A Victorian Message Of Good Cheer

Apple Cinnamon tea and stollen

My dear friends,

I've missed you, and it seems those words are oft-spoken from me. I have a wee bit of news to share with you.

But firstly, tea and a Victorian quote to set us right.

" How oft does an emblem-bud silently tell what language could never speak half so well!" ~Louisa Anne Twamley, Romance of Nature {1836}

Last week I sent out my very first email newsletter "The Current." I think I should continually flush out a few ways of making it become a delightful bit of tail mail or messages in a bottle from Raquel. Which Title do you prefer? I'd very much appreciate it being somewhat like snail mail. I miss not having handwritten letters from the post. I love having pen pals, do you not?


I decided over the holiday Thanksgiving break to eliminate all of my social media. I didn't delete the accounts but enabled them and deleted the apps from my cellular to see if it had an impact on my productivity. I'm happily able to report indeed it has! The more I looked at the analytics, I realised the traffic I was receiving came almost 99% from Google, and my website. I feel I've finally come to terms with not having social media. My mothership is my website, so I am going to hone in and laser focus on incredible content for you, my dear friends. I spent too much time spreading myself thin. I'm curious, do you enjoy social media? I believe there is a delicate balance to be had.

I've spent my days feverishly working away at creating a beautiful new design for my website/B~log. It's taking me a bit longer as I'm doing it all myself. Do you work on your own website design, or hire it out? My dream is that you and all who swim to my underwater world will enjoy cottage life, Victorian, homemaking, spirituality and peeks into an authors/ artists life might be appealing. I'm definitely going to be putting out copious amounts of evergreen content since I am focusing solely on my brand nowadays.

I've been feeling a bit of overwhelm as of late, so I began using my Mermaid Mapping Process again. I am a work in progress, and I know I am learning to relax more with each day. I wanted to share the process with you, just in case you've been feeling overwhelmed too. If you practice the law of attraction (Abraham Hick's Teachings), there is a process in the book " Ask, and It Is Given" called the placemat process. It's an efficient way to reduce overwhelm.

This is a little planner page from my personal agenda. It's not one I am going to ultimately sell, so I thought If you wanted to copy it off and use it, It might be of use to you.

Here's how to use The MERMAID MAPPING PROCESS:

On one side pick several things, let's say, for instance, five things you are going to do in a day, and on the other side what you'd like the universe to tend to. In life, if we get overwhelmed with too many things, the more we allow space for the writing of things down, there will be more releasing. The focus becomes the accomplished mechanism. When you focus with overwhelming emotions, you're shooting yourself in the fin, so to speak. Put yourself in the receptive mode because once you've asked it is given.

I'm forever an old soul and love an antique and thrift store more than you can imagine. My BG {beloved gardener} and I went to the village thrift store over holiday and found a few lovely antiques for the cottage. We collected a lace shower curtain, two brass lamps, two antique mirrors, some little wooden picture frames, a cross-stitch jewellery box, an old Victorian painting, and a Victorian cross-stitch Christmas stocking.

The little frames I found at the village thrift for $1.75 (6 qty.) I then painted the silhouettes. 

My dear friends, I think as of late I've been prevailed upon to unearth all of the pleasantries of old-fashioned nostalgia. I gave my BG my Christmas list. I've been especially wanting an old Victrola.

A little doodle of a Victorian Christmas Mermaid

This year was the third Thanksgiving that the gardener and I have shared together and I made it special. I decorated our makeshift sewing table into a little dining table for two, with candles, wine, and some traditional family recipes. I made some place cards, and put 3 kernels of corn in antique shot glasses. We then shared 3 things we were appreciative of while placing the seeds into our dish. When my children were little, I would sometimes use m&m's, and they'd eat one for each thankful blessing.

I sat making popcorn garland while watching Poldark and Downton Abbey reruns.

Jeffrey and I had our assigned foods we made, and we played Victorian holiday music while we prepared our supper. While the rest of the food cooked, I decorated our Victorian tabletop Christmas tree and the front entry door.

In the past few weeks, I have feelings of an enormous amount of stress has been released from my spirit. I'm finally feeling settled and like my old self again. I had felt dishevelled for quite some time with regards to my surroundings and where i belong. I think that's probably pretty normal. After my divorce and having moved homes so often, that's a lot of mental exertion on someone.

In 24 years of marriage, I had moved to 8 states and 21 homes. When i left to divorce in a matter of a year, I had moved 3 states and to 3 more homes. I think you can imagine why I have been feeling like such a gipsy. I am so ready to find my forever home and plant my landlocked self there for many years to come. Jeffrey and I are still living in Tampa, in a home, he has owned himself for over 20 years. But I'm ready for him and I to sell and find a home that's both our tastes. Have you ever felt such as I in this manner? I want a little more property. Somewhat like the feel of living in the country, but close enough to town that we could drive there in a matter of ten minutes or so.

Oliver doing a stance so I couldn't resist in posting.

I want to live somewhere like this. It has the feel of being out in the country, but it's close to all sorts of shopping.

My dear friend sent me leaves from New England and I made more leaf garlands to have in the cottage windows and on the back of our dining chairs.

Lovely eggs from my dear chicken ladies and some flowers I clipped from our cottage garden. 

I have since changed this but wanted to share it with you. I have so many jars, I must discover a remedy.

Lovely little treasures from you, my sweet friends. I love seeing them as I walk through the cottage. It reminds me that I have meaningful friendships.

I spoke to my folks, on Monday, and I drove to their family home and decorated for Christmas. It was a lovely time we had. We listened to Christmas music, ate leftover Thanksgiving food for lunch and then later had apple cinnamon tea and stollen. It was so lovely and very peaceful.

I painted the walls a pretty blue from Sherwin Williams, high gloss white trim and made hand-sewn curtains. When I was couch surfing at my parents, I didn't have a sewing machine, so I hand stitched them from old sheets.

I used what my mother had on hand to decorate. I used to work at a florist when I was a teen, so I learned how to make bows. 

A cross stitch I made one year for my mother's Christmas gift. 

My little storybook The Tale of Merrymaid Scarlette Rose has been out into the world for a little over a month, and here are a few things I've learned that I wanted to share with you:

                                                  TO PURCHASE MY LITTLE STORYBOOK:                                       
                                           Purchase The Tale of MerryMaid Scarlette Rose 
If I set my mind to accomplish something,  I know I can do it.

Everything in the universe has to do with energy and removing resistance.

That the cliche of enjoying the journey/voyage still eludes me more than 30% of the time.

Just because I have accomplished something like my book being published, doesn't mean I'll cease reaching for more.

I'm never going to get "It all done," so i may as well stop working so hard for the end to appear. The goals aren't to get it done, it's to enjoy the process.

To keep the momentum going I'm writing another book, then another and another. I believe momentum is vital.

My dear friend Sam holding my storybook. She has the sweetest blog ever if you enjoy vintage clothing, sewing, farm life and she's especially fond of France.

mssamwearsdresses

Here's my queue for my list of storybooks I'm planning to write to lavish your dear hearts:


*The Tale of Henny Penny Goody Two Shoes

Henny Penny, Polly, Harriet, and May.

Lady Harriet

*Deceit and Dissension {A romantic drama that depicts a naive young lady from an English family of landed gentry as she learns to deal with morality, deception, and hypocrisy.}
 *The Tale of Ms Nevermore Raven
*The Tale of Patsy Violet
*The Tale of Sybrena Ewe
*The Tale of Captain Jack
*The Tale of Diggity-Diggity Dave
*The Tale of Melinda Little Mouse
*The Tale of Squirrel Sadie
*The Tale of Hoppity-Hoppity Little John
*The Tale of Oliver Rabbit
*Autobiography/ A Real Life mermaids Transformational Tale: A Voyage Back To Self Love

What have you been doing? Do you have your Christmas shopping completed yet? I am sewing and hand-making gifts this year, so I am working on mine.

I hope this day is treating you fine. I can't wait to write again.

Most affably yours til my next swim, Raquelxxx