Maintenance

All the while designing and planning the garden, I need a focus list (I love to-do lists!) of the maintenance projects I desperately need to do this spring:

1) Add metal roofing to chicken run’s roof. The fabric covering on it now is ripping apart - due to the winds we have - and it’s not water proof! Over the last 24 hours we’ve received two inches of blessed rain. The run is a muddy sloppy mess! The girls don’t seem to mind, but I do when I go inside and muck around with them!

2) Build the chicken chunnel to get the girls out and about to do lots of the garden work for me!










There are so many “styles” of chunnels/tunnels. I sort of have one designed in my head to fit our needs but this is a good overall go-by!
 

http://www.askaprepper.com/diy-chicken-tunnel-step-step-guide/

Plus, I’ve found a lot of ideas on youtube!

3) Oh, and FINISH painting the chicken coop! I ran out of time last year. Must get it done! Oh, and add the plastic “Easter” eggs to the coop’s ceiling! We haven’t yet had an issue, but the roofing screws came through to the inside and I don’t want the girls to get hurt if they got that close to the ceiling! I thought this would be a cute way to cover up the pointy ends of the screws!

4) Aerate around our live oak trees. The ground is so hard, compact. It truly hurts my soul every time I walk by them. I feel like I’m choking, as if the trees are choking and screaming at me. Nothing grows underneath, not even weeds. It’s just barren ground with a single beautiful tree growing up from it. I plan on taking one tree at a time and plant something around at its drip line (will not get close to the tree itself), then sow shade loving grass seed between the trunk and the new plants. I found the perfect tool for this job and it arrives Monday! It’s call the Yard Butler Lawn Coring Aerator Manual Grass Dethatching Turf Plug Core Aeration Tool!!!

I’m sure I will be adding much more to this Maintenance to-do list, but this is a good start! It helps me stay focused and I know how I need to “budget” my time!

Something Shiny

Even for those of us who are unemployed (outside of the home) and with no children to shuffle here and there, or have studies to focus on, effective time management can be an issue. It is for me anyway! It’s the shiny things that cause my distractions!

But, effective is relative.

I can spend days, even weeks, on a special project ~ like sewing, creating a quilt for one of our veterans or someone in need, or maybe a new bag for my mother’s walker. Or, start/work until finished on a much needed organization and renovation project in our home. During this time, basically everything else ~ like housekeeping or yard work ~ goes on the back burner. The kitchen stays manageable to prepare meals, laundry stays caught up, and the bathroom is half-way presentable. But, that’s about it.

Then… you find out company is coming!

When that bell rings, it is then I start seeing all sorts of stuff that I should do to make our home more presentable. It now rather than later, like…

Clear out dust bunnies in all the corners.

Vacuum the pieces of lint and unidentifiable objects off rugs and floors.

Clean windows/glass doors.

Mop floors.

Pack up Works in Progress (WIP) in sewing room (because it’s also the guest bedroom!)

Etc

Etc

Etc

Lists. Daily lists!

I hand write it out, what I need to do, everything! Even if the “need” is right there in my face, I write it down!

I don’t have a fancy phone (no cell service here), so I don’t have an “app” and I don’t want to put one on my laptop because when I get near my computer I find too many distractions, like emails, Facebook, Twitter, or Jigsaw Planet! And, I don’t spend time estimating how long it will take me to do this or that. That’s a waste of time!

To-Do lists are a life saver for me. It keeps me focused, and on task. When I do see something shiny and go off in another direction (something else I needed to do, but it wasn’t on the list), I will eventually come back to the to-do list and find my focus once again.

I love seeing strikethroughs down my list! I feel such a sense of accomplishment when I have to get a new piece of paper! Yes, no fancy “apps” here, I just use scratch paper!

When company comes, I don’t do anything I shouldn’t do anyway. It’s always so nice to have a clean-for-me house three or four times a year!

Once I’m back on my own, because I took the time to organize the current WIP as I worked through the to-do list, I will feel more relaxed, and focused, and ready to finish the work I want to do!

Have you made a to-do list today?

Do it!

Darn it. I had a great opening line of a new book hit me while riding to Dallas last weekend. I pondered over it for several miles and thought I would remember it forever.

Wrong.

I can only “hear” bits and pieces from the character. She’ll come back, when she’s really really ready. I know this because she has a story to tell.

Someday I’ll learn to write things down. I had pen/paper in my purse, but, again, thought I’d remember because her questioning (yes, I remember she was asking a question) was so strong.

The older I get, the more notes and lists I should make. Life happens. The ole mind switches gears in a heart beat. Concentrate. Reach down and pull out that little spiral notebook. Use it for more than a Wal-Mart or Jo-Ann’s list.

Don’t wait, Lanetta!

Do it!

Do you make lists?

Pre-Planning Lists

What do you do to ready yourself, and your products, for an art and craft show? I’ve done several outdoor shows, but I’m no expert and it’s exactly why I’m asking you! In the meantime, I’m searching the Internet for virtual feedback already provided – I just have to find it!

Life experiences have taught me to do several things to help myself organize. I’ll share with you, please share with me…

A couple of weeks out, I start making a list of (non-sale) items I want to have available in my booth, not just for me personally, but some items for visitors, too. At the top of this list are a trash bag (hopefully to remain bee-free, unlike what you’ll find around the town square!), box of tissues (little boys love tissues!), hand sanitizer, and an extra, quickly available chair.

I remember vividly my last show…

It was in the spring. My sister came from Dallas to help/share the booth. It got extremely warm that afternoon – not an unexpected occurrence in Texas. I now realize it was a precursor to our miserably hot summer! Anyway, I’ve always arranged my tables/items where a few folks at a time can “enter” and get underneath the shade of the canopy. I’m so glad I had shade to offer a particular seasoned citizen that walked in, leaning precariously on her cane. Her pasty skin and dazed expression greatly concerned us that she was on the verge of blacking out. My sister immediately offered her a chair. I ran and got water from another vendor. (My mother would have told this lady she should be wearing a hat!) After a while, she recovered nicely and left the booth with a wide smile and a pink complexion! I’m so glad we were there for her.

Another list I create is simply a category of items/products I plan to offer. This is just a general list of things I’ll have within the booth such as aprons, card holders, tissue holders, books, doll clothes, bags, bookmarks, prayer beads, and anything else I may have by then. (I have several new products to add, if I have the time to get them done!) Having this category list helps me in coming up with the various displays I will need.

A running to-do list also begins a couple of weeks out. Putting a price tag on each apron, etc. is on the top of this list. I’m really bad about not attaching tags as I go. If I did, it would make the last weeks before a little easier! But, I just want to create!

Making name/price “signs” for categories is second on the to-do. Like the tissue holders (for those small plastic wrapped individual size tissue packages that get torn to shreds down inside a purse or a backpack or a diaper bag)... I don’t put a price tag on each one. Instead, the display holder itself will have some sort of sign with the price.

Next I create an inventory list. This list shows each item and its price, and any notes of a free item that may go with the purchase. It’s a good thing to have this inventory list within a notebook in case a price tag gets lost or if on a bathroom break a helper needs price verification!

And, finally, a priority list of things I would love to get done for the show! If I don’t, that’s okay. I've got to draw the line somewhere, and simply wait until the next show!

Speaking of which, I have several shows coming up! Check out the Events page and try to come by! I love meeting new people, and always enjoy the warm familiar friends who stop by my booth to say hello!

Anyway... the main reason for all my lists … so I can better focus. Especially when life gets in the way, I can go back and check my lists and not fret over the little things because I wrote them down in between the clouds.

Now, to figure out how to make the booth attractive & showy with all my pretty ;) handmade items!

Don’t forget … please share how you prep, organize, and ready for your arts/craft shows!

P.S. For addition information, check out Tips For a Successful Art Show written by Pepi's Musings!!!