Eight more sleeps?

Big Sigh!
...and so this is Christmas, and what have you done?
Another year older, and a new one's just begun..

A couple years ago I was introduced to Flylady.com.  Basically Flylady teaches you how to get organized and get your home clean in 15 minute spurts.  It is an amazing thing!  It has been awhile since I have been back to Flylady, but some of her ideas have stuck. 

• Just get in there and start, jump in anytime.
• You can do anything for 15 minutes
• F.L.Y. (Finally Love Yourself)

One of the most important things was not to stress yourself out about all the things going on in your home, workplace and family.  Of course there are so many things to do before the BIG Day but I will not get crazy about it.  I could make a list and continuously add more and more things until I am overwhelmed, but I ain't gonna do that. 

Today I did alot of running around, but it was ok.  I feel close to being finished my shopping and I haven't even been to the malls yet.  WOW does that feel good as I pat myself on the back.  I do not have money to spend and why should I?  I have talents that I am taking advantage of...I love to bake so I am making a pile of cookies.  So far my freezer has Pinwheels, Checkerboards, and Cherry Pecan Icebox cookies.  Today I made three batches of dough; Gingersnaps/Gingerbread men, Shortbread, and Sugar cookies for my Lactose Intolerant best friend.  On Monday after my stove is fixed...
Dang!  Did I tell you that the bottom element of my oven blew while my first pans of Shortbread were baking????  LOL
So, while I'm at work tomorrow, my dear hubby is going to replace the element in the oven, and the dough is in the fridge, then we will do a mass baking session and get it done.  Then cookies will be packaged up, mailed delivered or stashed in the freezer for Christmas eve deliveries to our neighbours.

I also bought some beautiful Salmon bellies from work and made some Salmon Jerky.  Very easy, really tasty but I do need to spray the dehydrator trays with Pam and slice the salmon thicker.  If I have anything left, I will be sending some of the bigger chunks to my parents with some cookies.

Last minute but it will be done!

Don't get me wrong...I'm NO Martha Stewart, but I like being creative without having to spend alot of money that I just don't have right now.  I also have Blueberries, Blackberries and Saskatoon berries in my freezer to make jam with.  My kids and my nieces love jam so that is another present, AND my family loves jam all year round. 

Other than that, I will get what I can get done, decide what is important and let the rest go.  I DID clean the bathrooms yesterday...THAT was a priority!! 

SO...Merry Christmas to you all and all the best in the New Year!!  May you always have a great book to read, a hot cuppa tea and the time to enjoy them both!  Salut!

I am so glad that the weekend is over! (or how I got my OWIE)

This is for my son Terry, the apprentice Chef.  Sorry for the graphic details.

It was so hard to get up this weekend at 4:30 to be at work for 6, but it was fun, and I was very productive.  I made 26 Blueberry pies (I added some frozen blueberries to the pie filling to make it less sweet for the diabetics and everyone who didn't need the extra sugar) , 2 1/2 sheets of Cherry Squares, 22 Dozen Yorkshire Puddings, 6 dozen muffins, 4 pans of Coffe Fromage that I changed into something even better (Coffee Fromage is a dessert made with whipped topping, gelatin, milk, sugar and coffee.  I changed it to Mocha Fromage by adding Cocoa, Ginger, and Cinnamon to the mix.  If I say so myself...it is going to be awesome tomorrow for lunch!!)  I even changed an old sheet cake that I found in the freezer into a lovely Raspberry Sqare.

But sometimes I just get too over confident using a knife and the knife has to teach me a lesson!  I accidentally sliced off a piece of my left hand index fingernail. BUMMER!!  I was chopping some fruit for my muffins when the knife told me to pay attention to what I was doing.  Yes...I did recover the chunk of meat before it went into the baked goods.  Sorry for the graphic details.  LOL

The BIG SALE

On Dec 3, 2010 I packed up all my wares into my Blazer and headed to the Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community centre for the Holiday Craft Sale.  I had made a little inventory of everything I could possibly sell that evening and I had over $500 worth of items.  I had lots of my Mint tea from my garden, and the "store bought" blend that was still really good but not as great as my own mint.  I had framed all my "Forever Flowers" and I had sprayed each picture with Sealer, finished the back of the framed picture, and made sure that each picture was ready to be hung.  My catnip and herb bundles were ready from the last sale.  My daughters and I had decoupaged some old black photo album pages, cut them into Bookmark size and "laminated" them with packing tape. I had even printed out my price list to put on my big chalkboard sign, and IRONED my tablecloths.  (I NEVER iron!)


So I had high energy and high expectations from this sale.  I wanted to sell enough to buy my business license and give my husband back his $80 just to say that this could work.  When I got there, I had a great table facing the doors. The girls helped set up my table and it looked good, better than the first sale.  I was ready!  Bring me your money and tell me how much you love what I do.  LOL

Here I am, ready to go!

I didn't sell as much as I expected. 


I don't know why.   There were lots of people who looked at my stuff, but I didn't sell a whole lot.  It was disappointing, but the lady beside me was very interesting.  She will be a really great contact because she teaches small business courses and we are going to meet for coffee one day soon.


Of couse my Mint Tea sold, but only a couple of packages, and that is okay because I can still give them as presents.  I like to do that and I know that the ones who will be getting it at Christmas will enjoy it.

I had open containers of my teas so that my customers could smell my product.

Nobody was interested in my catnip and herbs, so I will be making a blend of the herbs for my own use.  Perhaps that is what I should have done in the first place?  Perhaps I didn't have them packaged the right way?  I will use them, one way or another.  I know some folks with cats who would like some catnip for Christmas.


I sold a few "Forever Flowers" but only the 5x7's.  The people who bought them really liked them and seemed pleased to be giving them as Christmas presents.  I even traded two little ones for a really cool knitted hat that I liked.  It is fern green, thick soft wool and looks like an elves hat with the point.  I think I made a good trade!


The girls had a great time there.  I gave them each $20 to spend with the instructions to buy some Christmas presents.  They came back with all kinds of stuff, beaded ornaments, jars of Jelly Beans, a little basket of hand cream (I think it is for me) and really unique necklaces, you know what I mean??


It was a good experience, gave me lots to think about.  I am not discouraged and I know what I want to do. The next time I do a sale like that, I will set up my table with layers so that I can put more of my product out and arrange it into sections so the small area isn't looking cluttered.


I have been looking at the T&T Seed Catalogue with a different mind. My sweet peas were pretty, but I want darker, brighter colours, and different sizes like Asters and maybe some tiny Marigolds.  LOL...maybe I could ADD some of the brighter coloured flowers to the exhisting pictures to brighten them up and enhance them?.

So there are still possibilities!  I still want to do some landscaping, and I am not going to quit!

                                                                    Wait until next year!!

Only 11 days until Christmas!

Where has the time gone.

Now that I'm getting older, I find myself saying that more often.  There is only 3 weeks left in 2010 and that is it for this year. Wow!  I had a great year, now that I think about it.

This spring I had a great little job working in the greenhouses at Cobblestone Gardens.  I had a really great time, I learnt so much from the owners, my coworkers and I couldn't believe that they were paying me to be there.  There are 5 greenhouses S.E. of Calgay, near Langdon, AB.  I had never in my life been in the area and that is pretty pathetic considering that I grew up in Calgary.  The area was spectacular and just getting there was a great experience, the air was different, there was wide open country with horses, dogs running loose (including my dog Maggie).  Driving to the greenhouses, I had the opportunity to watch the area change with the season, in February, the ground was still frozen, huge snowdrifts were everywhere with bare ground showing in the fields.  Then the fields started to thaw and everyday I could see changes, especially after the weekend.

...under construction