Northern Alexandria- Native Plant Sale
27 Saturday Apr 2024
27 Saturday Apr 2024
22 Monday Jan 2024
REFLECTION
Holidays and special events in my store came and went. New items for purchase continued. The Garden thrived. My momentum continued. I remained active at my church, and continued with my Yoga practice. By now I’m in year six and my friend Jack is still coming around but a little less frequently. I had a feeling he was getting bored with the routine. Summer had come to a close and he seemed less enthusiastic about swinging by the store. I had noticed that he had hundreds of books at his home when I stayed there to babysit the “kitty.” It occurred to me that in addition to the new books I ordered from publishers, it might be a great idea to add hard and soft copy books selected by none other than Mr Jack. We began by having him fill one mahogany Duncan Phyfe China cabinet that had four shelves on the top and two cupboard doors on the bottom. He dove right into this idea and almost immediately my customers were very excited about this addition to my shop. He would ask me what kinds of books I liked. Initially we started with some novels of his choice. Then some children’s books since I had a children’s nook. And around the holidays we had Christmas, Valentines, Mothers Day and EASTER themed books. He had a great taste for larger coffee table books, books on Art, Museums, and my clients were instructed that the purchases would be cash only, and this meant the proceeds would go directly to my “book guy.” He decided to charge .25 cents for soft copy books and .35 cents for hard copy. It was a huge bargain, as his books were procured with his overwhelming attention to detail. He loved it. Everyone loved it, and it was noted that he had super taste in book selection. One of my dear customers said to me one day that I should be thrilled, because if you have a library, a garden and a great friend, you have everything you could possibly need.
By the time winter arrived we had five bookcases full of books, and I had found fantastic book cases to house them. Jack was keeping them tidy, organized by category and almost every week he came with new volumes. It turned out to be a great draw in our community. And I must say, all those fully stocked bookshelves gave my shop a cozy ambiance.
Jack and I had frankly fallen for each other, but closer to Christmas just as I was beginning to decorate and prep my shop for the holidays it felt like he began to pull back on his visits. He surprised me and came for my Christmas Open House shopping party, but left town for the holidays afterwards.I continued my holiday commitments just as I needed to. After all my shop was my chosen livelihood. I began to think that my fondness for my shop partner was probably coming to a close. He was away the entire holiday season. And come the New Year the bookshelves were thinly populated and needed attention. I tried myself to spruce them up but customers were inquiring. I made a deal with him that he could come to the shop in the evenings. He had a key and he completed the restocking. This went on until Spring. I knew in my heart that his interest in my direction had waned. I was heartbroken. He decided and told me that he didn’t want to come to the shop any more unless I was going to be there. Like all crushes in life if you don’t add kindling to the flame it begins to die out. He stopped coming completely, but I had to pick myself up, and dust myself off and keep on……keeping on. And so we slowly drifted apart. I worked the next year on my own. He did come and stock the books on rare occasions but it was not in his heart any more. I knew it was not me though, that was keeping him away. He’d show up at odd times and I could tell he still had interest. It was for me one of the saddest times in my life. I so much missed his charm and presence. My dream shop was becoming a hard place to be without his aura. New events came and went and on my own…..the thrill of the store took on a feeling of “duty.” I frankly was lost without him. A few church folk had told me that he had some longer term health issues that kept him from being himself sometimes, and that probably it would be best for me if I would bring myself to operating without him and on my own. I really wanted to know more about his possible health issues.
I began reading all kinds of books about medical conditions not really knowing what direction my search would take me.
By the next full year in business I had lower profit numbers than my previous years, and it was becoming clear to me that it might be possible that I might have to consider closing my store. Our town was small and two other very viable and first businesses in our town had, had to close. I had worked so hard and yet we were in a deep economic turndown that had started in 2008, just as I was opening, and my operating capital was now starting to shrink slightly. I also was missing my family and so I decided to close my store at the end of year seven. In hindsight…… I truly believe now that God was calling me in a whole new and different direction. And I did not want to operate my store without my wonderful and dearest friend. And so it was……
21 Sunday Jan 2024
Posted Before • During • In Progress, Blessings, Blooms, Books, Classic Art volumes, Garden Tips, Gardening, Gardening Maintenance, Gratitude, Handmade, Helpful Tips, Indoor/Outdoor Plants, Native Wildflowers, Nature & Creatures, Planting, Professional Services, Publications, Reflections, Sharing, Teaching, Today's Update, Writing
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30 Monday Oct 2023
(REVISED) – Sunday – 20/29/23
Dear Friends….
So, yesterday my best friend, the love of my life, and the one person who I totally trust, reminded me about this post that I created almost one year ago. My intentions were to begin a writing career and see where it would lead me. He believes in me, and he wants to encourage and nurture me to reach my true potential. I must admit, my immediate thought was, well what do I write about. I admit to you now, in this moment, that I have tons of interests and I’ve been practicing without knowing it through this blog, and over the last fifteen years and a number of you have followed me. But choosing my beginning direction seemed overwhelming. Do I write about gardening, do I incorporate my faith journey, should it be about my growing up in a small town, about my family influences, times I spent traveling, my interest in cooking and homemaking, antiques acquisitions, opening my own retail store, starting a neighborhood gardening business, studying music for 20 years, my earnest passion for thrift and charity shops and going to auctions for years acquiring goods. I also love birds, nature and farming, where as a child I spent hours learning about nature, crops, the land, weather, animals and wildlife on the family farm. It’s a broad spectrum of topics to narrow down, and yet I know I’ve stories to tell.
So I will begin in a small town of 38,000, in central Iowa. My thoughts are at this moment convinced that in our life journey, the events large and small, that took place in our lives prepare us and mature us as we grow into adults. I believe it is absolutely no accident what we think, who we meet, where we go, and how we ultimately end up at a place, where we can say we have lived a full and interesting life. And those who have shared that life with us, have a profound affect on our thinking and our path into the later years of our life. Everyone brings to us, experiences and decisions, and joys and sorrows and we become the person we were meant to be with our creators fervent interest in us. For I know that as humans, God has created us in his image. We have responsibilities, and we need to live up to our true potential, and in so doing, bring richness to our lives, and the lives of all others, including those we love deeply. And so I will begin in my hometown and start my story there.
I will use this platform to write my story. If you decide to follow me, it will be my honor to hear from you and to share my life’s journey with you personally, with the hope that my walk may inspire you to write about your life also. We all have a story to tell. It is of value…..and it is good and crucial to share.
I hope you will follow me on my chosen path….
sincerely,
” Contessa”
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Hello ContessasHome Friends…
After blogging for fourteen years, and writing about gardening, yoga, my store in Delray, daily reflections and my spiritual prayer times, I am led to pursue my newest “calling.” I want to write a book. I have gazillions of thoughts and ideas in my head about things to write about. I have decided to pursue a writing career. My blog is and will remain a continued communication tool, in order to be able to keep in touch with all of you…..my gardening friends.
I have been thinking about writing professionally for about two years. Today I visited the library to find a few books about how to start a career in writing. I will be doing some studying and some writing. I’m not sure where I’m going exactly…but it is all about getting started. Will it be a novel, or a series of short stories, a devotional, poetry or a collection of daily spiritual reflections. I do not know that yet. But “beginning” is where I will start. Creating characters possibly, making characters come to life, inventing a story and a writers style all come in to play. Being a writer will require some solitude, research, writing and rewriting and using the inner resources of my mind to gather all the material I’ve stored in my brain for these last fourteen years while I was blogging. My inner urge to write comes from my creator. I am no accident and neither is my inner urge to write. It’s all part of His plan for me. My best self so to speak. Diving deep into my mind to explore so many things I have learned about my life, my previous careers and just simply about learning. Life long learners are interesting folk. We have lived and grown and shared. This new adventure is a place I’ve not been before. But it’s been planted as a seed in my heart and so I will begin…..and I bring with me, for support and encouragement, my best friend, and the love of my earthly life and my soul mate. [JB/MP]
Tonight I’ve brought four books home with me from the Duncan Library in Delray. All very different. Each focusing on writing……and so now, for a week or so…. I will become a student of others research about writing. I will share with you as I go along in this new and scary, but exciting writing journey.
“Contessa”
02 Saturday Sep 2023
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12 Saturday Aug 2023
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29 Saturday Jul 2023
Posted Art, Books, Gardening, Helpful Tips, Museum News, Professional Services, Sharing, Today's Update, Vintage Garden, Writing
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01 Saturday Jul 2023
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24 Saturday Jun 2023
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13 Saturday May 2023
Posted Art, Books, Classic Art volumes, Cookery, Gardening, Literary, Museum News, Sharing, Speakers, Special Events, Today's Update, Vintage Garden
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