bulbs and chocolate

thanks again for all your support in my absence. last week was just crazy and i couldn't find the time to do anything expect focus on 'business.'

for the time being, i am my only employee. i make the breakfast, clean the rooms, laundry ... lots of laundry, all the associate paperwork with owning a business (my least favorite part), 'entertain' my guests ... plus the gift shoppe ... ordering (which takes a lot longer than you'd think ... i'm too picky[which is good i suppose]), unpacking, pricing, displaying, dusting ... plus i make baskets. you get the idea.

thankfully i love every minute of it and can't imagine doing anything else. but when i'm busy ... i'm busy.

i actually really missed interacting with you all. i wasn't even able to read the blogs i follow. my google/reader had 800 posts! yikes! it's going to take me a while to get through them all.

today i took some time to plant tulip bulbs. the weather was beautiful this morning (and still is this afternoon) ... a  slight chill in the air, and the sun is shining as bright as it can. it was lovely and relaxing and really, really needed. i love getting my hands in the dirt.

anyway. as i mentioned yesterday i've added some new items to my etsy shop (should be up later today). homemade hot chocolate mix. yum!

i made the standard hot chocolate which is delicious of course. but then i got creative.

this is one of my favorites. white chocolate. yum! each bag makes about eight individual cups of yummy and amazingly rich cocoa.

i also have three different flavors too. the first is spicy which has cayenne pepper, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. i was actually worried about making this one. i thought i (and most people) wouldn't like it. but i kinda love it. it's not too hot and the extra spices create a really interesting flavor. yum.

and i also have vanilla milk chocolate and hazelnut milk chocolate.

i'm not going to share the recipe here for obvious reasons, but if you'd like it shoot me an email and i'll see what i can do.

and for those of you that can visit the 'brick and mortar' shop ... these mixes are also available here.

what have you been doing to prepare for the fall and winter?