Missing Pieces and Putting It All Together

Lately, I have been in a really creative place. There have been so many ideas and so little hours that I cannot seem to get them all out of my head and down onto paper fast enough. Plus, add onto the situation that I am attempting to get work done, and you have one dizzy person taking notes, looking up things on the computer, and trying here and there to get some of the housework and sewing accomplished that I needed to get done, like last week. My niece's birthday gift, while turning out adorable, is woefully late. My sister always assures me that it is nice for them to get something a bit after their birthday to keep the kids guessing, but I am afraid, this is later than I would have liked. Pictures will follow once I get all of the pieces of that puzzle put together.

This weekend was filled with get togethers and visits from out of town guests. My brother in law came along with one of our friends from Illinois for a business trip that was wonderfully extended into a family visit for the weekend. During that time, we all managed to finish the puzzle that has been moved from apartment to apartment, across the country, and more recently from table to table in an attempt to finally be finished. Since this project was started well before Christmas, I was glad to see it come to an end and pleasantly surprised that it was only missing one piece. I am kind of proud of us all, as no one cheated and looked at the box for clues in any of the puzzle solving process across all that time.

I also put together the puzzle of this year's canning plans. I am doing more this year, and I hope to reach the same number of successes and the same stunning low number of defeats. Along with the jelly and jams, tomatoes, salsa, and peaches, I am going to add things like bbq sauces, pie fillings, fruit cocktails, and some new salsas and jam flavors. I am so excited to get canning this year. First, though, I need to conduct a census of sorts to figure out what I still have and what I will need for the next year. A helpful thing would have been to write down what I started with at the beginning, but, well, I was not thinking long term when the canning bug hit last year. Here is to better planning this year.

Putting the pieces together in my projects can be challenging at first, but as the pictures become more clear and clues are evident for the next course of action, everything just starts to fall into place. Some of those pieces are starting to fall into place for the Etsy Store. Look here for updates soon as to the path of the Fabulous Pants shop and for pictures of the birthday gifts for my niece!