Been a while...

Good morning Steemit!

I hope this day finds you well and happy.

I apologize for my absence. I think I have been gone long enough that this is almost a re-introduction. Things in the Jones' household have been hectic to say the least. I don't even know where to start, but I will try.

My mother and sister moved here from Nevada in June. Things have not gone as I had hoped, but they have gone about how I expected. There will always be a small part of me that wishes that side of my family could stop being so hateful to each other and learn forgiveness, but it seems that it is not meant to be. Anyway, I wish them well, and they know where I am if they want to be at the very least civil.

My father had a quadruple bypass in July and has moved from Pennsylvania to live with us and is now fully "retired", with my baby brother (ehm 32 years old) in tow. I am really enjoying having them here. I missed them very much when we moved back to Arkansas in 2015.

When last we talked, I was unsure of where we would land when this house was sold out from under us by our previous landlord. But as it turned out, it was a blessing in disguise. Our new landlord is a very nice man, a firefighter and veteran Marine who is more than happy to have us here. He has even begun some major renovation work with my husband and father to make this house into whatever we need. So it looks like this really is our permanent roost. At least until the children are grown.

They love their new schools. Cedarville is exactly the kind of small town, close knit place I wanted for them.

source: Piper Jones
They are all doing mostly well in their classes. Piper struggles a bit with Spanish and Kevan doesn't care so much for his Lit class, but he is doing wonderful on the football team, they've made the playoffs this year. Paige is making great strides in band and has made it to second chair with her clarinet. Phoebe and Lucas are both coming along and may be ready to return to regular school next year. We will be testing them out soon to see where they still need help.

I am chugging along with Ivy and Bat. I have my Etsy shop up and running and the website is as well. We will be adding a room under the balcony for me for a new lab soon and in the spring I will be starting my rounds of the local farmer's markets and fairs. So if you know of any good conventions, festivals, faires,etc... in the Arkansas/Oaklahoma border area, let me know. =)

The hubby took 6 weeks off to go to Pennsylvania and help my father get back on his feet, and with cooler temps coming, moving and "junk"work has fallen off for the season, so he is on the lookout for something more steady and permanent. It's just not a lucrative business anymore. Not like it used to be...

Well, that just about brings us up to date. I will post more as things go on. Especially with the renovations, and I have some beautiful pics of the fall colors around here that I'll be posting soon as well.

Until then, hugs and love,

Tabz
My links;
https://www.amazon.com/Tabz-Jones/e/B01CID4SAO/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyoBGvbY129LPmAcvUWy0qA
https://www.zazzle.com/mbr/238090268902612703
https://www.etsy.com/shop/IvyandBat
Website:
https://www.ivyandbat.com/

https://www.gothictoggs.net

Social Links:
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/ivyandbat/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ivyandbat
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ivyandbat/