New Beginnings

It may be the start of a new week to most, but for my house it is much more. So much of January is taken up with recovery from the holidays and then taxes. Ick, ick, and ick some more. How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways! Done and thank you very little Uncle Sam for making January such a miserable month.

The weather hasn’t been too spectacular of late either. It has been nasty cold here. Recently I took a trip to Oak Creek to see the store Just 4 Ewe, of my friends and wholesale customer Jan Massie. She has the most beautiful yarns and fiber imaginable in this quaint little shopping district. I purchased some yarn and made myself a hat and mittens from this incredibly soft wool. It sure has kept me nice and warm.

I digress though. February is my month to start working on all the things around the house that have been neglected since the Harbor Market started last Memorial Day. Oh sure, I keep up with the daily things, but the big overhauls have to wait until now. Honestly, I am booked every weekend from Memorial Day until Christmas with shows, markets, and of course the day job. They get me for a full weekend every six weeks.

I have a wonderful and large office with a cathedral ceiling which I love for its’ spaciousness and light. It was time to paint it though and oh my, but those ceilings are high! I had entertained thoughts of doing some fun faux finish but with two days into the project, I don’t think so. I just want it done at this point. I have one more section to go and then I can start putting some accent color on the mish-mash of furniture that I have collected. Then I move into the upstairs hallway and the bathroom.

My computer desk is so old, it used to house a 286. Yes dear reader, there was something before a Pentium! Ah, I think that was one generation away from the military issue back in the 50’s. I think my son was a sophomore in high school when we got it and he must be almost 28 by now.

I think it is time to do a little something different! And while I have priced new window treatments, I will probably just enjoy making them for a quarter of the price. I’m a smart girl and can do this.

Days Off

Days off of work are such a wonderful thing. I never quite know what to do with myself first as the to-do list is always so long.

I love to take my coffee back to bed and snuggle for just a bit longer under the quilt. Delaying the day is so nice after having to hop out of bed onto the cold floor when the alarm clock signals the start of the day job! I’m always on a tight time schedule on those days.

While I’m drinking those first cups of coffee on my day off, it is nice to check my emails and see what my family, friends, and colleagues in the soap business are up too. There is always something new to learn.

Recently we had a discussion on one of my lists regarding favorite books. The Outlander by Diana Gabaldon was a hot topic which compelled me to go to my local library site and put the book on hold. How nice is that service by-the-way! Do a quick search, place it on hold, and the library calls when it is in.

I’ve been enjoying this book. It’s mostly a nice escape from reality to a time in the distant past. It is a Time Machine type of book or a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. I loved both of those books. Serious literature it is not, but what the heck! My day job is serious enough and lightness in a book is good for me. It’s nice to delay the start of the day with a book too.

Then off to the treadmill to get in some cardio and stretches. I learned long ago, that no matter what the day brings, I deserve some top time for myself and that is a nice work out. I do it only for myself because I just plain feel good afterwards and no one can take that away from me. Even if the rest of the day is not satisfactory, I did something nice for myself.

Now I can do some of the things that I love most. I have new fragrances to test and make into soap so that is where I’m off to now. Feel free to stop by my website and see what’s new!

Brrrrr! It's Cold!

It is 9F outside. Feels like –8F. No matter what it feels like, it is darn cold. The kicker s that this is now February and it is just plain wrong. Of course some would say that it was wrong to be playing golf continually through the second week in January I don’t think so.

Back in my youth and hey day, the weather was much more predictable. Frequently we had snow by Thanksgiving here in SE Wisconsin. It was mandatory UP North – yeah dare hey. November is deer hunting season and snow makes for good tracking.

Snow was a mixed blessing that early. We grew up on a small lake in Waterford and our number one activity was ice-skating. There was nothing as sweet as fresh ice that had not been tarnished by snow. It was a slick and smooth as it could be. Oh how we loved it.

Once it snowed, well, first we had to shovel and that was work. After the ice was cleared we would beg Dad to hook up the hose and flood it to once again regain the smoothness of that first fresh ice.

We were pampered kids. Not only would our dad shovel and flood the ice, he had floodlights hooked up so that we could skate in the evening, and skate we did!

Ours was the biggest skating rink on our little lake. Hockey games were the norm. I didn’t play hockey but I dreamed of being an Olympic skater and practiced my twirls with great diligence.

There was no such thing as staying indoors any more than was absolutely necessary. The snow begged for sledding and the ice for skating. So what if you had to shovel first. It was better to shovel than have the smallest bump on the ice that could cause a nasty fall.

As adults, we would gather our parents house on Christmas Day and once again skate our hearts out. We had children of our own by then and introduced them to the joys of skating. They were always amazed at the speed with which my older brothers could smack a hockey puck.

I digress. It’s cold and it’s February. We should be thinking about spring. The seed catalogs have been arriving for weeks already causing us to dream about lush greens and vibrant flowers.

No longer can we expect snow at Thanksgiving, a white Christmas, and accuracy Punxsutawney Phil’s forecast of spring.

Fragrantly Yours

Patti