An Explanation and A Little Excitement

I had this post nearly ready when life happened.

Thank you all for your patience, prayers, and kindness 

while our family dealt with my dad being sent to another city 

where he underwent two major surgeries in 5 days.

He was in the hospital for 17 days (? I think)

and was allowed only 1 visit from my mom 1 day before his second surgery.

He had never spent the night in a hospital in his life.

He has been healthy all his life.

This was so difficult for all of us who should have been there with him.

He was scared and knew nobody or nothing around him

and wasn't even allowed to have his shaving kit.

I just got to go get him and bring him home today.  

One of the first things Mom did was take the clippers to him

so he can shave later.

We are so relieved to have him home.

Again thank you.

And now the real post.

As many of you are aware, 

we moved about a year and a half ago.

It doesn't seem like it's been that long.

I s'pose that means I'm getting old.

Source

About the time of our move, I put my Etsy shoppe on vacation mode.

A few months after moving, we had a huge yard sale.

We down-sized by about 40%.

I know I've shared that before,

but in doing so, I parted with a lot of vintage items.

I've spent a good part of my 29 years on this earth

(wink wink, gasp, cough - heehee)

attracting vintage items into my life.

Parting with some items has been difficult for me.

That probably sounds silly to some of you.

Anyways, we hope to one day downsize a little more.

Not quite as drastically as another 40%,

but continue to part with the excess.

Hubby and I each have our own areas of collectorism.

Yep, had to make up another word just for y'all.

It seems a little easier for me to part with things little by little.

Source

Also, I finally have my sewing all in one room

which makes knowing what I have and have to do a bit more manageable.

Oh the UFOs I have discovered!

(un-finished objects) 

Up the mountain, I had shelves in the house

and totes on big shelves out in the shop, 

so I was constantly looking for things.

I am working to decrease my stash and have made some progress.

It's slow, but moving in the right direction.

Source

(It's all up to God.)

And the last piece to all of this is: I have a goal.

And like so many lofty goals, it requires an investment.

I have recently begun a "Happy" fund.

It's really a savings.

I am saving to try to reach my goal - yay!

With that, I have decided to reopen my Etsy shoppe.

I am trying to figure out the best place for picture taking

at the new place and am not quite satisfied with the quality

(or lack there of) of photos I've taken.

As I get at least acceptable photos and appropriate packaging for mailing,

I am listing items both vintage and made by me.

I can't believe how the availability of normal mailing supplies

has been altered in recent months - nutty!

I've already made a couple sales - Wahoo!

And I have several listings in draft waiting for pictures

which haven't happened in the past 2 weeks.

Hopefully, things are calming down now

and I will be adding a couple quilts, bonnets, and vintage items

in the next few days.

If you would like to doddle on over and take a peek,

I am ever grateful.

If you have any questions about any of the items,

please feel free to contact me.

I don't mind questions at all and will do my best 

to answer them quickly and accurately.

So that's my "Little Excitement."

It's a fun outlet for me.

In the upcoming weeks, I am hoping to share

"A Big Excitement."

Well, at least for li'l ol' me.

And lastly, the photos above are of an old ghost town not far

from where I grew up.