Merry Christmas

Steve is in Thailand busy getting a shipment packed to send off to Canada.

 

 

Collecting up all the orders as they are finished and bagging and labelling it all is keeping him busy.
As well he and Sook (we call her our Thai daughter) have opened a store in Chiang Mai, so that is another project to keep them on the run. So far the new store is going well.
On top of all this Sook is getting married on 29th Dec, and Steve is helping to walk her down the aisle. All very exciting.
I am in New Zealand doing a few Christmas markets.
Here the weather is warm and the New Zealand Christmas tree- the pohutukawa tree is looking stunning covered in its red flowers.

I hope wherever you are and whatever the weather, you all have a wonderful Christmas and  a fabulous New Year.

 

Coffee roasting

Now that the weather is cool it is a perfect time to get onto the coffee roasting.
The smell of it roasting is divine, though it probably isn't for everyone.

 I love the whole process of it. The measuring, checking and double checking the times and temperatures.

 

Then finally at the exact second the roast is done releasing it into the cooling pan, and the release of the wonderful aroma of freshly roasted coffee.

 

 

In a few days we can start bagging the coffee. Then the next step is to send it on it's way to our stores in Canada.

 

 

 

In between doing our own roasting we went up into the mountains to a Karen village we know. They grow their own coffee and roast it and have a tasting station set up in the village.

This is a fairly unsophisticated setup. Their roasters don't have temperature gauges or controls and up until recently they roasted coffee over a bamboo fire under a drum that was rotated by a guy peddling a bicycle.
They don't have an espresso machine. They boil the water over a wood fire, and use a cloth filter to brew it with. The coffee never the less tastes great.

 

 

 

 

We were in a new café in ChiangMai a while back. They said that they would make me a special latte. Those of you that know me will recognise me in this portrait they did of me in foam. It was a great cup of coffee!

Christmas box

Today is the kings birthday in Thailand. It was 30 years ago today that we first arrived in Bangkok, and started calling Thailand our second home.
We are back in Thailand again and the weather has cooled down. The air is clean and sweet and the sky is a clear blue. Finally it seems the cool season has kicked in here in the north and we are enjoying pleasant cool days and cold nights. They are even having frost on some of the highest mountains, which is a real tourist draw. I know most of you won't be impressed, but for the Thais it's a real experience.
Janice says that the Christmas box we sent from Nepal has been well received, and she was selling stuff out of it before it was unpacked.
Here are a few pics of what we sent.

 

Lots of cozy scarves in fabulous colours.

 

Very cute dresses that look great over leggings or worn on their own.

 

Lots and lots of very cute felt purses and phone pouches.

Wool hand warmers and hats. It sounds like the weather is cold enough to warrant these.

 

Hand made paper books and calendars will make great stocking stuffers.

 

Magic hats in various lengths and lots of great colours to help keep your ears warm this winter, and lots of other things as well.

Tomorrow we are planning to start roasting coffee again. We ran out in our stores this summer, so it is time to get  more coffee happening.

 

Buying in Nepal

We have just returned to Thailand from a quick trip to Nepal.
It was lovely and cool. A nice change from Thailand.
Unfortunately it was so hazy we didn't see much of the mountains.

In between business we did find time to wander through the countryside and explore some of the villages around Kathmandu.

Back in Kathmandu and back to business, we managed to find some great new things to ship back to Bwana Johns for next season.

These recycled rice bags were a great find.

A trip to the bead market is always a fun experience. Lots of people. lots of colour and lots of activity and noise.

Travelling on a crowded bus hardly able to move, I managed to get this pic of this womans cool earrings.

 

 

This definitely seems to be the place to buy shawls!

 

We finished our buying and ordering for spring, and also put together a Christmas box for Bwana Johns. Janice says it has already arrived. I'll post some pics of the new things we sent home for Christmas next time.

Orders in with suppliers

It is nice to be back in Thailand. It is warm...very warm, but we are appreciating it as we hear about the first snow fall in Ontario.
Since we arrived we've been busy organising our spring orders.
I have spent my days making samples and patterns for our next summer season.

 

The cloth has been sent to the printers. It is always exciting to get it back and see how it all turned out. It hopefully will be finished in a few more days.

 

 

The rest of the fabric is organised and the patterns and samples finished and it is all set to go to Tui and her sewers, where they'll work their magic. We won't be seeing these results until after Christmas.

 

In a few days are off to Nepal for 10 days to repeat this process, and see what other new and interesting things we can find to buy for Bwana Johns.
We'll be enjoying cooler weather there and a change of pace. We are planning on doing some hiking as well. It'll be fun.

Small talk

There are some awfully cute sweaters, gloves and hats for kids.
Here are a few ways from Bwana Johns to keep the little ones warm this winter.

Hard to go wrong with the animal hats and matching animal gloves from Nepal.

 

 Mix it up with some of the colourful hand knit wool/cotton blend sweaters from Ecuador.

We have sweaters for kids from size 2-8 in a great range of colours and designs. Perfect for Christmas.

Travelling across Canada

This year we decided to travel over land from Ontario to Vancouver before flying to Thailand.

We of course saw some beautiful country at a magical time of year, and I got to wear my favourite Bwana Johns clothes like this patch coat and felt hat from Nepal.

The fall colours in Ontario were magical, and the golden fields of the prairies were vast.

We experienced lots of sun and a little bit of snow, and once we got to the Pacific coast lots of rain.

 

Through it all I stayed snug in sweaters from Ecuador and hoodies from Nepal.

 

 

Now we are off on another adventure - to Thailand to start buying for another season.

 

 

Infinity scarves

If you like one piece of clothing to do a dozen things, then the infinity scarf is for you.
They come in all kinds of great colour combinations, and work perfectly to dress up your outfit. Here are some ideas.

The obvious way is to wrap it once or twice around your neck like a scarf.

Or open it up and drape it over the shoulders like a shawl and let it fall open in front. A great way to add another warm layer and a bit of colour to a plain outfit. 

 

 

 

 

Here it is worn like a bolero/jacket. Perfect for a strappy or strapless dress.

The colour combinations in the scarves are endless. there is a colour to suit everyone.

 

 

Here are a few more ways to wear your infinity scarf. Maybe you can think of some more.