I think most of us here in this frozen northland are beginning to wonder if we’ll ever see spring.  I know, too much talk of the weather, but I am from Minnesota after all!  The snowbirds were feasting at the bird feeder all day today, so I suppose that means more snow is on the way.

As far as the business goes, we sure had a good Valentine’s Day.  It was very busy.  I’ve put a few pictures here just that show a some of my favorite new creations from Valentine’s Day. 

It’s hard to believe that we are already pretty nearly to the end of another year.  When I looked at this blog, I realized that I haven’t posted anything since June.  It’s a bit embarrassing.  I would make a resolution to write more often, but the problem with that is that I don’t keep resolutions and so have given up making them in the first place.  (This is just an effort on my part to keep from jinxing myself!) 

I have some goals for January/February.  I hope to start an email list for my gift basket customers and friends.  I don’t want to do a monthly newsletter but definitely would like to send out information when we find some cool new products or gift basket ideas.

February is the five-year anniversary of Gift Basket Delights. If any readers have a nifty idea for me on how to celebrate, please let me know!

I can hardly believe it, but we have a pair of bluebirds in our yard.  I don’t know where the nest is, but they are so pretty.  Of course, as soon as I have the camera in hand to take a picture, off they fly.  They just have a knack for knowing when someone’s just about ready to snap that picture.  Anyway, we have a bluebird on our logo because we love bluebirds and so for me it ’s very cool to have a pair nesting close by.

I know it’s definitely nothing to do with gift baskets, but maybe its a Minnesota topic — I just know that I’m so amazed that I can look at the sky at night and see both Jupiter and Venus.  And they’re so bright that I can see them without even searching. 

I just finished up wedding flowers last week for a wedding on Saturday.  This bride, who is a personal friend, wanted permanent botanicals.  We had daisies and daffodils.  The bridesmaids wore periwinkle blue.  The whole look was so fresh and clean and very pretty.  She was such a beautiful bride.

 I absolutely love working with flowers, whether fresh or silk.   It’s fun to create the designs, and when I finally have exactly what the bride wants, it’s a very good feeling.

This is one of the permanent botanical boutonnieres from the wedding:

and this is one of the corsages:

I’m working on some designs now for out-of-town guest hospitality gifts.  When I have them ready, I’ll post them here.

One of the first major hurdles in this gift basket business journey has been licensure.  Gift Basket Delights is a home-based business and we’re located in Minnesota.  The Department of Agriculture here absolutely does not want to license home-based businesses.  Because it’s something they don’t do, then that means that all businesses that are home-based and sell any kind of food items — and I’m talking about prepackaged — are technically illegal.  We can’t sell vitamins, spice blends, pancake and brownie mixes, etc. from home. 

I had been in business for one year when I learned this.  By then, I knew this is a business that I love and didn’t want to give it up.  We were only part-time at that time, but still — without that license we would be illegal and I can’t imagine expecting to have legitimate clients if we weren’t legitimate ourselves.

This was in February of 2004.  I contacted the Department of Agriculture and learned all of the requirements for licensure.  We were able to meet every requirement for our Commercial Food Handler’s License except one for which we have a variance.  In August 2004 we received our license and to my knowledge we are still the only home-based business in this state with licensure.

It’s time for inspection again, which is probably why I’m thinking about this.  I can understand the need for licensure, but it would be good to see the law changed so that Minnesota is more home-based business friendly.

I believe this is my third or possibly even fourth attempt at a blog — perhaps this one will stick!