Tis the Season!

Now that State of Origin is over (yay Queensland!!), it’s time to put the Chrissy decorations up in the shop.

I did that today.

Blue and silver baubles scattered throughout the shop, silver Christmas bauble decals decorating the counter, the glass on the front doors and some of the display cabinets plus tinsel on the outside chairs.

I didn’t think to take photos! I’ll do that tomorrow.

It was a slow day for sales - lots of tyre kickers though. That usually means big sales the next day.

There were lots of couples through the door and women rarely make purchases when their husbands are with them. They usually return alone the next day to have their fun.

A local lady brought three pieces of her art to the shop today on consignment. One of them is displayed but I need to figure out how and where to display the other two. It’s quite lovely and I think it will sell well.

I paid out some consignment money, spoke to a couple of reps on the phone, wrapped some Christmas gifts and wrote a ‘to do’ list for the weekend.

Adoring Husband helped me close the shop today and took all the bulky items in the car so that I only had to carry my handbag in the trike.

I decided to hand wash all of my silk and delicate tops this afternoon. I’ve been putting that chore off for so long and the weather was so warm with a strong breeze that those dripping tops were dry within a matter of hours and are now hanging in my wardrobe!

I put a load in the machine while they dried.

We had Adoring Husband’s usual fare for Friday night dinner. I love Friday night dinner.

I did have to make an ‘after hours’ call to a supplier, but it was short and sweet.

Now it’s after 10pm and I’m ready for sleep.

Nite all.

Like a Grown Up

I feel like such a grown up!

Paying all my bills as soon as I open them. Paying all the invoices as soon as I receive them. Keeping ahead of my budget.

It’s such a fun game!

Unfortunately, the lockdown in South Australia has two different lots of stock that I ordered now stuck in that state until the lockdown is over. What a pain in the butt right before Christmas!

Today I priced and displayed the new stock that arrived two days ago.

It was a good day of sales so I was busy with customers.

I had an extended and very interesting visit from Aggie. I like it when she pops by. I like it when any of my girls pop by!

An extended and profitable visit from one of my art girls.

Now that I think about it, I had a lot of ‘local’ customers today, which makes the sales number even more impressive!

I worked a little later today and after I pulled the flags, chairs and signs inside, I left all of my stuff at the shop while I visited Bombshell for her birthday to give her a gift and share a beverage with her and other friends.

Afterwards I returned to the shop to pick up the cash tin, my laptop bag and the groceries and then pedalled home.

Adoring Husband was all dressed up in his SES uniform when I walked through the door. I forgot it was training night so he didn’t get dinner before he left unfortunately.

I made some mango vegan ice cream tonight which was quite enjoyable, though surprisingly, not very sweet.

So it was another good day.

Now it’s time for bed.

Nite all.

Early Bird

I arrived at the shop at 6.45am!

I did some tidying up and cleared some of the work from my desk, priced a couple of loose items and displayed them, checked the invoice from yesterday’s delivery and calculated the prices.

All of that in the 25 minutes before The Gypsy arrived.

There were only 2 spare seats in meditation today and the class was amazing. A newcomer stopped me afterwards, thanked me for donating the space for these classes and raved about how wonderful the discussions and subject matter were. She shook her head in awe and vowed she would return. 

I love that kind of feedback.

People attend these classes for just a donation and I used to take half of those donations to cover my costs but decided some time ago that I get so much value from her lessons and The Gypsy puts so much work into them each week that she should take all of the money.

I consider myself very lucky to have her still using this space after 3 years and she has taught me the skills to bring positive change in my life. I could rattle on for pages about her virtues but I’ll stop here.

After meditation, the usual crowd hung around for coffee and I sat at my desk for a while catching up with The Gypsy until she had to leave for an appointment. I joined the other girls between customers and we discussed art and creativity.

It was another good sales day and I have overfilled my next art class for the 28th Nov, the majority of whom have paid in advance!

I’ve already recruited 3 people for my next vision board workshop too!

The day passed quickly and I kept the shop open for an extra 30 minutes waiting for a customer who did eventually turn up to make it worth my while.

We enjoyed bangers and mash with onion gravy for dinner and sat in the alfresco area to eat. The weather was mild with a slight breeze so it was a very pleasant dinner location. We watched the State of Origin prematch show while we ate and Adoring Husband bragged about his fabulous Blues team and how they were going to defeat my beloved Maroons.

Well we showed him! A huge well fought win to Queensland!

Now I need to sleep because it’s after 11.30pm.

Nite all.

Doing My Head In

I’m doing my own head in!

I didn’t pedal to work this morning because I had too much to carry and it wouldn’t fit in my trike basket, so we loaded it into the car and Adoring Husband drove me and my lode to work.

This included my ‘almost finished’ artwork, my easel, my bag of art pens and brushes and pencils and acrylic paints, the money tin, my laptop bag, my change of clothes for afternoon hooping, my handbag and my journaling lesson.

We arrived at the shop nice and early because I had some work to do before my girls arrived for morning coffee. 

There were only four of us sitting at the table and as usual, those pesky customers interrupted my socialising and I didn’t get to spend as much time chatting as I’d have liked.

I think it was close to 11am when the girls departed and I was flat out for the next hour and a half making good sales. It was an excellent sales day!

I found time to clear the morning coffee area, folding up the table and removing the chairs, leaving only the tables for journaling. I also cleared all the washed art tools and buckets from the kitchen and put them in their homes.

AH arrived to tell me about his new business add on and to close the shop for me as I greeted my cleaner who I convinced to give the kitchen area a good scrub (it’s so shiny and clean now!) and she was soon followed by the journaling girls.

We chatted and wrote and brain stormed for an hour. They helped me open the three boxes of stock that arrived at the same time they did ... that was a bit of fun.

We finished right on 3.30pm because two of us had to leave for our hooping class. I had already warned The Gypsy that I would be late so I didn’t stress myself trying to rush. I changed my clothes and power walked to the location which was about a block away.

There were six of us all learning new tricks and moving parts of our bodies that haven’t been worked like that for over a month! After a very full day, my body was certainly feeling it by the end of the session!

AH arrived early to pick me up but it was about 5.10pm when I climbed gingerly into the car and we returned to the shop to clear the training room to set up for meditation. We folded the tables, cleared the empty boxes, put the newly arrived stock behind the counter, moved my art to the treatment room, vacuumed the floor, set out the chairs and placed the donation box.

Once we were happy with the set up, we gathered the money tin, the laptop bag, the bag of dirty cleaning rags and my handbag and trudged to the car.

Thankfully, AH was doing his Friday night dinner deal for me and after I had a shower and cleared the usual after work mess away, I was able to sit down and put my feet up.

What a pleasant relief that was!

It’s almost 11pm and I have to be at work by 6.30am so it’s time to sleep.

I am well and truly done for the day.

Nite all.

Efficiently Productive

I’ve had an efficiently productive Monday.

I woke at 6am (again) and spent 2 hours watching YouTube videos of MAKEOVERGUY giving old women makeovers. Very efficiently productive ✔️

I logged into two supplier websites and filled my shopping carts with stock that I want to purchase next week. Very efficiently productive ✔️

I checked and deleted a bunch of emails. Very efficiently productive ✔️

I changed from my pyjamas to swimmers and stepped into the pool. I did some stretching, swam some laps, tried some water dancing and exercising, then sat under the Bali hut for an hour, listening to music and playing Words With Friends. Very efficiently productive ✔️

I reheated last night’s leftovers for lunch. Very efficiently productive ✔️

Adoring Husband and I drove to the shop, picked up the mail, cleared away all the art paraphernalia, put away the big tables, set up the medium tables for journaling on Tuesday arvo and set up the small table for morning coffee with the girls. Very efficiently productive ✔️

I returned home and almost finished painting the art piece that I’ve been working on. Just a few finishing touches tomorrow and it will be done. Very efficiently productive ✔️

Barbecued Porterhouse steak with salad and hash browns for dinner. Very efficiently productive ✔️

A fluffy movie on Netflix and time for bed. Very efficiently productive ✔️

Nite all.

Perfect Sunday

Fancy waking up at 6am on a Sunday morning 😳 

It’s not something I ever plan to do on my day off, but it’s exactly what happened this morning.

It was especially surprising because knowing that I didn’t need to be awake early, I was awake until almost 1AM binge watching ‘Good Girls’.

I made myself a cup of tea, got comfortable in bed and ...

I watched the first two episodes of the new season of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ - it was a dud version on YouTube but good enough to become invested. I look forward to seeing the real version when it appears on TV.

I finished creating my half page ad for the BHPA newsletter, sent it off and then paid the invoice immediately.

I finalised Tuesday’s lesson for journaling and printed it out.

I ordered some stock - jewellery for the young and the budget conscious.

Adoring Husband invited me to swim in the pool with him, so I changed into my swimmers and joined him. The water was perfect but whatever the new pool guy put into the pool made my eyes sting for about an hour afterwards. This is not good.

I sat under the Bali hut listening to 60s music for a while before attacking my art piece, which I hope to finish tomorrow and then deliver to it’s new owner on Tuesday. It’s coming along nicely.

Dinner was a nosh up of chicken and pork mince with cabbage, carrot, onion, zucchini, ginger, chilli and mushroom served with rice.

It has been a most enjoyable Sunday as well as being productive.

Tomorrow will be arty farty at home and then clearing the arty farty at work. No doubt there will be more swimming in these warm temperatures too!

I’m feeling very chilled and relaxed.

Nite all.