FEBRUARY 20, 2016

Good morning!
Still struggling with what to write.  With the winter weather I feel like I'm stuck in a rut.  Today will be sunny and warm (high 70) then tomorrow, when I have a day off work, we have 80% chance of rain.  Then the temps are suppose to drop and we will have snow again before the end of next week.  Exciting weather report! Ha!

My mom booked us for a Mediterranean cruise for 2 weeks in April.  Now her husband is sick and she may not be able to leave him.  She has wanted to take this cruise for years and has booked the cruise for the last 3 yrs and had to cancel every time.  I don't see how she is going to leave him this year but she is determined to go.  If everything works out for her, we will see Barcelona, Rome, Florence, Naples and more.  Sounds exciting.

I've been looking at places to visit on my long weekends this spring and summer.  A couple places on my list are:  Natchez State Park in Tennessee, Basilica of St. Josaphat in Milwaukee.  If anyone has any suggestions of things to see or do in these areas please let me know.

I've been asked about traveling with a pet and I have to say my dog is too old to enjoy hiking or camping.  I took her to Cumberland Falls state park with me last year and she did very well as long as she could take very short walks and lay around in the cabin.  Her arthritis is too bad for her to walk very far without pain.  When looking for a picture to post everything I found was just a big black furry blob.  Apparently I didn't take any pictures of her outside running and playing when she was young and she doesn't run and play anymore.  Here is Cookie,  she is 15 yrs young and enjoys our walks to the end of the street and back, rides in the car, and treats.

Cookie resting after playing hard

The little dog in front is Georgie. (my daughter's dog)

I'll leave you now.  Have a wonderful day!

FEBRUARY 5, 2016

I've spent the last few weeks actually working.  I've gotten a lot of books on the shelves and the store was looking pretty good then boxes of books started coming in.  I should be stocking today but there is always tomorrow.

After much deliberation I've decided to change my hours for the summer.  Right now the store is only closed on Sunday & Monday.  Starting sometime in May I'm going to start closing on Tuesdays also.  My plan is to stay open later on Wed, Thur and Fri. plus start running special Wednesday sales now so people will get used to the idea of shopping here on Wednesdays.  Today I will put a sign on the door and a notice on facebook about our Wednesday sales.

If the store can survive, this will give me 3 days off each week so there will be more time to take short trips each month.  I enjoy the planning and research for trips so now is the time to start that planning.  We will see how it works this summer.  I sure like the idea of only working 4 days a week.

In addition I'm going to try my hand at container gardening for a few vegetables.  I can't believe the price of squash and bell peppers.  So this year I will try to plant a few in containers and see how they do.  I'm going to start with spinach.  It is a cool weather plant so I should be able to start it in the next couple of weeks and have fresh spinach for April and May.  If the spinach survives I should be able to get the squash and bell peppers started.

Well I have customers coming in I should get back to work.
Have a great day!