I can't believe it's October already? Did we have summer?

Good Day everyone,

It's been a forever since I've posted anything. Life has been pretty busy with my part time job, the hubby's projects, my projects, the house, the yard, the gardens, the this and the that. But it's been a pretty good month for September. Usually I become rather melancholy during the fall season. It used to be my absolute favorite season of the year. I loved going for long drives in my car, just me and my camera, and taking tons of pictures of the gorgeous blue of the sky (unlike any other time of the year) as well as all our beautiful foliage. However, in the past 11 years, it has also been a smacking reminder of my Mom's journey to heaven. It's a bittersweet memory by now... I don't feel quite so fully incapacitated as I did those first few years. However, I do find myself connecting this season and all its beauty and glory to my Mom's passing. I suppose that will never cease. I suppose it will become less painful as more years pass along. In all honesty, I don't ever want to "not" remember, you know what I mean? But, my mother's life, as I have been taught in the past few years, should never be defined by her death. I find myself remembering many happy, fun, laughter-filled memories. This is the way I really want to remember her. As I grow older, I also learn more about who my mother really was. It comes with a perspective that you gain only as an aging adult looking over the life of a loved one who's passed on... and a better understanding of who that person was. Who my mom was to me when she passed away 11 years ago is not the same mom she is to me today. I hope that makes sense to someone out there.

I've three days left to finish our tax paperwork. My husband is going to contact someone different than whom we usually use. Hopefully all will work out. I swear, I gain more gray hair from taxes than any other "trauma" in my life... :)

As for the shop... well, it's slow going, but it's going. The photo below is one of the two major things which needed moving in order to change the layout of the "gift shop" part of the building. This beautiful corner hutch is one of the first pieces of furniture which my brother-in-law, Tom, made. He no longer wanted it, and it came to visit at our house. There was only one corner in our entire house in which it fit. When we opened the shop and were pressed to find display pieces in the beginning, we decided to move it out there. It's not for sale. I would never sell it. But I've had so many offers from people interested in purchasing it. And let me tell you, it's cavernous! I never truly realised how much "stuff" this thing would hold until I had to empty it out to bring it from the house to the shop. Stuff that I had accumulated over the years seemed to find a comfortable home inside of it. Now, it's all packed away, awaiting a different option, whatever that may be. This hutch now resides in the opposite front corner of my shop.

This is the second piece that was moved to a new location. It's my "check-out" station. This used to be in the opposite side of the front room (basically the two pieces swapped sides). However, because that space was narrower than the other portion of the shop, I realised clients were not really "shopping" in this portion of the store. So, I stuck myself in the far corner, out of the flow of movement, and hopefully gaining that space back as a place to display items which people will feel comfortable looking at. Hope this works. I don't know how many times my dear hubs will be willing to move these hunk-a-hunkas.

The rest 'tis a mess. But, I'm working on that, when I can.

Hugs all around,
Penny Sue