What's Going On?

I don't know what's going on with me. This has been the most unusual spring and summer and it has be a bit baffled as to what to do. One of my greatest joys is gardening and this spring and summer have been so wet that there's not a lot of that going on, except between showers. All the rain paid off, though, because the gardens are lush and gorgeous. (So are the weeds, but they're easy to pull out.) Now it's hot and dry and that's nice for sitting on the porch or drying laundry on the solar clothes dryer, but not for getting much else done.

I've also been at odds because I'm not doing a series of Art/Craft shows again this year. Art in the Park in Blowing Rock, NC happens once a month from May through October. I had done it for many years, considered myself a "regular", and last year I wasn't accepted. Oh well, that's the breaks, you never get any feedback from the show promoters as to why you didn't get in. But, I didn't get in again this year and that blow went straight to my ego. "They don't love me any more!" I've applied to some other shows and hopefully I'll be doing one in August, September and October. October, definitely, but I haven't heard from the other two yet.

Last year I got along OK without that income, but this year is different... you all know that... So I'm getting along by being very frugal and it kind of worries me some. I've been in the business long enough to know that when you're flush you need to put some away for times like these, but every time I pull money out of my savings I wonder how much longer I'll have to do this and how long it will last. I've done very well so far staying positive and being grateful that I have some savings. I've been tring not to add any negative energy to this recession, but c'mon folks! This has been long enough. Get out there and spend some money!

That brings me to the other odd thing. I haven't been making any jewelry, other than class demos. I have boxes and boxes of finished work so I don't feel pushed to make more right now. And I'm trying to conserve my supplies. So I've used this time to cross things off my "to do" list that have been on there for a very long time. I cleaned out my shed, washed all the windows in my house, took down the curtains and washed them and shampooed the carpet in a couple of rooms. This house hasn't been so clean since I moved in! I'm venting my creativity by painting a table. I have the base coat done and a design for the top sketched out. When that's done I'll start cleaning out my studio. Right now I think I'll go update my Etsy Shop. Maybe there's someone out there who will see something they can't live without!