Another First

Don't you just love first time experiences... providing they're good ones that is! But even bad experiences can teach us such a lot. In fact I'd go so far to say that it's the bad experiences in life that offer the most valuable lessons. I've certainly found I've had my biggest growth spurts during times of adversity!

But enough of bad experiences. This experience is a good one, and one that I hope will yield a growth spurt for my Etsy shop, because I've just discovered that I've been featured in my very first Etsy Gift Guide!

This particular gift guide features freshly emerging shops that have been open for six months or less and/or who have less that thirty sales. It was AMIdesigns who first brought it to my attention by telling me she had suggested me for it. Thanks Alison! I then popped into the gift guide thread and rather cheekily suggested myself too! I think one or two other UK members might have mentioned my name as well. So thanks to anyone who did that I haven't mentioned. They're a great bunch over on the Etsy UK thread, always supporting and promoting each other!

In fact we're having a special UK promotional push in the run up to Xmas where we are promoting two UK Etsy sellers every week, and the current lucky seller is none other than AMIdesigns so please do drop into her shop and take a look at her wonderful range of jewellery, not to mention her new line in Xmas decorations! They really are fab!

So, Etsy get to choose which particular item they feature, and they have chosen my Ruby Tuesday Red Czech Glass Bellflower Earrings:


You can also check them out here along with the other lovely items featured in the Freshly Emerging Shops gift guide.

Creature of Habit

Carrying on from my "Oh what a beautiful Day" post... it hasn't escaped my attention, and no doubt all of those who know me, that I am very much a creature of habit! I am very fortunate in that I have the freedom... if not the money, nor the energy, to do pretty much as I please with my days. Yet they rarely vary much from day to day. Health problems (fatigue and pain) prevents me from doing too much that's physically taxing, but that aside, there is a constant inner voice nagging me about not living life to the full... not packing in as many experiences as possible before I expire.

And yet, hand on heart, I can honestly say I love my life. I feel so incredibly content with my lot, and take enormous pleasure from simple things, such as my daily morning walk (pain allowing), reading, writing, music, creating jewellery... I'd like to say gardening, but my little patch of land is looking sadly neglected of late!

In the past, life has often felt such a struggle; family and kids... head down, trudging along on the treadmill of life, lurching from one crisis to another... and now it's simple, uncluttered, unfettered, peaceful and contented. I'm not in any particular rush to do anything... if only my inner voice would stop nagging me!

However, I am becoming increasingly irritated with one aspect of my daily routine. I love mornings, am definitely a morning person... but I hate getting going in the morning. All that palaver of showering, straightening my unruly mop of hair, applying moisturiser and just a hint of make-up to tone down my ruddy outdoor complexion. Basically I am sick and tired of looking at the same face in the mirror every single morning, tweaking it till it looks reasonably presentable... and I fear I am fighting a losing battle as the ravages of time catch up with me.

It takes me an hour before I am ready to go down for breakfast...an hour I tell you, a whole bloody hour!! I hate it, it is an hour of my day wasted, when I could be contemplating my navel instead of a face I barely recognise these days, even though I stare at it for a whole bloody hour every morning!

I put myself through this punishing routine every day before I go downstairs, because it'll more than likely be late afternoon before I go back up again. I've just been up now and realised I haven't been up there since 8 o clock this morning... not even for a wee. That's a total of 8 hours!! I must have a very strong bladder... or maybe it's the commode in the corner!

So, where is this all leading... well, I'm going to set myself a challenge to make some small changes to my routine... and who knows, tiny steps might lead to some mighty adventures!

Watch this space!