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in this carved bowl on our coffee table.
The vintage glass ornaments, cross and bowl are Goodwill finds.
Two weeks ago I finally took down our very dry Noble Fir carefully removing all our Christmas ornaments and putting them away for another year. It was a bit of a heart wrench. But during those weeks of insane rain storms here in California, and all those dark rainy days and nights, having the tree up and lit (often during the day too!) was a joy. An absolute joy.
But the tree is gone now, the sun is back (yeah!) and the new year is well underway.
Here’s what I’ve been doing lately…
I’ve been gratefully puttering around in our small yard. Cleaning up, pruning and planting. Yesterday I planted some parsley in a vintage hand-painted Portugal casserole dish (missing its lid and too crazed for food use). I love cooking with fresh herbs so I’m hoping it thrives. (Last year some critter ate my plant down to the nubbins.)
I’ve been packing orders. On the vintage biz front it’s been a fairly robust sales month for my Lion and Lamb Vintage Etsy shop. (Hoping it keeps up!)
I’ve even had two Chairish sales this month, which is two more than I got all last year! Sad, but true. In 2022 I had NO sales on Chairish. Admittedly, I only ever have about 15 items listed there, but every year since I opened in 2019 my Cloak and Dagger Vintage shop would sell a handful of items–except last year. Zilch. Nada. It was so disheartening I almost shut the store.
I’ve been listing items. It can’t sell if it ain’t listed and I’m trying to keep my online stores populated with “new” items. The shallow pottery bowls were a fantastic flea market find from months and months ago. Never found out the maker from the cryptic marks on the bottom so I had to price them based quality and uniqueness.
And I just finished up leading a fall grief support group. Nowadays we meet via Zoom, which works fine, though I do miss the in-person sessions at times. This group connected well and it was lovely to see them support one another through this painful season. (I start a new group in March.)
I’ve also been focusing on getting rid of more things in our house. It’s not always easy, but it feels good when excess things are gone. My daughters got into downsizing too and a few weeks ago we filled a car with goodies heading to a local charity fundraising yard sale. Some of the donated items had been in my Etsy shop for too long and I was ready to part with them. Going to do more of this. May even start early on spring cleaning.
That’s my year so far. Nothing exciting, though all very satisfying.
Hoping the start to your new year is a good one,
Karen
Hunting for Vintage 
I don’t resell, but I did get rid of a LOT of things just last week! That included a lot of artwork. It feels good and I don’t miss a thing!
Those are beautiful bowls and would look lovely displayed in a bright sunny kitchen. Or, a breakfast room, which I think are things of the past. My grandmother had one in San Mateo. Of course, they face east for the morning sun!
Have you grown parsley in a container like that before? It’s in the carrot family and has a very long taproot. It will grow, sure, but maybe not to its full potential, and not come back next year (it this is its first year) to flower.
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Hi Lisa. It does feel so good letting things go! A breakfast room…that sounds so charming. And thanks for the info about parsley. I had no idea about the taproot. We’ll see how it does in this dish.
Ta, Karen
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It was an amazing room. The house was amazing. A craftsman. We were going to move into it after my grandmother died, and I painted a room lilac for my own, then for some reason my parents decided to sell it, and keep the one we were living in, in Lafayette. I wonder what changes my life would have had if they’d chosen the opposite?
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Be sure that your bowl has a drainage hole….your plant will need to drain any excess water.
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