Friendly Friday

We had some really nice customers all through the day today, which brought a wonderful energy into the shop.

It was so noticeable that I even commented to a couple of groups and thanked them for coming.

Reality TV Queen popped in for a quick visit with His Royal Tallness, which was a nice surprise.

I had some time this afternoon to design the registration form for my photography courses and printed a few copies out for the front table.

I checked out the websites of some of our suppliers.

Even though we are trying to hold off ordering any new stock until we've been through the Gift Fair in Sydney, our stock level is a bit low and I'm considering making a couple of small orders next week. It's a bit of a balancing act.

The weather is still hot and we've just had some storms sweep through. There was a huge line of storms from the Sunny Coast right through to Gladstone, but I don't think they've done enough to cool the temperature.

My watch alarm has just told me to get ready for bed. I've done well this week creating my new habit of going to bed at the some time. I've been in bed every night well before 10.30pm.

I've discovered one slight issue with this new habit. Because we're in bed at least 2-3 hours earlier than our old habit, the Psychotic Dogs need to get up during the night to pee! Their elderly bladders can't last the distance and they are waking me up at around 3.30am most nights.

It almost defeats the purpose of going to bed early!

I'm looking forward to my weekend and plan on getting a bit done on Sunday. Bed will be my friend for the first half of the day though.

In the meantime, Saturday is looking good for another pleasant time at The Happy Abode.

So I'm off to bed.

Nite all.

Without Motivation

The Motivator has left the country!

It was a mad dash this morning as some last minute important business popped up (not Happy Abode stuff) and she frantically worked to finalise it all before she rushed to the airport in just the nick of time!

Touch and go.

The day was incredibly busy in the shop. Lots of new customers all announcing "I didn't know you were here!" as they walked in the door. There were even a few men came shopping today, which felt weird, but they knew what they wanted and even though I didn't get anything else done today, it was a great sales day and the people were friendly and grateful for the air conditioned comfort.

This weather is horrendously oppressive and our air conditioner has been running for 36 hours straight and certainly won't be turned off tonight either. It reached 36C It's still 28C but feels a lot warmer. When you add coastal humidity to such high temperatures - there are no words - or maybe there is just one - UGH!

Thankfully, I live AND work in air conditioned comfort.

Adoring Husband was kind enough to help me close the shop this afternoon and I cooked dinner super early (we were eating at 4.45pm) because AH has SES training tonight and had to leave before 5.30pm.

Crispy skinned chicken with salad followed by pineapple whip with macadamia nuts & shaved premium organic dark chocolate. That's a good healthy meal and a half!

Right now, I'm listening to my psychotic dogs tease and chase each other around the family room. I asked them if they remembered that they are each 13 years old. Combined, in human years, that makes them 273 years old. They are still jumping onto the furniture and playing silly buggers with each other like puppies.

Sometimes that can be a bit annoying, but mostly it makes me laugh.

Well, it's just after 8pm so I think I'll go to bed and so some of my course work before I nod off.

Nite all.

Big Day In

What a huge day!

The Gypsy had all her appointments booked bar one and the shop was filled with people many times during the day. Mostly they were only looking, but there was a big group of eight from Howard and three different pairs from Childers, someone from Chinchilla and a lady from Gympie and many more locals who only just discovered that we were here.

I took another name for one of my photography workshops and a lady came in asking if we would be interested in selling her art. I've told her to come back with some samples after 1st March. She showed me some photos and I really like the look of some of her creations. She has her finger in many different creative pies, so I'm looking forward to seeing her work up close.

I attempted to get some paperwork done and set up a booking system for our courses. I have just over three weeks until my first course starts and I still haven't finished creating it!

But don't worry, we do our best work under pressure!

By home time, I was absolutely exhausted. All of my energy had drained and I felt a little bit low ... until I rode home and the ride seemed to energise me. I even went straight to the kitchen to peel the potatoes and chop the beans in preparation for dinner.

Luckily, dinner was super easy and quick and delicious. Adoring Husband even went back for seconds and I put some pineapple in the freezer earlier, so I'm thinking of making some pineapple whip for dessert ... yes that's how early I am writing this.

It will be another early night for me and I think we'll leave the air conditioner on all night so that we can sleep soundly without the heat and the perspiration disturbing us.

Another day in the life of a Happy Abode worker haha.

Nite all.

Solo Effort

I had an interesting start to my day because I woke up a little later than usual, after a night of very broken sleep (that'll teach me for having coffee at 4.30pm!).

Just as I was about to jump under the shower and while I was sitting on the golden throne, I received a phone call from Vegan Chickie - which I didn't answer - but I called back after I was finished on the throne.

It was Chicklet's 7th birthday today, so after I said a quick hello to Vegan Chickie, I sang 'Happy Birthday' to Chicklet in a dreadful attempt at soprano. Chicklet wasn't really listening because she was yelling over the phone that she received three different dragons for her birthday.

She was also very excited to be going to a farm for the day where she was going to feed and touch different animals - but she was especially excited because Mama and Dadu were taking her and they would be a family for the day.

My gift to her will be the experience of touching a crocodile when she visits us in May. The crocodile is her favourite animal (after the non-existent dragon and dinosaur). She will also get to sit with and feed some meerkats (as will I).

By the time we said our goodbyes, I had twenty minutes to get to work and the only thing I had done was throw some clothes on. I was running around like a chook with it's head cut off and left the house in a mad dash at 2 minutes to nine. I arrived at the shop at 9.04am, just as The Blonde Bombshell arrived on her bike.

She kindly helped me open the shop and take the signs and chairs out. We were both lathered in perspiration because the weather was oppressively hot again this morning.

At our peak, there were six of us for coffee and it was a great morning while JMac gave us a very animated description of her concert experience on Saturday night where she saw John Farnham, Jon Stevens, Ross Wilson and The Black Sorrows.

I spent the remainder of the morning making contact with the editors of all the local newsletters, paying for each of our full page ads and then sending the finished ad through to them.

A few people came through the doors, but not many wanted to part with their money today. Some were in for a chat, which is always lovely. There was a booking for The Gypsy tomorrow and a regular male customer bought a Cenzoni bag for his wife - just because. How sweet.

Adoring Husband dropped in to see if I wanted lunch, which I had already ordered from 'A Taste of Burrum', so his timing was perfect to pick it up for me. He then returned later in the afternoon to help me pack up and close the shop. He's a good man.

Just before I walked out the door, the couple from the markets who I ordered another timber display stand from, appeared. I invited them in and they stayed for thirty minutes while we chatted about family and health and work until I herded them out the door so that I could go home.

Oh and Mayberry, the lady who is creating art with record albums came by with her newest creations, which aren't even finished yet, to get our opinion. I love them!

In the kitchen I prepared two different dinners, one for tonight and one for tomorrow night, so all I have to do tomorrow night is make a sweet potato mash and steam some beans to go with the chicken, mushroom and tomato casserole.

There are some storms about tonight and it looks like we might get some rain in an hour or so - hopefully it won't be too nasty because there has been quite a bit of damage caused by storms in areas south and south west of here in the past few days. Fingers crossed we just get some wet stuff!

I'm off for an early night.

Nite all.

Squeezed Full!

How hot is it?

As my mother would say "Hot as Hades"!

Each time we walked out of the shop, there was a wall of oppressive heat awaiting us and it felt like we were melting!

Thank goodness for air conditioning.

Our day was squeezed full!

We had an interesting start to the day because The Gypsy was not available to run our meditation class, which meant that we had to wing it.

Even knowing since last Wednesday that she wouldn't be here, neither The Motivator nor I were prepared for this morning. We DID arrive slightly early, to set up the room. I made up a sheet to get names and phone numbers so that in the future, we can contact the ladies to cancel if necessary.

The Motivator, with her easy listening voice, led the class into three different guided meditations which were pre-recorded (provided by The Gypsy) and in between we had some casual and relaxed discussions, some good giggles and then we finished off with a group dance to the song "Happy" (but of course!), so we finished the morning feeling both relaxed and energised. Everybody left with a big smile on their face.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself and The Motivator did a fabulous job. We do our best work under pressure!

My entire day after that, was spent creating our ad to go into three different newsletters - BHPA, The Toogoom chatter and Burrum River Newsletter. The main part of our ad will provide information about the photography courses and the design & styling courses so we have to fit a LOT into a small space.

Here's your preview ...

So if you see any errors, you have until 1pm Tuesday to let me know lol

While I did that, The Motivator had about five different projects going at once, so she was multi-tasking like a whirlwind.

We had few customers walk through the door, so there weren't many interruptions. I think it was too hot for anybody to leave their house today!

I will be by myself in the shop tomorrow, so I need a good night's sleep. I'm looking forward to seeing the girls for coffee in the morning and then I have a 'to do' list to focus on for the remainder of the day.

Still absolutely loving The Happy Abode.

Nite all.

No News

My Sunday has been pretty cruisy.

I've done a little bit of washing.

I bottled my second batch of kombucha and have brewed up the next batch.

I cooked up a huge plate of bacon, eggs, mushrooms, char grilled zucchini, tomato, onion, baby spinach and avocado for a late breakfast, early lunch (11.30am).

Mid afternoon, I filled a bowl with dragon fruit, banana, mango, grapes and plums all chopped into bite sized pieces and then I pigged out on them in front of the TV as we watched the Winter Olympics.

Personally, I'll be pleased when the Olympics are over.

I can't help but wonder how amazing this world would be if all the pro athletes put as much money, time and effort into creating a better planet, instead of training, competing and holding up a trophy or medal at the end of the day.

What about all the Govt funding that could be better used elsewhere? What about the billions of dollars spent on bidding for the games and then the billions of dollars spent on building the arenas for the events?

Oh but don't get me started.

I can't believe it's 9pm already. I really feel like I didn't get enough done today - especially the course work for which I could have been so much more productive if I'd just left the room!

Anyway, big work day tomorrow and The Motivator leaves the country this week. I have much to organise before she leaves, including creating our ad for three newsletters, which I'd hoped to do this weekend, but will do tomorrow.

The Gypsy won't be at the shop for meditation tomorrow, so The Motivator and I will have to wing it.

Wish us luck!

Nite all.