Sunday, November 07, 2010

New Year, New Things.

Halloween is a wonderful excuse for spooky celebration for people of all ages in the United States, but its true roots are in the Celtic New Year, Samhain, the one night of the year when the veil between the tangible world and the Other Side parts, and those who died during the year have an opportunity to pass on to the next life.

If you have read my past Halloween posts, you will know that Trick or Treat originated in Ireland, with people leaving cakes and ale on their doorsteps to appease passing spirits (it didn't take adventurous young folks long to figure out that they could get a little tipsy and also have a feast of sweets if they braved the night and absconded with the offerings for the dead). And the Jack O'Lantern was set out to light the spirits' path on their journey.

This New Year is bringing some new things to our family. Some planned, some not. One of the downsides of having a yarn store is having almost no time in which to blog, but I am trying to amend that.

Unplanned: our bathroom floor quite nearly collapsed the first week in October, and for the next few weeks we made do with the half-bath to wash ourselves up (and an occasional shower at my Mom's apartment) while the bathroom was gutted. Our old molded plastic tub had been leaking onto the floor below from inside the drain -- without our knowledge, of course -- for quite some time, and had rotted through the subfloor and joists. We were literally about to fall through the floor! It was a lot of hard work, but now we have a lovely new bathroom with a tile floor and tub surround, and a piece of granite left over from someone's much larger and much more extravagant kitchen as our bathroom countertop. There is also a good, solid cast iron tub. I will boast just a little and admit that I designed it myself to best take advantage of space and storage. I will post pictures soon.

Planned: we must choose to part with a dear old water oak which is immediately behind our home. It is an old and dear friend, but it is sick, and near the end of its life cycle. It is over 90 feet tall with a great deal of rot in its core, and we fear it will come crashing down through the house if there is a big storm. We take ending a tree's life every bit as seriously as euthanizing a dear pet, but we plan to make amends to its spirit by planting a trio of young cypress trees in its place.

Planned: The next thing is: a complete rearrangement of the Knitting Asylum to make it more cozy: new and better shelving that will hold MUCH more yarn, cushy old chairs rescued from thrift stores, and I am slowly starting a new selection of yarns for the fall and winter. Updates with photos will follow soon. My loyal employee Wren, and a few loyal customers are helping me re-design, and we are using a lot of Feng Shui principles for good traffic flow and also for good luck, because, quite frankly, I need it. The store will also be much more snug and welcoming for those who wish to sit and knit for awhile. I am very pleased at the progress we are making and slowly but surely it will be snug and cozy. We are even planning a tea station.

Also planned this month: a huge garage sale with my dear friend Diana to unload clutter from our homes and earn enough for some pocket money and maybe a dinner out with her family, my family and a couple of friends.

I am trying to get back on a quasi-normal blogging schedule. There will be lots of neat new information about the store, very soon -- and just in time for Christmas knitting, too!

More to come soon...

Dez

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad to see you're back. It sounds like life has been too busy for much other than just "livin' it"! Can't wait to see what's ahead.
Best luck -
Marietta

Elizabeth D said...

I love it when the Asylum pops up in my google reader menu -- glad to know you're doing OK out there. On the recent Dez scale, those catastrophes hardly register!

Unknown said...

Hi, I just found your post and am happily losing myself in reading past posts. Glad to hear you will carve out time for future posts!

sex shop said...

Hello, I came to your blog, nice photos and style: a good day and see you soon at sex shop romantic thank you bye

Anonymous said...

Sometimes a person is just moved to comment, and I was today. I read your comment on the Yarn Harlot's Canada Day post. I have also stumbled across your blog before, and am of the opinion that you and I have a very similar way of looking at things. I remember being particularly moved by your post, "Why We Stay". I live in Victoria, B.C., very (uncomfortably) close to a fault line that they keep saying is "overdue for a significant earthquake". I can't leave (okay, REALLY wouldn't want to leave) because my heart is here. Without blabbing on forever, it is nice to know that there are kindred spirits out there, in all countries. And there are.

Happy 4th to you and yours.

barbinvic

Credit Forex Markets said...

What an inspiration! Thank you for your story. Love love love your work

Fashion For Physic said...

I loved this post too. I miss you when we don't hear what is going on in your life!

Google Adsense Account said...

The post is so informative on the worthwhile awesome collection, hope you will keep posting good material.

Cooking Perfect said...

One of the more impressive blogs Ive seen. Thanks so much for keeping the internet classy for a change. Youve got style, class, bravado. I mean it. Please keep it up because without the internet is definitely lacking in intelligence.

Anonymous said...

Dez - so glad you're back. Hope the changes will make life easier & better for you. Any chance you might make it to Stitches South in April? Love to hear your stories.
Marietta

Abby said...

Microsoft office 2010 is Microsoft's fastest-selling office suite, and office 2007 download has many powerful features.