first batches of jelly

8 half pints of wild plum, from Mama and Daddy's trees;

6 half pints of blackberry, from my own back yard;

14 jars, 14 seals - life is good!

fun day

Last Friday*, we met with family at Natural Bridge Park. It's a beautiful place. It was a hot day, and not much of a breeze, but a whole lot of shade. We had a picnic, and there was much playing in the creek:

Lots of moss, ferns, huge rocks and pretty roots:

Varieties of mushrooms I've never seen before (and you know how I love mushrooms):

And of course, the "natural bridge." It's so huge, the photos can't do it justice. If you have the chance to come and see it for yourself, it's well worth the $2.50 to get in.
And be sure to bring a picnic lunch and swimsuits. :)

*Oops! I have my days mixed up - it was Saturday!!

jelly making ahead!

Last year, my poor muscadine vines hardly produced anything. But this year, they seem to be making up for it - the vines hang thick with little clusters like these! Even the vines I feared I lost when we removed some trees from the front yard seem to have survived by spreading elsewhere. They must know how much I love muscadine jelly. :)

Since they grow wild out in the trees, briars and poison oak, I'll have to don the boots, long sleeves and jeans to hunt them down (and try to get to them before the birds). But it's worth it.

puppies and kittens and birthdays, oh my!

One nice thing about this little break is that I have more time to make birthday gifts for our little friends! This one is made by Bit of Whimsy's Peter Puppy pattern (say THAT five times fast!) And every 6 months or so I run across a fabric and wish I had a magical unending bolt; that retro floral with the green background is my favorite of the moment. It came as a 2-yard cut from Wal-Mart - only 2 yards, I tell you!!

And remember our new kitten, Frodo? He's coming along nicely. At first, he would pounce upon and pick fights with Bilbo, but he seems to be easing off of that just a little bit. And yesterday we were noticing how he's grown in just two weeks' time. The cutest thing to me, though, is that he is becoming a "sewing cat." It's annoying when he wants to play with the fabric I'm working with, but adorable when he curls up on my perpetual piles of fabric and patterns and takes a nap.

sometimes things turn on a dime

If you've looked at my blog lately, you may have noticed the lack of an Etsy widget on my sidebar. You may have even suspected the reason for that. Yes, I'm taking another break from selling; but this time, it will be far longer than the one last year.

I've thought about making a change for some time. The products I have offered of late, while enjoyable to make, are not all that profitable. They are also not much of a challenge, which makes me feel I am not putting my skills to their best use. I've thought of changing to more unique, time consuming, and inspired (read: more expensive) products. That would require a big push for marketing.

As I braced for that big push, though, I thought for a minute: My baby is about to start kindergarten, and schooling a younger student takes much more time from the teacher than one Lizi's age. I live in a 2 1/2 year old house that has never had any "real" decorating done to it, just finishing out the basement. And we want to get it reappraised soon, so that we can maybe get some better financing options; we need to do some work before that can happen. I also thought of several other things coming up, piddling little things, but that need to be done and do take a certain amount of time. And besides that, it's hard enough to keep up with the normal chores and responsibilities, without any extra stuff.

It was at that moment that I realized I had to take a break. It was not possible for me to do what I really wanted to do with my business, and take care of my family as well. I would be lying if I said I don't already hear that siren song trying to lure me back; it's enough to make me question whether I'm doing the right thing. But I trust that if I err on the side of taking care of my family, then God will bless it when I do go back to it in a couple of years.

I'm glad I've done the selling thing for as long as I have. I know a lot more about how to proceed now, because I tend to learn only by doing. And I know from experience why my house, literally and figuratively, needs to be in order before I go on; I've felt the stress of it not being in order. So here I go. Stay tuned - some of the upcoming projects could be interesting!