Promised you a Miracle: Part One
(I totally forgot that I used this as a title, and I'll explain it in Part Two)
I’m going to have to break this update into two parts, Substack is telling me it’s getting too long to be sent over email! So enjoy all of this, and know that there is more to come!
Coming soon
I haven’t exactly figured out how to integrate my sort of chatty updates with a straight up events calendar yet — likely at some point I will have to divide the newsletter into two. But if you are just here because you want to know what is up at our shop, here is what we’ve got planned for the next little while! (If you are not a local, feel free to scroll on by past the divider):
March 2: Book event with S. Bear Bergman!
March 9: Drag Brunch (rescheduled Valentine’s Day Event)!
March 16: Song and story hour with Miss Heather!
My last update was really popular in a way I wasn’t expecting and still can’t quite figure out. In it, I made the bold commitment to update weekly in January. When I did that, I hadn’t really considered what my January actually looked like.
Here’s a quick peek!
Bills Bills Bills
January and February are really rough months in the store. Business slows down quite a bit, while our power bill does this:
I posted this image to Facebook and I got a lot of advice. And I get it, it must seem like there is something we can do to either reduce our electricity use or to access funding to move to solar or something. But the reality is, it’s a 4000 square foot building built in 1850, and we have to have a lot of commercial fridges and freezers running all the time. On top of that, Nova Scotia Power increased their commercial rates on January 1. And there just aren’t the huge number of government programs that it seems as if there must be.
Anyway, all that to say that winters are tough at the ol’ Rosefinch. Business is slow and expenses are high. It’s a great time to buy a Gift Certificate, if you think you’ll visit the store at any point! It makes a huge difference to us.
Moonlighting
To help cover expenses for these months — and because I love the work and the people involved — I work a freelance contract at Oxfam International every winter, leading up to (and during) the World Economic Forum. I did an edit of this report, kept on top of social media mentions that happened in my timezone (trading off with the crew in Nairobi), and created some content I am really proud of.
This post in particular ended up being one of the most popular pieces of content that has ever appeared on Oxfam’s IG! Click through to see the whole gallery!
Who needs eyeballs?
Another thrilling January happening was little baby kitten Tristan getting his eye socket surgery. The poor little guy’s eyeballs didn’t form properly, so he’s been blind since birth. But he did have eyelids deep in his sockets shedding eyelashes in there and getting irritated and infected. So he had a full enucleation at Coastal Care in Halifax.
They did an amazing job, but it was still a nerve wracking experience. I’m always worried something awful is going to happen to our cats, but the worst part was probably seeing how much he hated wearing the cone for two weeks.
The return of Zak Miller
We were thrilled to host another musical afternoon with Zakary Miller, this time welcoming members of the Queens Manor Day Program, and some of our favourite members of the community (like Nancy, about to take this show on the road with Zak). These musical gatherings continue to be some of my favourite moments at the store - seeing everyone singing along, sharing smiles, and building those precious connections that make our little corner of Port Medway feel more like home.
The organizers of that program posted this on their FB, which 100% melted my heart.
Okay, I guess that’s all the pics and stories your inboxes can handle, so I’ll pause here! Thanks so much for reading!
The pitch for paid subscriptions
I know putting this way down here at the bottom of the post isn’t the smartest move, but I’d really love to hear what sort of paid content would make folks consider a paid subscription. I have a somewhat arbitrary goal of having 100 paid subscribers by the end of the year, with the hope that this newsletter can eventually cover our monthly $470 insurance bill.
I currently have about ten, so I’ve got a ways to go! And those subscribers currently only get access to the archives, after posts become paid-only after two weeks. So any suggestions would be welcome!
If you’d like to subscribe (paid or otherwise!) you can do so here: