Shower Girl's view today at Wauwatosa, Wisconsin's
Firefly Art Show. Both
Saturday and Sunday
 10 a m. until 4 p.m.

August 2019 Shows for JackieSoap.com

Our newest soap scent:  Firewood

August 2019 Shows

Rockton IL
Rockton River Market
Settlers Park
Wednesdays from 5 pm - 8 pm
 

Wauwatosa, Wisconsin 
Firefly Art Fair
at Kneeland-Walker House
Saturday and Sunday August 3rd - 4th
10 am - 4 pm

Arcadia, Wisconsin
Ashley for the Arts Music Festival
Memorial  Park
Friday August 9th  3 pm - 7 pm
 Saturday August 10th 10 am - 6 pm

Middleton, Wisconsin
Jaycees Art and Craft Show
Saturday and Sunday August 24th - 25th
9 am - 5 pm

We (hubby and I and sometimes the Folks) are still going to our local market (https://www.facebook.com/pg/rocktonrivermarket/photos/?ref=page_internal) on Wednesday nights and honestly, my sales aren't going to set any records, but, it sure is nice enjoying the music and not having to make dinner!  We also really enjoy our greek salad from The Olive Branch (https://www.facebook.com/theolivebranch815/)--get it with the gyro meat!  Yummy!!  Then we split a margherita pizza from Veebo's (https://www.facebook.com/veebospizza/). Oh, it is so good!

We are on another Wisconsin show swing this month.  A new show was added since both the Paoli WI and the Rockton IL art shows were cancelled.  Look for us at the art and craft area at the Ashley for the Arts Music Festival in Arcadia WI the 9th and 10th.  Lady Antebellum is the headliner on Saturday night and it is only a $15 ticket--for all three days!  Lots more going on there too--hot air balloons, a car show and plenty to keep the whole family entertained!

Libertyville IL Days 2019

We are all setup and ready to sell this weekend in Libertyville, Illinois.  There is music, a beer tent, carnival and lots of fun activities on all the stages! The parade downtown (in front if Cook Park where we are located) is Saturday morning.

Libertyville Days benefits the projects of the Libertyville Civic Center Foundation.

Craft show hours are:
Friday   Noon - 8 p.m.
Saturday   10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Sunday Noon - 5 p.m.

Shower Girl's view is of the carnival!
The weather is great! Come out and visit us this weekend!

Stoughton WI Syttende Mai 2019

Saturday May 18   10 a.m. - 6 p.m
Sunday May 19.        9 a.m. - 2 p.m.

River Bluff Middle School
235 N Forest Dr.
Stoughton, WI

More information, events, music at:
StoughtonFestivals.com

Lombard IL Lilac Festival

I am back in beautiful downtown Lombard for the Lilac Festival.  Shower Girl's view is of the karate studio across the street. We are just in front of 105 Ground Level which is where we were last year!

There is plenty to do for everyone in the family. Hope to see you today only, May 5, 2019 until 4 p.m.

Benefit: Butterflies for Henry

This Friday and Saturday I am set up in Waterloo, Wisconsin at the Pop-Up Palooza to benefit the Rathmann family. Their 2 year old son suffers from Epidermolysis Bullosa.

One of their family friend's, Lydia,  has created beautiful, colorful magnets which she is selling for $5. All money goes to benefit Henry's family.

https://m.facebook.com/signsfromabovebyabigail/#!/story.php?story_fbid=1029847870736256&id=584519931935721&__tn__=%2As%2As-R

Back to Basics

The truth is that since the beginning of the year I have had too much on my plate. The folks deciding to move in with us was the biggie, but, that was soon followed by preparing for an estate sale, getting the house ready to sell, figuring out how to sell said house with an inground gas tank and now waiting for the closing (come on May 31st).  All while doing the regular things you need to keep a business going, keep a hubby happy and your own house running.  Whew.

So, in the middle of April after the sale, we still had a few things, big things to get out of their house.  The big desk, some end tables, a bedroom set, etc.  So, I listed them on Facebook Marketplace.  I got great response from it--over two days we basically got rid of everything we  needed to unload.  But, my sanity took a direct hit.

Thanks to a 20 year old nut case.  Who basically was supposed to show up at their house at 10 a.m. on Monday...and didn't actually get there until 1:40 p.m..  With a vehicle too small to carry off her new dresser, bureau and mirror.  And told me she would be back in an hour to get the rest.  And then didn't show up until after 5:30.

Oh, and the chunky Mom who just had to pick up her five year old from school and then would be over to pick up the two cardtables.  Except they were already sold.  And she said she knocked at the front door for 20 minutes.  I was in the garage with the garage door open surrounded by stuff...and she was at the front door?!  I said I was sorry the tables were gone.  But, that wasn't enough for this gal.  She had to berate me for six text messages on how much I sucked for selling those tables.  I apologized and apologized but she wasn't having it until I said that I sucked, where should I send my pound of flesh, I was a loser and she had beaten me.  She replied, not with oh I am sorry I think I went too far...but with a huge thumbs up.  Really!

During the last hour of this my dear brother and niece showed up to help lift that very heavy desk into my Dad's pickup truck as the girl that was going to come get it would probably be alone and there was no way the two of us would be able to get it into her truck.  But something went very wrong.  First he was giving all kinds of messages that weren't computing...and he was a dick about it.  I snapped, he snapped and that was the end of that.  The desk was pushed to one side of the driveway.  On the other side was that stupid girl's dresser.  I sent the desk girl a message that I could not meet her but I was leaving her desk on the driveway and I didn't care if she paid for it.  But, of course she did pay for it.  Her and her Dad managed to get it into her truck and home to her two kids.  And she wrote back how thrilled they all were with the lovely desk they got that day.

I wasted all of my energy on two worthless individuals--when the last gal was the one I wish I had been present to help.  Oh, and of course I wish I had been civil to my brother instead of a crazy person. But worst of all--I finally met the limit's of my patience and my ability to multi-task.  I was confronted with not being able to control it ALL, do it ALL and move on to the next thing.  Something inside of me snapped.  Literally.  I could hear it kind of ripping away.  I really knew I had a problem when my brother send me a text that night that said he and my sister were worried about me. 

I was worried about me, too.  SO worried I said I was depressed at my med check doctor's appointment a week later.  Ever told your doctor you are depressed?  They have to break out a special list of questions, then ask if you really want to answer them.  So there you go, I am probably on some crazy person list at Blue Cross/Blue Shield.  But, I was really worried.  Worried enough to take it any further--since that onus is now on me? They sent me home with instructions to find out what my health insurance covers, not a referral.  So I guess I am not really, really depressed. 

But am I?  Maybe not.  Maybe I am just confronting the new, middle aged version of myself for the first time.  I am no longer a Goddess.  I am not a Gladiator.  So, I guess my reign as Queen of the World is over.  It is the end of an era, but, it won't be the end of me!  LOL   I have backed off many of my groups.  Goodbye Facebook and all you other meetings that take up my time and don't give me the help I need right now.  Hello:  Council on Aging!!  And any caregiver support groups I can find!
Leave your favorites in the comments, or better yet, come and drag me to the next meeting.   I will be the one in my pajamas with no makeup and a couple boxes of un-shipped soap orders.

The Cavalry has ARRIVED!

This whole multi-generational household stuff is going to take a while to get into a routine...

There is a lot to talk about.  How to merge two households.  How to do it physically and financially.  How to respect each other but still be heard.  How to involve my other siblings.  Even the one that whines a lot!  But that is all for another time.  Today's story starts a month or so back...

We all got sick thanks to my sister, who passed it to me, then I passed it to my hubby and my Mom.  Finally my Dad got it, but, as he is pretty immobile it took a big hit on us all.  But primarily my Mom.  Mom has been his main caregiver the last few years.  He had a second spinal fusion in 2011 that never really worked.  His recovery goal was to walk two miles every day.  LOL  This from a man who was having trouble walking to the mailbox.  Needless to say, it has been down hill since then. Then he gets a virus, and it about put us all under.

By the time they moved in with me, Mom was helping him get cleaned up, dressed and to his lift chair which was where he would spend his days in front of the TV.  She, meanwhile, tried to keep up with the shopping, cleaning, house stuff, clubs, church, yard stuff...you get the idea.  It is hard at any point in life, but at 80 years old, it is impossible.  So, we invited them to move in.

Fast forward a couple weeks to when he can hardly walk from the bed to the toilet, the bedroom to the living room--even with his walker.  So, we start pulling him on the walker while he sits--using it like a wheelchair!  He starts falling--four times one night!  Which means I move upstairs to the guest room to help them in the middle of the night when he needs to get up.  Until the morning that he falls between the bed and the dresser and we can't move him to help him get up.  Did I mention their Lifeline necklaces?

Cue the fire department trips.  The "Moose" on the team, sometimes a couple of them per team can lift a 200-pounder out of just about any tight squeeze.  But we are dumbfounded to figure out how we are going to keep this from happening in the next hour, so, we let them take him by ambulance to the ER.  This is where we find out a truth known to every baby-boomer with a parent in ill health.  Your parent is actually not sick enough to treat!  Yes, he does not have enough strength to sit up, get up or pick up anything--but the blood work looks great.  Yes, he cannot walk even to the nurses station without getting tired and needing help to get back into bed--but the urine is clear.  He coughs like he is going to hack up a lung--but his lungs are clear.  So, there is no help in the hospital.

Now what the heck do we do?

Where do we turn?

In our case, it was follow-up with his doctor's PA that turned us onto the wonderful world of Home Health Care.  With her orders, we got most of his needs in the short term covered by insurance/medicare.  He has twice a week bathing.  Twice a week occupational and physical therapy. And up to three times a week nursing care.  This talented group of assistants got us over the hump--he is over being sick and back to the point of complaining about all his appointments and therapy!  Victory!!

In our case, I hope we can turn his inertia into some exercises that take hold and help him get some lasting strength back.  SO, it gives my Mom a break and gives him a better quality of life.  I hope it gives Rod and I a break so that we can enjoy our time together, while helping them into the last stage of two lives well lived.

The tiny house is for sale!  Located at 302 Ralston Rd. in Machesney Park, Illinois.

From the all the built-in bookcases, the dutch door, the organic branch shelf...it is a little treasure!

The loft is great for meditation and the grandkids sleepovers with extra space for storage.  The kitchen is tiny but packs more storage than most full size country kitchens.

The view from the bedroom showcases the gas stove heater and river rock surround.

Remember it's a tiny space, but you can do just about everything 

except a big turkey for Thanksgiving.

That's a three burner gas cooktop and a soapstone sink.

Room for up to a king size bed, with luggage storage above, plenty of closets

 including a walk-in and a hidden ironing board.

More closets!  And that electric panel has 200 amps of power.

A peak into the walk-in and the door to the bathroom.

A soaking tub, or a shower surround with a great hidden medicine cabinet 

and plenty of storage for your toiletries and linens.

One of the oldest and biggest remaining elm trees in Northern Illinois greets 

you at the street and welcomes you up the curvy driveway. 

The elm and the hosta garden beyond...

The lillies and russian sage berm are just past the dry koi pond.

Another view of inside and the antique library ladder.

The front walks and a view of the building at the end of the driveway.

Your fountain garden and containers.

Outbuilding #1.  Inside is like a mini-version of the cottage--fully insulated and wired.

And it has some character at the front!

Here's the inside!

The terraced planters at the back.  That bird bath gets a lot of action from all the pollinators in the yard.  The veggie garden is in the center, to the back property line.

The view from the top!

The fire pit!

The outdoor shower and a utility sink for cleaning up.

Outbuilding #2.  This one isn't as cute but is carpeted, wired and set up for an office.

It is the cottage version of a tiny paradise!

Listing Agent:

Mary Maxted

Keller Williams Realty Signature

815-985-5538

marymaxted1@gmail.com

Cottage, Summer 2016

Oh my gosh!  You would not believe the projects that I have been working on this year.  This is the year we finally sell the house in Orlando, Rod moves here and we build a garage here at the cottage.  Rod still doesn't believe me when I tell him how much he is going to love having a garage!  Especially when he tries to change the oil when it is 10 degrees outside!

I arrived in April, right after my show at Lake Eola in Orlando.  I did two quick trips to bring all my soap kitchen things to the new house.  I got sidelined in Nashville when the transmission went out and I had to spend two nights there.  I did get a loaner car so I could explore!  Thus the picture below of the American Pickers shop in Nashville.

Once I got back to Rockford, I got right to the Spring Cleanup!  This year was a little easier as I had cut and bagged most of the grasses in the Fall.  But there was still a lot to do as I had to move four different planting beds, container and statuary out of the footprint of the new garage...and it had to be done before things got growing too much.  The following pics are some of that process!

The Yellow Hybrid and Purple Baptisias!  This is only temporary as there is really only room for one of them here!

One of three Clematis that I hired to be moved...they are touchy, so I wanted help with them!

Some coneflowers and yellow eyed Susans

OK, not sure where this picture came from, but, I did grow a bunch of seeds this year.  Two of three cherry tomatoes and now blooming with little green tomatoes.  All the perennials I tried to grow from seed were eaten by something...rabbits I guess.

I have two of these pretty dwarf willow bushes that I paid to have moved too...they were just too big for me too handle

 

The area to the back I call the monuments area and it had a trumpet vine taking over, so, I yanked it out...well...I really had to nuke it to get it under control.  I am still trying to kill the thing a month later!  That is a Black Walnut tree to the left side, which I will be taking out at some point.  

The dry Koi Pond, before the fish, frogs and turtles were put in!

The Phlox,  Lily and Russian Sage Berm

The Phlox is so pretty when it is blooming...and nobody has run over it trying to get in and out of my driveway!!

This barely covers all the moving of the plants.  I did a new planting bed with all the lilies...actually two beds...one by the mailbox and one by the front courtyard in front of the wisteria.  I had the landscapers move all the big container plants--those are cedars and arborvitaes I think.  One of them is dying, but, I can't change it yet...I am afraid I would lose it with everything else going on.  

Those planting beds that had to be moved are the ones surrounding my little soap shop!  Notice the pretty glass flowers hanging from the railing.  Those are from my glass artist friend, Susan Goracy of Starry Night Creations.  She has been a soap wholesaler of mine for years when she had her gallery down in Islamorada in the Florida Keys!

 

Then my niece Ali helped me with a little furniture project I had been wanting to try.  I picked up a couple pieces I wanted to paint last summer.  Then recently I started playing around with graphics and how to transfer them to furniture.  So we came up with the following.  Ali painted all the pieces after modifying them per my specs.  

This one is going in an area that I didn't want the right side "hamper", so she cut it off!

Then we took a weekend and went to my nephew Travis's graduation at the University of Wisconsin, Steven Point.  Ali was there that weekend, so, we all got together and celebrated.  The boys Mom's all put on a really nice spread for us--and took good care of my folks who went with us!

 

Next up were some projects inside.  I had originally wanted to have a builder come in and rehab the bathroom and kitchen, but, not for the $12k they had in mind.  So, I ditched the kitchen plans for now, and spent $100 in the bathroom to put up a flexible curtain track, sewed three shower curtains together and put a holder for the shower head handle on the ceiling.  Done!  Oh, well, almost!  Another crafter friend is helping me bling out the shower curtain tie back that I will use when company comes over!  I will have to take a picture when that comes!

Rod and I also decided to have air conditioning put in and since we are not going to put ductwork in our pretty high ceilings, we went with a mini-split system.  Two units inside up on the wall and the smallish condenser on the outside.  It takes away a bit from the wall with the branches, but, in the opinion of a menopausal, hot-flashing woman--worth it's weight in GOLD!

I also decided to change out the cellular blinds in the house's windows in the great room and the bedroom.  The old ones had to be risen by hand and then chained on both sides.  I found that Home Depot will cut these to size in the store...so, I spent a bit of money on them, but, they open and close so easily.   Lowe's had them on sale too, but, they were more expensive and I didn't like how you had to hit a tiny button to open and close them.  The new blackout ones (pictured darkly below!) in the bedroom make it so nice to sleep past 5 a.m. in the morning!

Which brings me to the last of the projects--just finished today!  I use one of those ugly plastic utility sinks to wash my soap pots.  And I can see that ugly thing from the kitchen window!!  NO more...it is all pretty now thanks to a couple colors of spray paint, some 4x4's and a dahlia stencil from Home Depot and some lattice panels that were laying around. 

When we bought the cottage, there was an outdoor shower--that hadn't worked in years.  A couple weeks ago Rod researched tankless, portable water heaters and I was happy not to spend 3x the money on a 6 gallon RV water heater.  It isn't perfect--the water hose connection to the shower head leaks--but it works just fine for occasional use.  Like today after I spent a couple hours digging out a tree stump that was on the upper tier where all the big containers went.  Whew I was dirty from head to toe and it felt great to wash up outside and not have to drag all that dirt into  the house!

Notice that Trumpet Vine here too!

I know there is more--notice nothing about all the soap shop news...all the challenges during the initial setup of the kitchen and the ongoing worry about where the soap shop will go when the garage is built.  Jeez, I never lack for something to do around here!!   Just walking to the mailbox can create a 50 pound bag of weeds!  

I hope all is well in your world.  Can someone please send me a margarita, no salt!???