Gonski

Another photo is gonski!

A Vanilla Orchid photo! I sold it! Wahoo!

Time for me to print a new selection of photos because there are gaps in my display.

I had to order new ponchos today because I sold so many in the first 24 hours that they were in the shop! Unheard of!

I received a pair of jeans in the mail today. They were supposed to be white - they were moonstone cream. They were supposed to be size 12 (I’m usually 10) but they were approximately size 16 from the hips down and size 8 at the waist.

Ridiculous! Especially because of the price I paid. Luckily, the company has an excellent returns policy and it won’t cost me anything to return them.

Sales were pretty low in the shop but the day passed quickly.

This afternoon while Adoring Husband napped, I studied ... or should I say ‘re-studied’ part of my business course. It was a pleasant hour using my brain in a very quiet house.

For dinner I made a creamy vegetable soup out of the leftovers of our beef casserole. It was REALLY delicious! So full of flavour and very nutritious.

A Big Brother fix and just as we were heading to bed, we got sucked into “You Can’t Ask That”. The questions were aimed at people who, for various reasons, had missing limbs. Interesting answers to some strange questions.

I can’t believe it’s already after 11pm.

Time for bed.

Nite all.

Friendless!

This is me with all my friends at coffee this morning ...

Everybody had stuff happening this morning, which worked out quite well for me because I had a big box of stock to unpack.

Between serving customers, it took me almost three hours to finish that task.

There were eight ponchos in the box that needed to be steamed - you know how much I love steaming clothes. I had to remove some of the Summer tops from the rack, to make space for the ponchos.

I remembered that I still needed to finish the journaling lesson and print it out. That took another 30 minutes.

In today’s mail, the order of new paints arrived from Spotlight, but before I put them in the paint box, I culled all the ‘almost’ empty tubes (I’ll scrape the tubes out to save the paint) and there is JUST enough room in the box to fit all the new paint.

I finished that task just in time for the journaling class.

The only good thing about there being no meditation on Wednesday is that we didn’t have to stay late to set up the room!

Adoring Husband and I enjoyed barramundi, prawns and salad for dinner.

Now it’s time for bed.

Nite all.

Perfection

Today was such a perfect day.

The weather was glorious. It was a cool start all snuggled down under the covers but once the sun was up, it was very comfortable for wearing sleeves, jeans and boots.

The sky was clear, the breeze was slight, the waters were calm and blue and there was a pleasant ‘calm’ all around in The Bay.

Adoring Husband and I had a lunch date at Cafe Balaena.

Dean, the owner, greeted us and took us to our table. I could see that he had a vague recollection of seeing me before but he wasn’t certain so I pretended that we knew each other and I formally introduced Adoring Husband to him.

He replied with “Oh Adoring Husband! I’ve heard so much about you! So nice to finally meet you and put a face to the name.”

Truth is, I only met Dean once last week when the girls and I were there for my birthday lunch. He sang and danced “Happy Birthday” to me - only because the customer he had planned on singing to had to leave unexpectedly. 

We’ve never had a conversation about Adoring Husband or anybody else for that matter.

But he meant well and made me laugh.

Our lunches were delicious ...

... and the service was very friendly and efficient.

We bought dessert to take away and we were so keen to eat it tonight, I didn’t get a photo! I can’t remember what they were called. One was a cheesecake and the other a torte but that’s the best I can tell you. They were freaking delicious!

After lunch I needed to hunt for canvases and paint. I couldn’t find any canvases at a reasonable price, but luckily, I have just enough for the next workshop. I bought a LOT of paint, a couple of sketch pads and some paint brushes.

We did some grocery shopping and on the way home stopped off at Craignish for some fresh seafood.

There was enough time to unpack our shopping, get changed, feed the psychotic dog and drive to my shop to clear the training room and set it up for morning coffee and journaling.

We picked up the mail which included even more paint and a big box of Ivys bags, wallets and purses which will be my main chore tomorrow, checking, pricing and displaying.

Dinner was dessert.

We are now watching Big Brother.

Both of us are feeling weary, and at 6.30pm we were surprised at how early it was because we thought it was closer to 9pm!

Time for bed.

Nite all.

Nothin’

I got nothin’

In bed til 2pm.

Washing.

Put food in the slow cooker - oxtail casserole.

Watched some footy.

Made reservations at Cafe Balaena for Adoring Husband and I to have lunch tomorrow.

Now, at 8pm, I’m ready to return to my bed.

I think my sister got a perfect round in the footy tipping this week! Clever Squirt.

Adoring Husband mowed the lawns. They look good.

That’s it from me.

Happy new week!

Nite all.

Saturday Boost

It was a busy morning in the shop.

Sales were very good and almost made up for the slow week.

I met a new lady to town who will probably join our art class at some stage. She seems like a lot of fun and will probably fit right in with my girls.

KLR came early to help set up the training room for art. Considering 2 days ago she was out for the count from her Covid vaccination, it was amazing that she was available, but she’s a trouper.

As always, it was a fun class and the girls did well.

By the time we packed ourselves and our goodies into the car for the drive home, it was after 4.30pm. I had to head straight into the kitchen to prepare Adoring Husband’s chicken curry for dinner so it was a full on day for me and I’m looking forward to sliding into my comfy bed.

My dinner was chicken salad.

We’ve watched three footy games tonight - my tipping has been abysmal and I’m on the bottom of the ladder in our family tipping comp.

I think I shall make myself some sleepy tea and climb under the covers. 

Happy Sunday everyone!

Nite all.

Floppy Friday

May. May. May.

What are ya doin’ to me?

I was way off my safe total today.

Very very quiet.

So I decided to be productive and tidied up all the boxes from behind the counter.

Some of them had stock in them so I priced and displayed the stock before storing all of the empty boxes out the back.

I paid a bill.

I tidied the kitchen.

I received these beautiful pics from Vegan Chickie ...

Little Hazie is growing so quickly! So is Chicklet for that matter!

I advertised the 2 spots still remaining in the art workshop.

I did some filing.

Time passed quickly and I was happy to be coming home even though I had some online work to do.

Adoring Husband cooked dinner - as he does on Fridays.

Now I’m looking forward to some footy on telly!

Nite all.

Inventory

I spent a good portion of my day focusing on numbers.

One of my consignment ladies from the Sunny Coast has decided to quit her job and sell her crystals from home, so she is coming to collect her goodies some time in the next few weeks.

I calculated how much money I need to send her for sales since the last deposit into her account and then did an inventory of the stock remaining in the shop and checked it against her written inventory.

There were a couple of discrepancies so I got that sorted and then sat down feeling a bit mentally drained.

I thought I should take a break because I promised Adoring Husband that after work, I’d help him gather all the figures for 3 financial years of his business and put it in his cleverly created spread sheets (ugh I hate spread sheets).

Aggie popped in to show me her hair cut that the new male hairdresser in town gave her. The colour, cut and style is gorgeous and she looks fabulous!

After a very low sales day, I came home and spent almost three hours doing the tax stuff with AH.

While he was finishing it off and emailing it to the accountant, I did a baked dinner of chicken, pumpkin, carrot, onion, beetroot, cauliflower, broccoli and home made gravy. It was delicious - even if I do say so myself!

Now I’m in bed at 9.30pm ready to sleep.

Though not profitable, it has been a busy and productive day and I’m a bit worn out.

Nite all.

The Sleep In

Normally, on a Wednesday, I would jump out of bed at 6am when the alarm sounded, rush to get ready for work and be out the door at 6.35am to meet The Gypsy at 6.45am.

This morning, and every Wednesday from here on, I can sleep in until 6.40am because I won’t have to meet The Gypsy until 7.15am.

She now lives an hour and ten minutes away so our early meetings for a chat are not feasible.

We had a better crowd for meditation today and it was a good class.

The usual few stayed behind for a chat while The Gypsy and I chatted at my desk.

After she left, I priced and displayed the remaining stock that had arrived yesterday ...

I took it easy for the rest of the day.

I made myself a big green smoothie for lunch. It sure lifted my energy levels! But I still took it easy.

Sales reached the magic satisfying number.

I sold one of my photos!

Dinner was salmon and salad.

Big Brother entertained us.

Now I’m yawning and in need of sleep.

Nite all.

A Bit Twisty

I had a good day.

Coffee with the girls was enjoyable.

The Brains Trust was the last to leave and she got to watch me unpack some stock that arrived mid morning.

Nothing exciting - orders for customers and some wind chimes which is something we’ve not displayed in the shop before, so I’ve set up a stand to put outside but I’m a bit worried about how much noise they might make and whether the noise will disturb the workers in Elders or the neighbours.

Wait and see!

The Happy Hippy unexpectedly arrived and dusted the shop.

The journaling class went well although I didn’t have time to finish typing up the lesson so I could only issue the first of three pages.

I agreed to some further advertising by having the shop logo and details printed on score cards, application forms and something else that I can’t remember at the local bowls club.

I sold another of my photos and I donated a gift voucher to the town Friendship Club who are having a morning tea for cancer in June.

After journaling, we set up the room for meditation in the morning.

Sales were pretty low and I did not reach the magic minimum number that makes me happy.

But I still enjoyed my day.

It’s still my happy place.

Nite all.

Belatedly Brilliant!

This was a thoroughly fabulous day!

The Brains Trust picked me up at 9.30am and we picked Aggie up, while Maid Marian drove her car and picked up Beauty.

We all met at “Salt” restaurant for morning coffee/tea.

I selected a GF berry friand to have with my tea and it was delicious! TBT chose the sponge cake and Aggie enjoyed the Tiramisu. I paid the bill as a thank you for always driving me on our adventures.

Our reservation at Cafe Balaena was for midday so we left with plenty of time to spare and we arrived right on time.

The owner, Jumping Jack, greeted us and sat us at a table that I wasn’t happy about because I specifically asked for a nice view of the water. We asked to be moved and we got this view ...

... which was much better!

We all ordered drinks and our meals ...

Before we knew it, Jumping Jack was placing a birthday cake with a sparkler in front of me, playing a personalised happy birthday song on his computer and dancing around my chair like a crazy person!

It was hilarious and fun and even though he does it for all of his customers celebrating their birthday, I felt special.

The other patrons all clapped and sang along too.

As we were leaving, he did a repeat performance for an elderly lady on the other side of the restaurant and we all clapped along.

On the way home, we stopped at Tinkerbells where I picked up my lay-by and purchased a ring - these were gifts from Beautiful Girl With Long Blonde Hair for my birthday.

So my day was filled with all the things I love. Great food, great friends, great views, great atmosphere, great retail therapy.

Thanks girls for giving me a great belated birthday lunch. 😍😍😍

Now it’s approaching midnight and I need sleep.

Nite all.

Pyjama Day

I’ve stayed in my pyjamas all day.

I’ve stayed in bed most of the day!

I got up at 7.20am to let psychotic dog Colli outside to do her business and then I fed her. This is something that Adoring Husband would normally do but he was still asleep. Very unusual.

I made myself a warm lemon water and returned to bed.

I left my bedroom again at 9am and made some tea and toast for breakfast which I took back to bed with me while AH went off to do some mowing for work.

I spent some time feeling sorry for myself because I’m so far from all my kids on Mother’s Day.

I got out of bed at 5.15pm to prepare dinner - stuffed mushrooms with a side of salad.

I returned to bed at 9pm after Big Brother.

I was quite productive while in bed.

I created a lesson for my journaling class.

I selected photos of myself from age 7 weeks to age 38 years, which I’m going to use in my life story and wrote captions for each of them.

I’m now looking forward to my belated birthday lunch with the girls tomorrow. I wish Lady Lynn could join us. I (we) miss her a lot.

I’ve now finished starting all of my sentences with ‘I’ and I’m ready for sleep.

Nite all.