Thankful...

   I just want to thank all of my friends and family for their love and good wishes on my birthday. I know I have expressed a little bit of disdain for birthdays at this time of my life...but thank you all for ignoring my my rants and making my day a sweet one. What's one more hash mark next to my name anyway....another year wiser, another year hungrier to get it all in...love to all and thank you! Thanks for reading...
Lynn
www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com

Come on Jimmy! It's Never too Late...It's Never too late!

   Has it really been 10 days since we posted??  Time seems to be the most valuable commodity to all of us frustrated baby boomers...its passing is our greatest concern. I blogged earlier about time being the measure of life's potential...and that thought just adds to the frustration of those of us who have surely passed the half way point of our days on this planet... So now I am going to jump to the fact that I went to my first Jimmy Buffett Concert last night! Yea!! Shawnette  my partner in Chesapeake Bay Christmas Co,  took me for my birthday!...another frustrating event (birthdays that is) in the scheme of middle age!  She is a die hard Parrot Head who bursts into  Buffet songdome at the slightest  provocation  with all of the accompanying hand and hip action! She knows every word to every song and never tires of listening and living her life to his laid back beach philosophy. I was not a true ParrotHead...I have always liked Jimmy's music but not with the vigor and obsession of  his dedicated Parrot Head Legions! I believe Shawnette called me a Buffett virgin when she placed a flower lei around my neck in the concert parking lot! Being called any kind of virgin at my age was a little infatuating and that was only the beginning of an amazing night... If you noticed I said I "was" not a Parrot Head....but now I am not so sure. Maybe I am going thru a Parrot Head metamorphosis...emerging a little more relaxed about where time is taking me and how I am  going to get wherever I think I need to be...relax Lynn.... enjoy the journey!!!
                                         
                               Yes I am a Pirate two hundred years too late
                        The Cannons don't thunder, there's nothin to plunder
                                        I'm an over fifty victim of fate.....
                                but its "never" too late...its "never" too late
  
                         my edited version of a Pirate Looks at forty by Jimmy Buffet

Shawnette... I guess we can both cross something off our bucket list today! thank you for a great Parrot  Head birthday experience!
Always... your friend... Lynn

Thanks for Reading
Lynn

 In the spirit of Buffettdome
Check out our margarita time Santa @ www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com

Let us bring a little bit of the Chesapeake into your home and your holidays!

Rain...

   Rain. We have had a lot of it recently and there is a tendency to gripe and complain about it because it interferes with our plans...especially if it is on the weekends when we (the Chesapeake Bay Christmas Company) are out there in the elements trying to make a buck!  However in light of what the folks along the Mississippi River basin and all the rivers that flow into it are living through we can count our blessings! I want to offer up prayers and positive thoughts for those experiencing profound and life changing loss at the hands of mother nature. It is just another reminder that we are all vulnerable to life's twists and turns and that we need to rejoice and be glad in each and every day that we have, and especially each day that we are in a position to provide for our families and help others less fortunate. The next time around we could be the ones in need. Enjoy our rain... today it is a blessing to our gardens, our farms, our wildlife, and our souls.... but we should all be smart and begin  to prepare for tomorrow...thanks for reading
Lynn

www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
Let us bring a little bit of the Chesapeake into your home and holidays!

Miniature search

   Today I worked on finding replacement miniatures for this year's new Chesapeake Santas. Darice discontinued making the anchors we were using on our "Keeper of the Light" Santa and I have combed the internet looking for one that does not cost a fortune. So far nothing found.  I am also trying to find a replacement lantern and fishing poles.... also a dead end. We are  looking for a mini oyster, crab or lobster work boat for our 2011 Ltd Edition...that will be a real challenge! If anyone out there has any leads let us know!

To Blog or not to Blog?

   I am back! So sorry for the lapse... it seems the good writing habits that I established in the Ultimate Blog Challenge have already failed me! I would like to use the excuse of being so very busy that I could not get to it but that would not be entirely true. We have been busy! We are back on the farmers market  circuit which means a  craft show every Saturday, which means loading and unloading my Toyota Sequoia 4X a week, monitoring inventory, weather watching,  adapting  to the weather, keeping our energy level and physical level high on top of our normal weeks of painting and Santa making and website management, and bookkeeping and  ordering materials and supplies! Yet it still is a matter of choosing to blog or not to blog. Last week I chose not to blog! I chose to have a low stress week. I focused on individual tasks as I did them without allowing the avalanche of tasks that needed my attention to distract me from the one I was performing. It was a bit of a survival tactic! I need to have these weeks sprinkled in here and there to keep my sanity. I concentrate on creative time rather than productive time. This goes back to some of my previous blogs where I speak of creativity kicking into high gear when my stress levels  are peaking. It is  an automatic cut off switch that allows me to recharge my battery and get back to my to do list with a new vigor!
   Usually writing is a creative endeavor, a de-stressing activity...but letting it go occasionally is too! I need to figure out how to write about  things that may seem mundane to us but interesting to our readers. I have had to stop at this point and try and figure out where I am going with this blog and am coming up blank...I think I already made my point....So I am going to take this as a cue...and end it.... and get back to my CBCC list... www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com.
   Thank you for reading....promise more inspired entries to come!
Lynn

Farmers Markets...Battles and Balance!

    We are off! The starting pistol has fired and Shawnette and I are off on our marathon race that will take us thru the spring and summer and into the fall doing local farmers markets almost every weekend until  our holiday markets begin in the fall. It is an exhausting yet rewarding adventure of small intimate venues where we have time to interact with our customers on a more relaxed level. We also enjoy the  scenic locations of our farmers markets.....Irvington,VA...Urbanna, VA...Yorktown...Tappahannock, Deltaville, New Kent...all beautiful weekend destinations most on the water in the  Middle Peninsula and the Northern Neck with plenty of  boating, fishing, and swimming.
    I personally love the water! Any body of water makes me happy. Just sitting on a bank or beach or shore or even just an edge ... the water calls to me to dip in a toe or a calf (if clothed) and of course  my whole body if I am lucky enough to have the opportunity! Oceans, Bays, Lakes, Rivers, Creeks or even a rain swollen  ditch  bring out the child in me! It does not take much...just water..! So I consider myself so lucky that my business www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com takes us straight to these beautiful bodies of water that keep us inspired and invigorated and wanting to do more with our coastal and nautical lines of ornaments and coastal Santas. 
   We really are lucky Shawnette and I...but as the season  stretches on we do begin to get a little weary. We have to remember to take the time to stay fit and in shape to be able to endure the heat and the moving of heavy displays and inventory. We fight  the temptation ( usually we lose)  of indulging in the wonderful food available to us at these venues. Exotic baked goods, breads cookies cakes, fresh seafood,ethnic food, kettle corn, funnel cakes, ice cream are all continually walking by our booth in the hands of others calling to us to  partake! It is always the battle of good vs evil...and evil is so much more satisfying! But we continually re-commit ourselves to the good and battle on! On the good side is the equally pleasing array of locally grown produce available to us at these markets. While we may fall from grace with the delicious food at the shows... we go home loaded down with healthy organic fruits and vegetables to eat at home during the week thus making up for our  Saturday indiscretions! Battles and Balance, striving for health and enjoying an occasional fall from grace ...that is life...and life is good!
   Come out and see us some Saturday! You can check out our calendar at upcoming events on www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com. We would love to meet you and share our line of coastal ornaments and Chesapeake Santas and coastal home decor with you. Come out and sample the food, and load up on the local produce that nourishes your body and soul. Come out and buy local and support the local farmers and artists and economy.  Farmers markets are where its all happening....come and see! Thanks for reading!
Lynn

I just had it in my hand a minute ago??!!

   We are in full swing again. We will be attending farmers markets and street fairs every weekend from this weekend thru labor day. Check out our calendar at www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com under upcoming events. Our spring orders are stacking up and we are having to work at keeping up. I am still feeling disorganized. I think it is going to take another 2 or 3 days dedicated to organization before I get things the way they need to be for optimal efficiency. Of course that is really a stretch to think that we would ever be operating at optimal efficiency! We have just learned to laugh at ourselves on a regular basis for our loss of brain function and the huge amount of time we spend looking for things we just had in our hands a minute ago!!! Usually we have a least 2-3 of these conversations each day.... Shawnette, I called you to ask you something really important...but I forgot what it was??? I will call you back when I remember..., I was just looking at that catalog yesterday!.. It has to be here somewhere!!!, Where are the Assateague lighthouses?? I know we did a bunch of them earlier in the year?  Are they in the trailer??.or the shed??.or the office??.. or at your house??? Ughhh!! 
   When you are short term memory impaired it is imperative that your maintain some kind of cohesive organization or you spend way to much time looking for stuff! I am having to learn how to get organized and stay that way. When  I was younger ( I think that was just a few short years ago!) I could multi-task like a machine. I never needed a list and if I stored something in  my grey matter it was easily retrieved with just a thought! NOT ANYMORE!!...if anything were to happen to me I would be remembered by my lists! They are everywhere! they are piled up on my desk and work tables, they are in my purse and in my car! They are on the fridge and on my calendar and on the bulletin board! They are my lifeline! At least they are evidence that I am still trying, still working, still producing, and not giving up!
Thanks for reading!
Lynn

we welcome you to our online store at www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
we bring the Chesapeake into your Home and Holidays!

Posted more wedding pics!

   I have gone back and posted some new wedding pics on the older posts "Calm after the Storm", "Dancing in the Dark"  and the "Joy, Beauty and the Calm before the Storm" posts. If you would like to see them just scroll back to the older posts and check them out!Check out this new picture we just got of our wedding favor ornament we did for the wedding! We will be adding a page to our website for wedding ornaments and designing custom ornaments for weddings.Check it out www.chesapeakebaychristmas.com
Thanks for reading!
Lynn

Bin Laden gone! Our nations decline is not!

   Last night I was watching the Apprentice and painting Pirate Crab ornaments when NBC announced that President Obama would be addressing the Nation about an important news development. My reaction was surprising to myself. I actually had a minor anxiety attack. I assumed that for the President to be making an unscheduled news break on late Sunday evening that it would have to be a catastrophic news event! I immediately said a prayer for the event to be good news rather than bad but I actually had little faith that that would be the case. The result of course was good news for our country...even though it involved  the  violent death of many people including the infamous architect of 911.

    I have been looking at why I jumped to such a negative conclusion when I heard the announcement of the news break. I have become conditioned to receiving my daily dose of violent, immoral and indecent news...it has become the standard of the day.  Even this good news was actually rooted in at least one of the above...but  it brought with it justice for those who died in 911 a crime committed against all humanity. I am glad this chapter in our nations history has come to an end...but I am still fearful for our future as a  country in this new global world. I hope that my fear will spur me  to contribute good and solid work and spirit to this country  that seems to be setting its bar ever lower to survive its own disappointments in itself. We must do good work to combat and counter balance the bad that seems to be becoming more acceptable to us. We must not allow mediocrity  to become  the new norm. We must look to raise the bar higher and not let it fall any lower. We must be willing to examine ourselves honestly to make the changes necessary to bring honor back into our institutions  and into our hearts and souls. Lets get back to our roots of honesty and courage and ethical behavior. Lets stop setting immoral examples and celebrating our right to set them for the whole world. Yes we do have that right...lets recognize that as our right, a right that we will choose to decline..that we will choose to walk away from for the health of our children and their children and our great nation "under God" with liberty and justice for all. Let us once again be an example to the world...not what we seem to be becoming..a country of entitled apathetic rationalizers!
   The Bin Ladens of the world threaten our physical bodies our safety...they threaten our lives. Our own cultivation of mediocrity and immorality threatens something far worse...our souls... and the very foundation that this country was built on!
Thanks for reading,
Lynn