over it! Later on,
when we ran short, Diane tried to mix it with another dried food for
Simba, Sun-Nee's fussy brother. Simba picked out the delicious
Chicken Soup bits, then left the nuggets behind. Pretty soon, all
our cats, including Kat, were doing the same thing.
Unfortunately, Chicken Soup is hard to find, and the kitten food is nearly impossible. Only one solution remained: sell it ourselves.
I immediately wrote to the company, and Frank Hill, the southeast manager of Chicken Soup, agreed to sponsor us to the tune of one table per show:
Unfortunately, Chicken Soup is hard to find, and the kitten food is nearly impossible. Only one solution remained: sell it ourselves.
I immediately wrote to the company, and Frank Hill, the southeast manager of Chicken Soup, agreed to sponsor us to the tune of one table per show:
So now
we have quality merchandise, a bigger booth, cat food, and a great
sponsor!
One more thing added to business, as you can see from the picture above: Britney Spears.
Really. I thought a manniquin would help business, but they are expensive and rather difficult to pack in an already crowded camper, so I bought a few pieces of plastic pipe and made one of my own. As a special touch, I added a picture of Britney to the dummy's face.
Did it work? Well, we introduced her at the Fort Meyers show, wearing a sweater which had not been seeling very well at all. Thanks to Britney, we sold practically every sweater we had!
Is the story really over now? I don't think so. We still have breakdowns and bad shows, and Diane still has trouble reading a map; but a bad show now brings in as much money as an average show last summer, and Diane has learned to print out reverse directions on Yahoo maps.
We've been planning our summer since last August. We've already book several cat shows in California, possibly one as far north as Seattle. There are miles to go before we sleep. . . . . . .
Chapter 24
One more thing added to business, as you can see from the picture above: Britney Spears.
Really. I thought a manniquin would help business, but they are expensive and rather difficult to pack in an already crowded camper, so I bought a few pieces of plastic pipe and made one of my own. As a special touch, I added a picture of Britney to the dummy's face.
Did it work? Well, we introduced her at the Fort Meyers show, wearing a sweater which had not been seeling very well at all. Thanks to Britney, we sold practically every sweater we had!
Is the story really over now? I don't think so. We still have breakdowns and bad shows, and Diane still has trouble reading a map; but a bad show now brings in as much money as an average show last summer, and Diane has learned to print out reverse directions on Yahoo maps.
We've been planning our summer since last August. We've already book several cat shows in California, possibly one as far north as Seattle. There are miles to go before we sleep. . . . . . .
Chapter 24