First, it's been the week of, "uh-oh, check the fuses." The list (so far, don't want to get too cocky, here) is: one running toilet, one broken water heater, one slurring stereo system, two empty propane cannisters (in the middle of a picnic), and an engine light glowing amber. Oh and when I switched the heat on the other night to take the chill out of the house, nothing happened.
There was a time that each and every one of these things would have thrown me into a tizzy. Having them all happen in one week might have sent me either to my bed or to packing my bags (and at one point there, I did speculate on both options), but instead, I'm thinking about how smoothly it is all going.
My brother-in-law Bob took on the challenges of the toilet and water heater in good humor, replacing parts in both of them within a day or two.
The stereo was old, and I just pulled out a portable cd player, slapped in some heavy blues, and went about my work in the kitchen - that always goes better with music.
I expected the one propane cannister to be empty, but it was a shock to find the second one was also empty. Still can't figure that one out, but while the chatter and laughter on the deck continued, I moved the food to a giant skillet in the kitchen to finish.
The engine light is something I've had checked before. It happens every time the car gets a new tank of gas - which is once every month or two. Eventually I'll wander down to the service place and they'll look at it, and reset it. Someday I'll just get it fixed, but it's hard to hand over the cash for something that isn't important.
The guy is coming over this morning to check the furnace. It's only a couple of years old, so it's probably something like a spider web or a reset button. Either way, it hasn't gotten cold enough yet to be a major problem, so I'm grateful to have found it now, because everyone knows these things usually happen on weekends in the middle of a blizzard.
The flip side of all this, is that the lid blew off my sister's wholesale soap business a couple or three weeks ago, and it's been a rare day without a couple of nice orders coming in.
We've been making soap, cutting soap, trimming soap, wrapping soap, and delivering soap.In there somewhere, I was invited to work on a project that is truly beyond my wildest dreams, and so far that's been great fun.
We're working on the Nov/Dec issue of The Essential Herbal, and it is coming along nicely (when, you might ask? oh... here and there), and By the Hearth is in the computer in great need of massage. The printer is going to love me! Subcriptions are up and show no sign of stopping, and sales of books, etc. (where you can also buy these soaps) have kept me hopping, too.
We have two shows in the next week - the only ones we kept on the calendar this fall - and we'll be ready for them.
And then it will be October - the busy season begins :-).
They say that it's all about perspective. This month, I'm learning a lot about perspective. It looks good from here!
