Spring

The shock of missing an hours sleep is softened by waking up to Spring. I know spring officially starts in March but the weekend the clocks go forward always feels like the arrival of spring to me. 

I think the more severe the winter the more pleasant the coming of spring and with the storms we've all endured it makes it very sweet. Lambs are in the fields, flowers are popping up, the sun and the rain dance with each other and it's warm enough to leave my coat open when I'm walking the dogs. The days are filled with anticipation and the promise of summer just around the corner. Excuse the pun but it seems people have a spring in their step and things just feel more youthful. I love this time of year. 

We all think about doing a spring clean and shaking of the winter dust and it's the time of plans and projects. (I think that's a Leo Tolstoy quote) So I have a bit of energy to get stuck into some new projects. Luckily I went to the UK last week and came home will a van full of stuff to get my teeth into. With our new stock of Autentico chalk paint the possibilities are endless!

And although I didn't get to see mam today for mother's day (but thankfully I did see her last weekend) today was a great day. The weather was lovely and I was rather productive. I put up new curtains in the house to brighten it up a bit and painted an old desk I had. Tomorrow I will make a start on the new window display at the shop and probably move things around again. And at the end of the day I sat in the porch watching the sunset making my plans.  Over the next few months and we have some exciting stuff happening so watch this space…..

Learn something new everyday

Well we are very lucky to be in beautiful Bali. I've been looking forward to coming to do a course in wood carving since we booked it. Not something I've tried before but the area is famous for it so you've got to really!

I always forget how enjoyable it is to learn something new. I had so much fun despite the sore back and aching hips from sitting on the floor so long day after day. The start of something brings back a special passion that you don't get once you are more accomplished. It's like being a child in a sweet shop, the excitement of trying something you've never done before. 

Now that I'm finished I have such a feeling of accomplishment. I'm very proud of what I've made but you'll have to wait a little while to see it - I've decided to give it as a present to someone. 

Like always, learning something new gives me a bit more focus. I know that must sound odd but when its new and challenging I want to practice and so I reassess (cut down on telly time), juggle and finish the housework a bit quicker to make space for it. It gets me motivated to use my time more wisely to be able to do something I enjoy. 

I took great pleasure in talking with Kadek, our teacher, finding all about life in a village in Bali and sharing stories with the Australians along side us. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't easy but over time I got to learn some techniques, work out the right tools and suddenly the impossible became possible. That was a nice little reminder to myself just what I can achieve. 

I feel like I've worked out some new craft muscles I haven't tried before and my body, mind and spirit feel invigorated. It's never good to get stuck in the same old routine and as Kadek said, 'we see this as meditation'. 

And as the old expression goes ' you never know what you can do until you try.' !

Mindfulness in the Mayhem

Well it was a tough one last week. My laptop went into melt down on Monday evening. I promptly followed it Tuesday evening having spent the whole day trying to fix it instead of going to Dublin as planned. That got rearranged to Thursday but come 7am I was about to set off and noticed I had a flat tyre. I finally got going about 9.45 by which time I'm usually well past Longford. Just to add to the mayhem I still have no Internet in the shop despite sitting on the mast (it's in the back yard!).

Not major problems to some but with my in-laws coming tomorrow I wanted to have a stab at pretending I was a domestic goddess and things were under control. Thats now not going to happen and so my stress levels have been abnormally high!

Then Saturday came and for the first time all week I relaxed. I had a giggle trying to teach the kids club to knit, had a cup of tea with Brendan delivering his beautiful work and sat while someone did a decoupage session in the open studio. 

But it was in that half hour before the kids arrived that I sat knitting that turned my week around. I was watching my fingers and listening to the clink of the needles. Not thinking about the broken laptop or stressing about the in-laws coming just knitting.

It wasn't until the end of the day when I was moving the shop round ( yes again) and I read Be's poster from Mindful Productivity that I realised. It's just about being in the moment. I read somewhere that people who are sad live in the past, people who are anxious live in the future and people who are peaceful live in the moment. Whatever it is....knitting, sewing, decoupage, crafting is escapism. The brain stops thinking about all the other stuff and you live in the moment. And it's incredibly relaxing and very peaceful.

So if you are after a bit of relaxation or stress relief I can highly recommend it! 

Showcase

Two weeks ago I was up in the fair city and was at the RDS for Showcase. I had done lots of prep before looking at the suppliers on-line because with over 400 stands there I wasn't going to get round them all in a day. As it turned out I had a bit of car trouble and was there longer than I expected and was secretly quite pleased to get some extra time at the show.

I went last year before the business opened and I had the same feeling. It's a kind of awe and curiosity. It's amazing that so many products are made in Ireland, so many irish companies and jobs. It's also encouraging to think that all these companies here started off like me, taking what seemed like a giant step to starting your own business. And I suppose all this wonderful 'stuff' is one of the reasons that I started the shop. To 'showcase' what people can make and offer something other than made in China. 

It's no secret round town that I come from a family of shopkeepers. I used to have a cupboard under the stairs in my old house full of shoes and would joke with my dad that it's his fault, it's in my blood. My granddad made shoes and I am intrigued by anyone who makes things. I guess in my own way I went into the family trade and spent more years that I'd like to admit working in Boots. I started in the safe, calm environment of the Head Office on my parents doorstep but it wasn't too long before I traded that for the long hours, hard work and stress of a Store Manager - and I loved it. 

However, after a while the restraints of a big company telling you what to do stifled my creative flare and you start to feel rebellious. My outlet became the night classes in sewing, pottery and French among other things. Soon I was doing my own thing, making stuff on my small pink sewing machine. 

My move to Belmullet gave me a bit more time to be creative and to fulfil the long standing dream of having my own business. The added bonus of this job is the people I meet. There are so many lovely people who inspire me. And so many who humble me and make me feel like I'm their most valued customer and are genuinely interested in helping my business succeed. 

And of course the amazing products that I find and I found some great gems at Showcase made in Ireland by these wonderful people. I love it when my customers come into the shop and are delighted at what they find. The orders that I made at Showcase are going to start arriving this week and I'm looking forward to sharing them with you. I see lots of things I love but I always decide by trying to put myself in my customers shoes and think would she like it and it's always nice to know when I get it right.  So I hope you'll all let me know what you think.

New Window Theme….

It's still a work in progress but the new theme of the window is 'Oh when the saints….' 

It was inspired by a quote I came across recently from one of the most amazing people to ever walk this earth. 

“I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.” Nelson Mandela (RIP) 

There are three saints days that are marked in Ireland one the coming weeks and with them there are lots of craft ideas. The first one is the St Brigid on the 1st of Feb. No doubt there are many schools that will make a cross but for my part I wanted to try something a little different. A cross stitch St Brigid's cross on a hessian square. It's a lovely craft idea for children of all ages and great to keep up the sewing. I like the idea of the St Brigid's cross, it is said to protect the house from fire and evil. I read somewhere that it was possibly derived from the pagan sun wheel and of course St Brigid's feast day falls on the Celtic Imblog (Imbolc) festival. So I thought I'd do a little bit of research.  

The Imblog festival was a festival of girls. The girls of the village would make a 'Bride doll' out of straw symbolising the Goddess Brigit from the last sheaf of the previous year's grain. It was carried from house to house and so brought the blessing to every home.

St Brigid of Cill Dara (Kildare) is believed to have incorporated elements from the worship of the goddess Brigit and so St Brigid's day is a welcome to the spring. I don't know about you but with this weather it doesn't feel like spring is around the corner. I was travelling from Leitrim today and the flooded fields look like they won't be receding any time soon. Anyway I found this in the internet….

'We sing a song to Brigid. Brigid brings the Spring.  Awakens all the fields and flowers, and calls the birds to sing.'

The next is of course St Valentine. Not much is known about this roman saint except for the fact that he died on the 14th of Feb. And of course the third is St Patrick but more to come on that.

Resolve on my Resolution

Well we are mid way through January and the New Year's resolution isn't going so well. It 's the same one that I've made for the last few years and as I have to keep making it then it obviously isn't working. What's the saying…. if you do what you always did you get what you always got!' Well not this year. 

What is this eternal resolution I hear you ask? Simply - to get organised. And anyone that knows me understands why I need to make this resolution. I live my life in a kind of organised chaos and I hoped the hubby might knock it out of me but it seems I've just engulfed him into my chaotic world. 

I do things on a 'just in time' basis and if it doesn't go to plan it can quickly spiral into a  a 'not enough time' basis. So the morning my husband when off the only unlost set of car keys leaving me stranded with two cars on the drive and no key to use either of them, hunting around for the dog bowl in my dressing gown as I had no clothes to throw on because they were all in either the washing pile or the ironing pile I decided 2014 really had to be the year to crack this resolution.

That was mid December and I had grant plans. The shop was closed for a few days and I was going to tackle the ironing pile, catch up on paper work, and generally transform overnight into some mega organised housekeeper and business woman. 

And 16 days into the new year the progress report would make poor reading. However if at first you don't succeed….I am going to keep plugging away at it. I am going to try a few different things and get a bit creative with it. My pal pinterest is a good place to start. I WILL end 2014 more organised than I started!

Irish Word of the Day - Free Irish Vocabulary Lessons Online

Irish Word of the Day - Free Irish Vocabulary Lessons Online