I was so glad to get home last week, and couldn’t wait to dive into some new projects.
The long drive home I planned what I would work on first.
So, what amazing projects have I completed in that week?
Well…the first thing I did was hang a plate on my kitchen wall.
I admit, that won’t top the creativity charts, but I needed to warm up slowly. 🙂
It was an easy job to hang it, but shooting photos and writing the Farmhouse Friday blog post took up the rest of my first day home.
My excitement was high and intentions were good, but I realized you can’t be gone for three weeks and think you can just start working on fun projects right off the bat.
First I needed time to regroup and take stock of the household situation.
For starters, there wasn’t any food in the house, unless you count the molding leftovers that had been in the refrigerator since I left.
So the next day I gave myself a pep talk, got in the Jeep, and took off to buy groceries.
Since it was just a few days before Valentine’s Day, the store had a big display of flowers and plants that you couldn’t avoid.
Before I knew it, I had a pretty little bouquet in my cart.
I also bought a plant to put an adorable vintage kitchen pot I picked up on our drive home.
I’ve listed it in my online shop here (the pot, not the plant!).
It’s similar to the pot I filled with embroidery thread, just a smaller size.
Oh, but then I spotted bright red tulips!
The autumn flowers in my rusty kettle had long since died, and tulips would be perfect in it!
Believe it or not, I actually did end up with some groceries in my cart, but by the time I finished shopping, drove back home and unloaded the groceries, it was time to start working on dinner, so I accomplished little else on day 2 of being home.
On day 3, I needed to unpack all our luggage that we’d plopped on the kitchen floor, and had been stepping over for 2 days.
My husband, oldest son and daughter had all returned to their regular work schedules, which left me and my youngest son to sort, unpack and do laundry.
Totally necessary, but totally not fun.
Surely I would accomplish something creative on day 4, right?
Well….
I did trudge out to my workshop, looking for something to work on, and I came back with…
an old shovel handle!
I was sure I could think of something creative to do with it, and believe me, I tried.
I spent the whole day attempting various ideas, but didn’t like any of them, so another day went down the drain.
Day 5 was Friday, and I teach a homeschool co-op class and was gone all day, so no projects got worked on that day either.
That brings me to the weekend, when my husband and I worked on taxes, and I tried to catch up on three week’s worth of bill paying
Not only are taxes and bills a creativity killer, they are time-consuming, so my weekend was filled with nothing but receipts and paperwork.
So, even though I didn’t accomplish much this week, my kitchen window is looking pretty filled with plants and flowers!
But, it’s a new week!
Here’s hoping my creativity steps up its game a little!
Vaya con Dios,
You’ve had a difficult time, Angie. Don’t put pressure on yourself, you will be back with your fabulous creations before too long!
I love the flowers on your windowsill. Ease into it gently and don’t put too much pressure on yourself to get the creative juices flowing again. It will come.
The flowers are beautiful and I love the different “pots”. Glad you’re back.
Take some time to just breathe. The flowers look beautiful on your windowsill. You’ll soon see those ideas coming back.
I agree your kitchen window looks perfect 🙂
Catching up is always very time consuming but at least you are getting it done and not putting it off so, good for you.I don’t know about you but, i’m tired just reading about all you have accomplished.Have a great day Angie.
Angie, dear, you are allowed some re-integration time! As a matter of fact, you need to give that time to yourself without any self-criticism, ya hear? You will get back to a more usual pace, but I think three stressful weeks away deserves about three weeks recuperation. So, take a deep breath–or two or three or more–and be kind to yourself. Your creativity isn’t gone, it’s just “resting”. As with everything, this little phase of recuperation will pass and you’ll be back in the normal swing of things when the time is right.
Take good care of YOU!
There is nothing like fresh flowers to cheer me up. Its nice to just set the pot on a table, but when you put them in an old kettle or jar, they receive special attention! I bought tulips for my daughter and my self for Valentines day. I live in Minnesota (10 below zero ) so by the time I got them home, the tips were brown. We had wrapped them well,but they still got to cold. Thats okay, we are enjoying them anyway.
A collection of flowers and regrouping sounds perfect after such a stressful time in your life. The creativity will come when you’re ready.
I think that’s a new book for Fall….Autumn In My Kettle.