Hi friends! The last time I posted a photo like the one below I was completely overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with my to-do list, overwhelmed with the next steps for Chicken Librarian. And while I’m not out of the woods quite yet, I do have some fun updates to share with you!

If you recall from my last blog post (that was exactly 2 weeks ago!), I had a very serious to-do list. And I signed off from here and social media in order to get. things. done. Well. I have gotten things done, added to the to-do list (because it wouldn’t be right unless I added to it), but I’m rocking it out. Let’s do a photo journey, shall we?

The Mister and I celebrated our 18 year anniversary. It’s funny how these things sneak up on you. I mean, I knew it was coming but I totally forgot on the day of. So did he. I went to the fair to pick up my ribbons from my pie and photo winnings. And a check for a whopping $9! I’ve got big plans for next year and a future blog post all about the fair. But back to the anniversary. I stopped at some yards sales on my way home. I found some really good things (like a ghost blow mold for $20! I’ll take pictures soon). Anyway, I got home mid-afternoon and remembered that it was my anniversary. And for the life of me I can’t remember what we did. Nothing really significant, that’s for sure. I guess that’s how it is. Some anniversaries are worth celebrating (I mean they all are but some in bigger ways than others) and some are just more low-key.

We had a river clean up last weekend. It’s the third year the fishing lodge has hosted it. People come together from all over and pull trash out of the river. It’s a lot of fun and we’re happy to keep hosting it. You can see how dirty everyone and their trucks, boats, etc. get but they’re happy for it! Each year I get to know people more and more and that makes me happy. Some of these people I see throughout the year, others only at the river clean up. We’re friends on social media, and maybe they read my blog. But I am always so glad to see them whenever I can and to follow their adventures. I always like taking pictures of all the stuff collected. The Mister and I always go through the trash afterwards and find things that we can turn into other things. It’s like a pickers dream come true. A dirty one, but still. The sewing machine was my favorite find this year. The tires get recycled. There aren’t many pictures of tires since they had a different drop off point this year. A baby lamprey was caught up in some of the mess but it was released back into the river unharmed. They’re kinda gross but they’re part of our environment too. A storm rolled in just about the time everyone was pulling off the river so it was a race to get everyone to their cars. I was one of the racers so I missed more pics of stuff. But I’ll show you what we found and what we turn it into as things get done.

I’ve been trying to take more pics, but that also means more time to edit, upload, and then organize them into folders. But that’s a whole different ‘to-do’ list. For right now you can enjoy the view. We have wild grapes growing everywhere. I hope to have time this fall to cut the vines. especially the dead ones, and make wreaths. And it’ll be a race to see who gets the grapes–me or the critters. My money’s on the critters. Our days here have been so, so hot and humid with roaring thunderstorms in the late afternoons. I’ve missed most of the pool time for this season, but that’s okay. I’ve been busy. We have wild cucumber growing everywhere. It’s weird. You can’t eat it but I think you can use it in flower arrangements and such. Maybe it’ll go on those grapevine wreaths I’m makin’ this fall. It’s also really interesting because it’s growing right over the knotweed. If you know anything about knotweed, you’ll know it is extremely invasive. It will be interesting to see if the cucumber chokes out the knotweed. Of course the cucumber is a fast spreader and will choke out whatever it grows on or over, but it’s not invasive.

We dog sat again, but that was only for a couple of weeks. The dog has come and gone already. But we did take some walks. One of the things on my to-do list that I didn’t mention was to cut a path in our walking trail. We walk on the trails around the property but since they don’t get mowed (too wet) the grass grows to waist high fairly quickly. And while I’ve been walking in town with my friend. my poor Anna Lee needs exercise! She’s become such a couch potato this summer and that’s no good. So I started clearing the path. I’ll keep clearing it until it’s done but it will probably only take a couple more days. I just clear as much as I can with a sickle bar. Thankfully the deer have made a path so I just clear that path and make it wider. I’m just afraid of stepping on a snapping turtle or a snake! We go for the walks in the early morning and just listen to the sounds. It’s starting to look and sound like fall too. Of course we are a sweaty mess by the time we get back because of the humidity but we still pretend it’s fall. Have a look:

What else? Oh. I bought a new computer! Yippee! So one of the benefits to being so busy is that I never activated my debit card for my business account. No activation equals no spending that money. So between all my recent sales and my classes I had enough money to buy a new laptop. I thought it was money well spent since I use the laptop primarily for business purposes. I am still getting used to a PC (my old laptop was a hand-me-down Mac. My phone and tablet are both apple products as well). But it makes everything so much easier. I’ll get it all set up over the next few weeks and then things will just take care of themselves.

I quit some of my part time jobs. I’m looking at other jobs closer to me. It needed to be done. I was offered more hours at my one job but it would be 6 days per week and working evenings as well. Even though I don’t have my business plan together yet, I don’t really need one to know that that wasn’t the right decision. So I’m sticking closer to home. I like that. I like home. I like being there. I like not traveling too far away on a daily basis. My other part time job ends today for the summer. Or at least all my scheduled hours do. I’m sure I’ll be called every now and again to fill in. I’ve enjoyed it for the summer but I’m ready to be done so I can get the BIG things off my to-do list. Speaking of, let’s take a look at it:

  1. Finish organizing and executing next class (need to order items and food)
  2. Print classes
  3. Print lip balm labels and adhere to tubes
  4. Finish blanket
  5. Finish hat
  6. Edit pics (about 500)
  7. Pick up ribbons from fair
  8. Finish mulching garden
  9. Weed Garden
  10. Fix hoses, install drip hoses
  11. Dye yarn using Queen Anne’s Lace
  12. Write business plan
  13. Write marketing plan
  14. Write next class–beeswax food covers, apples
  15. Make face cleaner for customer
  16. Update business records–file, expenses, income, balance checkbook, activate debit card
  17. Order new contacts
  18. Make soap (well, technically I didn’t make soap but I have some for #19)
  19. Then make laundry detergent
  20. Inventory items at both retail locations
  21. Process peaches

So it’s a lot done. I still have some major projects to go but I feel much better. Much lighter. And I’ve been giving Chicken Librarian some thought. I haven’t put pen to paper yet but I have more of an idea of what I want to do and where we’re going. I’m going to stop saying ‘yes’ immediately and start taking notes, asking questions. I’ve been processing what’s been going on over the past few months and I’ve been in such a frenzy to get CL up and running that I haven’t taken a minute to really evaluate what I’ve been doing and what was working/not working. I’ve had some not-so-great interactions with some people (mainly business owners) and that’s led me to reevaluate and take some notes. I’ll do a whole update when the time is right (i.e. I’ve got my stuff together more!!).

I plan on spending my next few days with the same routine: walk, clear path, spend time working on Chicken Librarian, knit, garden. Garden might have to wait until knitting is done but the garden will only take me one whole day to complete. So I can afford to take that day soon and get it done.

Every thing and everyone else is doing great! I’m slowly moving my way back to blogging on the regular. I’ll probably start back with social media sooner. It’s easier to manage sometimes. A quick pic with some words. Like and comment on other’s posts. Respond to comments on my post. Not that blogging is hard, it just requires more attention. But I can’t wait to catch up with you all! Soon! I promise!