I bought a house

I am tired but exhilerated today. After signing a contract on a house in early April, the closing was today and I am now the proud owner of my dream house in upstate New York. I haven't seen it since early April and the trees and flowers had yet to bloom. Today I see that the deck and picnic pavillion have been absorbed by vines growing everywhere! The greenery is awesome and alive, like a haunted castle. The landscaping in the front yard is blooming and filled with color.

I am closing down business for the next few weeks as I pack and move in July 13. I hope to be up and running by August 1. I will be retiring from my day job and pursuing business fulltime! I'm so excited, you have no idea.

I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Thoughts on MJ

I was at home on Thursday June 25 when I was online and starting reading that Michael Jackson was rushed to the hospital in cardiac arrest. I knew then that he wouldn't make it. It was shocking, but not unexpected. I had read he was in poor health, but what was surprising is the aspect of drugs. It's always drugs, isn't it? Even when the celebrity has not been known to be a drug user, which I thought Michael was not. My mistaken impression was that he was into healthy living. Who knew? I didn't. But it is disappointing that drugs are usually at the forefront of a celebrity death it seems.

When will people start intervening? When will the payoff take a back burner and a person's health take precedence? Why don't friends and family take action? Does money really buy everything these days?

I make no judgements on his life. He was a great entertainer and will always be remembered for that. I believe he was not a pedophile, but only God and he knows for sure. I do believe he was a child who never grew up, who never had a childhood, and lived as an innocent child even as a man. Even with all the legal safeguards in place for child celebrities, I believe that childhood is robbed. He never had a chance to be a child, a teenager, and grow normally into an adult. He was used and manipulated his entire life. If blame is to be placed, I place it at the feet of his family, most especially his parents who lost control of his celebrity status and failed to intervene.

His was a sad life, but he gave it all to us. I hope he finds peace now.

It's Happening

So it looks like I'm leaving NYC after all. After months of anguish, the house I bid on is finally coming to a close on Tuesday June 30. It's been one hassle after another, with the poorest communication I've ever had with the bank. Every time I called for status, I was told they needed something else. They never called me to keep me updated on what evidence was required - it was always a result of me calling them. I'm not going into detail, but we had to put the mortgage in my name only, needed a water test 1 day after the last one expired, more bank statements, no commitment letter... You get the picture. Although the market is at its lowest in years, financing is extremely tight. But above all, we prevailed, and the house of our dreams will be ours in 3 days.

I'm looking forward to waking up and deciding my plan for the day. One day, I might wake up and say I want to sew, another work in the garden or yard, or make candles for a wedding order. And if I get snowed in during winter, I won't care. As long as the propane tank is full, I can wait out any storm. I can hunker down and peruse seed catalogs for the spring, read mysteries, crochet, or just take the day off and putter around in the kitchen. Although my main business is soy candles and home fragrance, I'd like to set up a new torch and re-acquaint myself with lampwork beadmaking too.

I have a feeling I'm going to be busier than I've ever been. I want to wake up early each day and on warm days take my first cup of coffee out on the balcony off my bedroom and breath in the fresh country air as I plan my day. I want to smell the scent of fresh cut grass, something I haven't smelled in the years I've live in Manhattan. I want to listen to the silence. No noisy cars and car alarms, loud music, fire sirens, parties in the building......just silence of the country. Birds, breezes..

Will I still have enough time to fulfill all my dreams? Probably not. But I'm going to try.

She touched my heart

As I contemplate retiring within the next few weeks, I am thinking back on some of my special adventures. I do home visits for my job a few times a year, and I spent 3 days in the Catskills on one of my more memorable trips. This one is just unforgettable.

One of my clients lives so far out in the country, I couldn't see her house from the road. I had to park on the road and literally climb down to her house deep in the woods.

She is 71 years old.
She has no running water. She goes down to the creek for water and buys water for drinking and cooking.
Most of her electric outlets don't work, so she just doesn't use them.
She heats with a wood stove and in the winter the temperature never goes above 55. She scavenges wood all winter and closes off the upstairs. The state only pays for some of her wood.
There's a tree on her property about to fall on her house and no one wants to do anything about it. She can't afford to have it cut down.
Her house is damp and full of mold and she has to clean it constantly.
Her son & daughter live out west.
Wild animals come up to her house, so she can't let her cats out, ever.
Her stove is broken, so she uses a hotplate.
The door to her fridge fell off one night, but she put it back on.
She needs to go up on her roof to fix it, but she has enough sense not to do it herself.
She has no phone, not even a cell.
Her mailbox is at the top of the hill on the road.

You think she has it bad?

She doesn't. She won't hear of moving. She said when she leaves, it will be in a black bag. As hard as living is for her, she loves her home because growing up, she never had any roots and moved 15 times before she was 8 (depression years). She helped build this house with her ex-husband, has built a greenhouse herself on the side of the house and has a gorgeous collection of green growing things. She has a patio full of pots and flowers everywhere. She has 3 feral cats who love her. She has more energy than I do. She's not afraid (well, a little because of the tree that might fall on her house).

I want to adopt her.

It's also amazing that she survives on about $700/mo. I really wish I could contact a local church or agency to go out and help fix up the place for her. I felt like hugging her when I left. I'll be checking on her remotely, though. Someday when I retire, I want to live in the woods like her, but on level ground with a 4WD with a plow.

I also visited a house with 10 people, various friends and relatives, dad in jail, and about to foreclose on their home. She'll be ok though, I'm pretty sure.

I see a lot, and as bad as I think my situation is, I always feel grateful. It kind of puts things in perspective for me.
Her name is Olive, how cool is that? She's as feisty and cranky as anything, yet had a great sense of humor and smile. I want to buy her an LifeAlert. I'm frightened that something will happen and no one will know. Off-duty, I'd love to visit her again.
I've been doing this for almost 30 years mostly in an office, and the home visits for the past 3 years, which have been the most fullfilling years of my career. Mostly I see welfare rats taking advantage of the system, but I understand they're doing whatever they need to do to survive, and I bend the rules even for them. I fill out forms asking about their daily activities, and it makes me sick when all they can think of is watching TV. I mean, your life is all about watching TV? Someone else does all the cooking, cleaning and laundry for you? I know you're disabled, but so is Stephen Hawking. I know, not everyone can be productive in the usual sense, but some people don't even exercise their minds. I see a lot of disabled people here trying to make a go of it. They're trying, for chrissakes. Some people just don't even try.

And here is this 71 YO lady who should be enjoying her retirement years, living hand to mouth and loving her life! Who needs a million bucks!

So my youngest graduated

So this has been a busy and exciting weekend. Carla graduated with her Bachelor's degree in music from Manhattan School of Music. These 4 years just flew by. All the recitals, the shows, and now, the graduation - the end of an era. I am so proud, as any parent would be.

Not only did graduation take place yesterday, but she had a show last night and tonight. http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=91901418376&ref=nf She was amazing, with her knack for comedy. I wish you could have seen the show. Such talent, it always amazes me, those student. I wish the best to all of them as they certainly so richly deserve a bright future in music. Looking forward

Carla is going to Juilliard

Well, Carla was accept to the graduate program at Manhattan School of Music and Juilliard School. She's graduating from Manhattan School of Music this spring and chose Juilliard for grad school. She's 1 of about 8 accepted to their vocal program and 1 of 2 Mezzos accepted so it's a really big deal.

Of course I'm extremely proud but not surprised. I've always believed in her talent. Unfortunately, tuition and expenses have taken their toll on our finances getting her through her undergrad school, so we are appealing to her friends and fans to help her finish her studies before embarking on her professional career. I can no longer support her financially as I am facing retirement soon and plan to buy a home in the very near future, so anyone who would generously contribute toward her continuing educational goals would be much appreciated. You can contact me at DewOnAPetal@gmail or her at CJVoice@yahoo.com if you'd like more information about her career goals or life in NYC. And it's you'd like to donate a few bucks to offset the cost of tuition, check out her link at http://www.carla-jablonski.com/juilliard.html

Thanks!

Things, they are a-changin'

I'm about to set off on a new adventure sooner than I thought: retirement. We've found a house in Whitney Point NY which fits our needs perfectly. Big spacious contemporary house with all the amenities I could ever want on 2 acres, half wooded.

The living room is a huge vaulted room with an entire peaked wall of windows facing a humongous deck with flower pots, benches and a hot tub. There are 4 bedrooms, some with decks. An awesome Italian kitchen with a commercial stove with 6 burners, 2 ovens and grill, and cabinets I will never fill. The counter tops are a dark gorgeous mottled marble. The floors are all marble, ceramic and hardwood. And there's a sauna.



I can't wait to lounge on the deck in the cool summer evenings, sitting in the hot tub with a cocktail, listening to the noises of the country above the gurgling of the tub.

During the day, I will tend to my garden. I'll have vegetables galore that I will can in the fall, and flowers littering the yard everywhere you look. There's a pond in the back yard that I will perhaps make into a koi or lily pond. Maybe I'll even add some goldfish or a turtle or 2.

In the fall, I will rake the riot of leaves and put up food from my garden for the winter. We'll stack wood for the fires we will have in the wood stove to heat the house when the wind chills the air outside. We will be cozy.

In the winter, I will sit at my knitting machines and make scarves, hats and sweaters. I will sew to my heart's content. I'll make my candles to build up my inventory for the craft shows I will sell at in the spring. Maybe I'll get my torch up and running and start making lampwork beads again. I'll read a lot and watch the snow outside on the deck. I'll run out to the heated hot tub to bask in the invigorating winter air.

In early spring, I'll set up a planting station to start my seedlings for the garden. And start the cycle all over again.

Ahhh, retirement.

I keep giving stuff away!

Well, what a person to do? My daughter is going to Boston this weekend to sing at a friend's recital, so of course, she needed a thank-you gift for her mother. And she always comes to me for an assortment of candles all wrapped up pretty with a bow. I can't blame her. I kind of give her the run of my box, letting her pick out whatever she wants.

I worked most of the day making tins and tea lights for the Brooklyn Flea this Sunday. I also have a couple wedding orders on the front burner. One of them is for 120 votives which I am taking to the Brooklyn Flea this weekend to deliver. At least my load will be a lot lighter when I return home!

Doing a craft show in New York City can be a challenge, expecially if you don't have a car. I started out with a rolling suitcase, but soon abandoned that in favor of a hand-truck and plastic bins with lids. Candles can be awefully heavy, so I've tried to lighten the load and eliminate jars and votives. I find that travel tins sell especially well, so I take lots of them and boxed tea lights which also do well. I try and take a sampling of other candles and encourage people to contact me for custom orders which I will make up and bring the next time I'm at the Flea.

The real challenge is travelling to Brooklyn from upper Manhattan. I start off around 6:30 am and wheel my truck up to 168th St subway stop. There's not many people out and about that early in the morning, so I gently bump by cart down the steps. There's an elevator down to the platform, so that's helpful when it's working. When I finally get to the Brooklyn stop, usually around 8:00 am, the real work starts. It's much harder pulling my hand-cart up the gazillion steps to the street, but sometimes I get lucky, and some nice strong guy will take pity on me and help me carry it up to the street. I never turn down an offer. Returning home is usually easier if I've had a good day. The more often I do the Flea, the easier it gets. I might start looking at other shows to do in the future. I could actually get used to this! Not only is this a chance to sell my products, but I get to meet the nicest people!

I'm at the Brooklyn Flea http://brownstoner.com/brooklynflea/on June 1 and 15th. I'm with the NewNew group http://thenewnew.blogspot.com/ which has a permanent spot every Sunday. We are a great group of crafters and artists, so stop by and say hello!

I have been off work since last Wednesday, and this long weekend just flew by so fast. The weather has been gorgeous, and luckily I got out and about yesterday with my daughter, who has her own apt just 2 blocks away. We took the bus up to Ft Tryon Park in upper Manhattan where the Cloisters is located. The park is just lovely, especially this time of the year. The flowers and gardens were absolutely gorgeous, and made me realize how much I miss the country. There were a lot of people out and about, but not so crowded as Central Park. Fortunately, a lot of people think the upper reaches of Manhattan is a no-man's land, which is fine with us. We don't want everyone discovering how beautiful it is up here. We walked around, took some pictures, then walked down a few blocks and had lunch on the back patio of Bleu Evolution, a cozy little restaurant in Inwood. We had a few glasses of wine, chatted it up, then decided to walk home instead of taking the bus. So, we ended up walking from 191st St to 160th on Broadway and had an absolutely fantastic time.

So the rest of the weekend, I've been making candles like crazy every day. I'm filling some large orders, plus trying to make inventory for next Sunday. I vend at the Brooklyn Flea about twice a month, and I don't have a lot to sell right now. I sell with a group of people who live in the NYC area and who also sell on http://www.etsy.com/

I recently tweaked my website also this weekend, trying to make it more inviting. I tell ya, this business is starting to take over my life, which is good! So much so, I'm considering retiring from my day job next year.
This weekend made me realize more than ever, I need to put down my work and get out and enjoy living in the city.

New Love

My evenings and weekends are spend endlessly updating my website http://dewonapetal.com/, reading the Etsy forums, posting new items in my online stores, making things, and what little time left, sleeping.

I've recently in the past few months discovered soy wax. Imagine that. I've been making candles off and on for 15 years, but I always used paraffin wax, which can be tricky. I decided to make candles as gifts for my co-workers this past Christmas, and that's when I discovered how amazing soy wax really is. It's eco-friendly, easy to work with, doesn't give off any fumes, and supports local farmers. Unfortunately, the price of soy wax has increased tremendously since last fall. That's a shame. It irritates me no end that natural, organic products always end up being more expensive so that only the elite can afford to live healthy. In any case, I purchase all my supplies wholesale and try to pass on the savings to my customers as much as possible.