I spent a wonderful Thanksgiving day yesterday with family cooking, talking, eating, and of course, drinking lots of wine. I don’t have reviews ready for all of them, but I will get them all reviewed.

And I’ll start with the 2008 Edna Valley Vineyard Paragon San Louis Obispo Chardonnay. I love this wine. Usually I find California-style chardonnay to be completely cloying and way too over the top due to the focus on heavy oaking and full malolactic fermentation at the expense of the fruit. I admit there is something to be gained by oaking and malolactic fermentation, but like almost anything, it can get out of hand very quickly. Most California chardonnays that I have had in the past left a sort of bitter taste in the back of my mouth (which I now always think of whenever I hear the dreaded C word), which makes me want to keep clearing my throat and spitting.

But, the Edna Valley Paragon Chardonnay is not like this. I think it achieves a nice balance between the often too tart and fleeting totally unoaked style and the California super oak style. Edna Valley Vineyards puts part of the wine through primary fermentation in oak followed by malolactic fermentation. Thus, part of the wine is left unoaked without secondary fermentation, retaining the tart fruit flavors of the grapes. If they had stopped there, I don’t think the result would have been nearly as complex and full as the wine actually is. To achieve an added complexity, the winemakers also age the wine on the lees in small oak barrels.

The first whiff of this wine is pear, pear, pear, followed by a hint of lemon and honeysuckle. The first taste of this wine is also, not surprisingly, pear, pear, pear. It takes on a little vanilla and honeysuckle (and even some butterscotch which to me is usually a sign of a hyper-oaked wine, but here it works) as it warms and aerates. It’s moderately tart, but nicely balanced with a soft, creamy feeling.

I’m surprised I like this wine so much. I’m definitely going to be seeking out some more chardonnays in this mixed style.

Before I go any further, I would like to say that in all honesty, I had lined up another post to publish today, but frankly, it’s been a long day and I didn’t really want to upload something which was causing quite a bit of strife at the moment, possibly at the end of the week or next week then.

Now, because I decided not to post the thing which I was going to post, I can’t think of anything else to write about, so I guess I’ll have a ramble about the first thing which comes to mind… or that I see if I close my eyes and turn my head away from my computer.

A glass. Not just any glass though. An IKEA glass, from probably one of the most iconic global brands there is. People hate it, people love it. Whichever side of the fence you are on in regards to the Swedish furniture maker and general place of plywood awesomeness, they won’t go away very easily, and as it turns out, you probably use something of theirs almost every day.

Now you might be thinking that I have gone off my nut here, writing about a company which seems to infuriate many people, but take a minute to think, or try to think about what it really is that annoys you about them. Chances are that it is because whenever you go there, the the warehouse of steam bent meatballs, everyone else in the area has decided to go too, whether it because the weather is awful and people suddenly have an urge to update their homes, or just because it is a Thursday night and you want to get away from the dog who seems to have taken a liking to your sofa when you have been out for the day.

Either way, their general philosophy is one which changed the way in which people bought furniture. Great designs and low prices is something which other companies should try and do. But for some reason, design seems to mean that they can bump up the prices. Now I’m not saying that everything should be at rock bottom prices, there are certain designery things which deserve to be the price they are because you are clearly able to see the amount of work put in by the designer and the company as a whole to make the product the best that they can make it.

Count the number of things bought in IKEA in the room you are in just now (not really doable if you are at work, preferably done at home), and of those things, for which reasons did you buy them? Because they were cheap? or because they looked good?

And whilst you are pondering that, and I am aware that some people will manage to answer that quicker than others, I’ll leave you with an epic song which I came about whilst listening to The Bitterest Pill podcast a few years ago, a song created by Jonathan Coulton, a song all about IKEA.

Link to song on iTunes

Note: tiredness may have played a part in the randomness of this post.

DEEEEELICIOUS!  My favorite chardonnay reviewed here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8TmulTk0IU

For more information on OC Wine and Lifestyle, visit my website at www.KathySchager.com

a gentle flame burns before me

encircled by brass and glass

it is Sunday night in the city

the moon is a lemon crescent

outside my window in the arms

of the black oak branches

while inside the clock ticks

and the water drips

I sit in the kitchen

he in the living room

we do not speak

Fremont Black Spec Octavian Flannel Shirt For sell now at Oak.

English Farmhouse Extending Refectory Table & set of Ladderback Dining Chairs

Originally uploaded by canonburyantiques

Gorgeous rustic farmhouse kitchen set – refectory table and set of spindlebacks…

This week a colleague approached me to ask if I could make something for him.
His house, which he’s been renovating, still had an original doorbell from whenever it was built. The door bell was a round metal plate with a button in the middle, inset into a wood ring which was screwed to the wall.
Time had not been kind to the wooden ring and it was a rotted mess.


So the job was simple, could I make him a replacement wooden ring.

The challenge for me was whether I could actually make a replacement quickly enough to make the job worth while. After all there is a limit to how much anyone is going to pay for a wooden ring. I agreed a price of £10, and figured it would be up to me to make that worth while for me.

Of course, since this is my hobby, I don’t have worry too much about earning a certain amount per hour of work. But I didn’t want to sell my time cheap either.

I had given him the choice of a couple of woods that I knew I had in the garage, and he chose American white oak, since he has used oak throughout the renovation of his house. I’d hoped that what I had would be the right size. Sadly however I was forced to make up a blank by gluing two blocks together. This required some time to make sure the edges were square and flat, and of course some drying time.

Whilst it was drying I decided to play around with a piece of scrap wood. I mentally stopped the clock for this, since I could have just gone back inside and continued later.

I didn’t wait too long, the glue gave a good enough hold quite quickly. Once I thought it was ready, I used the bandsaw to cut the corners off and generally get it to about the right size. I also ensured my centre was just to one side of the glue line. I figured it wouldn’t be very apparent on the finished piece, and I didn’t want to jam my drive centre straight into the glue join and risk forcing it open.

I turned between centres to rough it to round, and turn a spiggot, then switched it into my 4 jaw chuck for actual shaping.

It wasn’t very difficult to do, face off the front to a flat, then measure the diameter of the recess, and carefully used the skew chisel as a scraper to mark the line, I approached it from intentionally too small, taking a series of wider cuts to get the right size.

Shaping the exterior curve was just a matter of holding up the old one in eyeline of the new, and judging by eye where to adjust the shape of the curve.

Then boring a hole through the middle was a case of using the spindle gouge to get the depth with straight-ish sides, just shy of the right diameter. Then again using the skew chisel as a scraper, to get the right diameter.

The finished result I’m pretty happy with, when seen side by side with the original.

I’ve asked for pictures of the before and after with it in situ, so I’ll update when I’ve got them.

As for how long it took, I think I spent a little over an hour working on it. Now I’m not fast, but I’m not that slow either. Some things just take time. I wonder how a professional woodturner can possibly make a living! I guess they turn much higher value items, that have a better time/value ratio.

I’ve collected a pile of leaves this fall season, while walking the dog.  I can’t seem to identify the round one (middle, lower row).   It is not as common as the maple and oak species, and it has a interesting pattern of veins.

strewn about;
the neighbor’s oak leaves
prefer my lawn

I’ve now added a new category that focuses on ‘Home Office Cupboards‘ (Oak of course), these are veneered units that are most suitable for Offices, Home Offices and Studies.

I’ve found quite a few products to include in this category, and have been setting up ECU’s for these products and writing the content in order to include these products on my site.  So far completed 3 products in this category, still plenty more to add.

I also noticed that I never completed all of the content for some of my categories (the CD / DVD cupboard and Shoe cupboard categories had no descriptive text or meta data information), so I’ve added a bit of information to these pages.

I’ve also added a Facebook and Twitter Link to the footer of the site.

Although there is still plenty more products to add to the Office Category, I decided to put my changes live now.

So, I started this thing called: “Poetweet”.  Basically a complete poem that fits within the size of a Twitter post.  I was walking around the Plaza library a while ago and heard these bagpipes in the not too far off distance.  It was an ideallic fall day.  Here’s the poetweet that came from it:

Bagpipes sighing on the winds of fall. Rackets echoin a tennis ball. Young sk8ers videotapin skills. Girls laffin as dey watch their spills.

Anyway, a few days ago was driving by in time to catch the headlining musician in action (he was on break from his bus route).  Here’s the quick vid I made:

To my Tweeples:

Update on the week of Tweets.

Well, there haven’t been that many tweets, huh?  I’m kinda reorganizing my time around endeavoring to get more disciplined with how I allot the time I have in the day.  So far this week it’s been good!  The stuff of daily life that seems to slip through my fingers like cleaning, spending time with family, getting product made, meetings and all that…well, it seems to be getting done!  Actually, it seems that the most important things are getting done and it’s leaving room for me to do the less important things.  Basically, this schedule has helped me better define priorities and basic needs and I find once those are satisfied I and everyone I touch feels a lot better.

Good stuff.  I got some good motivation.  And, just when I needed it.  Lord, I thank you for knowing our hearts and our desires (better than we do) so that you can send us the encouragement we specifically need to grow better.

Now, the challenge is to keep this routine up!!!  Any bets?

On the fashion front, I may just be talking stuff right now, but call me on it if so.  But, I’m going to see about creating product specifically for an Etsy online store of my own.  These will be designs that I’m comfortable sharing with the public…but my signature pieces will be available in-person only through me or at RAGZ Design House (Crown Center, 3rd level).

In the meantime, here’s the bracelet from a one-of-a-kind set of beaded pearl jewelry that I finished yesterday.  You can see the necklace on my facebook photo album entitled simply, “Product”.  If it doesn’t sell before I open a store on Etsy, it’ll be available there as well.  But, if interested, email me! quoleshna dot facebook at gmail.com   (quoleshna.facebook) .

I’m putting together a small event, as well.  I could use a mannequin or two of you have it to spare…you know, like maybe you have one lying around that you forgot about until I mentioned it…?  Hah. But, seriously…I’ll take it if you have it.

And, for anyone interested, there’s a fashion show tonight at RAGZ Design House starting at 6:30pm. I’ll be there for a bit around 7ish. So, if you’re looking for me, ask for me around that time and like MJ says, “I’ll be theeeerrre”. Just look over your shoulder…

That’s about it for me this week.  Some things about myself have been made more clear and solidified a lot more.  And, it feels good to know what you want, no matter what you’re looking for.  I remember when I was looking for an apartment in L.A. so I could finally live on my own.  (woot! woot!) I lived with other people for the first couple years I was there and was ready to have my own peace and quiet and personal portion of heaven.  But, what was funny is that through all that I learned exactly what I wanted in my own apartment.  And, man, when I found the spot…I knew it was meant for me.  My legs just rooted themselves to the carpet.  It was a nice apartment, true enough.  But, what made me content with it despite any negatives that came up as I lived there…is the fact that I knew what I was looking for in the place in which I lived.  And, this place had that…it had the essential characteristics of what I truly desired in a home.  That made that nice apartment into the absolute “bombest” apartment in the history of mankind…at least to me.

So, it’s been a long journey learning about what makes me tick, what makes me soar, what makes me stumble, what makes me crumble.  But, it’s so worth it to finally have some sense of settlement…understanding of what makes this little chica up.  I’ve learned about likes and desires that I never ever would have imagined being important to me as of a couple years ago.  And, I’ve learned about weak spots, fears and gained perspectives that were at one time foreign to me, but dag-gone it…they resonate so much with me that it’s scary.

I could not have discovered all of the bits of me if I wasn’t seeking to know the One Who made me…(and there’s still lots more to discover in both of us, I’m sure!).  Praise you, Jesus Christ, for holding me and guiding me and showing me what and who I am.  You rock, Lord.  Seriously.  If you want to begin or jumpstart your journey into discovering and accepting the unique person that God ordained you to be…

If you’re looking to really impact people, you gotta be uniquely you, uniquely who God called you to be…no one else.  Duplicates are not required.  If you want to delve into the manuscript of God’s original design and plan for you, it’s so easy…open your mouth, say that you believe Jesus Christ is Lord and that you, yourself, are not. And then, believe that God not only has the power to raise him from the dead, but that he did raise Jesus from the dead because of the Lord’s love for us. You find this verse in the Bible in the book of Romans, chapter 10, verse 9 (aka. Romans 10:9). Next, find yourself a good church community and Bible Study to learn in. Don’t be afraid of questions. Don’t think you have to be perfect. Don’t think that any Christian you ever encounter will be perfect. We’re all trying, but instead of trying it on our own, those that truly love Christ are regularly made aware that we have to rely on God’s help to be better than what we are.

Til next post and next Thursday’s detailed update,

Q.

This is the best moment of the year to replant the hedge in the new garden. The soil was already prepared last summer by Mike and Tristan.

Good Friends BBlessing, Seven, and Oak are putting together this sample sale on friday. already checked it out. this one is not to be missed…

Seven New York
Vs.
BBlessing
Vs.
Oak

150 Spring St. b/w Wooster and West Broadway Floor 3
New York CityLong Overdue Warehouse Sale
70-90% off!!
Cash Only!!

Fri Nov 20 5-9pm (Private–Password Required for Entry)
Sat Nov 21 12-8pm
Sun Nov 22 12-8pm

I’ve now started to actively promote my site.

If you like my Oak Cupboard site, please go ahead and click here to Digg it!

I’ve create an Oak Cupboard Squidoo site which is still very much work in progress, but should help with a few links to my site.

I’ve also created an Oak Cupboard Facebook page, I know very little about facebook, but I will try to post information to this page on a regular basis.  I understand I need to get ‘Fans’ of my facebook site, so if anyone has a Facebook account and would like to become a Fan, that would be great.

You can also follow my site progress at Twitter.

Thats about all for today, I’m not that familiar with social networking so I’m learning as I go with this.  If anyone has any advise on promoting on social networks, I’d love to hear from you.

by Carl Strang

Last year I arrived at Mayslake Forest Preserve at the beginning of November, and went through that first month without seeing any. We’re halfway through November a year later, and I still haven’t found one there, though I’ve spotted them elsewhere in DuPage County this month. I’m talking about winter moths.

Look at the eyes on that dude! Despite the slender looking antennae, I know it’s a dude rather than a dudette because the females of the species are wingless. The winter moth, Erannis tiliaria, is a member of the inchworm family (Geometridae). The adults wait until November to emerge, and I love them despite their drab color. When the males fly through the forest in that cold air, their slowed flight gives them a dreamlike, drifting quality as they pass among the stark tree trunks of the leafless woods.

Much of their adult structure seems geared to a cold-weather emergence. Females don’t waste energy building wings. Males must fly in the warmer daytime, and apparently use a combination of enhanced vision and pheromone detection (on relatively minimal antennae) to find the females.

Winter moth caterpillars are fairly straightforward, if a little more colorful than most inchworms: white beneath, bright yellow on the sides, and pinstriped brown, white and black down the back behind the red-brown head. I’ve seen them, but never with camera in hand. Like many moth caterpillars, they consume a wide range of tree species. Their other common name, linden looper, suggests a preference for basswood. That tree is rare at Mayslake, but winter moth larvae are known to eat the leaves of many trees, including oaks, which are common there. So, I continue to look for this ghostlike moth on November days in Mayslake’s savanna and brushy woodlands.

Wow, I’m a very pleased with how my site has been ranked, many of my pages have been ranked on page 1 of Google, and some even at position 1!  I really never expected such good rankings so early.

Some examples are:
‘oak cupboard’ lists my site at the no 8 spot, whilst ‘oak cupboards’ lists my site at the no 7 spot.
’single door cupboards’ – lists my Single Door Cupboard page at the no 3 spot.
‘alto oak cupboard’ – lists my Alto Oak Range page at the no 1 spot.
‘mobel oak cupboard’ – lists my Mobel Oak Range page at the no 1 spot.

So besides getting over excited about my sites rankings, I have been trying to find some more products to include on my site, I have decided to add another ‘category’ to my site (still working on it), should be able to have this online within the next few days.  I’ve also joined a few more merchants, that sell the products that I want to include in this new category.

I also read a forum post about using icodes for displaying vouchers on sites and ebay partner network for displaying ebay products, I’ve never used either of these on my sites before but they both sound interesting so I have joined them both and am now awaiting acceptance.

We love a good wine (don’t we all?). And we do have a bias for corked wine instead of the screwed-on ones. We just think the corked wines are better in quality. That and we’re just traditionalists at heart. Uncorking the bottle adds to the drama and rituals of wine drinking.  (So, yes, we steer clear of New Zealand wines.) 

Source : The WWF on “Cork and wine industries play a key role in the sustainability of forests“

Cork is natural, renewable, recyclable and biodegradable. No trees are cut to harvest cork. The bark of the trees are harvested every 9-12 years.The point is if more wine manufacturers stop using cork (through use of plastic stoppers or screw caps), it reduces the value of lands where cork oak trees are grown. And this could lead to their conversion for other uses. 

The WWF is campaigning for the conservation of the cork oak trees. And the wine industry plays a major role in that conservation accounting for some 70% of the cork market. 

Source: The Treevolution site on “Wine industry can help conserve cork forests“  

“cork forests are home and a source of income to thousands of people and support one of the highest levels of biodiversity in the planet. Decreasing demand from the wine industry for cork stoppers would force entire communities to leave, resulting in more forest fires, desertification and the permanent loss of 2.7 million hectares of forest,”

So what are the arguments for or against cork, environmental issues aside?  

• Screw caps are easier to open. Great for bringing to picnics.
• But wine needs to breathe to age properly, plastic corks can fail and let too much air in. Screw caps do not allow any oxygen in. Cork lets in minute amounts of air as it’s a natural product.
• Cork taint affect every 1 in 10 bottles. This tends to impart a ‘corky’ taste, they said, similar to damp mouldy cardboard. So someone is always left out of pocket – the consumer, the restaurant or the manufacturer

Screw caps are easy to recognise. But I have no clue how to know if underneath the foil is a synthetic stopper or real cork!

My husband and I decided to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary with a relaxing getaway to Wellsboro PA.  We hadn’t visited this beautiful area for almost 2 decades and thought that it would be the perfect time of year to enjoy the breathtaking canvass of colors that Pine Creek Gorge in the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon is famous for.  We selected a lovely little Bed & Breakfast in this quaint little town, hoping to find some tranquility to accompany our autumn views. (By the way, what is it with people who wear their pajamas and fuzzy slippers to breakfast at a B&B? … but I digress.)

The Gorge did not disappoint.  So, while my husband naps I thought I’d share some photos of our morning at the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon.

21
comments:

Jan (Thanks For 2 Day)
said…

Oh, what a lovely post, Joey. I like the concept of putting a garden to bed. Your collages turned out beautiful, as always! I'm not quite ready to put my garden to bed, as I've still got a couple of plants to tuck in! I hope they'll survive the change this late in the year. If I want to make something nice for dinner, or a get-together, you have the perfect 'cookbook'!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Kerri
said…

Hello dear Joey!
The colors in that first photo so soft and dreamy. It's magical!
As usual, you make me want to cook up a delicious meal. This one sounds scrumptious.
Love your collages and the quote is so sensible. I hate to put the garden to bed, but it does give us time to rest and contemplate.
Happy autumn to you

Thursday, October 29, 2009

nancybond
said…

Love that last quote, Joey — how true! As always, the recipe sounds wonderful and your photos are lovely.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

joey
said…

Hi Jan! A bit of a tearful post I feel like a villian, the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, chopping off the heads of these lovely beauties but … for every time there is a season … and soft snow makes a wonderful blanket for their cozy bed

Thank you, Kerri ~ it's a 'sighing' time of year for sure but harvest is the perfect time to shed garden gloves, don an apron, and cook somethin' wonderful! Happy Autumn to you, dear friend!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

joey
said…

Looks like I was posting when you were, Nancy:) Thank you … always a joy to hear from you

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Gail
said…

Joey, How timely…a friend and I were talking about this very thing…the need to rest, to reflect, to plan and dream. While I cling tightly to fall and pretend winter won't come. I really am going to be ready to take a break. The pasta dish sounds perfect and all sage buttery delicious. gail

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Corner Gardener Sue
said…

I enjoyed this post, even though I'm sad the outdoor gardening season is coming to an end. Your photos and collages are beautiful!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

joey
said…

I hear you, Gail! I cling tightly to summer, hating to see daylight dwindle, longing for the Solstice on Dec 21 And oh yes, sage butter is delicious!

Thank you kindly, Sue. I think all gardeners feel the same but this is indeed a time to reflect (if we northerners can get all our work done before the 1st snowfall)

Friday, October 30, 2009

Katarina (Roses and stuff)
said…

Putting the garden to rest, is a lovely thought – and very comforting too. Before we know it, spring will be knocking on the door.
Meanwhile, let's enjoy old pictures, while planning for the next gardening season. -Your photos are lovely, dear Joey – as always!

Friday, October 30, 2009

Carol
said…

Lovely quotes Joey… so true that once the gardening seed is sown it never dies… and so too … that we need our rest and time to rethink and recreate… and to focus on other parts of ourselves. I love to paint in the winter. Your photos are all inspiring… as is your yummy pasta dish! Happy Weekend. Carol

Friday, October 30, 2009

Roses and Lilacs
said…

The rains have postponed my last garden chores. There are still some bulbs waiting and some seeds to collect.
Marnie

Friday, October 30, 2009

Msrobin
said…

Autumn's beauty is so bittersweet there in your garden Joey, like it is everywhere. Now time to dream about next year's garden!

Friday, October 30, 2009

joey
said…

Thank you, dear Katarina, and for the beautiful thought to hold on to.

How wonderful that you're an artist, Carol … do you share photos of your paintings! Wishing you a lovely weekend also … and thank you for your many kind words.

No gardening here today either, Marnie. Rain, rain, and more rain! I'm sure we will have plenty of time to plant those orphan bulbs … if the ground doesn't freeze, I've done them as late as December!

Friday, October 30, 2009

joey
said…

Indeed it is, Robin … had 'dreamed' of working out again today but looks like rain predicted all day and perhaps tomorrow Happy Weekend

Friday, October 30, 2009

Robin L.
said…

Oh my! That daisy photo is lovely! And is that a different variety of hosta with the yellow? I love that color.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Rose
said…

Joey, the last quote is just perfect! Even as I lament the end of the gardening season, I am looking forward to a little rest. Even though I may complain about the cold of winter, I do like the change of seasons. And winter is such a perfect time to plan and dream for next year. Even in its final stages, your garden is a thing of beauty!

Friday, October 30, 2009

Vilt og vakkert
said…

Hello!

Colourful and wonderful shapes, like your mix of lyric and illustrations!
Have a nice weekend,
from Bjorg Nina

Friday, October 30, 2009

Lindalou
said…

Lovely photos. I love your collages.The recipe sound very good. My daughter has a butternut squash lasagna recipe…this one sounds similiar yet a little easier too.

Friday, October 30, 2009

joey
said…

Welcome Robin L. and thank you for the thoughtful comment. Saying 'goodbye' to my garden is sad The overlay ~ daisy & maidenhair fern are 2 voices speaking …). The unique colored hosta is simply 'old', shouting a golden 'goodbye':)

Always a dear, thank you Rose. I hear your voice. We will hold each other near & dear throughout the seasons of our lives

Thank you, Bjorg Nina. May the weekend shine on your shoulder and warm your soul

Lindalou ~ both recipes are autumn wonderful, feeding both body & soul. Thanks dear neighbor

Friday, October 30, 2009

Catherine
said…

I <3 this post Joey!
And that gorgeous daisy & fern photo, & all of your beautiful collages~makes putting the Garden to bed not look so sad & daunting!
Love the quotes!
Big ((Hugs))
Cat

Saturday, November 07, 2009

joey
said…

You're a dear, Cat, and thanks

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

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upholstered storage bed

Gender: Feminine
Origin: Icelandic/Faroese
Meaning: “oak”
Ice (AKE)

The name is an Icelandic and Faroese female name and comes from the Old Norse word for “oak”. It remains the word for oak in Dutch, Norwegian, Icelandic and Faroese. However, its usage as a female given name is exclusive to both Iceland and the Faroe Islands. The Danish word for oak (eg), the Swedish word for oak (ek) and the German word for oak (eiche) share the same etymological root.

According to the Icelandic Registry, 18 women bore Eik as a first name and 110 bore it as a middle name.

I am very pround to annouce the lauch of my High Quality Oak Cupboard Price Comparison Site.

www.oakcupboard.co.uk

It’s been a real struggle to get this site completed in time for the launch date, but I must say I am very pleased with my efforts and hope that everyone else enjoys using this site as much as I have enjoyed creating it.

I would love to hear any feedback about this site, both negative and positive, please either post comments on this blog, or complete the comments form on the Oak Cupboard site using the Contact Us Form.

Well we are almost there, will be launching the site in the early hours!

I’ve managed to grab a few more hours than I expected today working on the site.  I’ve added quite a bit more textual information to the homepage and got myself a favicon icon.

I’ve also changed the way the prices are displayed on my site, previously the prices where only displayed on the ‘Product Detail’ pages, this wasn’t great (it was just the way all my previous sites worked, so this site inherited it), I’ve now got it so that the prices are displayed within my ‘Product Listing Control’, therefore the prices are now appearing on the home page and ‘Product Category’ pages.  This is much better and makes it much more of a price comparison site.

I’ve also changed some of the content on the product category pages to be more ’seo’ optimised (I hope!).

I’ve even started writing some articles for promotion purposes, so I have things ready to be submitted as soon as the site is live.

The Tree holds an important place in many ‘Nature~Al’ perspectives of the world, from ancient spiritual & psychological symbolisms of life, wisdom and friendship,
to modern environmental awarenesses that champion the need for a more holistic relationship with the delicately balanced eco systems of the earth our home.

As The Cosmic or World Tree touches the ‘Three Worlds’ of sky, earth & underworld, it thereby links them symbolically & psychologically provides an Axis Mundi or Center of the world, by uniting these realms enabling travel and communication between them.

As The Tree of Life, It also represents both a feminine symbol, bearing sustenance; and a masculine, phallic symbol.
In addition, The Tree of Life represents Eternal Life, because of its ever-expanding branches and because of its seemingly endless cycle of regrowth from seed to towering tree and so on…

Of Magic Trees, some have the ability to speak to certain individuals, usually those gifted with divination.
In particular The Druids were said to be able to consult Oak trees for such divinatory purposes,
(the Christian Bible stories also reference a talking Bush to the visionary Moses)

Such Trees have carried great significance across various world faiths,
including The Yggdrasil or World Ash where, in Norse mythology, Odin discovered wisdom and understanding,
& The Bodhi Tree under which Gautama Siddhartha, the Buddha found enlightenment.
For the Babylonians, The Tree of Life had a magical fruit which could only be picked by the Gods and dire consequences befell any mere mortal who dared to pick them.
Whilst this Babylonian prohibitive/punitive Tree has apparently found its way into the Judeo-Christian legend of Adam and Eve…
In the esoteric Jewish tradition of Kabbalah, the Tree of Life is a mystical symbol used to describe ‘The’ path to ‘God’.

Across cultures and traditions then we see that The Sacred Tree holds an important place in the minds and hearts of mankind, from the purely practical applications of fruit and resources, to the deeply symbolic and spiritual language of interconnectivity and harmonic interdependence, the Tree serves and embodies many significant functions which furnish our lives and spirit’s.

* * * *

The ‘Celtic’ Tree of Life (known in Ireland as the ‘crann bethadh‘) was central to the Celtic tribal life,
they always left a great tree in the middle of any new settlement which demonstrated the integrity of their Celtic traditions.

This Tree of Life represents the wheel of life as witnessed in the cycle of life, death and rebirth (‘rebirth’ in Tir Na Nog the Celtic Afterlife, the Land of Eternal Youth), as well as the Celtic theme of three worlds, that of the upper for Gods, the middle for our physical plane, and the lower as the realm of the fey or faeries (often housed below underground mounds or fairy hills). This symbolism is depicted by the branches that reach to the heavens, the trunk or body in the center, and the roots below, specifically showing that all stages and aspects of life are intrinsically connected through nature.
The Germanic peoples who also worshiped their deities in open forest clearings and believed that a sky god was particularly connected with the oak tree, similarly employed a central tree in their tribal settlements.
All trees in the Celtic perspective have specific powers or serve as the home of fairies or spirits, especially the magical trio of Oak, Ash, and Thorn.
That Chieftains were inaugurated under these Sacred trees with their roots stretching down to the lower world and branches reaching to the upper world, ceremonially endowed them with the magical powers of both the underworld and of the heavens.

Of the many realms that may be reached via these sacred trees,
Legends of the Norse World Tree Yggdrasil (pronounced ig.dre.sil) ((called Irminsul in Germanic mythologies)) describe that around it exist nine worlds.…
Yggdrasill is an immense Ash Tree; Ygg’s {Odin’s} horse, was so named because of the notion of the ‘tree’ as the ‘horse’ of the
‘hanged’ on which Odin hung during his self sacrifice for knowledge as described in the Poetic Edda poem Havamal & was often represented by a Cross or a Gallows, however as death did not cary the same finality or distress of modern religious and secular perspectives, these symbols indicated the doorways of change.
The Aesir (Norse gods) go to Yggdrasil daily to hold their courts because the branches of Yggdrasil extend into the heavens, and because the tree is supported by the three roots that reach the Three times…;
Through these paths they could interact with the various realms including the magical sacred creatures that live within Yggdrasil, such as the Wyrm or Dragon, the Eagle, and the Sacred Stag.
The notion of an Eagle sitting on top of the sacred Tree and the World Serpent coiled around its base also has parallels in other cosmologies from Asia, and thereby may be seen to hold psychological significance beyond any narrow micro cultures specific meanings.

Writing of its Shamanic origins Hilda Ellis Davidson comments that the existence of nine worlds around Yggdrasil is mentioned more than once in Old Norse sources, but the identity of the worlds is never stated outright…and speculates that the nine worlds could either exist one above the other or perhaps be grouped around the tree, while the gods are pictured as in the sky, using a Rainbow Bridge (Bifrost) connecting the Tree with the Other Worlds.

* * * *

Of the Christmas Tree..
When the Roman Christian Church decided on a date to celebrate Christ’s birth,
they chose the day of the Pagan Winter Solstice because this was already firmly fixed in the minds of the people,
they thus sought to ‘Christianise’ existing festivals and so both overthrow earlier traditions whilst maintaining the rituals that gave meaning to the indigenous peoples lives.

Some accounts place the earliest Christmas trees in Tallinn capital of Estonia and Riga capital of Latvia,
(both of which resisted Christianity longer than any other European nation and so point towards an earlier Pagan tradition).
The custom of erecting a Pine Tree specifically to celebrate Christmas can more precisely be traced to 16th century Germany, as Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann (Marburg professor of European ethnology) reports of a Bremen guild chronicle of 1570 which states that a Fir Tree was decorated with apples, nuts and paper flowers, & set up for the guild members children to collect the treats on Christmas Day.

By the early 18thC use of Christmas Tree’s had become common in the upper Rhineland of Germany,
but was still regarded as a Protestant custom by the Roman Catholic majority throughout wider Europe.
Robert Chambers in his Book of Days (1832 )asserts that the festivities of Christmas
“originally derived from the Roman Saturnalia, had afterwards been intermingled with the ceremonies observed by the British Druids at the period of winter-solstice, and at a subsequent period became incorporated with the grim mythology of the ancient Saxons“.
However, just as Christmas was established (approximately) over the earlier Pagan Winter Solstice,
so the Christmas Tree was eventually accepted by the Roman Catholic Church as part of the seasons regalia, because it could not prevent its use.
In the early 19thC the custom became popular among the nobility and spread to royal courts as far as Russia.

In Great Britain, the Christmas tree was introduced by George III’s Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in early 1800’s,
but the custom hadn’t spread much beyond the royal family.
After Queen Victoria’s marriage to her German cousin Prince Albert in 1840, the custom became more popular throughout Great Britain as people emulated the much admired and ‘ideal’ role model family.

* * * *

Regarding the addition of lights and decoration to these Festival Tree’s;
Whilst dried apple’s may have been tied to the Tree as an offering to The Mother Goddess in the hopes of being gifted more fruit in the coming summer,
& Candles may have been lit upon it to represent and summon the return of the (Father’s) Summer Sun
The placing of candles and lights on the Tree also invited and gave home to the associated spirits and faeries that otherwise would be abandoned outside to the hash northern winters.
In this view then, the ancient traditions of decorating and sacralizing a celebratory Tree survives because it meets basic needs outside of our intellectual rationalizations of their purposes,
perhaps embracing deeper psychological or spiritual needs,
But certainly and not least of all….
because we enjoy them.

And in this the blessing of our Nature~Al spirit shines through.

_/\_

Today I have continued writing content, but I really got into the swing of it and managed to update 14 pages with a reasonable amount of textual content.

Besides trying to make the content useful and interesting I have also been trying to ensure the content is useful to the search engines.  I am really hoping I will manage to get this site to rank reasonably well on the search engines.  I’ve never had great sucess in the past, I hope I’ve learnt from past mistakes.  I’ve also tried to give all of my pages unique and relevant titles, meta descriptions and keywords.

The last thing I have left to do is put some more textual content onto the home page, I should hopefully get an hour to do this tommorrow.  I say the last thing, I have however loads of other things I would like to do to the site, but they will just have to wait until after the site has gone live, I’ve simply run out of time.

Overall I am reasonably happy with the site and it is pretty much all ready for the Launch on the 15th. Yippee, I can’t wait.