Winter Again

Having advertised my end of winter sale to start yesterday, I was worried I wasn’t going to actually find the time to start it. Although it was well into the evening by the time I got a chance, I did at least manage to find the time to mark the prices of the winter outfits as reduced, and even remembered to show the Sale category up on the website. Today though, I need to double check I didn’t miss out any of the outfits, or discount the wrong amount off anything, and then restart my google ‘Sale’ ad- as well as updating the message on the website homepage and Latest News page.

I’m already thinking ahead to all of this, and the fact that I need to start checking the fabrics for my summer outfits- due to be added to the website in a couple of weeks or so, as I stand in the kitchen first thing waiting for the kettle to boil. Mike has just headed off to town, taking our second youngest off for her school bus, and I glance out of the window, noticing with a shock just how wintry the scene outside looks. The last few days have been a little milder, and spring almost seemed to be in the air, so the sudden change is a little unexpected. As I look a little closer, snow starts drifting down, and a moment later there are beautiful thick snowflakes rushing past. All thoughts of summer outfits are suddenly put out of my mind…

The snowfall doesn’t last long, indeed by the time Mike returns to grab his breakfast before heading off to work, the snow has stopped and the sun has come out. It still makes for an interesting start to the week though, and the bitterness in the air promises there’s more wintry weather still to come. Our eldest daughter has a driving lesson first thing, so she takes her littlest sister to school for me before meeting her driving instructor outside the village primary- with the temperature outside today, I can’t say I’m too sorry to have missed the trip!

With the house newly cleaned, there’s little housework that I absolutely have to get done today, so after loading the washing machine and doing the breakfast washing up I sit down at the computer and get on with the sale admin, and then check through the rest of the website, emails, Facebook page and blog. I don’t know where time goes to- I don’t have to waste it for it to just rush on past. Before I know it, it’s lunchtime.

We’ve had another couple of snowstorms, where it has come over so dark we’ve needed all the lights on in the house, and in between times we’ve had beautiful spring sunshine- the weather just doesn’t seem to know what it wants to do today. The snow hasn’t settled at all, apart from on the hills in the distance, and by now the ground is probably too wet anyway.

With my eldest girl already promising to go and get her sister from school later, I’ve now got a good two or three hours in which I can get some sewing done before I need to stop to cook dinner. There’s an order that came in before I was ill, for a Valentine’s print dress with a Velcro fastening, and having already cut out the fabric I’m hopeful that this is a job I can finish this afternoon. It’s very satisfying to sit down at the sewing machine to start an outfit, and have the time to actually stay put until it’s complete. It’s the first dress I’ve made with the Velcro fastening, and this adds to the satisfaction, as once I’ve finished the sewing that’s it- no needing to hand sew a popper on later this evening.

I have to pack everything away once I’ve made the dress, as its time to make dinner, but after just one afternoon I’ve got a completed outfit- wrapped and ready for posting. Not only does this give me a boost because it means another outstanding order ticked off the list, but it’s another sign that when I’ve fully caught up, I should be able to advertise quicker turn around times and catch some of the potential customers who get put off by having to wait for up to four weeks. Maybe quoting Velcro as a quicker option could be the answer I've been looking for…