JOOLZ online store is now open

HUGE NEWS! The JOOLZ online store is now open!

You may remember that we had an online store several years ago. The store disappeared when the server company bailed in the middle of the night without notifying its hosting customers, and all their data was lost. It had taken us (my web guy and me) hours and hours to put it up in the first place...and then it was gone. Neither one of us had the time or the energy to go through that process again, so it sat empty and closed.

Several weeks ago I made it a priority to get the store up and running again. I've measured pieces of inventory, taken pics and written descriptions. And while we have many hundreds of pieces in our Main Street store inventory, there is no way we can include them all online. We've started out with 40+ joolz and invite you to take a look. Hopefully, you'll like what you see, and if you're not able to come to the store in person, shopping online is the next best thing.

Have fun and let me know what you think.

country living with a genius

We live in the country. Three acres, water from a well up the hill, septic system down the hill (good planning!), lots of natural springs in the ground, lots of wildlife running through the yard, steep driveway to the nearby county road. We get some help now with the yard spring and fall cleanups, but my husband enjoys taking care of the property, plowing in the winter and mowing in the summer.

He is, in fact, somewhat of a genius when it comes to fixings things and keeping them running. And something that has needed fixing due to its running is the connection where the well water pipe enters the foundation in the basement. Due to almost continuous rain since we returned from Florida at the end of March, the lake is at dangerously high levels and the water saturation in our already-wet yard is at 100%. The ground can't hold the water and it is seeping into the basement around the well water pipe. What to do?

The genius husband worried about it, thought about it, dreamed about it (and he claims he doesn't dream) and came up with another of his Rube Goldberg solutions:



The water comes in and drips into the first of 4 giant pails, filling pail after pail until it drips into the condensation collector from our dehumidifier. It then flows into the hose that runs across the entire length of the house to the other end of the basement, where our gravity sump pump is located. It empties out into the lower yard somewhere, far away from the house. As I said - genius!

No more trips to the basement in the middle of the night to check on the water levels. No more flooding the basement floor. No more lugging the full pails of water over to the sump pump.

Genius!

back to business

I'm finally coming down after all the excitement of the glorious royal wedding and now it's time to get back to business. As promised, I am working steadily to get the online store open after a lapse of several years. Today I spent some time photographing images of some of our lovely joolz:

Colorful, fun button bracelet by Joan Sample

Sterling silver Flower pendant by Lisa Ridout


Clear resin nugget collar with "gold" wire by Abra Gorby

THE wedding

OK, I admit it. I'm a royalty-watching romantic. I dragged myself out of bed at 5am this morning, staggered into the family room and turned on BBC America. I figured those Brits know all about their royals - why listen to American newscasters tell us about people they really don't know? (I had also dragged myself out of bed to watch the wedding of Charles and Diana years ago, before the advent of the DVR. I taped 2 different channels this morning, just in case I couldn't make it out of bed).

I thought the day was wonderful....well, beyond wonderful. Catherine, previously known as Kate and before that as Katie (we have a daughter who has also morphed from Katie to Kate), looked gorgeous, happy and serene. She carried herself with a quiet elegance, knew she was being watched by the whole world but was there for the right reason - to marry her love. You could see it in her eyes when she looked at William. And William looked dazzled when he saw his bride for the first time. Yes, beyond wonderful.

I pulled myself away from the TV and drove to Rochester where I attended a "Wedding Brunch" at a women's club where I am a member. The organizers of the event encouraged the guests to wear hats (I pulled out a beach hat and twirled a scarf around the crown, eliciting many kudos) and white gloves (tossed the last of those many years ago). We had a delicious meal while a tape of the wedding played on the big screen. Queen Elizabeth dropped in for a visit:

(Full disclosure: the "Queen" was actually my aunt, who played the part well, wearing a sparkly paper tiara along with a sash across her chest which read "Her Majesty the Queen."). The fabulous antique car and the Beefeater standing nearby added just the right touch.


Doesn't she look regal? Great job, Tay!

today's photoshoot

Lights...camera...action.

While there was no filming action at the store today, there were lights and a camera. I really, really, really need to get my act together and take shots of a lot of our inventory. It's (over)time to get the online store back up.

You may remember that my web guy's server company skipped in the middle of the night about 2 years ago and he had to recreate both my website and my web store. That took a LOT of time and effort, for both of us. Uploading the images into the store software again, rewriting all the descriptions, etc. etc. etc. was not high on my priority list, especially as we were preparing to move the store to California. OK, not really - but that 10th of a mile up Main Street did feel like a move to California.

But now I am making it a priority to take the pics and to get the web store up sometime this summer. Here are a few shots I took today - call the store (585.396.3520) if you're interested in owning any of them:

Hook bracelet, lampwork glass beads, sterling silver wire, by Kerry Bogert

Gold vermeil wire-wrapped earrings by Sara Silvio


Flexible collar, mint resin nuggets and silver wire, by Abra Gorby

JOOLZ april newsletter just published

Take a look at our April newsletter, full of news and pics of lots of joolz.

legoland!

After all the walking we did on Saturday and a good night's sleep, we were ready to check out of the hotel and head north to Carlsbad, home of Legoland. Like most young boys, Q is absolutely enamoured of legos. He asked Nana, Poppy and Santa for legos for Christmas, and all came through.

He's been to Legoland several times but that didn't damper the excitement. He was rarin' to go!

We were quite surprised that on a Sunday, during school vacation week in San Diego, the crowds were very reasonable and there were minimal wait times for the rides.

Our first ride was a boat cruise through the park. Some of the lego structures are visible only from the water and the ride gave us an overall look at the park:

The Sydney Opera House overlooked the water:

Disregarding time zones, we soon passed the Eiffel Tower:

And then it was on to Times Square. Hometown favorite Kodak was right there:

You can get a sense of scale with the woman standing behind the Capitol Building. Remember, every single structure is made only of legos:

Before going off to ride on some roller coasters and other water-enhanced rides, we had to see the brand new Star Wars exhibit. Opened only a few days before, with Carrie Fisher cutting the ribbon, the Star Wars section of Legoland had both little boys and their fathers in Star Wars heaven. Q was greeted by R2D2, Chewbacca and Darth Vader, all made of legos:

This Clone Turbo Tank was just like the one Q got for Christmas, except on steroids. Notice how the tank has made tracks in the sand and has sand on its wheels. The constructors think of every detail:

It was hard to say goodbye to Legoland but it was time to return to LA. We took Route 1 north so that we could drive through all the beach towns, had a nice dinner at a Greek restaurant in Long Beach and got back home safely, tired but happy. Nana had a great time!

I flew to Denver the next day to visit with our other daughter and her husband and had my first view of Katie looking pregnant. What a trip!