COMING TO THE SHOP: Sarah's Gourmet Pretzels

In Spring of 2011, our family was preparing to adopt. I encouraged my kids to pray about how God would provide for this adoption. Soon after praying, my 11 year old daughter, Sarah, told me she felt we should go door to door selling chocolate covered pretzels. I really only agreed to this to support her and secretly prayed people would buy the pretzels so we didn’t lose money on the endeavor. Long story short, we quickly sold out. Several people volunteered to put our pretzels in their workplace and within a short period of time we were in 32 locations. Our fundraiser was in full swing and God provided us the money for the adoption through our pretzel sales.

Fast forward … 10 years later. I found myself a single mom with a need to provide for my children, paired with a burning passion to help women and children in abusive situations... Then I learned child sex trafficking is the fastest growing crime in America, I knew I had to do something! - Pretzels with a purpose! 

In honor of my oldest daughter Sarah's door to door chocolate covered pretzel idea many years ago, we decided to name our business “Sarah’s Gourmet Pretzels.”

Vintage Imagine - Beth Nash

Beth Nash

Beth Nash

painter - felter - digital artist

I have loved working with fabric since I was a kid, Barbie doll and cat clothes were a real source of pleasure... I even tried to sell my homemade Barbie clothes... when I was a grade school student... I always love selling.

I continued sewing clothes for myself as I got older but, was never a quality seamstress...and hired people who were, to sew my clothing when I was selling.

I fell in love with dyeing after my first try. I love color.

Fabric dyeing was such a lesson in how color worked and was a real influence on my later painting adventures. I also have a passion for pattern and learning to airbrush was something I had always wanted to try... which is how most of my designs were created.I miss seeing art friends at shows, being inspired by the other artists and customers who I got to know. I also loved the people that worked with me for 20 years and we are all still close friends.

Sally Ryan is a dear friend to this day, we had many adventures during our show years... I spent a week with her and another show (gallery/artist) friend the summer before last and we spent the time making art, painting and experimenting. It was a great time. We got to know each other doing shows and often shared hotels and travel. I hope to visit with her and John Ryan in the future.  (Retired and living in Mexico…but that’s another story.)

I taught at Marietta College in the art department for about 20 years.

I retired 2 years ago and I am now happily full time in my studio. I still live in Ohio; I still do one or two shows a year with my paintings, still teach a class once in a while. I thought I would miss teaching when I retired but I don't and absolutely love being able to work in my studio every day.

I currently am a painter, printmaker, felter and digital artist.

felting

Group picture of the felted family

painting

digital art

Happy Belated Independence Day Greetings

Independence Day at mt. vernon

Alexandria celebrates 275th birthday

The celebration of our nation’s independence goes on for much of July.  George Washington’s Mount Vernon kicks off our annual festivities by hosting its members at a front lawn picnic on the Friday night before. George’s Potomac River is filled with boaters who come to watch night time fireworks that thrill the audiences from the front porch and the water.  I filmed a movie of the fireworks last year. 

The Fourth of July is the crown jewel reserved for concerts and spectacular fireworks on the National Mall.  For many of the last fifty years, I have seen events from every possible venue, including by boat when I owned my first motorboat, a 16’ Bayliner.  Now I’m happy watching on television.

On Saturday after the national show, it’s Alexandria’s turn to celebrate our birthday. We are actually older than the United States.  This Saturday, we celebrate our 275th.   I have seen this event also from many venues.  The live canons that accompany the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra’s “1812 Overture” have long been a crowd favorite. . Plenty of Details available online at: https://www.alexandriava.gov/Birthday

The road to Moniaive, Scotland

This is my third trip to Scotland.  My first trip to Edinburgh was in 1968.  I was on my first honeymoon.  We flew to London, of course.  We took the train from London to Edinburgh. We stayed in a small bed and breakfast, so typical of travel in those days.  It was my first international travel with my first passport.  We went to Edinburgh Castle and an early version of the Edinburgh Art Festival.  Back in London, we rented a car and travelled to Cornwall and hiked along the coast.  Robert drove.  It was a Mini Morris and my first experience with driving on the right. I remember that while on the road, other drivers would blink their lights at us when in oncoming traffic and we didn't know why.  Turns out, we were driving with lights on, which is what we did in the States at that time, and the other drivers were trying to warn us about draining the battery., which we did. I knew something about my mother's Ross family clan and they came from Tain, in the northwest corner of  Scotland.  Eight siblings all eventually came over during the 1880's.  The first, my great uncle Alexander Ross, settled in Webster, South Dakota, where he became a newspaperman.  He was the one who wrote about their adventures and an extensive family history and genealogy.  I got more serious about reading it after I came back home.

My second trip to Scotland was in 2004.  I went with my uncle, Charles Supplee, and my cousin, Joe Supplee.  Besides being actively researching our French roots on the Supplee side -- Andre Souplis, arrived in Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1683 (now Philadelphia) with a German wife -- Joe visiting the town where the French Huguenot was from and driving around the countryside looking for our lost estates.  In Scotland, Joe was looking for our Penland roots.  The Penlands arrrived in New Jersey in the first wave of immigrants in the 1630s.  They moved south to North Carolina, where there is still a town named Penland. Then some travelled, mostly by water, to Ohio and Iowa, and I remember my paternal grandmother, Ollie Penland Supplee, often talked about wanting to visit that town and looking up family still there.  My Aunt Faye spent a lot of time with Ollie, writing her story and documenting a lot of family genealogy.  And then there's The Penland School for Crafts.  I suspect it's part of my heritage.  Joe rented a car in London and we started north.  He had read about Roslyn Chapel, whose elaborate carvings were in danger of disappearing.  So we stopped there in Roslin, south of Edinburgh, and toured the sad chapel. Soon after, when Dan Brown’s “The DaVinci Code” became all the rage, I read a copy of the book and I was sure I recognized the final scenes in the book to be the very same chapel we had visited.  Indeed, it was!! 

We went to Edinburgh Castle, of course. We went to St. Andrews and Balmoral Castle. And at my direction, we choose one of the many factories advertising tours of their weaving operations. Inspired by that visit, when we returned to Edinburgh, I went looking for my passion -- modern day handcrafted goods. I found what I was looking for when I spotted a window full of woven and knitted sweaters on Grassmarket Street. I found a young couple, with a new baby, making wonderful sweaters. I bought ten sweaters for myself, gave some away as gifts and still have five of them in my closet. Bill Baber Knitwear was my special find and my prize!

By that time, my mother, Phyllis Supplee, had managed to make her only trip to Scotland. She knew that her grandmother came from a small town near Dumphries, Scotland. Her name was Mary Corrie and she was born in Moniaive. She came to the States as a teenager. She met Finlay Ross, from faraway Tain, in Chicago and they married. When Phyllis visited the area, she had a number for a cousin in Dumphries. They had lunch.

Following my mother's lead, I convinced cousin Joe to make a similar journey when we left Edinburgh and I was navigating. The road to Moniavie is a breathtaking drive through narrow valleys and mountains filled with sheep and goats. We knocked on doors and introduced ourselves and made new friends.

So here I am in Edinburgh for the third time. It's April 2023, almost twenty years later. I look up Bill Baber Knitwear and there he is in the same location at 66 Grassmarket Street. His son is grown and runs the operations for the company. Bill is still designing spectacular knits, sweaters, scarves and hats, and making them in the shop. The computerized knitting machine is running in the back room where we visit and catch up on what business is like today.. I buy three new sweaters for myself. We also revisit Roslyn Chapel and discover what miracles can come from international fame. The monies have poured in, restoration has transformed Roslyn Chapel. Plus there’s a new Visitor Center and cafe. In the gift shop, I buy pens and bookmarks. The bookmarks quote the only words found carved in the chapel — “Wine is strong, The King is stronger, women are stronger still."

I hired a driver to once again visit Moniavie to see if it had changed. It has not changed, much. What had been the Post office then, is now Watson's Grocery and I am standing by one of my new friends, wearing my new Bill Baber sweater.

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Having my Cake and Eating it Too, a Birthday Story

At Gadsby Tavern Museum Society's Annual Spring Fling and Silent Auction on Saturday night, April 20th, I ran into many friends. Here I am with Yvette Spears of Yvette Spears Jazz Quorum. We met at another fundraising event about the same time a year ago.

On Saturday night, I didn't intend to bid on or buy anything. But this cake was there and I had been wondering what I might do for my upcoming birthday and it seemed a good idea. So I wrote the opening bid. Then they moved the auction to an actual auction and when the cake came up, I had been topped. So I made the next bid, then the bidding went on between me and a couple of others. At one point, I added that I was buying it for my birthday and thought that might get me some sympathy. But no, it kept on going until I decided I would let it go. Let someone else have it. The woman I had just met sitting next to me said, "you know you got the bidding up on that cake" (that's the goal when you support a good cause). I said yes and was happy with that. At which point, she announced "I'm going to cover her bid increase and let's let the birthday lady have her cake."

Birthday cake!

And that's what happened. I will be sharing my cake with many people, including all my new friends at my table.

Vintage Imagine

Look what I found when I went exploring in my basement!

Velvety Bolero and Velvety Comfy Pants By Monika Turtle and vintage Elizabeth Garver scarf

Imagine has a large collection of vintage clothing— absolutely gorgeous fabrics and timeless styles! I'm talking about pieces that are 20 to 25 years old, never worn, still with their original tags on. Remember Monika Turtle, Panache, Barbara Wells? How about Judith Bird wovens, Sally Ryan velvets and Elizabeth Garver silks? I know many of you still wear classic items by those artists, and that many more you have acquired over the 30+ years we have represented the American craft community—because you have told me so!

Monika Turtle and Elizabeth Garver

“Oh, I love Monika Turtle!” That's the universal response I get whenever I mention Monika Turtle's clothing. Pictured here is her Velvety Bolero in Citrine in medium, $300. We also have the Velvety Comfy Pants in Citrine in small, medium and large, $159. Also, one pair of Comfy Pants in Smoky Topaz (it’s kinda gray) size large. The scarf is vintage Elizabeth Garver, $179.

I do not know what Monika is doing now. But she has been spotted still in the Philadelphia area by friends recently. I remember a fantastic party I went to at her house back in the 1990s. Maralyce Ferree was there. I remember dancing with silk painter Michael Murphy (he was a fantastic dancer). It’s a fond memory.

And, at Monika’s party, I remember Maralyce and I had a huge giggle over my telling her that Hobbes’ 15th birthday party was the highest grossing sales day in Imagine history. Still is!

Elizabeth Garver has closed her studio and decamped from the midwest to the northwest coast with her husband. Wishing them peace in their new surroundings.

Maralyce Ferree sold her Maine-based business many years ago. She and husband Chuck relocated to Bisbee, Arizona years ago. However, she couldn't stay away from retail and opened a shop in Bisbee. So I still run into Maralyce at New York shows from time to time.

Left image: Elizabeth Garver; Right image: me and Maralyce Ferree

Handwoven jacket by fiber artist Judith Bird; Pant by Barbara Wells; and hand-dyed silk scarf by Leni Hoch

Judith Bird, Leni Hoch and Barbara Wells

Before there was Monika Turtle or Barbara Wells, there was Bonnie Durant, Judith Bird and Leni Hoch. This is an early handwoven jacket by fiber artist Judith Bird. Shown with a Leni Hoch hand-dyed silk scarf and Barbara Wells pants. Judy has been a frequent guest at Imagine events from our very beginnings. And Leni, too, has come frequently for trunk shows and scarf tying demonstrations over the years.

Judy was a Baltimore-based artist and Leni has always lived in Philadelphia. Both are still featured in current collections at Imagine.

Judy has travelled the world to be inspired by the textures and colors of other cultures. She now lives and teaches in Port Townsend, Washington. Leni is also a world traveller and mentors and works her color magic in her home studio. I met both of these fine artists at American Craft Council shows in the beginning. Both visited with me, at different times, in my new home in Fredericksburg, Virginia. I learned this very interesting fact from their separate visits. They once created a line—called Elyssa—together of clothing and some of those clothes ended up in a showroom window at Bergdorf Goodman in New York! Leni has woven the fabric in a rayon boucle.

I can also tell you that all three of us are avid gardeners. We have travelled the craft show circuit from Boston to New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC for decades now.

Judy took these photo of a fox curled up in my chaise lounge on my deck at Potomac Creek Estates in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

A fox curled up on my deck.

Reflections from Scotland

Oban Bay Hotel, seen from our Ferry to Mull

I have arrived in what is now my most favorite place on Earth. It's Oban (OH-ben), its name means Little Bay. Tucked up in the northwest corner of Scotland, in the Argyll and Bute districts, and on the way to the Isle of Mull, it’s a beautiful bay and marina protected by surrounding islands, Lismore and Kerrera, and by the mountains of Morvern and Ardgour.

Our small group has travelled by bus from Edinburgh and through a large swath of Loch Lomand National Park. It’s spectacular Scottish Highland country with water and hills and valleys and wildlife. We have gone through four seasons of weather in one hour. Spring blooms while we are making our way through suburban Edinburgh. Sunshine heralds summer. Dark clouds bring rain to a fall like landscape typical of Scotland. Then the rain turns into snow that blankets the hills around us. The snow finally stops and we are seeing spring lambs everywhere. We arrive in Oban in time for lunch.

On the road through Loch Loman National Park, we pass through four seasons in one hour

After an educational tour of the Oban Distillery, we watch a sunset over the bay from our hotel sun deck. It’s still chilly so we are sitting inside having drinks before dinner. Tomorrow will be an early start. There will be two ferry rides to reach what is our ultimate goal—the island of Iona. 

The first ferry will take about an hour to bring us to the isle of Mull. A bus meets us there to drive an hour to the other side of Mull. We pass through small towns and hillside farms. The population of Mull is about 3000. Tobermory is the largest town on the island and it is where we catch the second ferry that will take us for the short hop to what is the home of Iona Abbey. 

Sunset over Oban Bay, Scotland

Left: The Ferry as seen from our hotel leaving Oban for Mull. Right: With my roommate, Millicent Fauntleroy, waiting in Tobermory for the ferry to Iona

Our intrepid travelers at Iona Abbey, now part of a worldwide community working for peace and social justice

This is where St. Columba arrived in AD 563. Iona is only three miles long and one mile wide. Settlements can be traced back to at least the Bronze Age, about 3,000 years old. With the arrival of Columba, who was born and educated in Ireland, a monastery begins. He founded other monasteries that became a kind of monastic federation. His life is well documented. His goal was to create the perfect monastery as an image of the city of Jerusalem. I visited Jerusalem in February 2020, with some of the same traveling companions. Benedictine monks and Augustinian nuns continued to inhabit Iona even after the Reformation of 1560 brought an end to monasteries all over Scotland. But, by the 1700s, Iona became a tourist destination. Today, all the buildings are in the care of Historic Scotland. The Book of Kells was produced on Iona around 800. Known as the great Gospel of St. Columba, The Book of Kells was created by a small team of monks working from the Vulgate, a version of the Bible completed around 400. The book is now displayed at Trinity College in Dublin. I saw it there on my trip to Ireland in 2016.

Much of the original Iona Abbey still exists

The ferry loading in Iona for the short hop back to Mull

And now I am remembering another ferry in another town with the name Tobermory. I was in Canada, coming back from one of my pilgrimages to Minnesota, my home state. Hobbes and I are taking the northern route around the top of Lake Superior, going north from Duluth, stopping at Grand Portage at the Canadian border. We drive to South Baymouth, Ontario. The ferry crosses the Georgian Bay in Lake Ontario, landing at Tobermory. So many connections, so many memories.

Hobbes, the road warrior, on one of our pilgrimages to Minnesota in 2005.

My Latest TraveL Update

The Coronation Chair being worked on at Westminster Abbey

Imagine being at Windsor Castle in England on April 19, 2023.  That's where I was.  We spent four nights in London, following a week long trip to Scotland!  So more travel adventures to come.

We saw the Stone of Scone in Edinburgh Castle, before it was moved to London.  And we saw the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey, being prepared for use for the first time in seventy years.  

That chair was ordered by England's King Edward 1 in 1308 and the Stone, also known as the Stone of Destiny, was incorporated in the Coronation Chair.  The chair has been used in every coronation ceremony since Henry IV in 1399.  The stone was officially moved back to Scotland in 1996 and it will return there after the coronation.

Gardeners pulling up weeds at Buckingham Palace.  Don’t you wish you could have them come to your garden?

Charles and Camilla portraits: The last coronation was seventy years ago..

Following the coronation, which is a religious ceremony at Westminster Abbey, Windsor will be the site of the royal luncheon and a royal concert featuring Katy Perry and Lionel Ritchie.

So there is a lot of excitement wherever we go and a thousand tasks to do to get ready, whether it's Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey or Windsor.  

I'm bundled up in a Nikki Jones reversible coat with a Liamolly scarf.  The weather was changeable in England and Scotland.  And I'm ready to go to lunch at Windsor in a silk jacket handpainted by Gloria Lewis.  My travel companion, Millicent Fauntleroy, is showing off a Bill Baber sweater and having tea in Windsor.

Millicent Fauntleroy is having tea at Windsor.  We met at Northwestern University more than fifty years ago. It was the year that the Evanston, Illinois school decided to integrate the dorms and did it without telling anyone. I arrived from Wayzata, Minnesota and Millicent Brown arrived from Wilmington, North Carolina.  Strangers in a strange land.

What’s happening in New York February 8-9, 2022

New York Now is usually two or three floors in the Jacob Javits Center. This time it’s a third of the size. Sue Burns from Baabaazuzu is here. We talk for a long time and she remembers I was going to Israel the last time we saw each other and so does Christophe Poly. That was two years ago.

When I was here in September 2021 there was such a feeling of euphoria—like manna from heaven is what I wrote—the difference now is palpable.

Since then, Indie Me has stayed virtual. The ACC craft show in Baltimore has been moved to May 2022. Philadelphia’s American Handcrafted is forging ahead and offering buyers a free night stay if they come to the show. I take it.

When I realize that the New York show is in fact going to happen I quickly get on the Internet to check trains and schedules. What I find is that train fares are available at bargain rates and hotel rooms are inexpensive and also available. I book and an Acela for Tuesday and a return on Wednesday for a total cost of $258.

I remember the Millennium Hotel from previous trips as being enjoyable with the convenience of on-site restaurant and located right at Times Square. I decide to walk from the Javits because the show is running buses only to and from Penn station and Grand Central. There are not enough people going to hotels.

The restaurant I remember remains closed. No problem I’m surrounded by many choices. It’s small things that I notice gradually when I get to my room. Still nicely appointed but I’m not finding any face tissue. There is no fluffy robe in the closet. I don’t find any drinking glasses not even plastic. There’s no coffee or tea service. Theaters appear to be active but it’s Monday night. I have been longing to return to a theater.

I walk around 43rd St. and then end up at a restaurant called Carmine’s. It’s new to me but it turns out to be a family size portion restaurant so, after a check of my ID and vaccine card, I am directed to the bar where I can order smaller plates. My barman is welcoming and inquisitive as he helps me order a pasta, salad and one meatball. I realize that there is a Carmine in DC that I wasn’t aware of my barman drives to Florida and knows where Alexandria Virginia is. I do my best with the plate which is enough for two people. I decline a to go box and dessert and cappuccino. But then he offers me a cappuccino on him and I accept. It is the best cappuccino I can ever remember having. We shake hands when I leave.

I have bought a bottle of Stolichnaya to take back to the hotel room. I am remembering the first time I ever bought a bottle of Stoli. It was in Russia in 1972. I carried it back to the house I was living in in Georgetown. I put this one on ice but that’s when I realize that there are no glasses.

The news, whether you turn on local or national, is about mask mandate controversies, hate crimes and random violence. Snow and ice have taken their toll. So has the newest Covid variant. I take small sips of vodka from the bottle and sign into Netflix.

Next: Return to Handcrafted American for three days in Philadelphia and New York again on Sunday, February 27, 2022.

My Gratitude Journal

Fireworks on the Liffey River in Dublin on Sunday night, October 9, 2021.

What was it like and what is the state of retail today?

Those are the questions I keep being asked, as if we have passed through some portal and that I can speak for everyone's experience over every industry. I can't begin to do that. I can tell you what my experience was and felt like at various points on the journey. And I can say that I have shared this sentiment with several of my fellow small business owners. It was the hardest thing I had ever had to do in my thirty years of owning a small business. And it's not really over.

In March, 2020, I closed Imagine Artwear until no earlier than June, 2020. I activated my creative team of professional help. Ellen Banker, my graphic designer of more than 25 years never wavered and was always on message. Jila Shams, Two Hands Concepts, took on photography and store design. Laura Gosse has managed our emails and website forever. We went to work on getting on Instagram and adding an online store to the website. That meant checking the supply capabilities of my artists. Fortunately, since our products are mostly all American made, that has never been an issue. And working with creative people meant that they were willing to respond with creative ideas to help us all through the challenges we were facing.

Kay Chapman in California has been especially helpful. Ela, a New York based designer, kept her studio active despite hearing the endless wail of sirens in the West End in those early days. Calvin Hom at Christopher Calvin in Chicago came up with the best idea. When he called in June and asked whether we wanted our spring order—it had been ordered before the shutdown—he offered to send it all on consignment.That was a kick starter event and the rest is history. Harshita Lohia (Pennsylvania) sent one of a kind quilted silk jackets. Leni Hoch (Philadelphia), who taught Harshita how to paint silk, sent scarves. Marvin and Michelle Schaeffer of Q3 Art in Chicago agreed to participate in a Zoom interview about how their art got created and that was a lot of fun.

Redesigning the store layout to allow for proper distancing came next.That was a challenge both physically and strategically and required the assistance of two strong guys. And I can't say all went smoothly. Jila and I did not always agree on layout issues. At the same time, assessing who I owed what to—payroll, venders, taxes, landlord, etc and what my resources were (cash on hand) and what borrowing from line of credit and credit cards would cost and applying for help occupied a huge amount of time. In mid June, I reopened, with no staff so that I would risk no one's health except my own and reduced hours, although I was still open 7 days a week.

We offered facetime appointments and curbside pickup. Some brave souls came. But, sales dropped 60% that year. Who needed new clothes at that time? Nobody really. We marketed heavily to bring buyers in during the Holidays and they did shop as much as they could because they wanted to support Imagine. I was much moved by those sentiments and that got me through December, 2020.

Some of my smaller buying venues had started popping up as early as February of 2021. After giving the circumstances consideration, I went to those shows. Also in March, April and May. And, I was able to buy a few new things from my reps -- especially Atelier 5 (Philadelphia), Christopher Calvin, Fat Hat Factory (Vermont), IC Collection (Los Angeles), Maruca bags (Colorado) and Moonlight (California). It was enough that our regular customers started seeing new things. Place fireworks image at the beginning.

The Fall 2021 American Handcrafted show was a virtual event and I found some lovely new garden chimes from an artist in New Jersey. I also reconnected with Sue Burns at Baabaazuzu (Michigan) and Chris Paulson at Fused Glass Art (Oregon). Then Carol Furtado, a knitter and weaver from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Lori Ross of Moonglow Designs sent us silk jackets and scarves. Carole Amper of Toucan Hats in New York helped with great suggestions. New fleece and wool jackets arrived from Cameleon (proudly made in Minnesota) and were an immediate hit. I reached out to Caron Miller at that time, too. The shared sentiment of those calls was how wonderful it was to hear a familiar voice after not talking for a year and a half.

I went to Ireland and reconnected with our Avoca rep. He actually called me from Ireland. Will Adamson who made our Irish pottery cottages also called to say hello. On our last night in Dublin, we walked out of the hotel in the Temple Bar neighborhood and stood on one of the many bridges over the Liffey River. There were fireworks! I hoped that was an auspicious sign, like the rainbow and the incredible light in Ireland.

Standing on a bridge over the Liffey River, I shot these fireworks in the distance on our last night in Dublin.

Then came a major sea change. In mid September, a number of the larger New York shows held live, in-person shows. I debated the wisdom of going at first. But I got an early train and went for the day. The first person I saw was Marla Duran. I was so happy to see her, I couldn't stop gushing. That happened a lot at that show. Our reunions were heartfelt and joyful and one of the best things to happen after a year and a half of uncertainty. I had a long conversation with Sarah Cavender (Metalworks of Alabama) about how hard it was to make the commitment to continue.

I found my way to Kiki Vervoniotis's room (Go Lightly, Connecticut). At one point in our conversation, Kiki asked if I had been doing any visiting artist's shows. Of course, I had not. And she asked if we should do one. Of course, I said “Yes!” Reconnecting felt like manna from heaven had fallen, an unexpected blessing. We had the show on Saturday, December 4th, 2021. Here are some photos. I want to thank the people who came. For those who missed it, Kiki left a full rack of her designs. We did a little research and that's when we remembered that the last time Kiki had come to visit was Small Business Saturday in November, 2019. That meant that she was the last one to do a show with Imagine just before we shut down and the first to return. We had not planned any of that. It was sheer perseverance that has gotten us here.

Kiki’s daughter, Koula, is sitting on the bench—she was a baby when I first met Kiki at a New York show. Pictured above: Koula, Jila and Kiki.

I am so grateful to see Kiki back at Imagine. She designs and makes her sophisticated clothing in Westport, Connecticut

The last time I saw fireworks, prior to that night on the bridge, was at First Night Alexandria on December 31, 2019. I was an early supporter of First Night Alexandria. At first I attended First Night Alexandria as a guest in 1998. I loved hearing Bonnie Rideout, the Irish Breakfast Band and Tom Teasley in those early days. One day I was walking King Street and began picturing many more venues besides the bigger ones that were spread out and left a lot of streets dark. I realized that I had one of those places and immediately signed up to become a small venue in 1999. In 2000, the event was not held. In 2001, I signed up again to host First Night and had not missed New Year’s Even until now. I encouraged several others to do the same and they did. I even recruited my own talent and after that I could choose my talent. In 2017, I said I wanted Tom Teasley and Tom was available. We had such a good time, we repeated the experience in 2018 and 2019.

New Year’s Eve entertainment happened religiously at Imagine from 1999 to 2019. The scene at Imagine on December 31, 2017, 2018, and 2019. Tom Teasley and Peter Fields entertain.

Imagine was dark in 2020. The event went virtual. Then the six live venues that were planned for December 2021 were cancelled just days before. Only the fireworks went on as planned. So here we are. Fireworks in Dublin and fireworks in Alexandria. On New Year's eve, a quick storm blew through and just before sunset, I swear there was a snippet of a rainbow on the horizon!

Please keep going forward and looking up and know there will always be fireworks and rainbows. Have the Happiest New Year Everyone!

Carol Supplee

The Rainbow

Mark Stafne, my nephew, really took this picture looking from Westcove to the Ring of Berea. Given the nature of “Irish” weather—rain, fog, clouds, sun, more rain, fog, clouds and sun—this is not an unusual sight. So I started thinking about how the rainbow, given its frequency, became the symbol of Irish myth, of small people and pots of gold. In fact, it’s at the end of the rainbow that we all wish we were at.

If you say something is at “the end of the rainbow,” you mean it is something that you would very much like to get or achieve, although in reality this will be very difficult. Like having your business survive on sales revenue that dropped 60% in 2020.

There is the old legend that says a pot of gold is buried at the point where the rainbow meets the ground. Since a rainbow is an optical illusion, and will look different depending on where one is viewing it from, there is no point at which a rainbow actually meets the earth, rendering such rewards an impossibility. The end of this Pandemic is still a rainbow that eluded us.

The spirit that allows us to believe in the power of rainbows must be what has kept me and others like me moving forward, expecting that if we just kept going, we might get to the end of the rainbow—the end of the pandemic in Castlecove and everywhere else in the world and for this to be more than a fantasy, illusion or pipe dream. On the one hand, death continues to stalk us. More than 755,000 persons have died of COVID in the US as of this date, mid November, 2021. In Ireland, just under 5,500 persons have died. Seventy percent of Ireland’s population have been fully vaccinated. To eat inside a restaurant in Dublin, we have to show a vaccination card when we are there in early October, 2021. Every Irish person we met was testing themselves regularly.

If we don’t realize we are one world community that will continue the spread of more variants without a world wide response, we will add exponentially to the spread of this disease.

In the beginning, I became determined to keep Imagine going, despite tremendous challenges. Good friends like Vanessa Moore at Unwinded, Maribeth at Maribeth Bakery, Rais Mugloo at Indus Imports and many others agree on this. It was the most difficult thing any of us had ever faced. And while we had all worked hard all our lives, nothing was as hard as this. Many businesses that look like ours have failed.

Next, My Gratitude Journal.

Back to Dublin

Saturday morning, the 9th of October, dawns bright and amazingly sunny at Westcove House. Sadly, it's time to take our leave. Ester, Garrett's wife, arrives to drive us to the train station in Killarney, about 90 minutes away, where we will have lunch and catch the train back to Dublin, about 4 hours travel. It's been a rainy week and some of the route is reported to be underwater, but we forge ahead and find that flooded roads have recently reopened. We weave and climb steadily until we meet Moll's Gap, the mountain road between Killarney and Kenmare on The Ring of Kerry. Right there at the crossroads sits the mountaintop home of an Avoca store. I have stopped here on two previous trips and so we have left early so I can visit once again. After all, I am a professional shopper.

Avoca started producing woven goods in 1723, and they are still weaving "with passion and personality from the same little mill where it all started." Avoca took its name from the village of Avoca in County Wicklow. Mills need water and the fast flowing water of the River Avoca powered the Mill. Avoca is the oldest working woolen mill in Ireland. Today, Avoca continues the tradition of handweaving using modern technology. Imagine started carrying Avoca products shortly after one of my visits. We currently have some cashmere wraps and expect a new order to arrive next month of colorful scarves and socks.

We leave Avoca and continue through the breathtaking Killarney National Park. Ester stops at Ladies View. It's named for Queen Victoria's ladies in waiting who admired the site when Queen Victoria visited Ireland in 1861.

We next climb the steps up the path to Torc Waterfall. It's noisy, but water is always fascinating to watch. I'm cozy in my Margaret Winters sweater.

Ester and Garrett have made reservations for us at the restaurant in the Great Southern Killarney. They have also made arrangements for the hotel to store our luggage while we do a short walkabout in Killarney, then have lunch and walk across the street to the train station.

Farewell County Kerry, Ireland.

Westcove House

If you google Westcove House, here is what you find. “Westcove is a real family home with lovely furniture and paintings from Austria, China and, of course Ireland!“

These treasures have been collected by Hugh Barton’s family over decades of living and working in Asia and the United Kingdom. Westcove House, the Stables and Garden Cottage is a stunning Georgian estate on the sea. It sleeps up to 26 people and is ideal for any kind of family gathering. At the five star resort, you can plan on a fine dining ex-perience or choose from many types of activities.

Here, Barbara and Hugh Barton and Carol are ready for cocktails and dinner. Carol is wearing an Indian

tunic that is courtesy of Rais Mughloo of Indus Imports just a half block up King Street from Imagine.

The pier and marina seem much more crowded than on our previous visits, with boats coming and going constantly. The fishing around here is legendary. And crab and lobster pots are ready for action.

Golf is everywhere. All the world’s top golfers come here. Nearby Waterville is especially famous as the home of Waterville Golf Links. True golf links - look it up - are rare. It is said that Charlie Chaplin first came here to summer with his family at the suggestion of Walt Disney. That was in 1959. The family made Waterville their summer home for many years.

You can also add stargazing as a major activity here. One clear night I looked out my window and found the Big Dipper staring right at me. I wanted to reach out and touch it. That’s because we are in what is designated as a Dark-Sky Reserve by the International Dark-Sky Association.(www.darksky.org).

If this sounds like a commercial for Westcove House, that’s because it is. While still serving as a family home, it is available for any number of rental opportunities. Check online for details.

There are times when, in fact, the intensity of the light here is different. On Saturday morning as we got ready to leave, this view emerged after heavy rains the day before. Clouds seem to float on the ocean and below the Berea Peninsula seen here across the water.

Did I mention the bikers everywhere?

the ring of kerry

Today, October 7, 2021, we hired a driver for the day so we can go to several spots around the Ring of Kerry with spectacular views of the Irish Atlantic coast without constantly worrying about remembering to drive on the left.

Yesterday, Wednesday, Barbara drove us to Kenmare, a small town in the south of County Kerry, at the head of Kenmare Bay, near the Ring of Berea and at the center of a large agricultural area. It’s name means “the little nest” and every Wednesday there is a farmer’s market that is year round, so it always reminds me of the Old Town Market. Alexandria’s has been going on for 260+ years and is the oldest in the country that has continued in the same site.

On my first visit here, I met a local potter, William Adamson, who makes adorable Irish cottages. I ordered a lot of them for Imagine and we still have a small selection of his Christmas ornaments in the shop. His Irish Cottages pottery can be seen and purchased on Etsy.

Garrett, our driver, is a garrulous sort and regales us with stories of driving Harrison Ford and being kissed by Carrie Fisher. That would be when the “Star Wars” series came to southwest Ireland to film critical scenes on the Skellig Michael.

Skellig Michael is a remote island eight miles off the Irish coast. It was settled by monks in the 6th century A.D. To survive in the terrain, these monks built thousands of steps all over the steep hillsides and built their beehive like homes and a church at the top.

Visitors can arrive by boat today and climb some of the steps to the top at some risk to life and limb. We have done that two times on our earlier visits.

Having a fear of heights, Garrett has not climbed Skellig Michael. But that did not stop him from accepting a ride to the island in a helicopter with Mr. Ford.

At the Cathergall Sone Fort and at the Valencia Island Slate quarry with a view of the Kerry Way, I am wearing my Etage Magic Print raingear over my Margaret Winters sweater.

on to derrynane!

In the gardens at Derrynane, Daniel O’Connell’s home, I marvel again at the lush tropical growth that makes Ireland so different. The climate is temperate due to the warm North Atlantic Drift. Flowers can bloom year round.

Going down a Hobbit hole in the Ferry Garden, I am wearing my favorite Etage Magic Print navy raincoat that I also took to Israel in February, 2020. When the coat gets wet, a fern pattern appears on the fabric. When I returned in the midst of the pandemic, I wore this coat everywhere as if it were my shield. I used the long sleeves to avoid hand contact pushing open doors and pushing my grocery cart while shopping.

We have this coat and more like it at Imagine now. Jila and Heidi are minding the store until I return.

Hugh and Barbara Barton, our hosts at Westcove, are greeted like the family they are at The Blind Piper pub and restaurant in Caherdaniel.

“The Sun” marks the beginning of a new sculpture installation - Walk of the Planets on the Ring of Kerry.

Greetings from ireland!

Greetings from Ireland!

Here are the facts.

I arrived at Westcove House in Castlecove, near Caherdaniel, on the Ring of Kerry, County Kerry, in the southwest corner of Ireland, overlooking the Atlantic ocean on Saturday, October 2, 2021.

I am visiting Alexandria residents Hugh and Barbara Barton for the third time. My nephew, Mark Stafne, is visiting with me. We are masked and fully vaccinated, had negative COVID tests the day before we left, and will have to get tested again this weekend before we fly back to the states on Monday, October 11.

I can report that the plane from New York to Dublin was full. The Irish people we have spoken to report that much tourism here has been in-country and EU. We are among the first Americans to return.

We have had the typical bouts of rain sweeping in and out from the Atlantic for two days. They call this part of Ireland “Wild Atlantic Way.”

But today dawned sunny and bright and we were greeted with bleats and blahs from the 50 plus sheep and goats that live just below the fence here at Westcove. They clearly have the best view in the house.

We are about to leave for our first hike of the day. We will visit Derrynane. It’s the Irish equivalent of Mount Vernon, and the home of Daniel O’Connell.

Appropriately, I am wearing a Margaret Winters sweater and playpants by Kiki V., Go Lightly. The scarf is Andrea Geer. My audience loves it. Ten bleats.

Meet Marvin & Michelle Shafer of Q3

Marvin and Michelle Shafer usually had the booth at Buyer's Market of American Craft shows next to Maxine Cohen. Max had a line of jewelry that she made in Silver Spring, Maryland, called Jing-Jing, with stones imported from Thailand and her arts and crafts inspired designs. When I acquired the business in 1992, Max's jewelry line came with it. So, Max encouraged me to try some of their colorful jewelry, clocks and mobiles that the Shafers designed and made in their studio in Chicago, Illinois. The rest is history and, as with many of my artists, we have shared many years of life on the craft show circuit. I remember their newborn son at American Craft Council (ACC) shows. He's grown now, of course. Marvin continues to get commissions for his large mobiles. Michelle has her music, too, and I play the CDs she has given me at the shop. The brand continues to be seen in museum shops and at Imagine Artwear as "Q3 Art."