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Howdy all!

Newsletter time is here again.

Global warming affects us all, and it has now come to The Craftsman Home. Al Gore’s movie “An Inconvenient Truth” motivated me to search out ways to mitigate my own “Carbon Load” on the environment. I came across The Conservation Fund. My home and business could be considered very “Green”, but I travel by air a great deal and the carbon pollution from that is huge. The Conservation Fund calculates how many trees are necessary to negate my pollution, and the cost, and offers me the opportunity to make a donation to cover those expenses. I have made that contribution, they will plant the trees, and now The Craftsman Home may be considered a carbon zero business. It cost no more than a good night on the town. I choose them because I felt that planting trees was particularly relevant to me and my business.

I would encourage everyone to see the movie, do the homework, and find a way to negate your impact on the environment. There are many options out there. I would suggest you do a Google search for more choices.

Food Bank donations welcome

We are still providing a pickup point for the Food Bank. Please remember to drop off a food item whenever you can. Someone will have a meal for your thoughtfulness. A big thank you to the unknown donor of a whole bag full of baby food, your heart is in the right place and a baby’s tummy will be full.

Glacier Home - Montana vacation home for rent

Our Montana rental was full for the entire 2006 season, but it is not too early to start thinking about 2007. See it at: www.glacierhome.com. Our combined and extended family joined us in Montana this summer for a week of high jinx and nonsense. Both my wife and I have nutty families so naturally they got on famously. Spend time with loved ones, it is precious.

Fishing around

My fishing fortunes have improved this year. I actually fooled a few little dumb ones and also landed a nice 20” rainbow trout. I believe it was Skinner who demonstrated that random reinforcement is the most powerful motivator; the entire sport fishing industry is based on it!

Jack & Michelle

Update on Jack: he is a scooter master, and is in second grade. He has decided that camping is cool and still wants to be Superman when he grows up. He caught his first Sierra trout all by himself, a nice 14” rainbow on a salmon egg. Seven is a fantastic age to be.

Michelle is progressing with her design career. We have assembled a portfolio of her work posted on the website. She is especially marvelous at tile designs. Her fireplaces are to die for!

New in the store

We have expanded our tile offerings to now represent Blue Slide Tile, a California tile company. Blue Slide was recently featured in a San Francisco Chronicle article. They offer a unique selection of hand crafted original design tiles. Please come in and see them.

Our other tile artists continue to produce in abundance. Stuart Compton has added new designs to his collection including a new “Berkeley” tile, a must have for all Cal bears. Meredith Tile and Gainey and of course Motawi complete our selection of fine handmade tiles.

Kathleen West sale

We have the best selection of Kathleen West prints we have ever had. In fact I have so many framed pieces in stock that I am offering them ON SALE for the Holiday season. All of the in stock works will be 20% off for the remainder of the season. Sorry, special orders will be the regular price. Kathleen is very collectible and has attracted a huge national following. Her sold out early works are now very sought after. Come in now and get one while a normal person can still afford them (remember that Microsoft stock you did not buy back when!)

Rug sale: November 7 – December 2, 2006

Speaking of sales, our ever popular annual rug sale will start on Election Day Nov. 7 and go until Saturday Dec. 2. Come in and get 20% off the tag price. Now aren’t you glad you read this far, now you are “in the know” and all the “quick scan and in the recycler” types will miss out! See our Persian Carpet arts & crafts rugs.

We will have a booth at the Hillside Club’s show and sale Nov. 18th. They will host a sale of antiques and new items in the Arts & Crafts design style. A sampling of items offered can be viewed on the Hillside Club’s website in November. The club building is pretty fabulous, it alone is worth the trip. See you all there!

That’s about it for now. Please drop by and entertain me with your stories of trial and tribulation in the world of remodeling. I would love to offer you my two cents worth, just remember, you will get what you pay for!

See ya soon,

Lee Jester
The Craftsman Home