Art and Crafts On Hold

I'm hoping once I get adjusted to doing cleaning work full time again that I'll be inspired to devote the weekends to creating, although, now that I have a reliable car I'd also like to get out and do a bit of exploring, trips outside the city, see some farm country, some mountains maybe.

And its finally official, the family I've been working with for 6 years that are moving, are moving to an apartment that is just a half block from me, the move is next weekend.  I can walk to work two days a week (well 3 actually, a new client is also close) and when winter comes I won't have to worry about losing that income because of snow or a car that won't start. I did mention in my previous post that as I'm getting older the smallest things can make me happy ;-)

Lots of Good Stuff

Last week was a good week.  So I've got three new clients for cleaning, two homes I've already work in and the third will be this Tuesday.  Both homes I've done so far were really in need of help, its good to feel needed, it makes doing this kind of work easier on the ego.
I had taken my 'new to me' car to my mechanic on Tuesday and got the great news that he couldn't find anything wrong with it.  He did point out though that one of my tires was bigger than the other three so I had to call the salesman where I bought it to get that situation fixed.  They were more than happy to replace the tire and sent me to the person who does their tires for them.  I got a brand new tire.
When I was leaving the tire place which was right smack in the middle of a road construction project I was having trouble getting out of their parking lot and back into traffic, cars just would not stop for me.  Construction worker to the rescue!! He was driving one of these......

and coming right towards me, I was in the area they were working on.  I backed up to get out of his way when he stopped, lifted up the bucket end of this thing and started to turn it out into the street, right into the traffic, it was the coolest thing!!  Traffic of course stopped in both directions and I was able to get back into traffic.  He pulled the bucket back out of the way and he had the biggest grin on his face as did I.  It was just too cool, it still makes me smile.

One of my cleaning clients that I've been with for about six years (can't believe its been that long!) is in the process of moving. When I first learned about this I was pretty nervous, this family is one that I see twice a week so its a big part of my income.  As luck would have it, it seems they may be moving just a half block from me!  I had told them about this beautiful apartment building just down the street from me and they checked it out and like it.  Its one of the very few places to rent that offers the amount of space that they need and moving there will keep them close to the places they need to stay close to. I've been helping them with the packing and was able to score a couple of things they were getting rid of.....some potting soil and clay pots, a couple of bottles to complete my bar setup :-).  I had taken some babies from a friends spider plant and they're growing like crazy so I was happy to get some pots and dirt. I'm getting easy to please in my old age lol.
And to round out the week of good stuff two sets of bracelets sold :-)

Lazy but productive weekend

I'm trying to fill my work week up with new homes to clean, closing up those empty slots of time will really help now that I have a car payment to squeeze into my monthly budget.  I need this extra work!  I listed my availability on our local community facebook page and got a couple of responses. I met with a really nice young family early this afternoon who happen to live right around the block from me (how totally convenient!) and it looks like we'll be able to work something out, tomorrow after work I'm meeting with another potential client (also really close by)who seems pretty interested so hopefully everything will fall into place.
I have to say that even though cleaning homes isn't the most glamorous job to have, it has definitely helped keep me in shape and healthy, important at my age (old!).  And I have to say it is a nice feeling knowing you're helping someone have a nice place to come home to......lord knows we all need a pleasant place to be where we can shut out the world for a bit these days.......sigh.

OH!......and somebody/anybody pleassssseeee buy a bracelet!!😩 LOL :-)

Panic Attack Over.......

.......well, almost.  Now I need to figure out how to pay for this..

Once I was done morning the loss of my old car I decided to see if she was worth a down payment on a 'new to me' used car.  I started with an online search of small dealers near me and found one that seemed to have a large stock of used cars and at reasonable prices.......I took my final ride in my little red convertible to Active Auto. Not sure how these guys did it but I managed to leave there with a 2007 Hyundai with, low miles, one owner, no accidents, great maintenance records and a very fair price.  However, there is still the issue of fitting the higher insurance and new car payment into an already stretched budget. So, I'm looking for more work and ways to promote my art.  Need a small gift for anyone? Please visit my website http://karenhetzer.com

Time To Rethink......

Well, I got some disturbing news this morning....its about my car, my 28 yr old car :-(.

I took her in for inspection and to get a coolant leak fixed this morning and upon inspection it was determined the car needed not only a new pump for the coolant but also the thermostat, and a new muffler, and two new shocks, and something for the steering was starting to go (I stopped listening, he didn't stop listing)........in other words time has finally caught up with her and she's just rusting and falling apart bit by bit.  I am having the pump replaced just to get me to the end of the month when the stickers expire and I can figure out the best way to go forward, putting more money into the car is not an option, and getting a new/or used car may also not be an option.
Meanwhile, working on some bracelets.

And I got a free simple hat pattern from myblueprint.com (formerly Craftsy) and plan to knock out a few quick hats.........

knitting calms me and I need calming about how.