Friday, July 29, 2016

Thank you

Thank you Lady Hawthorne and everyone else who has given some tips and encouraged me with this issue.

It sounds so easy for all of you living in states other than FL. I went to the website for getting a sales tax id and below is a pic of the requirements for a sole proprietor to have before registering to collect sales tax here in FL. For ‘Pete’s sake’.

tax-id-requirements

This is depressing to say the least! Etsy doesn’t give out a 1099K for the IRS unless you have $20,000 in sales or 200 sales in a year. I would need to keep records, which wouldn’t be hard to do.

What I really need to figure out is what is the ‘easy-peasy’ way to get a sales tax id# here in FL.

Hopefully this will be figured out sometime soon. Smile If not, I give up. It won’t be the end of the world, just the end of my shop, unless I just don’t sell to people who live in Florida. I don’t even know if that is possible, but it is a thought.

Later ~ Have a great weekend ~ FlowerLady

Thursday, July 28, 2016

I am getting more flustered

 

Hi Folks ~ I went to my bank this morning to see about opening a DBA account for my Etsy shop. I have to have a fictitious name certificate before I can open an account, which costs $50, I just checked online. There will be a bank fee of $17 a mo. unless I have a certain amount that will stay in the account. SIGH!

To get a sales tax # doesn’t sound hard, but I think I will have to get the certificate mentioned above first.

From what I can figure out from online is that I also need a business license even for an online store. I will be sole proprietor.

My mind is reeling! I wish I had someone to talk with and walk me through this. I am not good at figuring out this kind of stuff.  DH was, I’m ‘FlowerLady’, he took care of all of geek/business stuff while I took care of home, gardens, worked for 17 years at my job, and create my needleworks.

I’m wondering if it is even worth it.

I’ll take a break again from thinking about all of this, in other words, procrastinate some more, and pray about it too.

I did read on Etsy that in order to do business there, you really do need the business license and the tax #. I think there are a lot of sellers who don’t realize this. We are led to believe we can just start selling on Etsy.

Other than that, I am thankful today for, flowers, shade, a.c. food to eat, a nice bed to nap/sleep in, bills are paid and my feet aren’t hurting.

This is a short little post to vent my somewhat frustrated feelings.

I’d appreciate prayers and any feedback with this issue. ~ FlowerLady

***

Indecision becomes decision with time.
Author Unknown

Do not plant your dreams in the field of indecision,
where nothing ever grows but the weeds of "what-if."
Dodinsky

Everything is something you decide to do,
and there is nothing you have to do.
Denis Waitley

***

I love to create! Right now I’ve been working on things that are to give to others rather than things that are for sale. This was the last piece I created for my Etsy shop and it is sitting, waiting for my shop to open up again.

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Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Being Content

 

Good morning Friends ~ Thanks for all of your comments. I am still enjoying using the Blue Emu Cream. One commenter said it didn’t work for her, and I was sorry to hear that. This cream is not a ‘cure-all’, but it does alleviate pain. Also, I should have mentioned that the instructions say to use this cream 2-3 times a day for 2-3 weeks, then as needed.  Natural healing remedies take time usually to kick in and do their thing. I hope it works for those of you who do try it and that it gives you some relief from whatever pain you are suffering from.

This past week I’ve had several bits and pieces come to me either through reading, watching a you-tube movie, through nature, etc. reminding me to be content whatever my circumstances may be. It has really be a learning experience with this thought, especially since my dear husband left this planet to be with God 3 1/2 years ago.

We don’t know the ‘why’ of things that happen in our lives, but as a believer in Jesus, I know that He will supply all my answers when the time is right. Maybe not in this life, but certainly in the next one.

As a widow, I have been drawn closer to God and He is my strength each and every day. If I didn’t have Him in my life, I would be a basket case. He gives me peace and joy and I know my husband and I will be reunited again one day.

Part of being ‘content’ is being thankful for all that we have. I saw this saying yesterday on you-tube.

“The happiest people don't have the best of everything,
They just make the best of everything they have.”

In another video I heard something like this:

If you drive a Mercedes, be thankful.

If you drive a jalopy, be thankful.

If you had a steak for dinner, be thankful.

If you had a hot dog, be thankful.

Whatever you have, much or little, be thankful, be content.

The Apostle Paul wrote in the book of Philippians 4:11-13 the following encouraging words.

***

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.

I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation,

whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  

I can do all this through Jesus who gives me strength.

***

With thoughts about being content running through my head I went out yesterday morning with thankfulness in my heart and mind. Having my feet not hurt so much it was a joy to go out and tackle some trimming and weeding along the driveway. Working in the shade was nice, there were some sweet breezes, birds were chirping, there were times of silence when no traffic was racing down the road out front and it felt good to be alive.

Last night for supper I sauteed some tipalia filets in butter and served them over rice with a Kiwi Sauce.  Delicious!  You could serve this sauce with chicken also.

Here’s the recipe which I found here.

Kiwifruit Ginger Sauce for Whitefish

1/2 cup each vertically sliced onion, julienne carrot and green pepper

1 tablespoon each julienne fresh ginger root and vegetable oil

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup each packed brown sugar and vinegar

3 kiwifruit, pared and sliced

4 (6 oz.) whitefish steaks or fillets, steamed or poached

Saute onion, carrot, green pepper and ginger in oil. Mix cornstarch and water; add brown sugar and vinegar. Pour over vegetable mixture and cook until thickened. Quickly stir in kiwifruit. Pour over prepared fish just before serving.

Makes 2 1/2 cups sauce.

***

I didn’t take a photo last night, but here’s one I took in 2010, when I first made the recipe.

image

I have left-overs for another meal. Smile Tonight I want to make a recipe for ‘Elizabethan Chicken’ made using green grapes. I always loved cooking for my husband. He was a good sport always trying new recipes, and thanked me for meals cooked and enjoyed together. I miss that part of my life. I still need to eat, I still enjoy cooking, and I am learning contentment in cooking for one, and having more left-overs. I truly have much to be thankful for.

It is so easy to feel ‘dis-content’ with all the social media that surrounds us. Always pusing us for more, bigger, better, to keep up with everyone else, we need this that or the other thing, etc.  Acquiring more ‘things’ can’t give us deep down contentment. We need to step back and seriously think about not following the whims of the materialistic world that we live in. Be free to be ourselves, to be different. To live a calmer and more peaceful life.

Did you know that our minds process 60,000 thoughts a day, and 80% of them are negative. WOW!  It’s no wonder we are not content.

Let’s start today, if we haven’t already, to live in each and every moment we are blessed with. Bad and upsetting things and circumstances can still come our way, and hopefully through them we will become better people, growing stronger. When negative thoughts pound on us or sneak up on us, let’s think of what we have to be thankful for.

Earlier this morning there was a lovely cloud formation when I went outside. I just love those colors. All of those lavenders, blues, peaches and grays. (Please excuse the powerlines, they are part of life, there is still beauty to be seen behind them.)

06-26-morning

We had a little rain around 4ish this morning. We need more, and there are some gray clouds overhead, rain predicted for later this morning, but time will tell. Ah, we just had a few more rain drops.

After I finish this post, I am planning to make a loaf of banana bread using up two ‘ripe’ bananas.

Thanks again for visiting and your kind comments. I am blessed.

FlowerLady

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This lovely little stained glass window was a gift made by Karen and Carl, of Quarry Gardens blog, after my husband left this planet. Two hearts are joined as one, with a sweet rose in the center, a gentle and pretty reminder of love and life. Thanks again K and C. I see this every day, it is in my south facing window.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Prices & Reviews for Blue Emu Cream

 

Hi folks ~ I thought I’d tell you about the prices of  ‘The Original Blue Emu Super Strength Cream’. SAM’s club is the cheapest, Walmart is next. If you buy the 12 oz. jar you will save the most money. I will be ordering from SAM’s when I need a refill.

I read more reviews again this afternoon and you might want to read some yourself before you buy. There are 46 reviews at the link listed below, and plenty more if you Google for them.

The Original Blue Emu Super Strength Cream

This is my 4 oz. jar of the cream.  Isn’t it a pretty color. It does not stain. The lid says it is odor free, but I smell a very delicate, nice scent.

07-20-blue-emu-cream

Thank you all for your kind comments, thank you to those who have become new followers, it does my heart good.

This morning I got outside late and worked for an hour between 9-10. I started feeling a tad funky, so decided to finish what I was doing and head inside for the rest of the day. The heat and humidity are awful. We’ve still got August and September to go down here, and they can be pretty brutal. I will be glad when fall comes.  For now, I’ll work outside in the mornings, then hibernate in the a.c., and be thankful that I have that luxury.

That’s it for now. Let me know how you like the Emu Cream, those of you are going to give it a try. I’m interested in hearing how it works for you, or not.

Love & hugs ~ FlowerLady

***

Healing is freedom from worry.
Healing is to live and not to pretend to live.
Healing is gratitude.
Healing is balance.
Healing is letting go.
Healing is the energy of now.
Terri Guillemets

Friday, July 15, 2016

Blue Emu cream, a heart, a date

Good morning Folks ~ It’s been almost a month since I posted a ‘real’ post. Thank you all for kind comments, encouraging words and prayers. They’ve all helped lift me out of a ‘slump’.

One thing that has really had me down is dealing with the pain in my feet from Plantar fasciitis. I’m taking herbs & vitamins, doing excercises and even broke down and went to my massage lady for a full body, deep tissue massage. That was absolutely wonderful. I’ve NOT been going barefoot, which is a real bummer for this girl I can tell you that.  I hate wearing shoes of any kind inside.

Last week at church one of the men and I were talking and he asked me how I was doing.  I told him about dealing with PF and he told me about this great cream that someone had told him about and it had done wonders for different pain, arthritic and other for him. It is the “Original Blue Emu Super Strength” cream. He told me he bought it at Walmart, and on the way home from church, I stopped at Walmart and bought a jar, $12.48 for 4 oz. (I since have seen that I can get it at SAM’s club 12 oz. for $24.88, which is a better deal.) It is a light blue in color, non-greasy, has a slight, pleasant scent (to me), non-staining, goes right into your skin, does not burn or feel hot or cold. I massaged it into my feet, especially the right one Sunday and Monday. Tues., Wed., Thurs., pain is almost non-existent. It has great reviews online, which I read after buying. I am totally amazed and oh so thankful. Some of the ingredients are Glucosamine and MSM with Aloe Vera and Emu Oil. MSM reduces pain and inflammation. Glucosamine is said to ease joint pain. Emu Oil is an anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic agent. We all know that aloe vera is good for our bodies and skin. Anyway, check out this cream for yourself. I am not getting anything for this, this is my honest review from personal use.

Having my feet feeling so much better, I feel energized about doing things again. Plus today started the ‘8th Annual ‘Where Bloggers Create’ series, and that has inspired me. This link takes you to Karen’s own creative space, she is the hostess, and at the bottom of this post links are starting to appear as bloggers post links to their own creative spaces.  I look forward to seeing this event every year. It is fun and there are ideas galore to inspire anyone who is creative.

About my Etsy shop, a lady friend from church talked with me about getting licenses, etc. for my shop and I think I’m going to go for it. I’ll let you know when my shop is open again.

Last Sunday I was asked to pray for a little girl who just turned six. Her mom is in jail, she did not have a birthday celebration and my heart was touched. Since then I kept thinking about making her a heart, and yesterday was the day. Her name is Summer and I ask that you pray for her and her Mom also. I do not know the situation, just asked to pray for Summer.

This was a joy to make. Seed beads, sequins, a glass flower bead, a metal heart charm, a Swaroski crystal beed in the center of the star, sequins, French knots and stem stitches. It is 4 1/2” wide by 4 1/4” high.

06-15-summer-heart

06-15-summer-heart2

06-15-summer-heart3

06-15-summer-heart4

07-15-summer-heart-bk

 

Now, as to my ‘date’.  It was with ‘myself’. Smile  I went to see ‘The Legend of Tarzan’. Tarzan was a character that my dear husband really liked as a kid. He did NOT like to read as a boy, and his Mom gave him her childhood Tarzan books by Edgar Rice Burroughs and ever since then he was an avid reader of all kinds of subjects. As a newlywed, I also read those same books and loved the stories and adventures. Well, I decided to go Wednesday morning to the 10 a.m. showing which is only $5.75. There were only 5 of us in the audience. I sat in the middle high enough so that I was viewing the center of the screen, perfect and I will do that again when I go. The movie was fantastic, if you are a Tarzan fan. Beautiful scenery, huge gorillas, good overcame evil and it was a wonderful love story between Tarzan and his lovely Jane. I left the theater with a huge smile on my face and joy in my heart. As an aside, dear husband as a boy, visited his aunt and uncle who had a farm in PA during 2-3 summers, and he would swing from a rope in the barn and do the Tarzan yell.

We need rain down here, I’m having to hand water potted plants daily, can use sprinklers three days a week at certain times and do when I am here. Rain keeps being predicted but stays all around, just teasing us.

Thought you might like to see this unusual flowering vine.  It is the Dutchman’s Pipe vine, a host plant for swallowtail butterflies.  This is growing in a friends butterfly garden. I hope to get some seeds from her, and she’s going to give me some cuttings of other plants also. She has degrees in horticulte and is a lepidopterist. She works at Butterfly World south of me.

07-14-dutchmans-pipe-bloom

07-14-dutchmans-pipe-blooms

Here are some photos taken around here lately.

07-14-plum-cottage-sign

07-14-plum-cottage-entry-gate

07-14-secret-garden-and-beyond

07-14-secret-garden-and-beyond2

The other morning I awoke from dreaming about my dear husband digging holes to plant climbing red roses. I do not have any at this time, but the dream made me want at least one, now I’m on the hunt for the right one. Want it to have a good rose scent. What a sweet dream! One I woke up from with a smile on my face.

Below is a little walk I took, going to a friends’ home in a gated community, where a group of ladies were meeting. Not enough parking in her complex for all of us, so we park in a shopping center parking lot and walk about a block or so. It felt like being on ‘vacation’ as it was a new place for me. It was ‘quiet’, the shaded area and cricket or catydid noises, just felt different and comforting somehow. I was out of my comfort zone ~ am doing that a lot lately,

07-14-shady-walk3

07-14-shady-walk2

This was taken on the way back. I love those trees.

07-14-shady-walk

Well, I better get up from this chair and get going for today.

Let us remember to pray for not just America, but the whole world. There is so much tragedy all over.

And, let us all be thankful for our many blessings big and small.

FlowerLady

Monday, July 4, 2016

What’s For Breakfast?

 

Good morning Folks ~ I’ve been on a sabatical of sorts from blogging. I will be back posting shortly about life here at ‘Plum Cottage’.

This post though, is about breakfast. Breakfast is a very important meal of the day. It gets us going and can keep us going for quite some time.

I love to cook, have since Home Ec. classes in jr. high school many moons ago. I have over 300 cookbooks, collected through the years, mostly from flea markets and yard sales.

Here is my latest cookbook, ‘America’s Best Breakfasts ~ Favorite Local Recipes from Coast to Coast’, by Lee Brian Schrager and Adeena Sussman.

This book is filled with wonderful photos of delicious looking and sounding recipes from around the country.  There is some history also and interesting tidbits about the recipes. There are 68 recipes and I’ve picked out 14 that jumped out at me to try:

Coconut Pancakes, Bacon-Egg & Cheese “Paco”, Southwestern Skillet, Blueberry & Cheese Danish, Bacon-Cheddar-Potato Pancakes, Baked Oatmeal, Cheesy Biscuits & Vegetable Gravy, and Fruit Tart “Pop-tarts”, and six more.

The recpes are easy to undestand and the photos are enough to make your mouth start watering and your stomach to start rumbling.

If you’d like to make your breakfasts more interesting and a reason to celebrate the gift of each new day, then you will enjoy this cookbook.

I chose this book to review and it was given to me for this purpose by Blogging for Books.

Happy 4th of July!

Be back soon, hopefully ~ FlowerLady