Your opinion appreciated, advice welcome, suggestions encouraged.

    I'm kicking it around again.  If you've been reading this blog since I started years ago, two things were happening at the same time. We were putting This Old House back together and I was a partner in a little artisan gift shop just up the road in a friend's retail space. Click HERE for a blast from that past.

    While it was only a two year stint and there was definitely some heartship and heartache as we stumbled through a worsening economy, Fire & Rain brought me a lot of joy and gave me experience I would never have had if we hadn't given it a shot. I met some wonderful people and saw what it meant to create a little space where people could come and browse and admire the crafts of others,  talk up the community scene, gift themselves or another with something someone else had made infused with love.

   The aggravations? Well, my hearing loss is always a difficult navigation in public but I managed and people were kind.  I won't let that be the reason I don't do it again.  The bills...hmmm, not easy, but we paid them with a little left over, in the worst of this economy.  That tells me we had something good going on.

   The plus side... meeting so many talented people and selling their pottery, jewelry, photography, paintings, quilt work, candles, soaps, fair trade items, etc. etc. etc...   And getting to know so many customers, sharing the days news or weather, it was a good feeling, that little space we filled with "stuff".  Needful things, I like to say.  We had a goldfish bowl on the counter filled with chocolates, a - help yourself -  and people always did.

    I don't know that I'm jumping back in those waters for sure, but I am kicking it around. This time I would proceed without a partner, which was a comfort  as well as a difficult navigation.  I think most partnerships are.  Heck, think of any marriage!

    What would I do this time? Well, location is everything.  I'd look for something along route 1, our shoreline area.. with an affordable rent.  There-in  lies one of the major rubs.   My vision is to have another artisan shop, but with a little different vibe.  You all know I am  BIG into animal rescue, and one wall would be dedicated to framed photos and descriptions of local dogs and cats who are languishing in shelters in need of a home. A wall of adoptables.  There would also be a coffee station where you can make your own coffee using the available Keurig machine  for a donation in the amount of your choice, even a dollar is OK - all proceeds go to our rescue mission at dog days or CT Animal House.  I have this vision of a big cork board too, a Community center full of information on local events, available jobs, whatever the community comes in to tack up.  As for the merchandise... pottery and jewelry made by local artisans, clothing with logos from rescue organizations,  dog and cat bowls and supplies made by local artisans,  hand crafted items made from recycled materials, fair trade items, candles and soaps, even some refurbished antique toys, and a few handpicked vintage items.   This would all be displayed well... not made to look like a cluttered attic, which is how it may sound to you right now...lol...

The name?  I'm thinking... RESCUED.   The other name that floats around in my thoughts is HAVEN.    These two words  can mean a lot of things... can you see it?  Can you feel it?  No?... that's what I need to know.