We've slowly been recovering, and my poor boys are almost all better! Some of them have lingering coughs, and two of them never got sick at all; and I'm hoping our luck will hold. I'm trying to think of all the last-minute things I need to do before our vacation, and one of them is to use up the half-bushel of apples I bought optimistically a few weeks ago. Although I'm storing them in the garage, I don't want them to go bad while we're gone, so I've decided to go on an apple pie baking blitz. I figure that if I make an apple pie every day, or two every other day, I should use up all the apples before we leave. Yesterday, I baked pie #1; it seems like forever since I've made a home-baked dessert and it made the house smell awesome! My boys were all thrilled, they love apple pie, and I felt like I had accomplished a lot that day, even though I didn't.
I think I've been pushing myself too much lately, I've been unusually tired, and the joy I used to have creating and selling my soaps has seemed to be replaced by feeling that I've fallen short, not just at that, but that I've let it take over my life a little too much. I have a tendency to be a perfectionist, and although I told myself when I started that I would be happy if I only made one sale, soon I found myself glued to the activity feed! I think I'm going to concentrate on the joy of it again, and if it's true that a "watch pot never boils"; well, maybe it's true that a "watch etsy-shop never sells"! And I am looking forward to my first Farmer's Market, I love Farmer's Market's and it will be so scary and exciting to have my own (shared) booth! I'm already planning my display and decor, with my snazzy new apron that Rita, a fellow etsian at Lazy Mondays made me. I've made "Idaho Dirt" soap, "Clean Air" soap, and have a lot more planned that I hope people in an open-air market will like!
For now, I need to concentrate on my sewing, which is my one true love; and getting ready for our vacation, that is so close now I can taste it. I almost can't believe we're actually getting to go to Disneyland, I think I've avoided thinking too much about it, because it seems almost too good to be true!
Since it's a Friday night, I can stay up as late as I want, watching old movies and sewing old patterns, my favorite! I may work it some new soap "flavors" I have planned. I have more consignment goodies, can you believe it? I also have to buy Andrew new dress shoes for his school performance; which will be the day we leave for San Diego! He's been preparing all year for this, and is really nervous, I'm hoping to have everything packed in the car and meet him at school with the whole family, including Daddy; so that right after the performance, we can leave for San Diego! So much going on this coming week, it's scary and exciting! I will post pictures of my now-mythical vintage attire once it's done, I swear!
Have a great weekend, everybody!
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I LOVE APPLES!! Religiously, once a year (and sometimes more), I pack up the family and head to one of the many local orchards for a fun day on the farm. Of course, I buy too many apples and we begin finding creative ways to eat them before they spoil. My absolute favorite is apple crisp (with nutmeg) a la mode. Anywho...just thought I'd share. Oh...and I'm curious. Can you make apple pie scented soap?? Yum.
ReplyDeleteI love apple crisp! It doesn't seem to go over as well with my family, and then I end up eating the whole thing...a la mode! So I just stick to apple pie, since I CAN leave that alone!
ReplyDeleteYes, I have apple pie soap planned, I think I will wait for fall; an apple fragrance with apple juice and pulp for color and cinnamon would make a nice soap! I'll probably do pumpkin pie soap, as well!
Mmmm, pumpkin pie soap sounds good!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that you love the apron, I am seriously making one for myself, I don't know how I have been getting by without one!
Have fun at Disneyland!
Rita, you should market them as craft aprons! I just realized how handy it is for holding all the things I'm always looking for while sewing; scissors, measuring tape, seam ripper; I can see a huge market for that!
ReplyDeleteThanks, we're so excited about Disneyland; I stayed up half the night working on my swimsuit, got it all done except hand-sewing; then after trying it on realized I didn't like the snap closure, so I ripped it out and now I have to do a zipper...I will get it finished if it kills me!
You THINK you've been pushing yourself lately? Having one sick kid is difficult, three is impossible! Remember if you don't take care of you you can't take care of them!:) Listen to me, I sound like my mother! I must be getting old...
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, I like apple crisp too. I love putting some walnuts on top to cut the sweetness a bit. Take care of yourself!!
P.S. Raining in So Cal today but looking good for next week. Mid to high 60's.
A couple years ago I was at the Dixon apple farm in New Mexico, and bought a large bag of apples... I think it took a while but we did use them all without any spoilage that I recall. Apples really can keep remarkably well -- I think it was 5 or 6 weeks we had them, at the least.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading an old trick for storing apples in a barrel to prevent spoilage -- they were packed in surrounding layers of sawdust. This way "one bad apple" would not spoil the whole barrel!