Mud Cat Closing

What a beautiful family photo.
Really lovely picture of you trio.
A pity that this is about the closing of your store,
but you have plans in place which will lead to future happiness.

All the best to you for Christmas and 2009.

Hugs from TT, Conker and Crocus.xxx

Thanks TT...I made sure we all smiled very large...never let em see ya crumble I always say...I also say...you are where you are supposed to be at all times...and it comes easier once you let it be.
Merry Christmas to you and yours as well...xxx ooo to all of you...~Cat

I feel sad for you Catfinch , to have to close your store through no fault of your own , but I,m sure that whatever your next chapter in life will be you will be guided in the right direction and happiness , I wish you a Very Happy Christmas and best wishes for a wonderful 2009 xxx

~well done Cat! We are proud of you!
~Very best wishes for a very happy Christmas and a fantastic 2009 to blow your socks off!~

Hi, out of adversity come the seeds of greater opportunity!

I know how you feel, we have experienced business down turns through no fault of our own. You are in my thoughts.

Hope you have a happy family Christmas, and all best wishes for New Year.

Love, Marge.

With our very Best Wishes for the future!

Thanks for posting the article Cat. It is a lovely photo of you all.
To rephrase what Marge said and from the Chitty Bang Bang movie......."From the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success".......Your roses are going to be coming up smelling of....well......roses.....ummmm.....well...you get my drift !!
I know your future will pick up. You have wonderful things to look forward to. Now, relax, sit back and enjoy the pleasures of the season for a while. Have a great Christmas. :o)

Love Gilli xox

I'm sorry to hear you have to close your shop Catfinch but there's a saying that goes - When one door closes another opens.
I hope there will be good things waiting for you behind the door that poens in 2009
Have a merry Christmas in the meantime.!

Yes Catfinch sorry you have to close but good luck in 2009, like Hywel says as one door closes another opens. Hope you have a really nice xmas.

Thank you all so much...through GOY..I have found such wonderful support and also someone to love again & be loved by...if I look happy in that photo...it was more than likely because..I knew when I went back inside, that GF was waiting for me there on webcam....I have so many things to look forward too...It will be tough going for a while...but change has never been anything I fear...Love to all..~Caroline...aka..^..^ ~Cat

Well done Caroline.
Be brave.
Gf is there supporting you.

More hugs from TT, Conker and Crocus. xxx

Thank you so much TT...hugs and xxxx's..~Caroline

hi cf , just to say happy xmas and hope 2009 brings you good fortune............................steve

Thank you Steve...very much...~Caroline

And Steve...A very Merry Christmas to you too!...~Caroline

Merry Christmas Catfinch, sad about the shop but sounds like you have future plans...good luck.

Thank you PG...Merry Christmas to you as well...~Caroline

Hi Catfinch
Didn't realise you were a Caroline too~ my daughter gets Caz ever since she was about three and all her friends couldn't say it!
It is now 12.25 and officially Christmas Day~have a very happy one!
Love Arlene

Merry Christmas Arlene....very Merry Christmas...Love
~Caroline

A very Merry Christmas to you and yours Caroline..

I have two more days ..today and tomorrow working at the store....my girls all three came and worked with me yesterday cleaning out shelves and storage spaces...will have one of them again to day...to do a couple of more spaces...have unloading of my truck to do this morning for the next load today...am tired but knowing this will be over soon is a help...thanks to all for your good wishes....and many thanks for all of the warm Christmas Good Wishes....
Happy New Year to One & All...~Caroline

Hello Caroline ~
I think I told you that I once worked at a Cambridge University College. One of my duties was as 'secretary' to the College Chaplain. He was a very wise man, and when I was about to face a difficult stage in my life, he told me that "the doing is easier that the worrying about doing it." Not his exact words, but very true. You'll be physically exhausted at times over coming days, weeks ~ but putting your plans into action, will mentally be easier than worrying and planning to do them.

Please look after yourself. Try to keep healthy and it will all work out fine. I've been through lots of very challenging times in my life, and "this too will pass" and you'll be happy and smiling and riding on Flash in the warm sunshine.

My thoughts are with you. Message me any time you are feeling down. You're being brave, and all the best to you in 2009. TT xxx

Thank you TT...you and so many on here have been so supportive...I too have been through so much worse than this...lol...it is not getting easier as I age although!!!...I am looking forward to a bit of respite once I get the store cleared and some time at home and with Flash to rebound my energy...a few days of falling asleep where ever I land will do the trick...lol...hugs and xxx's ~Caroline

~look after yourself Caroline~this now is the hard part~the final hurdle ~but from January 1st you are in a new year with a new life ahead!It might take a while but you will get there!
All my best wishes for your future happiness and I too will be here to chat if you need to!
xxx Arlene

Thank you Arlene...I appreciate this so much...xxx's ~Caroline

Lovely picture of you/your daughter/granddaughter, Cat. I feel sure everything will turn out right for you because you are always so positive. Go girl! :-)

Thank you Sid

The last day for Mud was on the 31st of Dec Wednesday....I spent yesterday doing nothing but resting and enjoying the chance to rest...today, Friday, I will gather boxes and fill them with inventory...my ice cream case will be hauled out and stored at my home and the espresso machine and other equipment as well...my daughters and one son-in-law helped get storage rooms and office cleared...garbage tossed out..I had slow sells in the last two days...sign of the times I imagine...still a help to me financially...I am hoping to have everything out and space cleaned up by tomorrow...Saturday....then I will finally be able to to sort out my life a little more....and I am moving on....~Cat

well done Caroline!best wishes for a happy future!

That's a beautiful photo of you and your girls Caroline......your wonderful smile will see you on the right road for the future.....all my love and good luck for this coming year and years to come.

Thank you Janey...My daughter Heather and her daughter Elise were there that day..it was perfect as we three started the business together when Elise was barely walking...she turns 10 today...LOL...Heather moved on to her own store by herself about 7 years ago and now has moved on again to the Seattle area to continue her business there...thank you for your good wishes...I wish the same for you...

Yes, it's true:-"you are where you are supposed to be at all times." But YOU, you're're always the one who goes where someone else needs you to be. It's YOUR turn, CJ! So much of your life has been giving to other people. You gave my brother the happiest years of his life and then stayed and helped him through his saddest years, when you were both fighting his cancer. What a fight you put up! You would have drug him out of the jaws of that terrible disease if he could have been cured. Your inner strength is incredible.

Reading the comments above makes me realize how much you are loved.

Now's your time to make a new life. Ride the Wind, CJ!

Sisty......I do love you ....SO much...Thank you....Will you be on the wind with me? I sure hope so....~Sis-n

I can feel the breeze already. Sisty

Lovely to read your comments to each other. xxxxxxx

Thanks TT...you know we discovered we liked each other on my first Thanksgiving with her family...I think when she was working on the table cloth and I mentioned the fact that it was of a certain kind that it could be flipped over if it got messy and you couldn't wash it.... she looked at me and said..."I think I am gonna like you." We also discovered on that visit that we both like peanut butter...lol....We became sisters over table cloths and peanut butter..how could we go wrong...lol

That is so lovely that the two of you have such a close bond.

I've just written a blog about Vancouver.
I'm hope the Canadians don't find lots of mistakes. LOL.

I will have to check it out...lol..you are sch a creative busy one aren't you...To be sure...Gilli will be right on top of it..LOL...

Newfie gave it a 'like', so that's a start LOL

LOL..she is long way from Vancouver...lol

What's this??????? Did I hear my name???? Hmmmm..........I'm not on top of much these days.....I think my brain is in hibernation. I NEED SPRING....I NEED GREEN THINGS AROUND.........HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL....we have green here and mud...I need pinks, yellows, whites...red tulips, yellow daffodils...purple crocuses, white narcissus...oh...I almost got lost there for a minute...so...you were looking for green Gilli...shall we call it Gilli Green then???...hmmmm.what shade of green is Gilli....????? I am sure you want all shades of Green...what is your favorite...??? Hurry !!! Think !!!Gilli!!!...before you forget what Green looks like...!!!!

I need Spring, too, like never b4! But, I also crave shades of dark and white chocolate, more than ever, in my garden (hopefully with a strong choccy scent, too, lol!)

All the Best, Cat, Gilli and everyone else, too!

All the best to you too..David! Spring is on the way...birthing takes a while but mother will give birth and is in labor as we speak...When the storms of March come I know Spring has been born on the earth once again.

Well, for Goodness' Sake, can't we speed things up with an epidural, and Syntocinon IV drip? Seriously, these are lovely words, Cat, and so appropriate for the impending beginning of another cycle for gardeners, with many new things to discover along the route.

All the best to you too, David. :o)
Well, I don't know about Mother being in labour....things are looking pretty "as per usual" around here. The snow is coming down like mad at the moment.
Arrrrgggghhhh!! (Picture me stamping my feet!!) It's not fair. There seems to be spring popping in everywhere and us lot with snow in the great frozen wilds are still sitting here freezing our toes off. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.
What shade of green you ask??? Mmmm. The shade of newly sprouted Douglas fir needles. A lovely spring colour. Mixed in with blotches of primrose yellow and cherry blossom pink, grape hyacinth blue and the bright white of snowdrops. How's that?

that is not all green but it will do...lol

Well, a very famous frog once said....

"It's not that easy bein' green
Having to spend each day
The color of the leaves
When I think it could be nicer
Bein' red or yellow or gold
Or something much more colorful like that
It's not easy bein' green
It seems you blend in
With so many other ordinary things
And people tend to pass you over
'Cause you're not standing out
Like flashy sparkles in the water
Or stars in the sky
But green's the color of spring
And green can be cool and friendly like
And green can be big like an ocean
Or important like a mountain
Or tall like a tree
When green is all there is to be
It could make you wonder why
But why wonder, why wonder?
I am green and it'll do fine
It's beautiful and I think it's what I want to be"

-Lyrics by Joe Rapposo

LOL.love it Gilli...perfect..xo..~Cj

Ah, wise words from good ol' Kermy ;-)

It's peeing it down here today - does that mean Spring's water has broke? Ugh-yuk - I'm never going out in the rain again!

~ And all sorts of funny thoughts
Run round my head.
It isn't really anywhere.
It's somewhere else instead ~

A.A. Milne. ooops, wrong song. :o)

GF said to me last night that the rain was throwing down ...I liked that term too...one other thing we say about a hard rain is "pissing like a race horse on a flat rock"...oh dear!...

Spring quote..one of my favorites:

"Spring is Mud Lucious & Puddle Wonderful"...

It is on it's way I tell you...!

The Man in the Wilderness asked of me;
How many blackberries grow in the sea?
I answered him as best I could:
As many red herrings as grow in the wood!

Sorry, don't know who wrote that, but it's a personal favourite :-)

LOL...
Here is another favorite Spring time rain quote that I love:

by jacob ...9 year old..not sure of last name...

"Rain is the sky's way of saying..."I have clouds and I know how to use em..!"

LOL..it always tickles me to think of it...LOL

Uh, uh...I'm trying to come up with a rain quotation and all I can think of is, "Rain, rain go away, come again some other day," from a childhood song. Love the quotations, everyone.

LOL...wouldn't yours be "snow, snow... melt away..come again some other day"... you must have some greenery peeking through by now...between the porch wood or something..maybe in the barn...have you looked there...?

Green moss is peaking through on the rock-people in the back yard! Yay! :-) :-) :-) :-)

YAY!!!!!!!..happy..dance..dance..ddddadance...dddance....YEEE-HA!

How come you have moss peeking and all I have is snow snow and more snow......Not fair, not fair!!! :o(

mw Gilli...there she is...honey did you go out the door and find your little blue pills yet? oh goodness...

Little blue pills?........they're all gone........I took the last 10 about an hour ago..........dee da dum dum diddle diddle dum........ooooo. Pretty pink elephants.........

no you didn't darling...poor...poor dear..Molly found them out the door and has taken them under the snow...but you cannot go digging for them...please no...don't...now Gilli.. you will freeze to death...

What's all this cold white stuff?? Molly! where did you put them...where's my shovel.......oh, it's almost worn down to a stub.....hmmm......where am I? ......white walls, white ceiling....white floor.....help!! help!!.....I'm lost...under the snow....which way is home?.....Oooo. There are my little blue pills.......umm....home?...who cares....feeling happy....

Gilli...get out from under there...right now...and I mean it.

Can I have some of Gilli's blue pills please?

no Sid

<:-(

Yes you may Sid. I'll post some to you right away... :oD

O dear....what have we done?

Oh good..............are they coming by surface or air? Just so I can plan what with work and so on.......... :-)

Air mail of course. I wouldn't make you wait longer Sid. :o)

Gilli's blue pills are the reason I haven't been on line much recently....Oooooo all the pretty flowers on GoY.........SOOOO many colours............SOOOO many dogs and cats.............the dogs and cats are smilling at me................no they're not.... they want to bite me................heeeeeeeellllllllppppppp...................Oh that's better..look - they've all turned into loquats.............aaaahhhhhhh

LOL...Sid...I think maybe you took too many..Gilli..did you send instructions?

Do you have Smarties sweets in America ?
There are blue Smarties, which could be mistaken for the special blue pills.................

I had some yesterday, and now I can't sleep ! aghhh !

oh dear TT...no more Smarties for you!

Only Smarties know the answer........................

Ah Catfinch, where am I now going to get my coffee, I so wanted to surprize U one day. it would have been fun. I could have brought you & Gilli tons of little pills from Mexico, but alas now it is too late. If you ever come to Gabriola, I am famooouuusss 4 my coffee. Won't charge U a penny.
Sorry I have been quiet, but Arizona was so busy & then returning back home the garden kept me 100% at home.
Had a wild ride from Ellensburg getting home, snow galore.
Keep the sunny side up girl.

Yikes Doon...Ellensburg can be a real pitfall when it comes to snow...hope you are having a gorgeous spring in Gabriola now...what so of coffee do you use?...There are some wonderful roasters up north..I loved having my own beans roasted for me for Mud Cat..I should tell my roaster that I want her to market it...so I could still get it from her...lol...You can still come by and give me a shout and I will bring you to my home for coffee..how about that..no charge there either...lol..would love to have you...When you can find me in the states...lol...that is...

I use Torrefatzione Italy, or local supplier Saltspring Island's Sumatra's French Roast, or any Arabian coffees I also love.
Will surely try that CF, and U 2 try & visit us here. stay well girl!

Yum Doon...good job on the coffee choices...all sound lovely...enjoy the spring up there..!