Oh to be healthy again!

Wow! How absolutely awful the past three weeks have been. I was laid low with a very nasty virus which hit at about 1am on Sun 21 Feb and when the alarm went off at 6am, it was in full party mode in my poor, sad, painful body leaving me in no shape for 'marketeering'. My first thought was to drug myself up with some Codral and 'soldier on' but my hubby breathed some sense into me with the most reasonable argument: that he could look after me (and the kids) on a Sunday, but not on a Monday. So, sure, I could go off to market and kill myself so that I would require a week to recover – with no additional support – or I could stay at home in bed and recover quicker. Well... the recovery was less than quick so goodness knows what might have been had I decided to head off to the Abbotsford Convent market after all. I was mostly recovered by Thurs and was in reasonable form for the craziness that was my daughter's school Fete on that Fri afternoon/evening.

That pretty much did it. I felt battered, but not beaten on the weekend which we spent down at Mornington taking it VERY easy. The weather was with us (i.e. cold) and meant that we spent most of our time inside watching videos, doing puzzles, and resting.

Back in Melbourne for Monday back at school and by Mon evening, most of the joints in my body had seized up and I was shuffling around like an 80 year old. It was awful and an incredible way to make me thankful for the usually pain-free, fluid movement that I enjoyed most of the time. I was not just stiff, but every movement was painful. As time went on, the pain, particularly in my feet and hands, got worse and my extremities started to swell. I took myself, slow shuffle by slow shuffle, to the doc on Wed and was relieved to hear that it was likely to be a short term problem. Relatively. 2-3 weeks was the expected recovery period, which, at the time, seemed like an eternity. I couldn't do anything. Well, I could, but it was slow and excruciatingly painful, so I didn't. I still needed to drop Tara off at school and Erin off at kindergarten (although she ended up being sick with my original virus from Tues to Thurs so we just blobbed on the couch together watching videos!) but driving the car was a disaster: limited head movement meant very slow and limited checking for other vehicles when turning anywhere and lack of grip with my hands meant turning corners was ridiculous. Any impatience for elderly drivers turning the corner in future will be no more. Ouch. I couldn't actually grip the wheel but used the side of my hands to push against the steering wheel struts. Very, very slow with painful jarring if I missed the hole!

During this time our house just became more and more messy. Getting dressed was achieved with help from my husband who was 'luckily' unwell and at home from Wed to Fri so could help with some things. Unfortunately, with my incredibly depleted immune system, I came down with hubby's mucous-filled virus last Sunday making for a completely miserable me. :o( On a positive note, my feet had started to loosen up and slowly, from the ground up, my whole body started moving more easily. Last to loosen up have been my hands which still suffer a little pain on making a fist and grasping things is still achieved gingerly. Back to the doctor's on Wed this week for a follow up appointment which ended up being about the 'new' virus with the double-sized head, sore throat and liquid cough with painful lungs. He finally felt that it had gone beyond a joke and we're now fighting back with some antibiotics which are helping me to feel human again. Tomorrow's market will find me rugged up with lots of suppressant medication and moving pretty carefully, but at least upright. Tara has joined me at home today with a rattling cough, and headache to keep it company. Poor love: I know exactly how she feels.

Bring on our return to health. I can't wait.

Market stalls: A step in the right direction

Well, it's certainly taken some time to take that first step to moving my photography hobby to the next level but I've finally done it. After receiving some positive vibes at the school art show where I donated some of my photos I decided to leap into making something more out of my photos and my market business was born.  The month and a bit leading up to my first market at Northside Makers on 28 Nov was, to put it mildly, incredibly busy. What started off as framed prints and prints with mats exploded into an art card range of around 40 cards and a calendar, mini block canvases and coasters. 

Setting up on the day was, mildly put, chaotic, and I without the help of my sister, Linda, and my mum I wouldn't have been ready for the first customers at 10am. Many thanks to you both! The stall display, while not wonderful, was a good first try and I kept myself busy putting my cards in poly bags while the customers walked on by. I had had plenty of warnings from various quarters to be prepared for disappointment and, I felt I was. A mere 2 customers in 4 hours proved me wrong. At the very least I got all my cards in their packaging and cut some business cards. I have a mailing list and the memory of plenty of people commenting on how much they liked my work. 

I'm not the type to let one unsuccessful attempt get me down and I was back behind the stall the following day at the Abbotsford Convent Maker's Market. I was lucky enough to land a cancellation place and had a great corner position which allowed me to display a lot more than the previous day. More people added their names to my mailing list and there were plenty more positive comments, but still only 2 customers and this time in 5 hours. :o( I did manage to sell a framed print so I at least covered my market fees. At the end of market no. 2 I determined to follow up other avenues of selling enabling me to spend my time producing to perhaps sell in shops instead. Not much fun spending so long in preparation and at the market itself for little gain. 

Since then I've pounded the beat in Lygon St at Readings and Borders and in Yarraville and have had varying degrees of success. My cards are now for sale in 2 florists in the Yarraville Village shopping strip and are being considered for the Green Collective in the same area. Readings have expressed interest in my cards in the New Year and things are looking up. 

The next step is to get some web presence happening and see if I can sell some things that way. For now, I'm busy expanding my range of cards with photos from two recent visits to the Melbourne Zoo and Healesville Sanctuary and considering doing another calendar with a different theme. Busy, busy. Keep watching.