a search for authenticity
After another day spent digging grass, leveling ground and move about a ton of rocks - we now have a walkway. The big brown spot you see beside the patio is where the pool will go.
Transforming our backyard into enjoyable, livable space is becoming a reality. Here’s a pic (taken with my mobile) of the completed patio & fire pit bowl. Tomorrow 2 flower beds will be added and a walkway. Then on Monday I will finally tackle the vegetable bed.
I’m expecting a good deal of back pain to set in on Sunday or Monday. That is because I am going to spend most of tomorrow moving 2 tons of rocks to make a patio and a walkway through our backyard. When it’s finished and I’m laid up b/c of the back pain - I’ll post some pics.
Happy 3-day Weekend!
Here is an example of why I have the most amazing friends…
Last night a few friends gathered for a bbq. After we ate, we sat in the hot tub for a bit. Yeah, I had to put on a bathing suit - only to discover that the year of storing it away with the rest of my summer clothes had made my bikini bottoms shrink about 1 size. Oh, well. I was not going to worry about and just go have fun with my friends. And, I did. Especially when one of my girlfriends commented that I have a “cute butt”. Then another girlfriend, who knows that I sometimes think my chest is too small, said that she was surprised at how large my boobs looked in my bathing suit. Seriously, I will love these girls until the day I die.
I spent a little over 8 hours doing yard work on Saturday. Right now everything on my backside from the top of my shoulders to the heels of my feet hurt. And my reward? Three leveled, mulched flower beds. Only one more bed left to take care of - the raised vegetable bed (which I still need to build), then Phase 1 of my Master Plan for the backyard will be complete. The next phase in the plan is to build one large stone patio & some walkways. My goal is to finish them all before we open the pool in June.
I didn’t go to bed on Friday night. Instead I made jewelry while catching up on some of my favorite TV shows. On Saturday morning I headed over to the Fan and set up a booth at the Strawberry St. Festival to sell my jewelry, for the first time ever to the public. I was nervous, but excited while setting up my tiny, card-table of jewelry. But, that excitement quickly died as I watched the other jewelry-makers set up - huge tents, multiple tables, beautiful displays and wonderful crafts. I wanted pack up my jewelry, that suddenly seemed like stuff a preschooler would make during arts & crafts, and sneak away before anyone noticed me. But, I didn’t. Instead I stuck it out – and I’m glad I did. I was hoping to sell at least one piece. Which I quickly did! My first customer even gave me a hug! In total, I sold 7 pieces! Which I’m really proud of, but more so, I’m proud of myself for taking the chance and sticking it out when things got ugly.
I learned a lot through this experience. First, that I’m under-pricing my jewelry. Second, that I have a great bunch of supportive friends who were there to encourage me when I was feeling insecure and I wanted to give up. So, what’s next? Maybe the Farmer’s Market?!
Tomorrow I will be setting up a booth at the Strawberry St. Festival with my friend Aimee. I’m getting very nervous about selling my jewelry. I go back and forth between fearing that I won’t sell anything at all and extreme excitement that a total stranger might take home something I created. I realize that it’s silly to be this insecure about my creations - so what if I don’t sell anything, at least I took the chance. Anyway, I probably will pull an all-nighter tonight to finish all the stuff I want to make. Feel free to stop by with coffee.
Jealous of my VP’s extensive vocabulary, a co-worker & I signed up to receive “Word of the Day” emails. One of my words over the weekend was sub rosa which is a new phrase to me, but truly captures my circle of friends. Meaning secretly or privately, sub rosa comes from Latin, literally “under the rose”. From my Word-A-Day, I learned that the rose had a strong association with confidentiality in ancient times. The ceilings of Roman banquet-rooms were decorated with roses to remind guests that what was spoken sub vino (under the influence of wine) was also sub rosa.
Sub vino. Sub rosa. How perfectly that describes the level of trust among my friends. We welcome each other into our homes for sharing of wine and life. We trust each other with all the hopes, dreams, fears, silliness, sadness and happiness that may happen to come out after a couple of glasses of wine. We trust that all of our thoughts and feelings are welcomed, valid and sub rosa.
On another note, I think Sub Rosa sounds like a great name (or at least serve as inspiration) for the girls only book club I mentioned starting 100 years ago…..
I’m so excited about today that I woke up at 7:30. I never get up that early on the weekend. Dan is going on a fishing trip today with a couple of guy friends, so I get full run of the house! Right now I have covered our dining room table with beads and jewelry making supplies. I’m going to spend most of the morning making jewelry to sell at the Strawberry St. Festival. It will be the first time that I’m selling my jewelry to the public. I’m very nervous about it.
After the jewelry making I will clean house, garden, go to a beer festival, hit up a girl’s night and then crash onto my bed. Oh, Saturday, I love you!!
I’m in a funk and want to run away. If I could go anywhere in the world right this moment I would go to this beach in Italy and sip wine:
Where would you go?
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