Take a Bow

For some reason, I was sure that compared to the last three years, sales for this July were down by a LOT.

It was just a feeling. A niggling feeling all month long.

So when I did the numbers this afternoon and made the comparisons to previous years, I was genuinely shocked to see that this was my best July ever!

By a long way!

So I’m very happy with this outcome and I’ve learned to not make assumptions in the future, based on ‘feelings’.

Today was another great day for sales.

There were lots of happy people out and about so it felt like a real social morning for me even though I didn’t personally know any of them. There was lots of laughing and joking and teasing happening.

There were even last minute shoppers as we were closing the doors.

When we arrived home, it was nice to sit down and watch the olympics and see some live action.

I cooked up a big batch of butter chicken with cauliflower rice for dinner.

Adoring Husband killed a favourite plant of mine so today he snuck into town and purchased a replacement …

She’s a beauty and I’m going to give her a name when the right one comes to me.

I just looked at the time and I can’t believe it’s well after midnight already!

Time to sleep.

Nite all.

Xmas in July

That’s what it feels like.

This week has been like the week leading up to Christmas! So busy!

I still haven’t had time to take photos of the new clothes.

There are a lot of new faces in town. Groups of women. Groups of couples.

They are all happy to see such a great shop in our little town and I still love to hear the gasps of excitement when they first open the door.

One lady today said “Oh! It’s like the Tardis! Looks so small from the outside, but it’s huge on the inside!”

I arose from my bed bright and early this morning to make chocolate fondue for the ‘decade of your choice’ party.

It took less time than I thought and we were opening the shop at 8.15am 😳

Adoring Husband had to take ‘not so psychotic anymore’ dog Colli in for grooming in The Bay.

I didn’t close the shop til a bit later than usual because it was so busy and by the time I got changed into my dress up outfit, then stopped at the drive through for some alcohol, I was about 40 minutes late to the party.

There were some interesting outfits and I wish I’d taken photos of the food because there were dishes there that took me back.

It was only 3 hours but it was fun singing along to the 70s music and the happy banter was contagious.

It has been a big day and I’m keen to climb into bed very soon.

I’m hopeful for another big day of sales to finish my week off with a flourish.

Nite all.

Bizzy Bizzy

It was a very busy day in the shop!

For the first 45 minutes I was steaming some clothes but from there it was full on and sales were great!

There were lots of big sales and most of those customers said they would return tomorrow.

I found time for half a cup of tea and a quick lunch so I had sustenance to keep me going.

In between all of those sales, I had visitors as well but I didn’t get to spend much time being social.

Adoring Husband and I discussed adding some more hanging space in the shop and are now trying to figure out new display areas - we need more efficient use of the spaces.

I feel like I left a couple of jobs unfinished and I certainly didn’t have an opportunity to take photos of the new clothes. More clothes will arrive on Monday or Tuesday and I almost finalised a big order of giftware, but I decided to hold off on that until next week.

We were home before 2.30pm and AH had to attend a maintenance call at the shopping centre and then had an early start to SES training this afternoon so I prepared his dinner super early. 

I was going to make the chocolate fondue for tomorrow afternoons party but it has coconut cream in it which can be temperamental so I decided to wait until morning.

That means an early start in the morning for me.

So it’s good night from me.

Nite all.

Early Mark

I climbed into bed early last night and forgot all about blogging!

My apologies … especially to Lady Lynn 💐

Morning coffee was great yesterday with Reality TV Queen joining us for the first time in a long time. She didn’t have much of a chance to talk but it was lovely having her presence. I hope she comes again soon.

It was a good day of sales and I got some steaming done on the new clothes - I must take photos and post them tomorrow!

Surprisingly, I found some surplus stock and displayed it with gratitude.

I had customers still in the shop ten minutes after closing so journaling started a bit late, but was another productive class.

Soup was my choice of dinner, accompanied by a crusty GF bread roll.

I was in bed by 7.30pm , asleep by 9pm and slept soundly until 5am.

Which was perfect because I had to be up bright and early for meditation this morning!

It was a great class where we discussed the reasons we attended our first meditation and whether it has provided the answers we wanted and whether it’s still current and relevant to our needs. We also discussed the things we can control and what we can’t control.

Everybody hung around for 90 minutes afterwards and The Gypsy and I got completely lost in very deep conversation about God, the universe and the tests that both put upon us just when we think we’ve got a handle on ourselves and life.

The girls and I discussed the dance party we’re attending on Friday afternoon … we have to dress to suit our favourite decade from the 60s 70s 80s, bring a plate of food that was fashionable from that decade and we’ll be dancing to music from all three decades.

It sounds like fun and I’m making chocolate fondue in my fondue set for the occasion.

Today was a very good day for sales.

I ordered some more Jenny Jazz tops this afternoon and I’m surprised I hadn’t seen these gorgeous pieces before now. I can’t wait to see them in person and I’m pretty sure my name is on a couple of them!

It was a busy day.

My dinner of choice was a prawn and lettuce sandwich while I cooked a big dish of baked veggies for Adoring Husband to eat with his lamb chops.

I’m currently getting my weekly dose of The Bachelor and will be heading to bed shortly.

Nite all.

Gratitude

Time for some gratitude.

I am grateful for Adoring Husband who is still my greatest supporter and is always willing to help with anything that’s required, at home, at the shop and any other time I ask. He even offers when I don't ask. He’s my champion.

I am grateful for my bedroom which is my safe space to rejuvenate, regenerate, relax and regroup after busy days at work and where I love spending quality time studying, playing, journaling, reading, eating, drinking and viewing ‘stuff’.

I am grateful for my Zazen water filter that provides remineralised, alkaline water that hydrates me at a cellular level. I love my special water!

I am grateful for this beautiful extended Winter in QLD this year which is perfect for deep solid healing sleep snuggled under the covers.

I am grateful for Bubbles coming to visit me every year and becoming a strong loving shoulder to lean on.

I am grateful for Number One son who phones me regularly to keep our connection and to keep me up to date with his ever changing life.

I am grateful for Vegan Chickie who sends me pics of my grandbabies almost every day so that I don’t miss out completely on their rapid ‘growing up’ while covid keeps us separated.

I am grateful for my original ‘Burrum Babes’ and the bond that we have. They keep me grounded and their continuing support and willingness to include me in the lunches even though my limited availability limits their options makes me feel special.

I am grateful for my art girls who are hilarious and inclusive and supportive of each other, not only with their art, but also outside of class with the friendships that have developed and the social aspect that has changed the lives of many of them.

I am grateful for other local business owners in town, almost all of whom, support my own business and some have become close acquaintances who sometimes provide solid advice and are always encouraging.

I am grateful to be living in a place that has been minimally affected by covid 19 so we get to live our lives with fewer restrictions than most other Australians and lockdown for us is a distant memory (touch wood).

I could go on and on, but that’s enough for today.

I stayed in bed until 2pm today.

The training room was still set up for art, so AH and I drove to the shop to clear the mess and set up for morning coffee and journaling on Thursday.

We bought some groceries and checked the mail - I received a delivery of fashion items which I had to try on of course! Love the dresses. Love the denim jacket. Love the 3/4 length pants.

Can’t wait to show the girls.

Now it’s 11pm and I’m all Olympic gamed out!

Nite all.

Just Quickly

Nothing much to report from today.

I slept until 9am!

Adoring Husband presented me with some lemon water.

He brought me some reheated leftovers from last night’s dinner for my lunch.

We watched lots of Olympics.

We munched on my famous avocado and tuna dip all afternoon and kept up with the football scores.

Neither of us was interested in eating dinner … so we didn’t.

I have been in my pyjamas all day and I’m not even changing them before I sleep tonight 🥴

The dog next door is snoring so loudly, I can hear him from the ensuite.

There is a dog howling in the distance - I have my bedroom window open.

I can also hear creatures squawking from the lagoon.

It’s almost midnight so I’m signing off.

Nite all

Joyfully

It was a joyful Saturday.

I passed my minimum happy sales total.

There were only three in the art class but they were a fabulous three …

We created these …

There was very little mess to clean.

We decide what to do in the next class.

We had a visit from a regular who came to share some bevies.

When I arrived home I threw together a concoction that combined chicken casserole with potato bake and it was delicious!

Adoring Husband and I watched super Saturday football until we couldn’t.

I phoned Bubbles to wish her a happy birthday and we chatted for an hour.

I messaged The Motivator asking if she was available for me to call, because it’s her big 60th birthday today, but she must have been busy because she hasn’t responded. I’d say there is a family gathering and she’s feeling the love!

Now I lay me down to sleep.

Nite all.

Fleeting

Friday seemed to be fleeting.

Adoring Husband and I set up the training room ready for Saturday’s art workshop.

There was a steady flow of customers until about 12.30pm.

I researched some fluid art techniques and selected one for the class to try.

Next thing I know, AH arrived to help me shut up shop!

I spent the afternoon watching quiz shows.

AH cooked his usual Friday night fare.

Two football games to watch but AH headed off to his bedroom to watch the opening ceremony of the Tokyo olympics.

I was bored with that after 5 minutes.

I am no longer on the mono cleanse. Not the right one for me, although perhaps if I chose the banana or papaya, it might have been better for me. I love potato but I don’t think potato loves me.

There has been a bit of a Covid scare for our region, with a flight attendant on a flight to Hervey Bay testing positive. Watch this space for further developments.

Right now, there is ten minutes left of the footy and then I’ll be closing my eyes 😴

Nite all.

All My Friends

This is me at 2pm when my party was supposed to start …

This me 30 minutes later …

I had actually invited 33 people. Six responded to tell me they couldn't make it. Four told me they would ‘try’. Four offered apologies and valid excuses after I posted my sad Facebook pic. Four, I instinctively knew, wouldn’t come. The other fifteen looked at my (private messenger) invitation and ignored it.

Rude 😐

I still got reasonable sales and a party booking and I’m hoping to get a couple of online sales to lift the total so that I get a decent freeby + some money to spend. We’ll see what happens.

A couple of other ladies arrived after the party was over and we had a nice little group for beverages and nibbles.

I created a delicious platter of nibbles with grapes, strawberries, 4 cheeses, hummus, chicken liver pate, cabanossi, gherkins, fig paste, dark chocolate and crackers. There was a bowl of watermelon pieces, a bowl of chips and a bowl of mixed nuts.

Six bottles of alcohol - 3 of which got drunk.

It was actually a nice afternoon in the end.

Sales in the shop passed my happy minimum number by the end of the day.

Adoring Husband attended the big farewell for the boss of the local SES shed and the role was then handed over to AH so he’s going to be a busy boy.

It’s been a big day for both of us.

Time to sleep.

Nite all.

 

Cold and Windy

It was cold and windy today.

For the first time since we moved here thirteen years ago, I wore a big thick woolly jumper. I believe I have definitely acclimatised!

It was sunny and the thermometer read 18°C but felt more like 14°C. Even the tourists made comments about the chill factor of the wind.

Our Winters are so short, I really enjoy the few cold days/nights that we get.

I passed my happy minimum sales figure today - the cold weather saw a few ponchos walk out the door!

It was way too cold for fishing, swimming, beach walking … all the smart people should have been inside!

I broke my mono cleanse tonight by eating a handful of peeled grapes 🍇 😳 mono cleanses are sooooo boring on the pallet! My brain was falling asleep! I doubt that I will see the week out.

I climbed into bed at 6pm because Adoring Husband was watching the Olympic Games presentation for the 2032 games.

Talk about boring 😳

Talk about a bunch of high and mighty pollies spinning a load of crap 😳

But don’t get me started.

Speaking of getting me started. This is very interesting …

 Rand Paul talks about vaccines

I watched the finale of Farmer Wants a Wife tonight. There was one surprise that I didn’t see coming.

This is the temperature outside right now …

Time to sleep. I have a big day at work + a Lorraine Lea party at 2pm in the shop tomorrow.

Nite all.

Triffic Tuesdy

I had a good day.

Morning coffee with the girls was very enjoyable, even though I was interrupted for a long stretch by some pesky customers … who all incidentally spent a lot of money so … not so pesky.

The Happy Hippy steam ironed some of the new stock for me, which was incredibly helpful.

I was so busy with customers, not much else got done.

A local lady dropped in some hand painted ceramics that are 30 - 50 years old. She wants me to take them on consignment which I’m happy to do because they are beautifully done, but I know they’ll be difficult to sell. They are very old fashioned with an antique style and look, so it’ll be someone special who takes them.

I made an appointment with a supplier who will be in the area next week selling her beautiful jewellery.

The journaling class was great and we got a lot done.

I arrived home and cooked dinner straight away.

I started my mono cleanse today but was not well prepared so I didn’t take anything for lunch. 

Adoring Husband made my warm lemon water and celery juice this morning. I followed that with a litre of water at work and nothing else, so by 4pm I was starverated!

The tree loppers came today and did this to our Lily Pilly hedge …

I can’t wait for the regrowth to start because the yard feels very naked!

I prepared Peking duck for Adoring husband’s dinner and a big bowl of sweet potato, potato, carrot, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower.

For myself, I had steamed potato in their jackets with shredded lettuce and a squeeze of lemon juice over the top. I probably ate the equivalent of 2 full potatoes which left me very satisfied.

I admit that I’ve been craving my usual nightly vegan ice cream and have already considered giving up on the cleanse. But I will keep going. It’s only a week!

I’m drinking lots of water so I’m peeing a lot! That’s all part of the cleansing process.

Right now I’m yawning a lot so I’m off to sleep. 

There’s no meditation in the morning so I get to sleep in a bit.

Nite all.

 

Too Much to do

It was very chilly this morning so it was nice to stay under the covers and enjoy some extended time in bed.

Adoring Husband had some SES stuff to do so after he left I gathered my study materials together and while I had every intention of studying, I realised that I had a lot of other things on my priority list … so I sat down and wrote out that list.

No study today.

I made myself presentable, loaded the basket of my trike with ‘stuff’ and rode to the shop.

Firstly, I checked the mail and purchased a couple of grocery items on the list.

The mail included a package of fashion items that I ordered last week. Tops, dresses and belts. I unpacked them and checked off the invoice.

I have a few birthdays this month, so I wrapped all the gifts, wrote in the cards, boxed everything up and returned to the Post Office to send them off.

Postage isn’t cheap!

I didn’t get everything on my list done because by now, 90 minutes had passed, so I packed up my goods and began to ride home.

I bumped into a couple of people including Woman of Many Talents, so I stopped for a chat. It was close to 2pm by the time I arrived home so I prepared AH a late lunch and made a smoothie with frozen pineapple, apple, strawberries, banana and coconut water. 

We watched last night’s recording of Beauty and the Geek together.

Dinner was barramundi and a nosh up of potato, cauliflower, broccoli and snow peas.

I’ve decided to begin the mono eating cleanse this week. I can do it for a minimum of a week and since it’s my first attempt, I think I’ll stick with the week.

The aim of this cleanse is to kill any bacteria or viruses in my gut, heal any inflammation in my stomach, duodenum, small intestine or colon and restore my gut lining.

This should also improve my hydrochloride acid and improve my liver’s bile production. It’s also good for fixing food allergies.

This cleanse is soothing to the system, starves the viruses and pathogens lurking in the gut and offers a gentle detox.

Each day begins with warm lemon water, followed by celery juice. I need to drink a minimum 1 litre of filtered water every day (that’s easy). No salt, spices or seasonings. I’m choosing steamed potato with optional lettuce as my mono food.

The other options are banana (with optional lettuce), papaya (with optional lettuce), steamed peas (with optional lettuce), steamed winter squash + your choice of green beans, Brussels sprouts or asparagus.

All lettuces are anti-pathogenic. They have compounds that destroy pathogens that should not be inside your intestinal tract. They have traces of omega 3s and an abundance of trace minerals and mineral salts that are critical for building blood and supporting neurotransmitter function in the brain.

I chose potato because it’s the ideal vegetable for my particular digestive issues (aside from the fact that it’s  my favourite vegetable!). They have easily assimilable protein, they’re rich in potassium and L-lysine to help reduce inflammation.

Potatoes bind onto colonies of bacteria that cause diverticulitis or prostatitis and carry them out past the colon. They drive out strep, E. coli, staph and bad funguses. They are gentle on the nerves inside the intestinal lining and digest easily.

Only if they are steamed - no butter or sour cream. Lemon juice is allowed.

It will be an interesting experiment and I’ll keep a record here of how I’m feeling each day.

It’s been a good day, but now it’s time to sleep.

Nite all.

Go the Girlies

I sacrificed my Sunday in bed for fun with the girls.

Aggie picked me up at 9.30am and for the first time in a long time, I sat in the back of the car.

Not a good idea.

Steady breaths. Finding a focal point. Ignoring the bumps. Wishing away the nausea.

It was a long 40 minutes, but we made it intact!

We were led to our reserved table at ‘Salt’ where we ordered our drinks, took a photo of the view …

… chatted for a while, browsed in the nearby shop and moved on to our next destination.

Dayman’s set aside our own private room for lunch …

… and the food was very good, as was the liver detox juice. The service was great. We laughed a lot. We talked about important stuff and silly stuff and all the stuff in between.

On the walk back to the car, while Beauty was admiring a garden full of produce, she was offered a pawpaw from the gardener, which she whole heartedly accepted!

We drove to Stocklands shopping centre where we all browsed or shopped.

It was a short shopping trip and we drove home earlier than usual. 

I have to say that I was exhausted by the time I climbed out of the car.

Adoring Husband made me a cup of ‘Happy’ tea which I took to bed for a little break.

I think I dozed for about 20 minute and then I lay in bed watching the football on my iPad.

We had chicken and vegetable soup for dinner.

Now I need to sleep.

Nite all.