I’ve been lax lately with writing. At the beginning of the COVID-19 scare, when I laid off Shane and Deborah, I planned to do great things. I envisioned painting the shop with a fresh coat to hide the years of wear and the floor needed sanding and varnishing too, a great job to brighten up the place. I hoped to make some videos for the website and Facebook, various topics I’ve been thinking about. I hoped to finish my book and actually started it enthusiastically but then as the orders poured in, I put it aside. Then I planned to go through all the odds and sods that have piled up around the shop waiting to be utilized, those projects that the day to day routines never leave time for. We are a busy shop and always in sell mode, getting orders in the mail and stocking the shelves so there is little time for extras. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, being busy is business and this means I might survive for however long this goes on and we will probably come out still standing when the virus is behind us!
So, I’ve been delighted and amazed and I can’t lie, sometimes even overwhelmed, at the amount of support you all have given me in this time when businesses are failing and people are frightened for their financial future. I’d like to send out a heartfelt thank-you for keeping us in your thoughts and emailing and dialing in your orders!
Most of you realize that I am working on my own these days so orders aren’t getting to the post office as fast as when the entire crew was working and I am so grateful for your patience! Not only do I have to make the orders but then it takes almost a day to wrap, weigh and take them to the post office. Except for two days of being home when sciatica flared up, I have worked for the last eight weeks straight, seven days a week and usually till midnight each day getting orders out as quickly as I can. I’ve been at the helm dyeing wool, drawing patterns and constructing kits. I will never be so happy to see Shane and Deborah back when it is safe to have us all together in the studio, but in the meantime I do work fast, my years of short order cooking have trained me well and I work like a machine when I get into the pace needed to pump out product.
But, I selfishly took Sunday off and because today is Victoria Day, I took that off as well to refuel and recharge my batteries. The on switch had been draining them, so these past two days I’ve had time to rest and concentrate on my gardens which is the best therapy in the world. I could have laid around on the sofa, but I worked my arse off outside getting rid of last falls debris and throwing down mulch. Working with the earth is soothing and calming, even the ticks that tried to drive me back into the house didn’t daunt me. There is nothing like playing in the soil to connect with the earth and nature. This is the first time this spring I’ve been out working on the yard; my days have been all about the shop and I come home to eat and sleep with little time for anything else. Thankfully hubby has been cooking and doing all the dishes to help me save all my energy for work.
For those that think lifting restrictions is a good thing and want to get into the shop, that won’t be happening for a while. We haven’t had the second wave yet and it’s coming, historically second waves are always worse than the first so I won’t be open to the public any time soon. I am surprised to discover while chatting with people on the phone that they don’t realize the pandemic isn’t over and lifting restrictions only means the hospitals are equipped to handle more cases because more people will be infected and deal with that fate. Restrictions and isolating is only to keep the health care workers from being overwhelmed all at once, so this is the way to loosen the tether of temporary freedom so more people can be infected and allow the virus to work through the public bit by bit. I have diabetes and from all the news you hear that seems to be one of the main determinations of how you process the virus. As much as I love my job, the shop and our customers, I’m not about to get sick or perhaps die for wool. So, mail order and curbside pickups will be the norm until things improve. Although summer sales hold us for the winter, there won’t be much tourist traffic this year with border restrictions and social distancing so opening to the public won’t matter much as long as I continue to get mail order business and curbside pickups. Pretty please and thank-you! We will discuss opening to the public at some point with restrictions like one person at a time by appointment and with adequate protections etc. But that will come later so no need to think about that now. I would love to be wrong about my predictions or personal opinion, but that's what the scientists say, and in the meantime, I will wait and see how things go in the coming months to make decisions about the future.
In the meantime, I will be wearing my mask for trips to the post office and grocery store even when all those around me don’t. I am rather dismayed that more people in my town don’t wear them. I’m lucky to see one person when I’m out and about and we nod to one another as if we share a secret, a knowledge that others don’t. I appreciate seeing them, and I hope they me, its as if we are in a private club. Just because we’ve had no cases or death close to us, doesn’t mean it isn’t a real problem when 300,000 people world wide have died, which to put into perspective, is almost one third of the 970,000 population of Nova Scotia. These people were someone’s loved ones and friends. They mattered to others; they are not just faceless numbers to be ignored because we didn’t know them personally. It’s absolutely tragic. That being said, I will be protecting myself until the very last person tests positive or until there is a working vaccine.
So, after that gloom lets lighten it up a bit. As I was standing in line at the post office the other day I was thinking about the positives of a mask, besides the protective factor. As my eyesight deteriorates, those chin hairs elude me so now I don’t have to worry about a rogue hair bobbing up and down while I talk, grabbing the attention of others that can’t focus on my words from the shear absurdity of it flopping around. And one can save a fortune on teeth whitening, let their smile go for a few more months before blasting another round of toxic cleaner.
Another perk, I like not wearing lipstick everyday. I never wear the kind that have some sort of epoxy in them that stay all day even through eating and kissing. Mine brand pretty much dissolves as soon as it’s applied so I am constantly re-coating to keep my lips red to detract from the broken blood vessels of my reddish cheeks. Even though my brand is a mild form it still comes with a slurry of chemicals so I am happy to give my liver and breasts a break from absorbing it all. What you wear on your face is found in breast tissue and liver tissue. Sorry just had to throw that in there to spread awareness. Yes, these COVID-19 days are creating a healthier body for me in many ways.
So, I am back out in the garden, trying to stay ahead of the ticks and feeling the sun warm my face, a sign that summer will soon be here. The deer have been down earlier than normal, perhaps less traffic and people outside have made them braver. All my Solomon’s Seal have been gnawed off like shoots of asparagus and most of the day lilies are nibbled to the ground but I can’t fault them for being hungry and work around the destruction. These plants will have less than perfect leaves but life will go on, and they will continue to grow, perhaps a metaphor for us with the pandemic.
We watched the mooring guy drop our ball today in front of our house. We hope to start working on our boat soon and will decide when and if to launch. We will keep an eye on the virus and see how things are in our province for an end of June splash. I would be disappointed if we can’t this year but will accept our fate and plan for a 2021 summer on our teak womb. In life, like being on the water, one must learn to roll with the swells.
Take care and be well everyone!
So, I’ve been delighted and amazed and I can’t lie, sometimes even overwhelmed, at the amount of support you all have given me in this time when businesses are failing and people are frightened for their financial future. I’d like to send out a heartfelt thank-you for keeping us in your thoughts and emailing and dialing in your orders!
Most of you realize that I am working on my own these days so orders aren’t getting to the post office as fast as when the entire crew was working and I am so grateful for your patience! Not only do I have to make the orders but then it takes almost a day to wrap, weigh and take them to the post office. Except for two days of being home when sciatica flared up, I have worked for the last eight weeks straight, seven days a week and usually till midnight each day getting orders out as quickly as I can. I’ve been at the helm dyeing wool, drawing patterns and constructing kits. I will never be so happy to see Shane and Deborah back when it is safe to have us all together in the studio, but in the meantime I do work fast, my years of short order cooking have trained me well and I work like a machine when I get into the pace needed to pump out product.
But, I selfishly took Sunday off and because today is Victoria Day, I took that off as well to refuel and recharge my batteries. The on switch had been draining them, so these past two days I’ve had time to rest and concentrate on my gardens which is the best therapy in the world. I could have laid around on the sofa, but I worked my arse off outside getting rid of last falls debris and throwing down mulch. Working with the earth is soothing and calming, even the ticks that tried to drive me back into the house didn’t daunt me. There is nothing like playing in the soil to connect with the earth and nature. This is the first time this spring I’ve been out working on the yard; my days have been all about the shop and I come home to eat and sleep with little time for anything else. Thankfully hubby has been cooking and doing all the dishes to help me save all my energy for work.
For those that think lifting restrictions is a good thing and want to get into the shop, that won’t be happening for a while. We haven’t had the second wave yet and it’s coming, historically second waves are always worse than the first so I won’t be open to the public any time soon. I am surprised to discover while chatting with people on the phone that they don’t realize the pandemic isn’t over and lifting restrictions only means the hospitals are equipped to handle more cases because more people will be infected and deal with that fate. Restrictions and isolating is only to keep the health care workers from being overwhelmed all at once, so this is the way to loosen the tether of temporary freedom so more people can be infected and allow the virus to work through the public bit by bit. I have diabetes and from all the news you hear that seems to be one of the main determinations of how you process the virus. As much as I love my job, the shop and our customers, I’m not about to get sick or perhaps die for wool. So, mail order and curbside pickups will be the norm until things improve. Although summer sales hold us for the winter, there won’t be much tourist traffic this year with border restrictions and social distancing so opening to the public won’t matter much as long as I continue to get mail order business and curbside pickups. Pretty please and thank-you! We will discuss opening to the public at some point with restrictions like one person at a time by appointment and with adequate protections etc. But that will come later so no need to think about that now. I would love to be wrong about my predictions or personal opinion, but that's what the scientists say, and in the meantime, I will wait and see how things go in the coming months to make decisions about the future.
In the meantime, I will be wearing my mask for trips to the post office and grocery store even when all those around me don’t. I am rather dismayed that more people in my town don’t wear them. I’m lucky to see one person when I’m out and about and we nod to one another as if we share a secret, a knowledge that others don’t. I appreciate seeing them, and I hope they me, its as if we are in a private club. Just because we’ve had no cases or death close to us, doesn’t mean it isn’t a real problem when 300,000 people world wide have died, which to put into perspective, is almost one third of the 970,000 population of Nova Scotia. These people were someone’s loved ones and friends. They mattered to others; they are not just faceless numbers to be ignored because we didn’t know them personally. It’s absolutely tragic. That being said, I will be protecting myself until the very last person tests positive or until there is a working vaccine.
So, after that gloom lets lighten it up a bit. As I was standing in line at the post office the other day I was thinking about the positives of a mask, besides the protective factor. As my eyesight deteriorates, those chin hairs elude me so now I don’t have to worry about a rogue hair bobbing up and down while I talk, grabbing the attention of others that can’t focus on my words from the shear absurdity of it flopping around. And one can save a fortune on teeth whitening, let their smile go for a few more months before blasting another round of toxic cleaner.
Another perk, I like not wearing lipstick everyday. I never wear the kind that have some sort of epoxy in them that stay all day even through eating and kissing. Mine brand pretty much dissolves as soon as it’s applied so I am constantly re-coating to keep my lips red to detract from the broken blood vessels of my reddish cheeks. Even though my brand is a mild form it still comes with a slurry of chemicals so I am happy to give my liver and breasts a break from absorbing it all. What you wear on your face is found in breast tissue and liver tissue. Sorry just had to throw that in there to spread awareness. Yes, these COVID-19 days are creating a healthier body for me in many ways.
So, I am back out in the garden, trying to stay ahead of the ticks and feeling the sun warm my face, a sign that summer will soon be here. The deer have been down earlier than normal, perhaps less traffic and people outside have made them braver. All my Solomon’s Seal have been gnawed off like shoots of asparagus and most of the day lilies are nibbled to the ground but I can’t fault them for being hungry and work around the destruction. These plants will have less than perfect leaves but life will go on, and they will continue to grow, perhaps a metaphor for us with the pandemic.
We watched the mooring guy drop our ball today in front of our house. We hope to start working on our boat soon and will decide when and if to launch. We will keep an eye on the virus and see how things are in our province for an end of June splash. I would be disappointed if we can’t this year but will accept our fate and plan for a 2021 summer on our teak womb. In life, like being on the water, one must learn to roll with the swells.
Take care and be well everyone!
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