Invisible

Soooooo many people in town but it seems they don’t know that my shop exists.

I need a spruker!

Hopefully being open for the next couple of days will make a difference and grab some attention.

Today ended up being a good sales day because the art girls had a bit of a spending spree after the class. A couple of glasses of wine will do that haha.

We had some early showers and then gale force winds for most of the day, so I guess that would stop people from being outdoors for too long. Tomorrow’s weather forecast is even worse so who knows if it’ll be worth opening the shop.

Even with two of our regulars pulling out at the last minute, the art class was fantastic today. We created feathers but I forgot to take photos! I’ll do it tomorrow.

This is us ...

and this is what’s happening to my left had at the moment! It’s been like this for almost two weeks. It’s not a bruise and the skin is smooth so it’s not a rash. It’s not painful, just concerning.

I made butter chicken for Adoring Husband’s dinner and I finished off the last of the prawns. I’m about to package up the leftovers and then head to bed. It’s been a big day and I’m tired (I also drank 3 glasses of wine today 😳)

Nite all.

Halfway There

Still no baby 🤰🏻🤷🏼‍♀️

It’s been a nice couple of days.

Thursday was an average day of sales in the shop and I had visits from The Brains Trust AND Aggie which was nice.

There are a lot of people in town but the weather is wet, cool and windy so I’m not sure how much longer they will all stick around.

Our Good Friday street party was cancelled at the final hour due to the weather and I’m lying in bed with the windows open listening to the wind and rain and feeling the cool breeze floating across the bed.

It will be a nice way to fall asleep tonight.

Adoring Husband and I were both awake at 4am this morning concerned about the loud humming noise coming from the neighbours house. At first we thought it was either our pool pump or a broken tap somewhere, but stepping outside, it was soon obvious that the sound was coming from over the fence.

The noise ceased at 6am and we haven’t spoken to the neighbours to find out what it was, but I received a phone call from another neighbour who thought it was coming from our place too.

I needed a nap this afternoon to make up for the lost sleep.

During today, Good Friday, we enjoyed sandcrab, king prawns and barramundi for our meals.

I’m about halfway through clearing my jewellery. I still have to empty the two big jewellery cases, but the suitcase is now empty, I have a huge bag of junk jewellery to toss away (broken, chipped, tarnished, old and faded) and a bigger bag of jewellery to sell as pre-loved and a small collection of jewellery never worn to sell as new.

Before:   

Halfway:  

I’m working every day until next weekend so I doubt I’ll get more done this week but you never know when the urge will hit me. There is also a box full of silver jewellery that needs cleaning - not the most fun job in the world.

I have an art workshop tomorrow afternoon and have some big setting up to do early so I’m off to sleep.

Nite all.

Bustling

There seems to be some hustle and bustle happening around town.

The caravan park still has a few empty spots but I expect they will fill on Thursday and Friday as long as Covid doesn’t keep them away.

Right now, the Covid situation is looking promising.

It was a very good day of sales and I had some visitors, including The Motivator, who turned up wearing the same outfit as me! We looked like we were in uniform! Of course we looked fabulous 🤗

The day passed quickly and I got all but one thing ticked off my ‘to do’ list so it was productive and profitable.

My desk is still pretty messy though.

No jewellery decluttering today - in fact I ADDED two new pieces! Oops 😬 

Adoring Husband spent the day attending appointments, grocery shopping, TV shopping (for the back bedroom) and picking up the FROG box.

After he helped me close the shop we drove to the local seafood 🦞 guy and ordered some prawns and crabs for Friday.

We had leftovers for dinner, which was very easy.

Still no baby and in 3 short hours, I will have lost the baby pool.

Adoring Husband is looking good for 5th April.

Meanwhile poor Vegan Chickie is uncomfortable and exhausted.

I’m sure Easter is going to be epic for someone somewhere - hopefully the somewhere is Melbourne and the someone is Vegan Chickie.

I think it’s time for sleep now.

Nite all.

Not a Fan

I have to say that I’m not a fan of masks.

Feeling hot and sweaty from my nose to my chin is not a pleasant experience and I’m guessing that the QLD humidity provides added discomfort.

At first it was announced that these protocols would only be in place for three days but it seems that the Covid cases are spreading and I have the dreaded feeling that life as we know it is once again about to change and we’ll be rethinking our habits and schedules.

I wonder if, like last year, I’ll be closing the shop for 6 weeks and binge watching another old TV series while we rid ourselves of the current Covid cases.

*sigh*

I am practicing loving detachment.

My new grandchild is about to enter this world and it’s not looking good for our introduction.

Loving detachment 🧘‍♀️💕

Considering the current state of affairs, sales were good in the shop today. My new cleaner came in and filled her hour over achieving. She’s a power house who really gets s#@& done. I feel very spoilt.

The journaling class was very chatty and even though we didn’t get any journaling done, plenty of subjects were discussed that will be included in our stories. The 90 minutes absolutely flew by!

Dinner tonight was Peking duck with Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and mash. It was REALLY good.

I spent 30 minutes on the jewellery decluttering job and again, hardly made a dent.

Small steps.

Sleep time for me. At least I don’t have to get up early for meditation in the morning!

Nite all.

Cursed Covid

Still no baby and today is the due date. 

Thanks to the cursed covid, Victoria has now closed its borders to Queenslanders.

This displeases me.

While anger, disappointment and frustration are pointless emotions that serve no purpose and change nothing, I am practicing loving detachment instead. Eventually, I will get to see my family again, meet my new son-in-law face to face and more importantly meet and cuddle my new grandchild in a safe environment.

Now that parts of Queensland are in lockdown and the rest of us are required to wear masks and practice social distancing, Wednesdays meditation class has been cancelled and I am, for the first time, searching for a mask to wear while serving in the shop.

I considered closing the shop for the week leading up to Easter but have decided to push ahead and at least test the waters on Tuesday.

I started to declutter my jewellery.

After about an hour, I removed three ziplock sandwich bags full of jewellery and a few other loose items. I’ve begun to fill another container with silver jewellery that needs cleaning.

I still can’t see any difference on my dressing table 😳

Perhaps if I do a little at a time, I can gradually reduce the clutter and clear the mess, otherwise it’s going to take an entire day ... or more!

Here are some ‘before’ pics which DON’T include the small suitcase that is also half full of jewellery.

Today I enjoyed a Netflix day in bed.

I got out of bed to do a lamb rack with roast veggies and gravy for dinner. Damn it was good!

Now I’m going back to bed to watch MAFS.

Nite all.

Well Rested

Still no baby.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody look this good at 9 months pregnant ...

... in case you’re wondering what she’s doing, she’s fighting off the zombies 🧟‍♀️ 

I slept SO well last night!

The first session was 4pm - 11pm. I was awake for 3 hours from 11pm - 2am. Then easily fell asleep and slept soundly from 2am til 7.30am which is when Adoring Husband woke me to say goodbye as he left for the second day of his first aid training.

He was worried about me.

I still stayed in my snug and comfy bed until 8.30am. I was pretty hungry since I missed dinner the night before so tea and toast was my breakfast of choice and I took it back to bed with me.

At 11am I decided to go for a swim and the water and sun were lovely. I swam a few laps, sat in the sunshine for twenty minutes then swam a few more laps which made me hungry again.

I took a risk and chopped up some boiled eggs with garlic aioli and crunchy cos lettuce, salt and pepper. It was delicious and satisfying and so far my tummy seems pretty happy.

My plan after lunch was to declutter my jewellery but when I turned on the TV while I ate, the last two Twilight movies were showing on Foxtel back to back and that was the end of my decluttering plan!

AH arrived home much earlier than I expected, but then left again to do some mowing for work, so I enjoyed some more quiet time.

It certainly wasn’t quiet when he returned but that’s another story that I won’t share here.

Dinner was barramundi with green salad and the leftover egg salad. Yummy.

AH is obviously all worn out because he is dozing in his chair beside me as we watch the final footy game of the round. I’ve had a good round in the tipping with 6 correct tips out of 8. I’m happy with that.

I’ll attempt to declutter the jewellery again tomorrow but most importantly, Monday was set aside for decluttering the linen cupboard, so that might have to be first priority.

I think I’ll sleep well again tonight.

Nite all.

I read this and felt the need to share ...

The first police officer reaches under the one-ton bale of hay and attempts to lift it off of me. Of course, it doesn’t budge. He grabs his flashlight and shines it under the hay into my face. I blink. He yells over his shoulder to his partner, “He’s alive! He’s alive! Help me move the hay.”

Even working together two officers can’t move it – not a fraction of an inch. A thousand pounds each? Of course they can’t move it.

“Cut the strings,” I whisper. My voice is weak. They can’t hear me.

I am not going to last much longer. If they will just cut the strings, the bale will break apart, and they can drag me out of here.

“Lift, Joe, lift!”

“Just cut the strings,” I mumble, “Please cut the strings.”

“C’mon harder.”

“It’s too heavy! We can’t lift it. We gotta go for help! Hang on Chad, we’ll be right back!”

I am alone again in the growing darkness. Wonderful painless, peaceful, irresistible sleep beckons. I struggle to remain conscious. One. Two. Three. Four… Where are they? How long does it take for police, fire, ambulance, to arrive? Where is the Coast Guard? Where are the Marines? Where is that one old farmer with enough common sense to just cut the strings?

The desert air grows chilly as the sky darkens. I grow weaker. Dizziness overcomes me and I begin to drift off into that gray space somewhere between the living and the dead.

Help finally arrives. One of the police officers bends down so I can see his face. “Hold on! A fire engine is here. There are six men aboard.”

I do the math. Two big, strong cops and six burly firemen must move a ton of dead weight off me. That’s two hundred forty five pounds each. No way can they possibly do that – but somehow, miraculously, they do. A couple of neighbors who have arrived at the scene stand by to catch me. They lower my limp body to the ground where I lie in a broken heap.

Why didn’t they cut the strings? They could have saved a long, tortured hour.

How heavy is hay? A piece of hay is about the weight of a feather. How many pieces of hay does it take to make two thousand pounds? Lots. That package of sixteen bazillion individual pieces of hay wrapped in a gigantic bundle is a crushing weight. But separated, it would have been nothing. I feel bad saying this, because it makes me sound ungrateful – and I am very grateful to the guys who saved my life that night – but there is a point to be made here, isn’t there?

Is it too big?

Is it overwhelming?

Cut the strings – just cut the strings!

Are you buried under crushing burdens? Projects that are too huge? Schedules that are too complicated? Maybe you are trying to do too much at once – trying to do everything instead of doing something.

Cut the strings and cut yourself free. Do one thing at a time – and get it Done. Move “out of the strain of the doing into the peace of the done.”

Pretty cool huh? Makes perfect sense!

I had my quietest day in the shop for a long time. eleven people through the shop and only $10 in sales 😳

That’s ok. Days like these help me appreciate all the other days!

Adoring Husband is renewing his first aid certificate this weekend so I had the afternoon to myself until he came home at 3pm and we watched some footy.

Between games, I got my bed cover off the line and made the bed. It looked so comfy I lay down. 

That was at 4pm.

I woke at 11pm 😳

So here I am at almost 1am, wide awake, feeling a bit peckish and wondering if sleep will come again before the sun rises!

Perhaps some toast and tea will help?

I may even do some of my course work in the silence of the night. I do love these quiet hours when the rest of the world is asleep.

Nite all.

Another Flourish

It was a slow day for sales.

Another 2 deliveries, one expected and one unexpected, arrived today which was a nice surprise and I’m glad that I have so much stock leading up to Easter because I have a feeling that I’m going to need it!

I steamed some of the new tops but not all because there is not enough space to hang them.

I decided to make a sign inviting people to ask about sizes in case I have them out the back.

Some lovely Ken jasper glass figurines  arrived - I’d forgotten about them because they’d been held up due to the floods ... 

I had a visit from The Brains Trust. We have great hugs and chats. Same when Aggie visits (yesterday). My girls often put icing on my days with their visits.

The last half hour of the day proved very fruitful and also proved that posting pics of the new stock on the Facebook page is definitely worth it!

What started as a slow day ended as a great day and I raised my arms to thank the universe for ‘providing’ for me.

Adoring Husband took delivery of a new mattress for the back bedroom this morning and we took the time this afternoon to fit the mattress protector and make the bed. It’s very comfortable and much deeper than the previous mattress.

We simply MUST declutter the linen cupboard and figure out which linen is queen sized and which is king sized. The cupboard is jam packed and arranged in no particular order. Basically, it’s a bloody mess.

My main aim this weekend is to declutter my jewellery and now that our trip to Bundaberg has again been postponed (due to getting the car serviced) we can do the linen cupboard. Bad trade I know 😳

Still no baby ... obviously.

I feel that the baby pool will be between Vegan Chickie and I! 

I think it’s time to make myself comfy in bed to watch the footy.

Nite all.

Counting Down

Still no Grandchild.

Less than four full days from the due date and all is quiet on the southern front.

The wait continues, and being the first baby for the other side of the family, I imagine that the wait is quite a struggle.

With Vegan Chickie’s history, I haven't thought for a second that our baby would enter this world early but now that we are close, I’m feeling edgy and more than ready to make some travel plans to see my family for the first time in over two years.

I can’t wait.

Today was a busy day at the shop receiving visitors, sorting through new stock, unpacking new snap buttons, steaming new clothes, slightly rearranging the arts n crafts area, making appointments with reps and handing over completed art pieces to the holiday girls.

My desk is covered in messy paperwork and that is my goal for tomorrow - clear the mess!

The training room is full of cardboard boxes and packaging. 

My party date for the weekend has been cancelled so I hope I can find the motivation to clear my dressing table - I’ll take a ‘before’ and ‘after’ shot. 

I bought these ...

.. to help organise the mess of jewellery all over the dressing table.

I’ve searched high and low for a decent sized jewellery box, because my beautiful red leather j box that Adoring Husband bought for me on my first birthday with him (17 yrs ago) has seen better days and needs replacing - or perhaps a repair job is a possibility.

It’s my new son-in-law’s birthday on 26th so ...

And I mean that in the nicest way possible 🤗

I have never met this lovely man face to face, but hopefully that will happen very soon!

My bed is calling me.

Nite all.

Feeling Weary

What a day!

Meditation was two short of a full house and was a fairly intense class that had me struggling to stay focussed. 

My mind often wandered to examples in my life of what The Gypsy was teaching and I had to make a concerted effort to bring my wandering mind back to the present to hear her message.

Afterwards, some of the ladies remained in the room for a chat, while I had a chat with The Gypsy at my desk.

A regular customer of both The Gypsy and myself came in and entertained us with some very animated conversation.

The moment that she and TG left, a sales rep came through the door ... right on time ... but I had forgotten he was coming. This meant that I had to ask the girls to leave the training room so that I could set the table up to display his many wares.

Before the ladies left, I invited one of them to take on the cleaning position that became available last week. She very happily accepted and we agreed for her to return this afternoon.

The next 2.5 hours was filled with selecting from a range of men’s and lady’s leather wallets, handbags and backpacks, fine jewellery (rings, pendants & bracelets) pewter figurines and more.

A small selection of what I’ve ordered ...

The cleaner arrived before the rep had left so I had to shuffle him out the door so that I could show Middle-aged Hippy what her tasks were.

No sooner had I finished giving her instructions when a delivery of giftware arrived.

I chased my tail for the last 45 minutes of the day and I was feeling very grateful when it was time to close the shop.

I started to write a ‘to do’ list because there were some important tasks that I didn’t get to and I’ll need to complete first thing tomorrow.

My budget has gone out the window for this month and now I need to quickly manifest a measure of wealth to cover all of my expenses - expected, unexpected, planned and unplanned!

I’m not concerned because the universe always takes care of me.

We had a mighty storm during the night that woke me before it even hit but the sound of heavy rain on the roof soon put me to sleep. Since Monday, our rain gauge shows 70ml. The pool is VERY full!

I am worn out so I think I’ll go to bed to watch MAFS.

It will be another big day tomorrow with more stock due to arrive.

At least the weather should be fine so the rain won’t scare people away.

Nite all.