Welcome to Summer!

Good morning!   

I don't know about you, but I'm so happy that summer has finally arrived on the southern Oregon coast. I LOVE this time of year! We're so fortunate to have mostly mild weather. In the summer, it gets warmer-- but, rarely too hot-- and the heat is usually accompanied by coastal "breezes" (read: gusts). The result is several months of the year where I can open all of the windows in my house most days to let in the fresh air.

Mingus Park

Now that the summer weather has arrived, I've been busy lining up lots of markets. Most of them will be outdoors, but I've been trying to include a few indoor ones as well (to give me a break from fighting the coastal winds-- we have a love/hate relationship! I love that the winds keep the temperature regulated, but the same winds also like to try to topple my market canopy and blow my merchandise off my tables!).

Coos Bay Farmers Market

When: every Wednesday from 9 am until 2 pm

Where: Central Avenue in Coos Bay (the market spreads out for a full 3 blocks!)

My booth is on the first block (closest to the Visitor Center). I'm currently sandwiched between "Cindy Yi's Radish Kimchi" and "Top Your Nosh" pepper relish. Both of my neighbors give out free samples!

Green Acres Grange Sale

When: Friday- Saturday, July 12th-13th from 9 am until 4 pm

Where: Green Acres Grange Hall (off Highway 42, roughly halfway between Coos Bay and Coquille)

The Green Acres Grange hosts several sales throughout the year. It's a great mix of handmade items sold by small businesses (like my "Reprieve's Corner) and people selling second hand items. They also have a small kitchen that sells affordable lunch items including burgers, fries, and soup.

I'll definitely have two tables set up there all day on Friday. One table will contain my books and handmade crafts. The other table will have second hand items. I might be able to do a half day on Saturday, but I need to be back in Coos Bay before the market is over in order to work the closing shift at the Coos Bay Public Library.

Port Orford Street Fair

When: Saturday, August 10th from 11 am until 5 pm

Where: Port Orford-- between Highway 101 & 8th Street

This will be my first time setting up a booth at this market. According to their webpage, it's an annual event which will include a variety of entertainment and activities including market booths, food, live music, chalk art, face painting, and belly dancers. Please, come check it out!

Other News

In addition to lining up markets, I've been spending a lot of time making new inventory which I've been slowly listing online. I made too much jewelry, so I've been discounting most of my older work both online in my Etsy shop and in my booth at local markets. I have the jewelry discounted between 25-60% off in my etsy shop, Reprieve's Corner. Most of the discounts are scheduled to end on July 5th, 2019 (although I may extend the deadline).

www.etsy.com/shop/ReprievesCorner

 

As always, thank you for taking the time to read this blog post and for supporting my little home-based crafting business and my writing career. Your support means a great deal to me. Thank you!

Happy summer!

~ H. S. Contino

Spring Fling Sale!

In honor of the beautiful sunny weather that we've been having lately (fingers crossed that the good weather sticks around!), I'm having a big sale in my Etsy shop, Reprieve's Corner.

Save 50% off all of the crafts and craft supplies (excludes books)!

www. Etsy.com/shop/ReprievesCorner

 

Fall Blowout Sale!

Over the past few weeks, I've been working hard to create some new merchandise. So, I've decided to run a 50% off sale from now until October 19th, 2018 in my online Etsy shop, Reprieve's Corner.

www.etsy.com/shop/ReprievesCorner

The sale includes all hand made crafts and crafting supplies. There is no minimum purchase amount. There's also no coupon code this time. The sale prices should display on the webpage and the discounts automatically discounted when you checkout. (** Sale excludes signed copies of my books **).

Please, feel free to take advantage of this sale! It gives me an excuse to make more stuff! ;)

Labor Day Sale!

Save 25% off of all of your purchases from my online Etsy shop, Reprieve’s Corner, between August 15th until September 14th, 2018. No minimum purchase required. No exclusions.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ReprievesCorner

Please, take advantage of this is the perfect opportunity to get a head start on your holiday shopping. My shop includes a variety of handmade crafts including jewelry, hand painted signs, and even a few plush toys.

This sale also includes signed copies of my two published history books, Shipwrecks of Coos County (Arcadia Publishing, 2011) and Shipwrecks of Curry County (Arcadia Publishing, 2017).

As always, thank you for your continued support of my writing and crafting projects!

~ H. S. Contino

In the News...

Hello everyone!

I hope you're all enjoying your summer. It's been gorgeous here on the Oregon coast over the past few days.

As a ship/shipwreck enthusiast, news articles relating to ships and shipwrecks (both past and present) always draw my attention. I've decided that in the future I'd like to periodically write a blog post that includes a list of online articles and their links. The theory is that if someone has read and enjoyed my books then there's a good chance that they'll find these online articles interesting.

There have actually been quite a few maritime related articles in the news over the past week. For instance, I found this article from the Oregonian last night:

Debris that could be from a 100-year-old shipwreck found on Oregon coast

The article talks about an interesting piece of wood that washed ashore on Cannon Beach. They reported that the piece of wood is 18 feet long and weighs several hundred pounds. Based on the square nails, notches, and cut-outs in the wood, it's possible that it came from a wooden ship built in the 1800's.

It's going to take more research and consulting with experts-- and we may never know for certain which ship it came from-- but, it's still a pretty cool find!



On a sadder note, I've been following the story in the news of the collision between a Navy destroyer and a container ship:

US Navy Destroyer Collides with merchant ship

Collisions are on my list of the top three worst things that could happen at sea. As you're probably aware, container ships are enormous. Fortunately, the navy destroyer, the USS Fitzgerald, was sturdily built.

They're still investigating, but from what I can tell from the newspaper articles and photographs, it looks like the ships got lucky. Collisions are always bad and can potentially cause both ships to sink. Fortunately, in this situation, although both ships sustained damage and will need repairs, neither sank. Things could have been a lot worse.

When I first read about the accident, they reported that seven US sailors were missing. I had been holding out hope that by some miracle they would be found alive. Sadly, when I checked for an update on the story last night, I learned that the bodies of the sailors had been found inside one of the flooded compartments of the ship.

US Navy ship collides merchant vessel off coast

My condolences go out to the friends and family members of these sailors.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/traumatic-collision-that-killed-sailors-almost-sank-destroyer-navy-says/2017/06/18/74e99d20-53ed-11e7-be25-3a519335381c_story.html?utm_term=.0ba263343348&wpisrc=nl_az_most&wpmk=1

As someone that has spent a lot of time researching maritime history, I know that the outcome of this tragic accident could have been much worse. I'm grateful for the lives that were saved-- on both ships.

~~ H. S. Contino

Shipwrecks of Curry County-- Official Press Release

Let the countdown begin...

 



 

 

Exciting Announcement-- New Book!

Good morning!

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by Arcadia Publishing. Due to the success of my book "Shipwrecks of Coos County," we began discussing the possibly of my writing a second local history book for their "Images of America" series. I chose to wait to make an announcement until we reached an agreement.

I'm excited to announce that I'm currently under contract to write a follow up book titled "Shipwrecks of Curry County." The new book will basically pick up where the other one left off. It'll continue discussing shipwrecks along the Oregon coastline beginning just south of Bandon and continuing to the Oregon-California state line.

Although Curry County is smaller than Coos County, many of its settlements are older. There are several geographical similarities between the coastlines in both counties that make them particularly treacherous for ships (especially early in their history). But, there are also several features that make Curry County unique. I will be discussing both in the new book. There are also some amazing Curry County shipwreck stories. For instance, it was the location of one of the last American ships to be torpedoed off of the Oregon coast by a Japanese submarine during World War II. Fortunately, most of the crew survived. There are some amazing photographs related to the incident.

Tentatively, we're looking at a July 2017 release date for "Shipwrecks of Curry County." The retail price will be $21.99.

Please e-mail me or leave a comment on this post if you'd like to pre-order a copy of the new book. I'd be happy to e-mail you when the book is released and mail you a signed copy.

I'll also be lining up several shipwreck talks/book signing events within both Coos and Curry counties for next summer and fall. I'll post more information as the publication date gets closer.

Thank you all for your continued support of my writing career. I couldn't do it without you!

Woo-hoo! Time to roll up my sleeves and do some local history research!


~~ H. S. Contino