I am excited, stressed, sort of pulling hair out, and jumping up and down today trying to get my taxes done. It's been so busy for the last month that I had only gathered the papers and not actually sat down to do them!  I managed to get about 60% of the way through last night and am now twiddling thumbs because the 21 month old REALLY does not want me to do taxes unless she's "helping" me. (Though who knows? Maybe that's a good thing when it comes to IRS forms)

The good news is that it was busy due to an awesome wedding, my 40th birthday, and tons of sales in both shops!

Next weekend I get to attend a beginners lampworking class here and learn the basics of glass bead making with torch and kiln. I have really come to be fascinated with that art as I use lampwork more and more in my work. I love to look at beads now and try to figure out how they were done. Then I got to have a "play date" with a torch a couple of months ago and loved it. So that is my 40th birthday present. Friends and family chipped in so I could take the class.

Am I upset about 40? Not really. I actually feel pretty lucky at present. I am retired. I get to see my kids all day and randomly take them to the beach.  I get to make creative things and occasionally sell them. I captain my own ship and if somebody annoys me I don't have to work with them. I really don't feel different crossing the 40 line, just probably less stressed than when I crossed the 30 line. It's pretty nice.

I would say my only gripe is still the Fibromyalgia and zillions of accompanying physical problems, but I have reached the stage where I have found the lemons I was given, made lemonade out of them, and most of the time am on the porch sipping lemonade. If I take things VERY slowly I can get some things done, like planting a garden.

That's what life really is anyway.  It's a garden and as the old saying goes, you reap what you sow. You get out of it, what you put into it. "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make."

Love you all out there that are trying to "plant your gardens" or even get through your own personal lemon grove just so you can make lemonade. There's hope. If you are newly diagnosed with one of the silent illnesses that rage through our bodies, you're not crazy. Listen to yourself. Listen to your doctors, but with a grain of salt. You know what's best for you and with many illnesses the management is unique to the individual. For instance, I take lyrica, and that med makes some people really sick, others not.

Just keep trying and you will eventually find ways to manage parts of your illness and things DO get better. 

Again, if any of you want to message me on FB under windscrydesigns, or here on blogger to talk about this, or if you just want to post, please do!

Spring is here!

Spring is here, and my garden outside is blossoming. The roses are slowly coming back with gorgeous shiny foliage and tiny buds that are exploding into lovely blooms.

My peach trees are covered in tiny fuzzy baby peaches that are about the size of a fingernail. Here is a pic of the first peach blossoms:

I have been out weeding all of the beds and trying to get a handle on what sort of space we have back there. I can sow a lot of seed directly into the ground here due to the climate, as long as I keep up on my watering. So far we will be growing:

Dwarf Nastutriums in mixed colors
California poppies for my daughter's grassy slope that she loves to play on
Cucumbers (straight eight variety)
Velvet Queen red sunflowers
Mammoth Russian Sunflowers (yellow)
Scarlet Emperor Runner Beans
Early Golden Bantam Sweet Corn
Ruby Queen Sweet Corn (red)
Grandpa Ott Morning Glories (dark purple with pink centers)
Sweet Onions
Catnip
Nasturtiums (rambling variety)
Yellow summer Squash
Zucchini
Sugar Pie Pumpkins
Crimson Sweet Watermelon
Petite sweet carrots
grapes
apricots
peaches
guavas
pomegranates
Lemons
dwarf oranges
Kumquats
Yams
Red Potatoes
Aloe
Tomatoes
Strawberries (TONS)

Herbs:
African Blue Basil
Thyme
Basil
Greek Oregano
Parsley (flatleaf)
Garlic
Rose petals and hips
Lavender
Yes, I know, it's quite a list but seeds were 20 cents a pack so we went a little nuts, and some of the other stuff we already had in place. We are also adding Pink Jasmine on a trellis, Lantanas, Hibiscus, and Purple calla lilies.

We hope to make lots of Jam out of the fruits, eat and/or can or freeze the veggies. The garden came with many mature fruit trees and a green house so we already have a leg up! The Zucchini will turn into a lot of zuchini bread for family and friends.

Other than being obsessed about planning the garden, things have been ok. My ebay business selling Vera Bradley bags has been doing well this month, and I am having to restock to keep something in shop!  My spring items that over wintered are ready to come out and be sold,

The jewelrymaking has progressed. I got a GORGEOUS workbench for Christmas, so have a space to organize and work. I am hoping to take a beginner's lampworking class in April and then expand and ventilate the space in the garage a bit and use it to make some beads.

I went through a pretty tough month last month, which is part of why I had not blogged. I don't have depresion most of the time, but the sleep doctor put me on Zoloft, which actually made me depressed and made me feel like I was too weak to get out of bed most of the time, though I did not sleep. ><

I even felt like my creative juices were cut off so I stopped making things for about 3 weeks!!! It also caused what I think is a tendinitis (or at the least a fibro flare) in my left shoulder that has been killing me, so I am having to take Lorcet for pain 1 to 2 times in the evening. I am hoping my doc can fix the shoulder issue on Friday. :)

Now I am on Lexapro on the tiniest dose they can give me. I feel no anxiety, but it's not helping me go to sleep, LOL. Here I am at 5 am typing this.

Family matters still are what they are. No fences have been mended. We have a wedding coming up for my brother in law next week, so we will be there. I am a little anxious about that because , after we went to the engagement party someone in the family was posting nasty things about my 9 year old. I don't think they will do it again, but we will be studiously ignoring that part of the family and instead, focusing on experiencing the joy of seeing our brother FINALLY marrying the right lady.  We love you Ang. :)

So anyway, that's what I have been up to. If you would like to see my new jewelry it is at http://www.etsy.com/shop/WindscryDesigns

My Vera Bradley Handbags and Lands End stuff is in my Ebay store at:

http://stores.ebay.com/skyemberr

I should be getting some very cool new Vera Bradley patterns in within the next week. I am expecting Rhapsody in Hue, Tea Garden, Twirly Birds in Alice, Makes Me Blush in Alice, and possibly some Carmody and Mocha Rouge. :) Please feel free to ask me if you are looking for a Vera pattern in particular and I can try to get it in stock at a good price.

Please post below and tell me how YOUR garden is doing. Are you making any plans? Do you want chickens this year?