It's been too long, again.

Boy, did I ever fall off the regular blogging wagon, shame on me. The Spring semester at college kept me pretty busy and at the end of it I made the decision to change majors from Digital Design & Graphics to Business Administration. I was inspired by my Intro to Business professor and think it is a better path for me. It will definitely be as more of an asset upon graduating. I started the summer semester last week and it's going to be a busy one too but I do love being back in school. I am still looking for a "big-girl job", they are hard to find around here. I just keep plugging away and am hopeful that I will be hired soon. I haven't made much soap lately. I think it could help provide some additional income but I was so busy with school and the rest of "life" that it was hard to for me to get in the right frame of mind to make a lot. I have been batting around a few creative ideas and recipes the past week or so and may give them a try this weekend. Someone thought I had on perfume yesterday and complimented me on the fragrance; I told them "it's my soap" because I wasn't wearing any perfume. Perhaps I should consider making a solid perfume or a light spray? ~Note to self: Add this to my list of possibilities.~

My garden is doing pretty well. The tomatoes are fantastic, especially the Dillard's Cherry. I have picked from it continuously since mid-March, and they are quite tasty. The Beefheart is just now blooming and I think I will have to baby it through the heat; I bet they will be delicious. Wouldn't it be great if we could just live on tomatoes? My herbs are growing like gangbusters, and the lettuce and peppers are doing nicely. The lavender and tansy are taking the heat pretty well too. I want to plant more but we will be moving in June, most likely to a condo. It has a balcony so I will be able to have lots of containers full of garden goodies. Hmmmm, maybe I can talk them into starting a small community garden.... the wheels are turning, lol! I have a feeling I will be giving some plants away before I move, it's great to share the garden love! I have a lot to do before then, and am attempting to tackle a little bit each day so it's not overwhelming. I have some great friends who are going to help me too, since my husband is on the road and it's not likely he'll be down here on moving day. I am thankful every day for them, I wouldn't be able to do the things I am attempting to do without them. Thank you all so much for your help and support! I hope everyone enjoys the holiday weekend, relax and do something fun for yourself!

We finally had a truly warm day yesterday; I think it was only our second or third one since my last post. I am so ready for our wonderful Florida weather to come back and stay so I can really get out in the garden. I bought some great heirloom peppers and tomatoes from my friends (and former high school band director) at Our Garden Patch in North Fort Myers. In the tomato department, I got a Dillard's Cherry, Cherokee Black, Beefheart and German Pink. I bought two pepper plants; a Bird pepper and a Peter pepper. I also have a Celebrity tomato plant from the farmers market. I spotted tiny green fruits on the Dillard's Cherry yesterday and literally squealed with delight! I am going to be planting some flower seeds to go along with my veggies and herbs this year including Violet Queen giant zinnia and three kinds of sunflowers, which are one of my favorite flowers. It's been too cold to get the cucumbers planted so that's also on my gardening to-do list for this week. What are you going to plant in your garden this spring, and for all you warm climate and brave winter gardeners, what are you growing now?

I received the prettiest necklaces in the mail last Friday from Lana Manis of Honeysuckle Lane, aren't they beautiful? Lana creates such wonderful things; I wore the Dear Dolly necklace yesterday and got some nice compliments. Thanks so much Lana, your package made my day! This week I am eagerly waiting on some soap supplies to arrive so I can make soap for a festival I'm doing next month. I am ramping up production and looking for a few other items to add to my soap selections. One of my high school classmates, Colleen Groot, is a glass and mosaic artist. She makes a variety of beautiful items for your home and garden, including soap dishes. We are working on a collaboration of my soap and her soap dishes, and I am quite excited about that! I hope to have a few at my booth; they would make a lovely gift with a couple of bars of soaps setting in them and tied up with a pretty ribbon. I have a few other irons in the fire and this semester's classes are keeping me quite busy too. I wake up every morning and wonder what good things the day will bring. I wish all of you a very good week!

Happy New Year!

Well it's been another busy two months! One of my resolutions for 2010 is to be more frequently consistent with my blog. I think I am going to put it on my calendar, that should help immensely. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! Emily and I drove to Tennessee to visit family and friends, it was a long drive and it was cold the entire time we were there. I stayed cold just about 24 hours a day. It was wonderful to see my family and visit with some great friends I hadn't seen in nine years, I missed them more than I realized. Hubby got to come in for Christmas too and Emily really enjoyed seeing him. He was here just after Thanksgiving for 4 days but now we probably won't see him until mid-March when he comes down for Emily's birthday. We have spent this week trying to recover from the trip and get back in our routine. Still not 100% there yet, hopefully this next week will have us both back to normal.

It's cold here in Florida. Very cold! I do not like the cold weather and we are having an extended bout of it. Not your usual two or three day thing and then it's back in the 70's - there'll be none of that, thank you very much! The weatherman said the other night that we haven't had this long of a cold spell (temps in the 30's at night and not above 70 during the day) since the 1930's. I certainly don't remember anything like this when I was growing up here! The farmers are trying to save as much of their vegetable and citrus crops as they can but it's been difficult. They are saying that the price of veggies will rise at the grocery stores because some crops have been damaged, so be on the lookout for that. Florida produces 90% of the country's vegetables in the winter so this is going to affect a lot of produce. Just another reason to consider planting your own garden.

I wanted to post pics of my garden progress; I even told you I would in my last post. But alas, my digital camera has become obsolete and I have yet to buy a new one. It's an Olympus that is about 10 years old and it needed a new memory card - they don't make them anymore and I'm not going to search all over the Internet to find some that are reasonably priced. My cell phone camera doesn't do a good job so I'm waiting until February when I can buy a new one - still haven't decided what one I'm going to get yet. Have to do a little more research first. Things are growing in the garden but it does need some help. My lettuce was doing great until we went on vacation, it needed a little more water than what it got. So I will replant as soon as it warms up. The radishes are almost ready to harvest and the chives, basil, dill and oregano are growing very well. I am sowing cilantro, pepper and tomato seeds next week. I'm really wanting to try potatoes but don't know if I will be that ambitious this season. I have some new soaps planned for 2010 and hope to be in my own manufacturing space by the end of next month. School starts back for me on January 14th and I am looking forward to that too. I am taking an Introduction to Business class that looks interesting and challenging, plus Intro to CAD and Visual Communication. My first semester grades were pretty good - two A's, a B and a C (in math, of course). I am happy with that and aiming for straight A's this semester. It's going to be a busy year; I wish all of you a happy, productive and prosperous 2010!