Farewell, you old bag.

On Monday i sourced a load of ridiculously cheap small boxes; it was only an extra £1 to get another 50 and i’m ever so glad i did because not only are they the perfect size for a very typical and difficult to pack regular order, but they also make the perfect box to divide my individual bead bags up better. So yesterday i used half of them to make lots of separate little compartments, all in folding crates and with the extra space i have now, everything is different. For the last 3 years i’ve had crates with grip lock bags in them and although it was the best that i could do given the space i had, it was less than perfect. Now i look super organised, Lucy will understand it better, each box has colour and code written on and not only will it speed up packing but it will also mean i spot low stock items more quickly. Whole thing should be much smoother. Some of the bags i have been using have been with BeadMerrily for the whole 3 years since i started, so retiring them was an emotional moment 😉 They all been settled in a bath chair with a nice glass of hot chocolate and a rug over their knees now. 😆 Honestly, i can get emotionally attached to anything 😉

These little boxes also gave me a good idea for a prepacked “Perfect Present” starter kit, so that is now on my list. Amazingly, Christmas has firmly started; in the last week i’ve sold out of almost all the Christmas lines left over from last year and am awaiting the “biggest ever delivery yet” pallet that arrives today – i hope.

We had a generally nice day yesterday, partly because business followed last weeks pattern of being quieter on Wednesday and Thursday and then even more because the computer died and i could stick stamps on the ones i had done! Took them to the Sorting Office later, but it took a chunk of hassle out of the morning, which was nice.

When i got up at 7.30 (i’m an early riser these days, scary!) Fran had been doing maths since max left and had learned her 9 times table and finished her maths book. Impressive 🙂 She spent hours on a hama “Lady” all day and was generally cheerful and motivated. Maddy made her a fantastic Rapunzel hair from yellow tissue paper which reaches from their room in the “attic” to the front door, and so they played princesses for a while. Maddy did some maths but got in a pickle so we left it but she had a nice time drawing and looking at books.

We all ended up having a bit of a serious talk mid morning about the amount of squabbling and bickering and general impatience going on; i’ve seriously threatened school as an alternative to being together if they don’t get themselves sorted out. Then we tidied up a bit and while Josie slept, they hama-ed and i read them endless stories from “Stories from India” – very Aesop fable-y in type; we liked 🙂

Grandad popped over too for some business/website discussion, then it was time to do Brownies and Rainbows so Max sorted that out and bought a new bike at the same time, as his has given up the ghost. Me and the little two had a lovely time together and then i went to collect Fran and when we got back it was time for the now essential Thursday night family curry. Delicious and well received as ever (damn that man is good!) and then it all turned into a mini crisis as we got invaded by about 15 daddy long legges, instigating panic among the masses. Complete 100% full mark parenting awards to Max who had the brilliant idea of a long legges chase and before the end of 5 minutes, the girls were all collecting them and setting them free outside. We’ve got SO MANY of them at the moment!

Anyway. that was yesterday. Now for today.