Fall Launch (we'll see)

So today marked on my calendar is the latest start date for Fall/Winter listings for Etsy for me. What this means is I have determined this is my last personal deadline to start getting stuff listed on Etsy for the 2015 holiday season.

So. I've got a ton of stuff that needs to be listed. Getting myself together to create listings is the big challenge. I'm going through all the vintage inventory and since I've had no set office all the boxes are in different locations around the house and in storage and wow, it's a lot (did I mention that already? LOL) and it's in all those different places.

I will be doing this slowly...well, actually even slower than normal for me as I spent the latter half of this weekend trying to recover from processing over 70 lbs of fruit and veggies for canning and freezing. I lucked on to a major deal at a local grocery store I shop at and it coincided with a windfall of zucchini and other bumper crop donations from a couple of local gardeners I know. I am stiff and sore and my arm, back and shoulder are very tender but my freezer and pantry is full and it gives me a huge grin looking at my destroyed kitchen. I will be able to cook some wonderful meals from the veggies preserved. So many choices: soups and sauces and casseroles and oh the yummy plans of meals to come, meals that I have prepped for to make easy but amazingly tasting dishes. All the hard stuff is done, now 30 minutes or much less and dinner is in the crockpot or on the table and it will taste like I spent all day on it instead of grabbing it out of the freezer and running for the kitchen LOL

WORTH IT!

Happy Monday all, I am going for my second cup of coffee and some well deserved rest. The listing chores will start around 9 a.m. for now, it's coffee and chill. Yep, Happy Monday indeed :)

Just another day in the trenches...

It's Monday and since "planning day" is traditionally Sunday and I didn't do it, I'm technically starting out already late this week. I didn't feel up to it yesterday----this heat wave is sucking the life out of me on these dead air afternoons so I moved "planning day" back until Monday morning, along with "Question of the Week" (which I did get posted in plenty of time).

Well it's early afternoon and I still haven't even started planning and the heat has descended with a vengeance. I'm not going to stress over it. My huge list of self-imposed tasks can wait while I enjoy life. Today.

Today I realized we are on the back end of Summer. Summer is almost over and there is so much I haven't done because of so much I haven't gotten done. I haven't sat around and enjoyed the sun, the weather, the smell of Summer, the beads of condensation on the glass of iced tea and the purely frivolous reading material... the enjoyment of the season has been put on hold by me because I haven't done so many things that all need to be done before the rain and cold seasons return. All work work work...but no play until done...wait, I can't do that. I can't be that way anymore because I'll never be done which means I will never play again...unless I change how I look at it all.

So this is what I decided to do today. I'm taking my planning notebook outside and setting it within easy reach and I'm going to do some things I want to do so I can have some fun. I want to eat dinner outside at my table like we usually do when the weather is nice but like we haven't been able to because of twenty million other things I have to do before the table can be moved to its "Summer" spot. I'm just going to do it. I'm going to enjoy my gardening efforts--- the tomatoes are just amazing and the peppers are going great guns too :) I'm excited to see the final color of the Cherokee Purples:

while I'm currently enjoying the huge flavor bursts of the tiny but oh so mighty tasty Early Girls:

and I can't wait to see how big the German Striped Tomatoes are going to get. Plus the basil, the lavender and all the other herbs that combine into this aromatic mishmash hodgepodge of an olfactory wonderland when I'm out there weeding, gathering and watering...sigh.... you know what...

I'm not waiting anymore. This post can be done and other stuff can wait...I'm going outside...see ya later! Happy (late) Monday!

I've busy sleeping a lot in between other stuff

Trying to get myself together. Summer has finally arrived and the weather has been record breaking HOT.

The resulting effect of the hot weather upon me has been me sleeping. Excessively.
But I'm feeling pretty good over all :)
It's like I'm catching up from all the restless unrefreshing sleep and constant fatigue from pain from this winter.

My pain levels are down down down. I still have pain yes, but not like this winter.

I am truly enjoying it while it lasts :)

We've been busy. Well. I've been busy trying to get stuff done before the rains come back. Stuff like the downstairs floor. The kitchen. The living room. The roof. Ug!

BRB...

Up from the first nap of the day. Nap. Huh. Like it's a voluntary thing. LOL. yeah. right. LOL.

Just going to go crawl in the shower and get on with the day before it gets too hot to function! Maybe pictures of progress later :)

Well, it never got at hot as predicted and that is good :) :) :)

I've busy sleeping a lot in between other stuff.  I'm going to be busy for awhile. Not just with our projects at home as it turns out. A friend (who lives in AZ) called and needed us to help her out with her storage unit here in WA. It seems a church group told her they would help her out and take everything in the storage unit as donations and then sweep out the storage unit etc so she just went ahead and turned in the keys since they were just emptying it out etc. It turns out they only took the big $$$ stuff and left a huge mess going through all the boxes etc. That was last month. She just found out about the mess left (she was supposedly cleared out of there last month) the day before yesterday. The storage unit owner said if we can get the stuff out and get it swept they won't charge her another month but they are elderly and can't do it themselves and would have to hire someone so they would have to charge her for that too. They were shocked the church group did that too and they feel sorry for my friend and have been really nice in helping us to help my friend but what a mess! It's going to take at least two more days of moving stuff and I figuring five days (at the least) for me to recover from the thing (and I'm not lifting anything, I'm just packing boxes etc).

Well, it's been rough lately but it's getting better

The weather has "turned" and Spring is definitely here :) which is good news for my weary body because Spring is closer to Summer.

Summer is the best time of year for me and *THIS* is going to be an awesome Summer!

Why?

Well, for one, I will be feeling better ( I almost said like a "human being" but the truth is, I always feel like a human being but usually a pathetic painful lump of one) and my activity level will up as well the nicer the weather gets. I'm looking forward to staying off the couch and out of bed as much as possible and being outside. It's almost time to hang the hammocks out and pull out the yard furniture and get everything ready for the nice weather. Weather permitting we eat dinner outside 4-5 times a week in the warmer months. We'll have a fire going in the pit and chill out after dinner and watch the stars come out.

Really looking forward to it :)

But first, getting the yard and camping lots (next door to the house) ready. Cleaning up the winter storms debris, pulling out all the stuff we put in storage last fall and general spring clean up.

I'm really looking forward to some time playing in the dirt in the garden and working in the yard. I am currently considering raising my raised beds up about 3 more feet to make it easier for me to work in the garden but it is looking like that will be a project for next season. I've already seeded some of my starts indoors and will be moving them out soon. (Pictures coming soon, I promise). I've got the usual favorite herbs, salsa & salad fixings, several more types of Indian corn and of course a varied assortment of pumpkins, squash, zucchini etc...

Oh the anticipation :)

For now, I am heading to bed as this was "therapy day" and it's been a long day anyway. I'll be back soon I promise :) I've got the "before" pics of my pot rack project I'll be posting soon and I want to do "before" pics of the yard and grounds as well and get them up here. I've got some great yard and garden art that is going to be placed this year and I'm really excited about figuring out where it will go.

OKOKOKOK...I really have to go to bed so for now:

goodnight!!!

The black hole that is called "Pinterest"...

Pinterest is a hole that I find myself falling down quite frequently...

and it's been a while since I had the energy to do anything better than just existing/surviving, dragging myself from task to task, project to project, be it getting dressed, painting, constructing or a new piece of jewelry.

Thank God the weather has finally changed. I feel so much better! The house is trashed, more stuff is falling apart, there is dirtiness everywhere (driving me crazy crazy caharazeeeeeee) but that's ok. I'm feeling better and I can do it! I can get it done! I know not to overdo but I don't feel dead before I even start and that is such a wonderful feeling, I forgot how wonderful it really is to feel pain-free aka normal.

I like it.

and that said, I'm vowing to try to stay away from pinterest and spend time (more) outside.

Like now.

Bye!

Update of sorts...

So, I haven't been on here in well, seems like forever except for the book list update.

I've been having a lot of pain issues (still am) with our wacky weather. It was great (got up to 80 degrees one day) and then not so great (had to turn the heaters on again, so cold & rainy/wet). Which means my joints swell among other painful things. I don't want this blog to be a constant litany of my various aches and pains when I do finally get on here but I feel like I need to point out why I am inconsistent about posting. I need to post more, I know this. I need to get on here even when sitting up is the last thing I want to do, I know this too. This is one of my forms of therapy and is a pain reliever in a sense and I need to remember this and utilize this tool for my continued well being.

OK. Working on it.

So...had a great time at the big family party at the beach. Didn't really move for 2 days after that but I would do it again in a heartbeat.

It. Was. Awesome.

There were no sly catty remarks or the wariness and worrying about inadvertently pissing someone off with a casual remark, or what I wore or didn't wear or GodForbid some "look" upon my was that is misinterpreted ---that atmosphere so usually experienced at a family gathering at my mother's, the "heavy" tense stressful worry...was not...there... I was not treated as the red headed stepchild, I was treated as a valued family member that people wanted to talk to and spend time with. It's good to feel wanted in the midst of your family. I know the unacceptable and unwanted sticking out like a sore thumb thing real well. It was peaceful, even in the midst of chaos. It was fun and there was lots and lots of good laughter and enjoyment of small manic and maniac children and good conversation. It was what I always think a family gathering should feel like. It was all of us EXCEPT  my sister and (of course) my mother. and it was very good and no negatives during a long enjoyable day :)

IT WAS AWESOME!

I enjoyed it so much I smiled non-stop for the next two days, even when I couldn't get out bed for a bit. It was soooo wonderful, and it's been so long since we all had a great family day :)

What else? Oh! I got my raised beds put in on Wednesday and on THIS Wednesday I can start planting in them. YAY!!! (They went in on Wednesday and I was down almost 2 days from that.) Saturday I got the (finally) TV moved to the media room and off my couch so the couch could be moved enough so I could put up my desk. I miss the desk in the studio...almost there AGAIN, lol. SOON.

This morning I had to turn the heater on while drinking my coffee (the joints swell and what can you do really) so it's been an ok morning, there have been many worse so OK is OK :)

Already got laundry done, water heated, made up a gallon of coffee creamer (recipe here-coming soon), working on second cup of coffee, got dressed, dried a load of laundry, talked to both my mother and father (via phone, in person would still be talking to one or the other....STILL, so, thank you very much verizon...or as we used to say in the "old" days: Thank you very much Ma Bell, lol.) Got the worm medication out for the dogs (*that* will be happening later today), two recipes written up and scheduled and half my medication taken...not doing too shabby except I'm due for a rest NOW so *that's* what I'm gonna go do now.

Later (today, lol)...