Merry Everything and Happy Always!!
First of all, I’d like to wish each of you a happy and safe holiday period, whatever you may be up to and wherever you are. I hope you all manage to spend some time doing or being with the people and things you love. I also want to thank you all for your interest and support in my wee business since it’s opening in April 2021. What a year it has been!
I couldn’t have imagined how well received this little wunderkammer would be. Although I have had some people question the ethics behind a store filled to a large part with dead animals, they quickly come around when I explain the concept, in which we are in fact a space that pays homage to the beauty and wonder of the natural world.
COVID continues to wreak havoc on the Queenstown economy. I really feel for all those businesses that haven’t managed to keep going through these quiet times. Although business has been slow, I firmly hold on to what John Keats wrote – ‘A thing of beauty is a joy forever; it’s loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness.” I thank my lucky stars everyday for my beautiful shop, and so I will keep going!!
Our curious collection grows every day, we have a rather marvellous selection of taxidermy at the moment. My particular favourites include some beautiful framed, Atlas Moths (Attacus atlas), a domed cloche of beautiful Blue Morpho Butterflies, and my treat to myself – a beautiful White Swan whom I have put such a high price on as I actually don’t want to sell him!! He sits next to me on my desk and whispers nice things in my ear….
We also have some lovely new ranges of stock in – a very nice selection of items from San Francisco Brand Cavallini, whose vintage imagery of flora and fauna make lovely gifts for someone special or just yourselves. We are also stocking a small selection of Moulin Roti items – they are a wonderful French brand who make delightful things for children….I was given some of their things for my wee Teddy and absolutely fell in love with the range of products – all based around plants and animals as well. Another new favourite of mine is the beautiful And Mary Jewellery collection, whose tiny porcelain animals are all hand painted by a husband and wife team in the USA. Just lovely!
I am very proud of what I have accomplished this year – moving cities, starting a business (and all the learning that entails) and bringing a new life into the world but I couldn’t have done it without my customers, my friends and my family – particularly my beautiful, wonderful, kind and caring fiancé Benjamin, whom I love to bits.
I hope you all can take some time to reflect on, and be grateful for the wonderful things in your lives this Christmas.
Merry Everything and Happy Always!
Until next year….. xx
