Chilly Az

I would have liked to stay in my warm bed this morning.

Out of necessity, I forced myself to get up and actually arrived at work 30 minutes early!

It was a good day for sales and the morning passed quickly.

AH arrived with time to order lunch and we ate that together before we started our planned rearranging.

It was probably a mistake leaving the shop open while we worked because there were a lot of interruptions and all we got done was the shelving in the training room and by then, I was done. It was almost 4pm by the time we got home and both our energy levels were pretty low by then.

We parked ourselves on the couch and watched “Stand By Me” - I can’t believe AH had never seen it before today! It’s one of those iconic movies from the 80s with big names like River Phoenix, Kiefer Sutherland, Will Wheaton, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell and Richard Dreyfus.

Worst of all, I don’t think he was impressed.

I made myself a delicious cauliflower and mushroom soup for dinner. I reckon it’s the nicest soup I’ve ever made and I savoured and delighted in every single mouthful.

AH had pork chops from my winning meat tray accompanied by cauliflower and pumpkin and a mushroom gravy.

It’s now almost 9pm and I’m ready for bed. Looking forward to a sleep in tomorrow and the chance to stay snuggly warm under the covers for as long as I like.

Nite all.

Pleasantness

My Friday passed very pleasantly.

A regular customer who is leaving town, came to say goodbye and partake in one last hit of retail therapy before she left. She’s a funny thing and spent about an hour with me.

Beauty has returned from her big holiday in the van, so she came to say hello too.

I had a babysitting Grandma visit with her Granddaughter, who left with a little fairy ornament in her hot little hand.

A husband came in with his wife declaring that she was only allowed to look!

Another wife came in with her husband declaring that she wasn’t allowed to spend any money today.

An elderly couple came in ten minutes before closing time and she promised to come back for a better look tomorrow.

A local, who has been promising herself to check out the shop ever since we opened 21 months ago finally came for her first visit today and was super impressed. She’s excited to bring her teenage granddaughters on their next visit which will be soon.

A gentleman came in looking for a photo album (do they even make them any more?).

The snap jewellery was popular today too.

The day passed quickly and Adoring Husband arrived just in time to provide a much needed coffee before we closed the shop.

I had a successful night at the club with a win on the pokies and a win in the raffles - a $50 meat tray!

Now it’s almost 9pm and I’m going to put on my pyjamas and snuggle under the covers to watch the second half of footy in bed.

Have a great weekend!

Nite all.

They're Baaa-aaack

I've lost count of how many people have looked at the snap jewellery and I've asked "Have you seen how the snap jewellery works?"

This week the standard response has been "Yes! I bought a lot of it here last year when we were here on holidays."

I believe I need to remove the question from my script now.

The weather has been absolutely glorious. The air is clean and cool. The night time temperature is perfect for sleeping. I love this time of year and any minute now, Winter will be upon us!

Yay!

It was a good day at the shop and the time went quickly. I spoke to a couple of suppliers on the phone but didn't make any more orders today. I put them on 'hold' for later.

I took two more names for the next art workshop. We may be able to squeeze two more in at a pinch, but right now, it's a good sized class for 22nd June.

When I got home this afternoon, it was unplanned, but I changed into my painting clothes and spent the afternoon doing this ...

These are small canvasses and it took me an hour to do both of them. Adoring Husband prefers the one on the right.

One of them I did a horizontal pour with a scoop for the greenery and the other I did a vertical pour with a scoop.

I used chain to make stems with leaves, the flat end of a bamboo skewer to do some thinner stems, a paddle pop stick for bigger droplets to start the flowers, the pointy end of a bamboo skewer to make swirly flowers and other stuff as well. There is no end to the interesting utensils that can be used for art.

I didn't eat dinner because I had a big lunch and my belly was still satisfied from that. AH and I cooked some crispy skinned chicken in the oven and AH had that with a salad. Fresh strawberries and cream for dessert.

Now I'm considering watching the football in bed tonight ... because I can.

I can tell that it's going to be a GREAT Friday and there is a possibility of me breaking sales records!

*punches the air with a closed fist*

Wish me luck.

Nite all.

Back to Normal

Life is back to normal.

Biz is back to normal.

The Grey Nomads have returned. The regular holiday-makers have returned. There is a steady flow of people opening their purses and wallets. Thank you Universe!

I can't tell you how difficult it was to get out of bed early this morning. It was 7ºc which is about five degrees lower than usual and even "I" was feeling it. I stayed in bed until the very last moment possible and then it was a smooth rush to get to the shop in time for meditation.

Meditation was great and there were a couple of new faces in the mix who even contributed to the discussions.

The Gypsy had a couple of early appointments so we didn't get to chat much, which is funny because we both had to talk a mile a minutes trying to fit all that we wanted to say into a small amount of time!

Some suppliers finally had our back orders in stock so I made a couple of payments and the stock should be arriving early next week.

I talked to The Motivator who was on a road trip with her Mum and she sounded well and happy.

I accidentally sold a piece of my art!

A lady saw it through the doorway to the training room and asked me how much it was! OMG! Totally surreal. I still have to varnish it.  Luckily, she is here for another week, so I have time to do it before she leaves.

Another lady asked for details about the next photography workshop and she will bring her camera in this week for me to look at. She'll make a decision about the workshop then.

I missed out on two lunches and a movie today. Lucky I had such a good day in the shop with lots of happy friendly people to make up for it!

I came home to watch some youtube videos on varnishing artworks and promptly fell asleep in the bed before the second video was even finished!

While I was sleeping, Adoring Husband cooked dinner of chicken and baked veg! All I had to do when I woke up was make the gravy. He's a champion.

It's now 8.30pm and I think it might be time to return to that bed. I could very easily have a whole new bed time routine soon. I like going to bed early and reading and playing and watching videos before my evening meditation puts me to sleep.

Have a lovely Thursday.

Nite all.  

It’s All Good

Thanks to my coffee girls who started the ball rolling, it was an excellent day of sales!

Lots of visitors to town. A few who came especially to check out The Happy Abode. Everybody bought something, even if it was something small.

I admit that it was a huge relief, because I was beginning to take it personally!

I ordered these last week and they were delivered today ...

At the end of the day, Adoring Husband and I cleared the training room in readiness for meditation on Wednesday. I gave the shop a much needed vacuum and then shopped for food for dinner.

I rode home and parked my butt on the couch.

AH cooked steak on the barby while made a quick salad.

I think I’m going to try for a super early night so that early morning meditation doesn’t feel like a chore tomorrow!

It’s going to be a great day. I can feel it my bones!

Nite all.

Hair Today

Got my hair done today.

Cut about four inches off the length and added a bit more blonde than usual.

Adoring Husband came to the shop a bit before 2.30pm, bought us each a coffee and then took care of the shop while I left at 2.45pm to attend my hair appointment.

It was another slow day at the shop but it was good to catch up with The Gypsy. We only had her first appointment time to chat but we fit a lot into that time.

A delivery of stock arrived this morning, so I spent the remainder of the day pricing and displaying most of that. Still a little more to unpack in the morning.

I didn't arrive home from the hairdressers until almost 6pm so it was an easy dinner of leftover curried chicken for AH and leftover cauliflower soup for me.

That's about the long and the short of it for me today.

My hair feels fabulous and a LOT lighter on my head! It's very smooth and silky too!

I wonder how many of my girls will turn up for coffee in the morning ... our coffee area is no more, so the training room will be our space for tomorrow. I have it all set up for us.

Thought I'd share this little gem, even though I have obviously failed this wife test lol

Nite all.

Speedy Sunday

Where did the day go?

I woke up late-ish because Jack, the psychotic dog, had me up during the night. Taking him outside at 1.30am kind of broke my beautiful sleep and when I woke at 6am, I rolled over and went back to sleep. Then when I woke at 7am, I rolled over and went back to sleep. I rolled over and went back to sleep at 8am and finally my head was happy to greet the day at 8.39am.

I stayed in bed while Adoring Husband brought me celery juice and then my coffee.

I watched funny videos and then moved on to youtube art videos.

AH had to go mow lawns for work so I that was my cue to get out of bed and do some art.

Firstly, I had to sit in the pool area.

I try to spend time in that area every day.

It was very tempting to go for a swim because I stood in water above my knees and it felt so good. Not too cold at all. But art won out. I sat in my egg chair for ten minutes while my legs dried and then went inside to get started.

The one I love the most, is probably the one that most people dislike  ...

... but I love the vibrant colours, the different coloured and different sized cells and all the swirls.

This is my least favourite but has already received the best comments, one from a professional artist! Go figure.

I think that before I create any more masterpieces, I need to varnish some of my favourite existing pieces, just to see whether I want to use varnish or resin. I think resin will be my final choice, but I need to try both for a real comparison.

AH brought home another coffee when he returned from mowing, so I sat outside by the pool drinking that before coming inside to watch the final footy match for the round.

For dinner, I made two meals. Crispy skinned chicken for AH. I pureed roasted garlic, cauliflower and sweet potato with lots of butter and served it topped with caramelised onion and roasted tomatoes on the side.

For me, I added the water from boiling the cauliflower and sweet potato to the puree and made a creamy soup. I put some roasted tomato in a bowl, sprinkled some raw chopped onion over the top then poured the soup over the top. I sprinkled some chopped roasted pecans over the top of that.

It was bloody delicious!

It's almost 9pm and I need some sleep now so that I can bring good energy to the shop this week!

I plan to be happy dancing all over the place by next Saturday!

Nite all.

Not so Super Saturday

Today marked the 14th year since my Mum passed. I felt a bit sad at times and while I was alone in the shop, I spoke to her.

As usual, she didn't listen. I think she's ignoring me because my life is good. I think she's spending more time with other, more needy family members ... just as she did in life really.

It's been a while since I received a Mum sign or maybe I just haven't recognised them lately. Who knows.

Anyway, I just wanted to acknowledge the date.

As for The Happy Abode, eighteen people came through the doors today (yes I kept count) and not a single sale.

What's going on?

I feel the need to Feng Shui the joint, burn some sage, make the brass bowl sing, bring in an exorcist, perform a spell or two and do some chanting!!

In reality, every business except the cafe are complaining about how quiet this week has been, so I won't take it personally. Obviously the people's priorities were fish and chips this week!

It gave me the opportunity to do some more clearing and re-organising. I rearranged the display on the main table and moved the chairs and some boxes to the back room for The Fisher King to pick up before Wednesday.

There were a lot of males through the shop this week and all of them were up for a chat while their wife or girlfriend looked around.

Experience tells me that women don't spend money when their husband's are with them or if they do, they always firstly ask permission and then if there is a choice to make, will always choose the item that their husband likes best.

Women class themselves as the least important one of the team OR they are trying to make their partner feel like their opinion is important to them. Same same really.

If they're here on holidays, the woman often returns alone a few days later to buy something, but sometimes they're only here for the day or passing through, so I never see them again.

It's strange that women of all generations don't feel empowered enough to spend joint finances on their own personal wishes/needs/desires. Men will always prioritise 'spending' differently to women, and women always accept that ... even if they disagree with it.

It's something that I've always known, but it has definitely been reinforced since opening the shop and I've had many discussions with women about the phenomenon. Almost all of them willingly admit that they can't openly spend money on themselves because their husbands hold the purse strings and have set/strong ideas on how the money should be spent.

Most of these women also have a sneaky kitty that their husbands don't know about.

Sadly, it's a thing. It shouldn't be, but it is.

If there are any men out there reading this ... and I know of two (you know who you are) I expect that you will respect this 'secret women's business'! Never to be repeated out loud!

Unless ... it's to tell your wife that because you have now been awakened, it's important for her to know that she is free to spend as she pleases.

😍🤩😁

That being said ... it took a long time for Adoring Husband to convince me that what's ours is ours. He may be sorry now that he did!

I was well trained by previous partners to hand my financial power over to them too.

As for the remainder of my day, I had a lovely afternoon with friends watching the 'Bohemian Rhapsody' movie, drinking vodka and tonic (only one), munching on delicious nibbles and playing with cute puppies.

I was home with enough time to cook up a chicken curry with papadums for AH's dinner.

My belly was full enough with the afternoon's delights, but I still found room for an icy pole.

It's now 9pm and I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow, spending the morning in bed enjoying the cool Autumn air and catching up on some reading/studying/youtube art and anything else that takes my fancy.

I hope you enjoy your Sunday.

Nite all.

No Show

I’d like to think that Saturday will make up for a very quiet week at the shop.

On the plus side, I got lots done. There is still lots to be done! So I guess, no matter what, there will be advantages for busy days and slow days.

Today was Show day and that meant most shops in our town were closed. Plenty of people came through The Happy Abode again, but all were browsing except for the last customer of the day.

Strangely, a few solo men had some strange requests. One was looking for a 300mm crochet hook. One wanted a tall plain vase. Another wanted a string of 5 pointed flags 😳

We just can’t be all things to all people.

I decided to close the shop 2 hours early, but the last customer was there for an hour, so it was 2pm when we left.

I decided to go to the club tonight and had a nice little win on the pokies. No other wins for me or anyone else.

AH had dinner prepared when I arrived home and we munched on chicken wings in front of the telly.

Now I’m off to bed because AH has control of the TV remote and I’m not keen on watching his choice.

Nite all.

Moving Day

I spent the first two hours at the shop moving stuff.

I moved the small hat stand to the other end of the small glass cabinet and replaced the hand made cards with the blue stand holding my photographs.

I moved the timber bread and cheese boards to the rear of the shop.

I moved the clocks from the back of the shop to the front of the shop.

I removed all of the stock, including the big white buddha from the big cube wall unit and slid the cabinet back about 30cm.

I moved the big glass cabinet situated in the middle of the shop back about 30cm.

I moved two clothes racks to the back right corner of the shop, where the sitting area used to be, then transferred the 'pre-loved' clothing to another rack and moved it to the same corner.

I moved the hanging shell mobiles across to the opposite wall.

I realised that I could not move the glass cabinet by myself in the direction that I wanted so I phoned Adoring Husband to help.

We moved the glass cabinet left then right.

We moved the round table to the clothing area, stacked another table on top and then I displayed some bags and jewellery on it.

We moved the big display table back about 30cm.

We emptied a small cube cabinet of bags and placed it on it's side at the end of the big table in the middle of the shop.

We moved the tiny cube cabinet from the back left corner of the shop to the front window.

Adoring Husband left to order some lunch on his way home ... he delivered mine before he went home.

I displayed the Ivys bags in the cabinet at the end of the table. This photo was taken half way through that process.

I hung all of the scarves on coat hangers and then hung them on the smaller clothes rack.

I changed the display on one of the tin cupboards and arranged some beautiful Intrinsic products there for colour.

I cleared the top of the large glass cabinet and found a spot for the hand made cards.

I began replacing and rearranging some displays in the empty cubes of the big display cabinets.

During all of this, I had a visit from Lady Lynn, four browsing customers, three paying customers and a visit from The Fluid Artist who delivered a triptych that she had completed. One of the browsers will be looking at my photography on Flickr and possibly ordering three large prints for her home.

AH returned at 3pm to help me close the shop. We visited the butcher and I came home to collapse on the lounge in a state of exhaustion. My head was aching, my back was tired and my feet were sore  - I didn't even sit down to eat my lunch and my body is not used to being upright all day long!

I threw some chicken thighs cut into quarters, tomatoes cut in half, chopped chunks of onion, half a red capsicum into a baking tray and put it in a hot oven for 30 minutes. When that time was up, I added almost an entire jar of artichokes to the pan and cooked it for another ten minutes. Meanwhile I reheated the sweet potato mash from last night.

I made a gravy with the juices in the bottom of the pan and added some more home made stock from the fridge.

AH suggested that he would eat it often if I wanted to make it again.

We ate TWO icy poles each for dessert!

Now it's 8pm and I'm off to bed to watch the footy. I doubt that I'll see it to the end of the game.  

There is still much to do at the shop but I'll probably not push it tomorrow - just fill some cubes with displays.

Nite all.

Halfway There

I had left my phone at work yesterday, but didn't realise it until 10.30pm by which time Adoring Husband was asleep so I couldn't get to the shop unless I wanted to ride the trike in the cold darkness.

The problem with this dilemma is that my evening meditation is on an app on my phone. The same meditation on the same app on my iPad asks for payment, to which I wasn't agreeable.

I searched for another meditation and found one that seemed appropriate, but the change of voice, music and guidance took me out of my relaxed comfort zone and I just couldn't relax enough to fall asleep until well after midnight.

I set my alarm on the iPad, which didn't go off, so I was lucky that Adoring Husband brought my celery juice in at 6am and I woke when he came into the room.

I felt a bit discombobulated after a poor night of sleep so it took a while to gather my wits and prepare for work.

Meditation was amazing, as always, and we had eleven in attendance. The time went quickly and everybody had something to share so there was lots of discussion and we went over time, but everybody left with a big smile on their face.    

There still seemed to be a strangeness in the air ... for me.

Visitors were high but sales were low.

Everybody comes through the doors gasping with the surprise of finding such a fabulous shop in this neck of the woods. They wander around for ages and always make a point of commenting about the beautiful 'things' and the calming atmosphere and how lucky I am to be working in such pleasant surroundings.

But they don't spend any money.

This has been a strange occurrence since the school holidays finished.

Don't get me wrong. There are always days here and there where this happens, but rarely does it happen so many days in a row, like I've rewound the day before and replayed it.

Groundhog Day!

At least The Gypsy and I got to catch up in the morning. She was fully booked out for the remainder of the day so I got to be productive for the afternoon.

I was home by 3.30pm and because Adoring Husband restocked some of my art supplies today, I played around with some paint ...

... the results were a bit disappointing, but it felt good to play after work.

I'm definitely having an early night and I'm looking forward to my favourite meditation to put me to sleep.

Nite all.