Larry the handyman was over last week to do a small project for me.  As this is an old farm house, the kitchen had one of those built-in ironing board cupboards.  I had a large china cabinet in front of it, but it always bothered me, as did the old, cheap wallpaper behind it.

So after nearly 22 years, I decided oh what the hell, and called Larry in to get rid of it.  I wanted to match the paint to the living room walls, so had to make three trips to General Paint, but was successful  in the end.  Now I just sit and stare lovingly at the wall.

Larry, who appears to be around my age, got married last year for the third time.  I’d told him about my situation when he was here doing another job, so the other day he asked how things were going, and I said they were going great.  I said, “Ya know, Larry, I’m neither bored nor lonely.”

He said he was both bored and lonely, and hence was glad to have found his third wife.  I said that’s the trouble with men, they just can’t be alone.  I think women are much better at it.  Though of course as I’m still living with an adult child, how would I really know?

And speaking of which, Denis and Nicky have driven to Sylvan Lake to visit Luke.  That’ll be Denis’ first trip to see Luke’s house.  I made two batches of cookies for them to take, and stuck in a note saying I’d fly out in May or June when the weather’s better.  I don’t find Alberta in the winter much of a draw.

Do you ever see this ad on TV?  I think it must be for a bank.  The person says, “I want to stop paying bank fees” or whatever, and some deadpan, wise-ass retorts, “Then stop paying bank fees.” This is basically what appears to have happened with my ‘business plan.’

The other day I was thinking, “I wish I could have a solely on-line business” then some voice came back with, “then have a solely on-line business.”  And I thought, of course.  I have to return to the roots of the matter, which is the handmade, artisan food angle.

This would allow me to be very creative.  If I want to make a new product for the stores, I have to pay for a label to be designed, labels have to be printed, a lab has to analyze the ingredients and a new nutrition information label has to be made.  A new bar code has to be ordered.  Can you imagine the cost to get a new product to the stores?

But if on my site I decide to sell a new product, and package it very simply, who will care as long as it’s gourmet quality?  If I get bored (doubtful) I can make cookies and sell them for a few weeks, or whatever.  You see the possibilities for me here?

So in order to break stores in gently, I mentioned in this month’s newsletter that I’m going to curtail wholesale sales.  That way, I can produce less, and enjoy it way more.  Now I just need to get very busy with social media to get people to my site.

And as you know, I’m an idiot with social media.  The learning curve’ll be steep, and once again, no boredom possible around here!