I Warned You...

I want to do so many things...I did warn you...

I made my first fruitcake, or Christmas cake they call it here. I rarely if ever eat them. I mad it because my husband wanted to make one and well, it was less mess if my hands were doing the making. So it is wrapped up in the linen closet (coolest place in this house) and has been there for about 6 weeks. It's scary to think you can actually keep baked goods stored that long. ;) this is what it looked like going into the closet.

But my biggest achievements have been more books! (Not sure how this photo will turn out.)

I have published two more this year, my grandson, Cameron wrote one that I published and I have published several other books for other authors with varying levels of involvement. You can see all of the books at www.woolyswagon.com.

I did some of the work while on a 4.5 month working holiday back in the USA where I held my first ever book signing. Co-hosting was my cousin, Chuck Hurley, illustrator for a variety of books and book covers. It was great fun. We were on local radio and in the local paper. Not a great photo, but we had to submit it within the hour...

So that has been where all my time has been spent...on books. The garage hasn't been touched. My art supplies have only been shuffled around while looking for something else, and I have been very skilful at learning to make fast dinners and freeze a second batch of whatever I'm making so I can even have a reprieve on some days.

I've been learning about marketing and lots of other skills to promote the books offered on WoolysWagon.com and grow the business.

So for now, gotta run, time to whip up a quick dinner, then play with Dragon Speaking, a voice to text software. Another time-saving effort so I can do the work of many and still vacuum and mop.

I'll be back after I see how that fruitcake turned out. Might make a few other treats too.


Cheers!

and the Learning Continues...

Just a short one today. I've finally got my book published in paperback.  'Kangaroo Tales - The Long Black Paddock' is now available here:  https://www.createspace.com/3795452 and will soon be available on Amazon.com.

I'm making progress with the illustrations on my next book:  'Perki Cati' and hope to have it published in both ebook and paperback before the end of April.  If I'm incredibly diligent I may also get 'Button, Button...' published right around the same time.

Along with all of this I am editing and publishing/republishing Judi Miller's body of work along with some new titles for her, and editing other author's works too!  I'll continue working during my Holiday/business trip to the USA beginning in June.  Lots of details and planning yet to do. Although it is necessary and I find it challenging planning my itinerary, the adventurer in me wishes I could just get a flight and wing it from there. ;) I hate pinning myself down to being somewhere at a certain time. Just one of those halftado things when you are involving other people. ;)  I'll just make sure to hold back a little cash for rescheduling my flight home...;)  lol  Shhhhhhhh  don't tell!

I spend more time on writing/editing/publishing than I ever did in a 9-5 job, and it is so much more rewarding. At the end of the day, I know my work is appreciated, I know things have been done the best they can be given my ability and I know someone else isn't going to suddenly decide it would be better done another way (that doesn't work) or that my good work will be bastardized by someone thinking they have better ideas.  ;) Not to mention not having to wait around forever for someone else to make decisions.

Well, off to the kitchen...dinner time.  I need a cook. Today has been all about domestic housework.  Blech! I think I will bake myself a cake though. Reward time.

Till next episode...Take Care

HOOOOOeyyyy!!!

Aha!  I beat the one year blogging and made it back within a month!  Whhhhooooooeeeeeeee~  So what's been happening? Well, ummm...  I've been busy EVERY DAY, editing, publishing, illustrating and communicating.

I have one ebook, a Middle Grade new-aged Cinderella story, for established author, Judi Miller, ready to go as soon as I get the Book Cover ready. Then next step is getting the print version underway. Watch for "Me, Max and the Lucite Boot".

Working through the edits on another book for Jean Scott. This one is a compilation of stories about life and perspective.  I don't like to throw other author's names about as reference points so I'll just say you'll enjoy the poignant bits as well as the funny, laugh out loud bits. "Road Trip" is everything the title implies. Up and down, missing some potholes and OUCH!  Written with a real enjoyment of the stuff life is made of.

I edited and assist-published "Be Still, My Love" by Deborah J. Hughes, which is currently exclusively available on Amazon, free reading to Amazon Prime Members. If you'd like a copy to give a review on Amazon, you have to have an Amazon account that you have used to purchase something, let me know and I'll speak with Deborah about it.

I'm also getting my first ebook release "Kangaroo Tales-The Long Black Paddock" ready for print. Nearly there, just have to properly size the illustrations for the print edition.  You have to have a much higher resolution illustration for print. So just a hint, if you are scanning illustrations for your ebook, make the first scan 300 dpi (HIGH resolution) so you don't have to scan again later on for the print version.

I'm also planning for my family vacation in 4 months time.  No, I'm not taking the family...Just me visiting the family all over the USA. It's a working Holiday as I will be working on my first novel, "A Woman of Means", doing a book signing in the area my family is from, Knockemstiff, (yeah you read that right!) with my illustrator cousin, Chuck Hurley for Kangaroo Tales-The Long Black Paddock and maybe Perki Cati if I can get it done in time. Maybe I will luck out and find a local bookstore that wants the publicity (lol really, Robin, publicity?) and we can do it there.  If not, it's out by my cousin's hand-built lake/pool, and it's BYO! I'll also be continuing the editing and publishing process for talented authors everywhere! The great thing about this job is it's portable! Believe me, I've never had work that was actually so much fun. I guess if you look long enough...

I'm always in the need for reviewers for the books I'm publishing, so if you've got a few minutes on your hands and want to read a book or two, let me know and I'll shoot some your way when they are nearing the end of the editing process or just posted for sale. You get to read a book for free, I get feedback and HOPEFULLY, when it is up on Amazon you will kindly go give it a review. Just email me at robin@woolyswagon.com if you want to be on my reader/reviewer list.

On another note if you are an author with a book that's just sitting around waiting for some agent or publisher to knock on your door, maybe it's time for you to send me an email so we can see how we can get your book out where folks can read it. I've got ways for it to be affordable to nearly everyone.

So, you may be able to see that I am not doing much in the kitchen. (Yay me!) That means I'm not ingesting tons of calories (well, not TONS) and I'm diligently keeping  up with my "Exercise in Bed" Program.  No... no...no...don't go there. ;)

I had a hella lucky Christmas season. I won an iPad. woohoo! Now just have to learn what I can really do with it. I also won $525 in a Canon (they deserve a little free advertising after that one!) printer promotion.  You buy the printer (which I did for a christmas present) go online and enter the competition... and WIN!  I have the first part of the win.. a $25 gift card and am awaiting the $500 part.  I thought it was to be another gift card to the same electronics store, but they may have changed it to cash.  Either way, it is already spent (second part of the printer present). It's always good to exercise people's delayed gratification factor.

All right!  I have just spent the last minutes of my day before I have to go make dinner. Followed by a few hours of TV until the other half goes to bed, then TO WORK till the wee hours of the morning. The best time to work - NO DISTRACTIONS!  I think tonight I will put the print version of Kangaroo Tales-The Long Black Paddock to bed. Then it's onward to finishing, "Button, Button" and "Perki Cati".

Maybe I need a nap.

A Once a Year Blog??!!??

It has been nearly one year exactly since I started this blog. TskTsk.. BUT! oh what I have accomplished. No, not in the garage, sadly, though I did get most of the books and records (yes, those vinyl things) moved to the shed (yes another junk storing building). No, not in the art room- still the mess it was though I have opened a few of the boxes while searching for things and I have new IDEAS on how to organize it. ;)

I have, though, started a freelance editing service.  I edit and publish both ebooks and books for print on demand ordering through Amazon.com. The ebooks are available on various online outlets like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBookstore, Sony, and Smashwords. BTW if you ever buy someone's books you should check to see if they are available on Smashwords, as it gives the author more royalties than buying on the major outlets. It is they who should be getting that money, you know and most authors that use Smashwords have all of the ebook formats available there.

I have also written and published two of my own books, Kangaroo Tales - The Long Black Paddock, a story about Kevin Kangaroo and his friends' adventures in Australia (Book One of the series) and Exercise in Bed, a low impact exercise plan for overweight and chronic pain sufferers who find regular exercise regimes too tough to tackle.

I have two more books coming out in the next few months, which are in illustration phase at the moment.

I'm most proud that I am offering my services at less than half the price of other freelance editors/publishers and offer both full cash or cash/commission options so nearly everyone can afford to get their books edited and published. It is such a joy to hear the exclamations when a person who has always had the dream of getting a book published sees their book for sale on Amazon or another ebook retail site. It's like publishing one of my own, truly.

Not only do I get to write and read some great books for free, I help others. I also keep my hand in as an artist by designing book covers and bringing life to b/w sketches with color for both my own books and those authors I provide services for.

Finally, a job I love and that allows me to help others at the same time. ;)  And the only crabby boss I have to put up with.... is me.

Projects here...projects there...

Thank goodness I didn't say my NY Resolution was finishing one started project before I start another one.  Variety.. you know... ;)   Yesterday I finished the computer/exercise room.. it is all set to go.  I'm going to Wii today, so I'll hit up the ab circle thingie tomorrow.. hehe.  I did get the Wii set up and find it is amazingly good on some sports games.. boxing for one.  I get so involved in knocking the other guy out I don't realize just how much effort I am putting into it.

As I have said, elsewhere, if not here, I recently moved to another part of Greater Sydney, an hour inland to what they call the Western Suburbs.  It is probably 6-10 degrees hotter here than where I was previously and this if my first summer dealing with it.  It gets hot so quickly that you can't even do the 'open the windows on the cool side of the house /close on the hot side thing to ventilate the house to keep it cool.  We do luckily have some angles awnings on the western side of the house so we have those pulled down a good ways and get a break from the afternoon sun.  The patio in the back keeps the sun from directly hitting the back of the house.. It's well done, Jeff - my friend and owner of the house. ;)

The issue I am having is protecting my vegetable garden.  I need to go invest in some large stakes that I can put around in the garden so I can tie some shadecloth or garden blockout fabric ACROSS over the top of the plants.  I haven't done that, so today I took some of the blockout cloth I found in the shed and draped it over the top of the plants.  Just flat over the top.. but I'm thinking maybe I am just going to burn the top off them by doing this.. lol   It really should not be touching the plants at all.  Alas, I don't have the appropriate stakes.. so I am wondering if leaving it there for a few hours, then pulling it off will really do any good.  ;-/    We will see.

OH.... the reason for this post is my kitchen cooking experiment.  I am not a cook, really.  I prefer to bake.  But, as I am home, I've been fixing supper most days.  My husband would happily sit in a rut of something and chips.. (chips = fries in Oz).  We even have our own deep fryer.  He would also happily have the same menu every week.  I used to know the day of the week by the meal cooked for dinner and vice versa.  I have systematically eradicated the rut, but now I have to come up with something to eat every day.

We have frozen staples.. I won't tell you what exactly, ;)  but if I just can't bear to knock something up, I go there.  I'm not a health nut, but I do like my fresh fruits and vegetables.  With the floods, a lot of that stuff is going to be pricey.  I'm happy I have my little garden.. let's just hope I don't burn it down.

Okay, now.. today I am making a little beef roast in my crock pot/slow cooker.. about 2 lbs.  I've dumped a large tin of diced tomatoes in there, with a very small tin of champignons... button mushrooms to us regular folks that I have cut in half. I'm a fan of fresh mushrooms, but not so much the tinned ones.. but I am following my NY resolution and using up stuff I have in my cupboards.

Oh that reminds me... yesterday I emptied two...TWO bottles from my bathroom shelves.. one of shampoo and one of conditioner..  a double punch!! woohoo.. I won't tell you how long I have had the one bottle of conditioner..  because I honestly don't know.. just suffice it to say.. a VERY long time..

So, back to the kitchen.  Having worked with tinned tomatoes before. I know you have to put in some sweetener...  so I search for my honey.  I know I bought some honey..  I hid it in the basket so Mike wouldn't say.. ????    so where.... is.......it.     hmmmm    It could be stuck way back in the fridge...if HE used it and then did that to it... but I am not going to dig out all that stuff to find out.. so.......... (it really isn't in there anyway, surely)     I don't want to just chuck spoonfuls of sugar in there...  let's see.

This is how I cook.  I just throw stuff in.. except for the basic baking recipe..when I bake.. but I do have a tendency to add more peanut butter in my pb cookies, extra fruit in anything that has fruit in it.. you know.. the good bits.. ;)    I have some golden syrup... but if I make some pancakes when Mike is home.. he will need that.   hMmmm  I have maple syrup somewhere..   I have a tendency to like my pancakes with eggs over easy,  and only a dessert of one pancake with syrup, so I can spare some.     So in goes maple syrup..  how much?  Well, I coated the top of the meat and then drizzled around the pan.  lol     You guess.

I have several carrots from my garden that I have chopped into some largish pieces to throw in later along with one small bell pepper from my garden.  I could probably throw in a chopped up leak.. eh?   But I'll save them for some potato leak soup later on.  It is amazing how long a leek can stay in the ground in the garden.. a very good staple to plant, imho.   You know.. just as an aside.. this is the first time (except for last week when I pulled one)  that I have pulled carrots fresh from a garden.  At least that I can remember.  I do remember digging potatoes in our family garden when I was about 5-6  (nasty job and why I am balking at plating them in my own garden  "they are so cheap at the store and so much work" - HE certainly won't be tending them I can tell you)  It was cool pulling up the carrots.  ;)    I also plucked off two cucumbers.. had one last week and it was delicious.    I'm not letting them get too big as they tend to get a bit sour, I think, maybe.

So where was I?   The roast.   Red wine gravy...  yeah??  Okay!   In goes about a cup of Shiraz... It's been sitting on the counter since Christmas... or before...  so it's time that bottle was emptied.  Splash!   Okay, let's set that on high for about half an hour (or whenever I remember to go back in there).   Well, I went back in before the half hour and decided to have a stir, a baste.. and a taste.   WWooooooeeeeeeee... the wine smell when I lifted the lid was all encompassing..  But I know that all wafts off..

Stir.. Stir...    taste..   as expected.. not sweet enough..  a bit winy...   I need to sweeten a bit more..  I take out the sugar container..  (I got these magnificent containers over the holidays with some of my survey gift cards - you know the ones I earn from doing online surveys) and I LOVE them.

Easy to handle, sturdy.. GREAT lids that clip tightly closed and they stack.  I could use about 6 more medium and second smallest..  next gift cards perhaps.       The larger ones have their own little measuring cup in them too.  

oooh  putting in the pic was easy..    so here is my garden today.   ;)  and my hugearse crockpot.  Family size.. but I'm not complaining.. I won it at the club..  I won a lot of stuff at my old local club... ebayed a lot of it.

 GardenTomatoes to the left and center back.. cucumbers are behind that middle tomato plant and staked up.   Carrots in front of back bed, spring onions and rhubarb to the right in back bed.    Front bed has strawberries, leeks, one sunflower (bird seed runaway)  peppers and going to seed rocket.

Crockpot, carrots and cukes from the garden.

Okay.. so.. the crockpot needs more sugar.. I actually had the sugar cannister in my hand, then put it back.  Behind that crockpot are two white cylinder ceramic containers.. one houses my tongs.. and one with a lid house all those little sweetener packets that I pick up at various places.  Also, I get product samples from time to time and sugar related ones go in there.  I decide to try one.. It is called PureVia  and touts itself as  'natural sweetener blend'.   Yeah, your guess is as good as mine.. It does say that one packet or sachet... oooh la la.. is only 12.9kj  (generally if you divide kj by 4 you get calories - at least that is what I use to make sense of it...lol)   compared to 140 kj for the equivalent sweetening of two tsp of sugar.  

Dump in PureVia..  stir stir stir.... taste.  voila~   Grind on some pepper.. (we buy little bottles of peppercorns that come in a grinding top jar.  sweeet.  I still buy regular pre-ground pepper for when I can't be bothered)

taste......  t'will do.    When I went out to take the garden pic I noted that some of the shading cloth has fallen off the plants...  I'll remove the rest of it in about another hour or so perhaps.. before I roast my veggies.. lol

I see a trip to the garden shop in my future.  I just can't see all my hard work going up in ..um... sun?  lol

Well, that is my chapter (and my apologies for the length of this, though it does show you how I can fill a day without even thinking about it.. one thing always leads to another.  On a good day, nothing gets left too long to salvage.  I have become very good at doing things in a way that I get reminded or have a lot of time to meander around to them again before they are ruined. ;)    One of the reasons I like the open plan layout of this house..  no specific room I need to remember to go back to.  lol

I'm sure there is something I have left out as I remember being proud that I completed three things yesterday.. or was that the day before??  But I have only thought of two of them.  It was probably something for Mike..

Well, off to clear some things off my Tivo.. Lots of new shows coming on soon and I need space!!  Dang, that means I'm gonna have to watch TV.  Oh well...  Some jobs are just tougher than others..  

Dang... it is only 10:30am..  What time did I get up anyway????   I went straight to watering before the sun got hot and I didn't look at the clock.  A nice elderly couple was walking down the walkway beside my house while I was watering my little patch of flowers out front and she told me how much they were enjoying the garden.  ;)   I've got to find me a husband that will go for early morning walks with me before I get to their age.  Yes, I am currently married.. but he will be at the golf course, I'm betting.. so I will need another husband for the walking bit.  I'm sure I will have found a suitable candidate by then.

New Year.. New Plan...

Happy New Year!  My plan is to finish what I start.  When you've stopped laughing.... because you can totally relate... I'll start typing again.  lol   I have actually had a taste of this for a few months after relocating to a different house, in a different part of the greater Sydney area.  However, I have noted the last several weeks have seen me get off track.  It was the holidays and there were all of a sudden so many errands I had to run to finish things up.  OOh oohhhh!  I was finishing what I had started, I think!  wooohoooo!  I just got waylaid from my bigger picture plan of getting the garage in order by finishing up the things inside of the house.. and in the garden.  Well... this blog is a productive thing already!    I do confess I still have a few small things inside to finish up.  I remember this every time I look at the bit of masking tape slowly falling off the edge of the wall that I need to do just a bit of trim on.  ;)    At this juncture I could post a photo... but I haven't figured out yet how to do that... seems it will take some HTML.. and that is tucked away far into my overcrowded and 'not wanting to go there' portion of my brain.  Whoops.. nope.. I just saw the little editing bar above.  How easy.. hmm.. now I don't know what photo to post.  So I will start that next time.  This time I really wanted to focus on baking.

Why?  Because I am a desert-a-holic.  I have been known to have an entire day's nutrition straight from a large pan of apple crisp.  Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and snacks.  It is my very favorite food of all time, mind you, and very easy to mind-manipulate yourself into thinking it is good for you.  I mean.. "an apple a day" and all that, and oatmeal.  It must be the perfect food combination for living a long, long life.  ;)

Every Christmas I sit and dream up this list of goodies I will/would bake.  And then I realize that I would have to nearly eat them all myself... well, of course my husband could also get fatter.. or my brother...  Get the picture?  But I don't have that huge circle of nearby family and friends that I could pack up a goodie bag for.  Last year I made several things for the Wolstenholme family lunch, but I don't think my tastes in desert are the same as the Aussies.  Maybe they ate it all after I had gone, but ...    Mike (husband) makes the trifle each year. Last year we.. oops.. 'he' made two and when we left there were oodles of it left.  This year we only made one.  It was over half gone when we left, so that is a much better outcome.  I made some chocolate cookies.

That is the real reason for this post, along with needing to get into the habit of posting on this blog.  That cookie recipe was the oddest and perhaps easiest one I have come across and that is why I made them, actually.  And they were superb!  I'm going to post that recipe at the end of the blog.

I can't tell you how many recipes I have saved in various online recipe boxes and on my computer.  And I am selective!  If I had a small bakery, confection shop, it would have to be called 'Sweetstufff this Week', because I would be baking something different every week and would not be able to do the same things every week.  lol  Folks would have to drop in to see what made it onto the shelves..  I guess I would really have to have a joint venture  - Sweetstuff this Week  - Goodies and Gifts.    I wouldn't be able to keep a stock of anything in the gift section either.  Part of the fun of making things is changing it up, right?  Sometimes you only want to make things once.  I know I have made a man's suit - once.   A great Three Musketeers type shirt out of a delicious blue satin - once.  I could go on..  I'm sure you get the picture though.  (Darn.. now I can't get this brown satin fabric out of my head and I can't remember what I made out of it!)

I think the most important thing when you get a 'big picture' idea, is to break it down into size-able, do-able portions.  I was just sitting here thinking.. shoppe.. sewing, baking.. clearing..  and my head went into that 'spin' and then started spiraling down down down... from the weight of all that is to be done.  but realizing where I was headed (back to bed, into a computer game, or internet world, or tv-land) to escape the weight of it all... I have just backed my mind off.    I know there is only one of me, and things have to be done one thing at a time.  So, after this holiday break is over... can't do a thing with Mike at home, quizzing and questioning... and opinionating (I'm not fussed that isn't a word, it is what he does) on things he knows not of...  I will work out an outline of  tasks needed to be completed.  It won't be that structured as it gets boring if you just do one thing all the time.  I'll move from one area to another so I can see some progress on all fronts. Plus I have to work in the regular every day, every week - I have to do stuff.

I can envision a day when I will have very few things to prepare and clean and organize and will just be doing a few daily chores and heading into the art room or outside art area or kitchen to just create things for my little part time shop.  There is a bonus to getting older..  your mind allows you such flights of fancy.  Oh yeah.. I can write that book, too.

Oh.. that recipe.  ;)  I got it from one of my recipe sites, but I'll just quote the original source.  If they are baked long enough they are delicately crunchy on the outside and like a delectable puff of chocoate inside with a little chewiness from the nuts.  If they are a little less cooked, they are a little gooey and chewy inside.  Both results are great.  It might take a few batches to decide what works in your oven re: time and temperature.  Don't worry, the mistakes are delicious.

Chocolate Meringue Smooches

Source: Paula Deen

Servings:         Makes 4 dozen

Prep time:       25 minutes

Cook time:      12 minutes per batch

Ingredients:

1 teas. vanilla extract
1/2 c. walnuts or pecans,chopped
1/2 c. crushed saltine crackers
3 egg whites,stiffly beaten
1 c. powdered sugar
6 oz. pkg. semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325^.
Using a large bowl,fold the powdered sugar a little at a time into the stiffly beaten egg whites. Add the crackers, nuts and vanilla, and fold in gently. Melt the chocolate in microwave at 30 second interval stirring after each 30 seconds until melted.Allow to cool slightly.Fold melted chocolate into the egg white mixture. Using a greased cookie sheet, drop the mixture by rounded half teaspoonfuls. Place in the oven and bake for 12 minutes. Remove cookies from oven and repeat until batter has been used up.

Well Here We Go!

I just read something in an online magazine about keeping a artistic journal.  I read several people's blogs on a semi-regular basis.  Today the two just combined in my head along with the project I am embarking on and - here I am.  I like to make things.  Art, crafts, sewing and baking.  I haven't been very dedicated to it in some time, mind you, but have kept a hand in.  I did more of it when my daughter was young.. the sewing part, anyway.  I only relatively recently began painting - in artist terms..  about 5 years ago.  I've always wanted to, but it just never happened until then.  I don't have any formal training.. just a self- floundering artist.  ;)  But I have a LOT of ideas!

I've been watching from afar thru my niece, Melissa's blog and posts on facebook of her journey into craftyworld and remembered just how much I love doing it.  I have also recently moved from a drab drab house into one full of light and outdoor space. I have a garden!  You know.. the "I can grow vegetables and stuff" kind, not just a few pots on the sidewalk or porch. I just picked peaches from my dwarf peach tree today.  I have lettuce coming out of my ears, and a lot of other things that are starting to take off.  I have my OWN art room!  I will also have a lovely garage to use as my  Art Gallery/Gift Shop..  as soon as I clear it out and have a garage sale, that is.  And I just bought a new sewing machine.  Man, did I have the most fantastic machine back in the day.. with the electronic embroidery and all.  This one is just a simple one.. but it is a start.

So all this cannot go to waste.  And to have a public record that will keep me motivated and on track, I have started this blog.

I have been in the house (a rental) for nearly 3 months now.  This time has been spent getting the garden/yard in order and working on the inside of the house.  We have painted the living areas and put up my art, I have the kitchen organized, the electronics hooked up, the bathroom organized.  I don't have my art room set up yet, nor the computer/exercise room finished yet.  As you can see I have the computer side of it done, but not the exercise part.  Therefore.. I have not done much baking as yet either.  No exercise, no goodies... well, not that I make anyway.

Most of my clothes are still packed up in the garage...  it is amazing how little clothing you can get by with if necessary.  There is a lot of stuff packed up in the garage.  It wouldn't have been this way, had the moving gone to plan.. but....  it was raining.. they were in a hurry (as men doing hard labor are).. so a lot of stuff just got chucked in the garage.  There are benefits to this though.   Out of sight, out of mind mean anything to you?  If you are partner to a hoarder.. oh yes it does.  Now the trick is to go through all the junk, sort it out and sell it off or donate it before he gets a good look.  Oh, and NO.. he will not be reading this blog, thank you very much.  LOL  The reward for me is a clean spacious garage for my Art Gallery/ Gift Shop.

That is my end goal.  Just a little something I can open on Saturdays when husband is off golfing, have a place to show and store and sell my creations and make a few dollars, perhaps.

So, that is the journey on which we embark.  Mostly me.. but you are welcome to come along.  I promise it won't be smooth sailing.. I've lived long enough to know that in advance. Maybe you can pick up a few ideas, or share a few with me.  I'll post some pictures next time.. as soon as I figure out how.  We'll do a before and after kind of thing.  Maybe I will also learn to stay on topic and have a better organized blog.  We can hope.

Okay.. I hear the man coming... gotta go!