Life is Good - Are you New Here?

So, I completely forgot that I had been running a facebook ad, and that about 30 new people a day have been checking out the blog! Holy moly!

HELLO to all you new readers who have stumbled in. The picture on the Facebook ad is a large painting I did about a year ago. As of tomorrow, there will be a small piece of mine hanging in a juried art show in my town (I think they are actually getting the pieces together later in the week for hanging.)

Today I feel normal after a 24ish hour bout with head cold - brought on by lugging dirt and popping dandilions and generally overworking my body to exhaustion. Silly Me.

However, I have a few new people who joined my team during my illness, and have decided to start a business with Watkins! (142 year old company - I've got links all over the place, if you're curious.) I marvel, sometimes, how a high-school educated mom of 3 (That would be ME.) is doing so well with this. I think it's drive. Where else would I have the ability to earn like this, and be home with the kids, and be able to do all the fun stuff I do?

So, the raised garden boxes from a few posts earlier still are half full, and I'm still babying the seeds, praying that everything comes up OK. Tomorrow after I drop off the art at the gallery, I'll probably continue lugging the soil into the boxes.

Then, I think I'm going to feel like sewing. I haven't made a sock doll in a while! I finished the scarf above a few days ago, and finally put it on etsy.

Be sure to "Follow" me if you are new! I'm gearing up to do a giveaway next week (for Canadians and US only!) and you don't want to miss it!!!

Happy Friday,
Lori

Say What You Need To Say

Dreamed I was at a party where the people who were there used to be my most trusted friends, but now they didn't really want me around. They were incredibly rude and uncaring, wouldn't speak to me and kept ditching me, and yet wouldn't let me leave.

I wandered into a livingroom, where one of their husbands lay sprawled on the couch. He said to me "I'd leave if I could. I envy you." I smiled at him, and left out a bathroom window. I was free! I got in the car and drove to a thrift store, and there were people there that I'm aquainted with but never really hung out with. They were engaging and kind and appreciated me. It was good to laugh with them. It was good to laugh.

I bought some jeans, and was going to go dancing.
I bought some princess toys for my daughters and couldn't wait to see their faces and play with them.


************

I woke and the dream left me feeling like I need to just move on from the real life silliness. I've had so many friends who'd like to hang out with me ask if I would lately. I'm taking them all up on the offer.

Working in my Sleep!

I've been putting these little scarves together, and having a rather fun time doing it. I'm really tickled with how all the colours play with each other. I've got two more that are ready for photos and etsy. One with a multicolour edging, and one with a pink.
I can't read crochet patterns. Mind you, I've never tried terribly hard! I'm sure if I dusted off my "crochet and knitting for dummies" I'd be able to work my way through it. All the short forms and numbers frazzle my brain. Seriously. Bzzt Bzzt poof.

It's a beautiful day out. I opened the door a few moments ago to get the newspaper out of the mailbox. I slept all day. Yes, that's completely out of character. But, I worked my body too hard starting Monday morning. Shovelling dirt, doing the yard, laundry, dusting and cleaning and hauling out garbage, that by Wednesday morning, my body had had it.

"Here! Here's a head cold - maybe that'll slow you down a bit." It did.

While I napped today, I had a new Associate join my team, though. A nice lady from Newfoundland.

So, even though I napped, it still feels like I got something accomplished. hehe.

Happy... uh, what day is it again? Thursday!

Dirt. Yum.

Here we have some fancy fancy boxes that I drilled ALL BY MYSELF. What I lack in carpentry skills, I make up for in creativity. 3" wood screws, a borrowed drill, and a silent prayer.

My sweetheart bought us a pile 'o Black and Decker Bits and fiddly things. We borrowed a drill from his dad, when we realized ours didn't work. After getting over my initial fear of the drill (damn, that's fast. And loud. And I'm glad it's OUR bits I'm stripping.) I plunked them together in the side driveway, then called him away from WOW to help me carry them into the yard. And then he made us lunch. (These are the roles we are comfy with. I dig in the dirt and fix the yard, you make the food. I like the system.)

The wood is untreated, and I bought them as 2"x10"x10' ... and had the wonderfully helpful shop-man (who made no secret that he wanted to escape for Friday Beers) cut 3' off the end of each and loaded them into my mothers vehicle.

Mom paid for $40 of it (this is the wood I requested for my birthday!), I made up the rest which was about $35.

Today, HER beloved is coming with the truck to take me to the transfer station, to buy dirt. The best, darkest soil - as our town has been running a green bin compost program for about a year (??) alongside the blue bin recycling program and they turn it into the nicest black stuff ever. For the fine fine price of $20 a truckload, you too could buy dirt.

The truckload, according to "Opa's" estimates, will fill my little circle under the maple tree, and 2 of the boxes. (The maple has nowhere to grow, as less than a foot under the soil is rock and garbage, so it's roots are exposed inside the circle. There are some hostas and lilies that try to make the best of it under there every year. This year I'm helping them all out a little with 3" of soil.



They just called to tell me the transfer station DOES indeed take debit card (amazing) and that he's bringing me coffee to boot!!!

Life is Good.

Life is Good - The Secret Box Edition

I've gotten about half way through the jewellery boxes I started ages ago! I've listed a few on etsy, the Vintage Witch store, although my intention was to take them to market with me! What ever hasn't sold on etsy by the May 24 weekend, I'll simply take off to bring to market with me! Here's one of the finished ones. The pic of what it USED to look like is below it.

It was all sort of a light pink. Cute pic and all, although it was really scratched - I've now just updated it to be happily taken through life by a girl of any age!

The rest that are finished are on etsy right now for you to peek at.

I love having the freedom to work on what I want, when I want. I do SO many different types of craft, it's really nice to wake up and decide what I'm going to work on today.

Right now, I'm working on a handfull of chocolate almonds.

Life is Good.

Our Frugal Life is FULL !

We live a fairly frugal life, although, we are crowded with abundance here!

For my birthday, my incredible friend Mag got me a new baby. She's bald, and we've named her Cecilia Amelia. Seriously. (Thanks random name generator!) (That's her, sitting beside Alex Ander.)

I bought these super fun appliques for my market bags and fun sewing from applique heaven . She's in Ontario, which made me happy. It's fun to get fun stuff, goo over it a while, then make it into something else and pass the happiness on!




About a week ago I was gifted with an abundance of goodies from a friend who has been purging her house! I got a bag of material scraps, half finished projects, TONS of ribbon and lace, a sewing box with cantilever trays (you know, the kind that open out into little steps) and all SORTS of crafty goodness. In it were a baggie of granny squares - about 40 of them. I'm crocheting them into scarves! (for my birthday, I also got a travelling bag from my sweethearts parents, that also have the cantilever trays. I take projects with me everywhere, and I'm so excited about the travelling box!)




My Cottage Gardener seeds arrived yesterday! I buy Heirloom and Organic seeds for my garden every year. It's about frugal living - growing one's own food. Plus, I just really really like farting around in the garden.




This year, as well as having the strawberries and the Boxcar Willie tomatoes (seeds left from last year) I got:

• Heirloom Sunflower Mix,
  
• Small Sugar Pumpkin (organic, for pies),
  
• Black Beauty Summer Squash (organic)
  
• Straight Eight Cucumber (organic),
  
• Isis Candy Tomato (sustainably grown),
  
• Little Finger carrots (organic),
  
• Small shining light watermelon (organic) and
  
• Bull's Bloot Beet (certified organic, you eat the greens like spinach, not so much the beet.)

and, as I was sitting here writing this, who should arrive, but my NEW Redheaded Cabbage Patch Girl! She's going to need a facewash before I get pics... tomorrow, I'll tell you all about her!

Anyway, I look around our home, and I feel blessed. We thrift, work from home, and are creative. I'm really proud when I see what we've accomplished and I'm really happy with life. It's good, when you know where to look.