Swine Flew

It's time to write the summer newsletter, and I'm having a hard time with this one. I'm just out of practice with the writing thing or something. Writer's block. It's not coming together the last day or two. So I work a little bit, set it aside and think, "maybe it will flow better later."

Now it's later. And I'm searching for images of flying pigs on the google. Procrastinating. Wouldn't it have been nice to marry a billionaire over the weekend in Venice like Salma Hayak did? Yes indeed. I dug out weeds instead.

It's cat stare-down day. The neighbors have decided to "transition" their indoor cat to the great outdoors. It's a male and still trying to figure it all out. My two girlie kitties are having a hard time, because they thought they owned both yards, and now they are bravely trying to hold ground on just our own little patch of grass. In fact, the boy cat just headed into our kitchen this evening, to much howling, hissing and posturing by all. I'm sure it will all work itself out over time, but the gals are shook up and nervous.

There's so much coming up in May. I need to really get focused. But I'm swimming - little spurts of effort in between big doses of distractions and lethargy. Is it Spring Fever? Swine Flu?

Cherry Blossom Season

Mmmmmm, I love cherry blossom time. The petals are floating everywhere, like snow.

If you're not from here, or you haven't had a chance to get out and enjoy them, here's a site with panoramic views of Seattle, the most recent being a spectacular neighborhood full of cherry trees. VRSeattle. If you head back in time on his blog, you can see all kinds of other cool stuff too like Pioneer Square, under the center fountain at Seattle Center, lots of snow pix. Awesome camera, awesome blog.

And if you're still in the mood for traveling in your chair, here's a panoramic view of the Sistine Chapel, which I may never get to see in person. Sistine Chapel

Gotta get out and breathe the fresh air, there's sunshine again today!

Double Drat

I just dropped a bottle of fragrance oil on the cement floor in my work area. What a mess. And it's expensive too. There was only half a bottle left, but it's still a pricey accident. And super smelly.

After vacuuming up all the glass shards and mopping it all up, I was thinking about the last time this happened. It's only happened twice in the whole time I've been making soap - a dozen years. And the last time was years and years ago, in the kitchen where it ran under the fridge and back behind the floor and wall trim. Really awful - so hard to clean up and it smelled for days and days.

And guess what? It was the exact same scent!!! It's called Sea Spice, and I have used it for the "ocean" scent in the Northwest Collections, and I've used it to blend some of the "Beach House" flavors I've done in the summer. Today I was going to make a new blend for a summer seasonal. But I guess I'm not any longer. I'll have to find a new blending type ocean-y scent because that one's gone and I will not reorder it. It's clearly jinxed and I am not going to risk using it again. There are others that are similar.

The house reeks. Sort of in a good way. But mostly in a too-much-of-a-good-thing kind of way.

We're having a burst of summer weather here and it's awesome. I just hate to be inside working away.

Puyallup Spring Fair this weekend

Spent the day yesterday setting up and then working the opening evening of the Puyallup Spring Fair. It was kids under 18 free night, but they all hit up the rides and food booths, rather than shop for crafts and art. Can you imagine that?

Just a reminder about the deets:

Dates: April 16 - 19
Hours: Thurs 2pm - 10pm, Fri and Sat 10am-10pm, Sun 10am-8pm
Admission: $8.00 - all the parking lots are free
Link: Puyallup Spring Fair

We are located in the center two rooms of the Hobby Hall Building at the Puyallup Fair. We're the only group of locally handmade fine arts and traditional crafts at the fair, with a wide variety of artists represented and daily demonstrations too!

It's a Spring Garden theme, with the Rhododendron Society display, lots of garden displays and vendors too. Stop by for your onion burger and funnel cake fix - it's a long time til September.

This week: Echo Falls

Spring has busted out all over! Those few days of warm weather and all the leaves and flowers have popped open.

I was so sad to miss the gorgeous weekend, when everyone was gardening and enjoying the sunshine. Instead, we braved the basement (ok, lower level with no windows) of the Exhibition Hall at Seattle Center for the Best of the Northwest show. It was lonely. Just too nice outside.

This week is the Echo Falls show:

Starving Housewives at Echo Falls Country Club
20414 - 121st Ave SE
Snohomish, WA (Maltby)

Dates: Tuesday through Saturday, April 7 - 11
Times: Tues-Fri 10am-8pm, Sat 10am-6pm

This is a boutique style show with a central cashier. Wonderful handcrafts and charming antiques. Look for one-of-a-kind spring, garden, home accents and gifts! New longer hours on Saturday. Stop by the Greenside Grill - open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Link: Starving Housewives

I've been rushing from one show to the next for days on end. Yesterday we set up the Starving Housewives show, and today I am FINALLY! getting a chance to hang outside for a little bit. Just a couple of quick hours to do some digging in the dirt and move some plants around. My great big spanish lavender plants along the front walk all kicked the dust during the deep freeze. And my two big rosemary's too. I can't believe it - one of them was really big and quite old. Somehow, the little tiny new one survived, but the established ones did not brave the crazy winter.

This morning was digging out the dead stuff, rearranging some of the roses and peonies into better spots. And planning out new areas for veggies in another few weeks when it gets warmer.

It feels like the flipping of the calendar page to April was the turning point. Activity and new life just jumped out of the closet and yelled "boo!" as if they had been there all along, just playing a game of hide and seek with us. It's a real kick in the pants, and now everything is in full swing - shows, orders, the summer announcements just a few weeks away. I'm still getting the last bits of my studio back into working order too. Whooooosh and we're off to the races after a long winter's nap.