Life x Simple

 Part of the reason for us to move and downsize was also to simplify our life. We have been successful at that. 😉 Besides, house keeping ... I still have plenty of projects to keep me busy- lol. I am especially working hard on my Brown Baby Bird business right now.  I still have some painting projects to get to. I am doing pretty well on the "unpacking" thing. I got some more done on the garage this week. I moved a few things around so that we could get the exercise bike near an electrical outlet. I thought I was getting that out just for me, but Ron used it a couple times last week, too. Mostly his days consist of his computer, reading, and watching TV... and three meals a day- lol 😋 With the "Covid Year" that we have had, we got into some habits that probably need to change. We could do with less TV and more ministering. Our only "treat" for the Memorial weekend was going out for lunch yesterday. One of Ron's favorite barbeque restaurants is "Smokey Mo's". Last week, I realized that there is one of those just north of Culebra and west of 1604. We went there for lunch and then stopped at HEB to grab a few items. While we were gone, the neighbor boy came and mowed the yard. I had a video on Facebook, of the Medina river 6 years ago on Memorial weekend. Huge difference between that year and this year. (That was one of the times we got flooded in and also had no power for awhile. I also had a post out there about using the solar back up to get mom's electric bed and chair to work.) I still keep up with things in BGR and Bandera on Facebook. Although, I should gradually discontinue that. 

Anyway... things are pretty slow and simple here, for us... especially for Ron. 

Creative Work

Work for me is creating cute little blankets out of fabric and ribbon and then finding a stuffed animal that coordinates with it. I did a lot of that this past week. I got about 40 blankets cut... fabric and ribbons. As I am doing that part, I am also recording "cost" of each item. I have finally come up with a simple system for "costs" on each item. Later, it will be easy to enter items in a spread sheet. I got about 10 "floor blankets" cut out and costs figured. I started gathering up supplies for bibs. I made my pattern today, gathered up scraps of flannel, and tried to figure out what terrycloth to order. I also, remembered that I have some plastic snaps that I have never used. I will figure those out this week. I am still on track to move into the Homestead Handcrafts the first of July. I need to go back there next week and sign an agreement for that. I need to get my vendor number, to put on price tags and labels. I love the stuffed animals that I have right now. The floor blankets and the bibs are my new items. I put together the red and white floor blanket yesterday, because I need to figure out packaging for those. I think a 13" x 18" zip lock bag. I can order those on amazon. That red and white floor blanket coordinates with the "Red Barn" taggie and the "Dog Red" taggie. I will have a couple of those ready soon. Here are some pics of my progress.

Baby Eden

I decided that Eden should get her own post 😉 She was born on November 24th. At that point, we had just gotten an offer on the Bandera house and were going crazy with selling that and buying the Cotton Creek house. Most of last year, with covid, we stayed home! So... we haven't even seen Eden "in person" yet. Good thing Alison shares pics online that I can save and copy. Eden is the cutest little girl you have ever seen! Enjoy. (I tried to go in chorological order here, since November, based on what pics Al had on fb).

Happy Mothers Day to Alison

 We haven't seen this family for quite awhile. They are growing up fast. Eden was born in November. They have been building a new house. Alison is homeschooling the kids. We participated in Emmy's baptism online. We saw Eden's blessing online. Just sharing these cute pics from Mothers Day 😉

Happy Mothers Day to Superwoman!

TV Room for Two

 Our upstairs TV room works great for two of us... not so good for several of us- lol. I ordered some new furniture for that room. It should arrive mind June. I guess covid affected the furniture manufacturing and delivery. I was lucky to get an order that soon. That furniture will also be a bit more kid sleeping area if needed. (We only have the one extra king size bed.) What I ordered is not very large, but it will be better than just the two chairs that we have now 😉 It should seat 7. (I am also wanting a small sofa or large chair or settee for our bedroom. I am still shopping for that.) I was going to go to about half a dozen different furniture stores in San Antonio to sofa shop... but I went to the nearest LA-Z-BOY store, and that's as far as I got. Which is good... I don't have time for all that shopping- lol.

BBB Expansion

 I am getting ready to expand my Brown Baby Bird business. I looked at a craft mall yesterday in San Antonio. I haven't decided yet if I could afford to have two locations are just one, but I will probably move into Homestead Handcrafts the first of July. Having that in mind, I ordered a second shipment of Aurora stuffed animals. So my checking account took a pretty good hit, with two orders. I was regretting not ordering "Finn Fox" in my first order and then I discovered a line called "Sweeties" that I didn't know they had. I got three bears and an elephant. I also got a wolf and some more fawns. I am set for at least another year now, on stuffed animals- lol 😬 I started advertising that I do clothing alterations last week. That is my income source to cover extra expenditures 😉 I got one customer right away. He needed a suit jacket altered, for his wedding that is today. I have three other ladies that contacted me. One is coming to see me next week. Basically I need to ramp up my inventory and figure out how to stock a new rental space. Looks like I will spend the month of June working on that and printing new labels and tags. I am always excited to work on new merchandise. (I already have several older sets cut out and ready to sew, those will go together quick) I have been wanting to order cute little BBB tags to sew on the blankets. I went ahead and ordered those last week. I had to have someone from Wunder Label help me design those. Those will be super cute. (I have a pic of the design- real pic later.) I had my first online order customer this month. A friend from Katy ordered two sets, for a family member that is expecting twin boys. I put those together and shipped to Utah. Here are my newest super soft "stuffies" 😉 And the two sets that I shipped and my label design. 

Anniversary "45"

Wow... can it be that Ron and I have been married for 45 years- lol. 💗😉

After "staying home" for a year, selling one house, and moving... I decided that we should take a little trip to celebrate our anniversary. Nothing big. We decided to spend a couple of days at Corpus Christi/Port Aransas.  We booked a motel about a month ago. We drove down there last Sunday afternoon and came back on Wednesday afternoon. We checked into the motel and then drove through Port A... stopping at WhataBurger to get food for dinner. On Monday, we went to the Texas State Aquarium and then to Snoopy's Pier for lunch. Late, Monday afternoon, I went shopping at some of the little stores in Port A. Ron got his book and went and sat by the pool at the motel. For dinner Monday evening, we got Subway sandwiches and went to one of the beaches. Ron enjoyed feeding Doritos to the gulls. We sat out in our folding chairs... in the wind. 😏

On Tuesday we went and rented a "beach cart" for a couple of hours and drove along the beach. Then we went back to the motel and took showers and cleaned up, then went to Tortuga's for early dinner. I did a little more shopping and Ron took his book, out by the pool again 😎

Wednesday morning was grey and rainy! We checked out of the motel about 10 am. It was storming really hard driving through Corpus Christi. I could only see about 3 white lines on the road ahead of me. Each large vehicle that went past me, splashed so much water on the car that I couldn't see at all. We had to drive in hard rain for the first couple of hours. I stopped at a gas station about half way and Ron had to stand in 2 inches of water to put gas in the car. 

Gracie was super glad when we got home. This is the first time that we have been gone and left her at home for more than a short time. She has been sleeping in the bed again- lol 😏😸

It is pretty amazing how quickly we can spend money for just a couple of days- haha. And it wasn't much of a trip, but it was something different than just sitting a home. The motel that we stayed in was painted crazy colors. Bright turquoise exterior and bright yellow and turquoise interior. I guess those bright colors are typical "ocean front" colors. I got a few cute pics. I am terrible at "selfies". 😬 There were gulls and water everywhere... we could tell that it had been raining there, lots of extra puddles and ponds.