I'm still alive!

So, we have a new internet shop, La Casa di Lupini.  The garden and patio shop died a natural death, it was not profitable at all, in fact, we wasted a lot of money on it.  We opened the new shop last February, and have done well so far.  

We have a house and garage, and 2 storage units full of artwork, books, china, jewelry, orientalia, native american baskets and other lovely things - all left to us by our families.  Some pieces going back to the 1800's - so I've been doing lots of research!

My husband's mother passed 2 years ago, and my mother passed last year, so we've been very busy dealing with estates, lawyers, moving furniture, etc...had one huge house to empty, and one small apartment.  Goodwill made out like a bandit!  And all the keepers from my mom's house had to be moved about 300 miles to here.  Two trips with U-Haul trucks, and I still gave tons of furniture away to her friends there in Lincoln City, Oregon.

Here's some pictures of her beautiful house and garden:

That was in January!  Lucky coast dwellers!   The house sold quickly, thank goodness.  I would have loved to live there, but it's in a VERY restrictive Home Owner's Association.  As in a 3-page list of rules, including you cannot play music at ANY hour of the day, which can be heard by your neighbor.  And they have a nice little color chart showing the colors you can paint your house (pick your favorite shade of brown).  My Dad fought them tooth and nail to be able to build that lovely deck!  Needless to say, I could not live there!

That's about it for now, but I'll sure try to get on here more often...Happy Spring!

(old photo from Mama's garden in summer.)

WOW, since March I've not posted!!

Yep, that's when the hot flashes started...I'm about to be 52 years old.  The night sweats were the worst - I could not sleep, and seriously thought I was going to lose my mind.  The day-time ones sometimes made me have to lay down, as I would get dizzy.

I tried several herbal products (I hate pharmaceuticals) and no WAY would I consider hormone therapy, but I finally lucked out!

Complete Balance, manufactured by Natrol.  Available online - I found it on sale at my local Rite Aid.  It's not expensive, and after ONE FULL MONTH of taking it, I am SO much better, it did not kick in until a month on it though...just ordered 2 more months worth at Swanson, online.  I've been on it 2 months now.

In other news, I'm busy dividing iris, and doing general fall cleanup - and cat wrangling.

Japan

19th century  painting by  Katsushita Hokusai

I've been reading news articles this morning, about the ongoing tragedy in Japan.  My husband spent many years there in the Navy, so it has been a worrisome time for him, attempting to contact old friends.

Snow Day! (sort of)

Snowball Bush (Viburnum)

We got our annual Late February Last Snow last night - I awoke to a light dusting - so beautiful before the traffic starts moving and the streets get ugly.  I sure wish it snowed here like it used to when I was a kid.

They keep saying Global Warming is a crock, but I know for sure it's warmer on average here in the Rogue Valley now, than it was 40 years ago.  We used to get at least a foot of snow

Food For Thought

A hypothetical situation for you:

You are out to dinner, or in a club, or in a store and someone mistakes you for an employee, and asks for your assistance, or other service.  Now you know that according to the "way things are", your "social standing" puts you far above anyone who would be employed as a waiter, waitress, or shop clerk.  How do you react?

Are you insulted, but don't say anything and just ignore the person?  Do you say something cutting or rude to them?  Or do you explain their mistake gently to them?  Or maybe even help them to find the item or person they need WHILE explaining you don't work there?

I found this to be a very well-written, thought-provoking article, and I'd like to think I'd behave as the Four-star General did:  Bob Greene's Opinion Piece