Lament of the Self Employed

One of the things I hear most often is that when you work for yourself, most people think that means you really don't work. Over the years, my friends have evolved into a group of *mostly* self-employed people. Last year when my brother moved in, he told anyone who would listen about how, "Tina plays on the computer all day!" As it was back in the days of the herb shop, the whole idea is to make it look easy. Nevermind that I was working by 7 yesterday morning and finally decided it was time to stop last night around 11. Sure, sure... I did take a couple of breaks in there to cook meals and then there was that other break when I looked at a potential website upgrade, but for the most part, it was all work, all day. Luckily I DO love what I do. But I never miss a sunset.

First, I mentioned in my post about the February Customer Appreciation Drawing (yeah .... I like that name!) that we'd be putting out a book with word puzzles. That's one thing we're working on. Making a post about it and putting a deadline to it really helps get things done around here. I do that to myself all the time, and will nearly break my neck to fulfill a deadline. After all these years, at least I know how to get myself to finish.
The publication will be filled with all sorts of herbal word puzzles, and aside from the herb/word nerds, we will expect that herb groups and businesses will copy them for distribution (singly - not the whole book!), keeping our contact information intact, of course. I know we would have loved such a thing back when we were doing weekly classes and putting out newsletters, etc. at the shop!

The Botanical Bead Powders and Herb Beads, how-to and recipes are keep us stepping around here too! A big chunk of yesterday was spent blending several varieties and packaging them. They go fast, and with the spring shows coming up, I need to come up with an attractive display. The cardamom, star anise, and lemon verbena had the whole place smelling wonderful! I'm wondering about orris root beads. They would have such a lovely delicate fragrance, I think....

OH! I got a box from Sun Rose Aromatics the other day, and it was like a treasure chest! I really just wanted a bottle of Ravensara aromatica for any germs that got into the house this cold and flu season. But that website is so full of wondrous, precious items, it is hard to leave. Very hard. To begin with, I've been looking for these little Japanese (I think they're Japanese...) charcoals for burning incense. I prefer them to the large coarse round ones that are more common. These SEEM expensive, except that when you figure out how many there are in the box and how wonderful they are... it is well worth it!

I got a couple of resins... Elemi, which I'd never tried, and Copal - both from Manila, ethically harvested. Both are amazing!

The Ravensara is (of course) deliciously anise-like in scent. I've always enjoyed it, and my brother (who it is really for since he can't have alcohol based extracts or tinctures), loves the smell while he can't stand the scent of the star anise I was working with yesterday. Me thinks he is toying with me.

There was a bottle of Rosalina - Melaleuca ericifolia which is SO much nicer than other melaleucas. A little research will be going on here, but I just love this stuff. There is a bottle of "Breathing" - a blend of essentials that clear the sinuses, and Roe sent me a bottle of her Root Chakra Balancing blend (LOVE the vetivert and spikenard!), and another wee bottle of Kunzea ambigua, which was accompanied by some information regarding its properties as anti-inflammatory, anti-infectious, anti-microbial, and anti-stress! What an amazing oil! She always slips a gift into an order, making it even more fun to get that box.

Check Roe's site out!