Work & Sanity

I’m drowning myself in work. Purposely so.

I was a bit tired by the end of today. And I honestly lost track of how many French Macarons I baked.

I had to redo the salted caramel ones. Shells were a bit over-baked.

My favourite part, is when I get the chance to photograph the macs. So many ideas. I can spend all day taking creative pictures. I really enjoy it.

The good news is, I had to stop the French Macaron ad today. Although, it’s a little ironic, if I stop and think about it! I wanted to get busy, to save my sanity, and not think of the continuous stream, of all the uplifting news everywhere in the world. However, baking French Macarons, does take a toll on one’s sanity. Hence they call them, ‘A baker’s worst nightmare’!

But no matter what, I know…I’d probably have lost interest long time ago, if they were easy to bake.

Also, there is a group of young nerdy coffee aficionados_who operate a company that brings green coffee beans in, directly from farms abroad_and who are interested in me being their roaster. We just started. And I am already beginning to feel like a coffee…Yoda. They ask me nerdy temp questions, and inquire of how many (seconds) do I allow after the first crack..etc etc. I answer, and they listen. It feels good. To be a woman master coffee roaster.

I chuckled to myself yesterday and today…at how wonderfully green, these guys are, when it comes to coffee. Just like their green beans. I don’t mean this, as a condescending remark at all. They just remind me of myself, 10 years ago. When I was beginning to dive into all the wonderful mysteries of coffee.

I truly wish for a good relationship with this group. It’ll definitely be an interesting chapter in my coffee roasting journey.

Ok now I’m getting a bit tied.

Hope I didn’t bore you.

Life In Pictures

My life has been busy lately.

So many projects I’ve been working on.

One of them is baking and packaging all the French Macaron orders.

Every now and then, I place a French Macaron ad, in my little community. And I get..slammed

My coffee orders are also keeping me preoccupied. And a bunch of other projects.

I have to be super organized, to fulfill all different commitments. But I do feel incredibly grateful.

And?! What else?!

Well..remember one of the dogs I used to train? You don’t. That’s ok.

Apparently, in ‘that’ other little community of ‘good people’_10 minutes away from me_with generous lots, a river that runs through, kids free to do lots of leisure activities in a very safe and picturesque environment…etc etc ..They, just came up with this new law, where dog owners are subjected to hefty fines, if the dog is running loose.

I feel, all that beautiful nature and wonderful settings, unfortunately aren’t helping some folks there, to be more compassionate towards their neighbours. Especially these days, with all the stress already.

Owner of the dog, contacted me. She is starting her own business after her previous place of employment had to shutter its doors. And she is contemplating giving the dog away.

I offered the dog stays with me for a few hours a few days every week. Free of charge. owner is thrilled. And so is…the dog.

You should see her run free. I wish you could. So incredibly happy and …free. She does these crazy high jumps! Which are fun to watch.

My spouse was very unhappy about me taking the dog in, a few days weekly. At first, my poor wisdom wanted to blame his strong reaction. Until I fortunately realized ‘he’s right! This isn’t a decision I should make on my own. He lives here too’.

At that point, he and I worked on a compromise. The dog leaves (before) he gets home. And the dog doesn’t visit on the weekend when spouse is off.

I am glad it worked out.

I will say: I absolutely love the dog. She’s so spunky and energetic. And incredibly, smart. And I LOVE watching her just being… a dog. Running free in the forest. After being confined in a house all her life, where her only outings had been a half hour walk here and there.

Yes we finally had our first snow fall. And it was…a lot.

Pumpkin

…she visited yesterday

…..pink cheeked..fiery hair..and a little black cloak

I was delighted to see her again

…the little shadowy thing and I, had wonderful conversations..and I went on to make her a velvety pumpkin to feed, my constantly hungry (lately), creative inner little demons

and Charlotte..decided my latte was fair-game..or was it?! Fairy-game 🙂