Sunday, May 4, 2008

Seriously, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth.....

Hey there everyone!! Remember me?!?! Yes, the contest is over but no I haven't had a chance to look through all the enteries and pick the winners. I will do that tomorrow and alert the winners tomorrow afternoon or evening.

BUT, now that the contest is over - I can reveal the secret(s)!!!!!! I had the contest running for so long because I was hoping we would actually be ready to "launch" part of the secret at the conclusion of the contest. However, we aren't ready to actually launch yet so that will come later. So, for now I will just tell you about the launch and about the exciting stuff we have going on.

We have been absent because we are MOVING!!! We are getting the heck out of this crazy city (Atlanta) in exchange for a quieter, slower life pace in beautiful Blue Ridge, GA. We have already purchased the house and are already moving in. That's why my blog posting/reading have been so spotty lately. We don't have internet set up at the new place yet and we are traveling back and forth spending about 1/2 the week at each place right now so things are kinda crazy. Plus, we have been working our butts off at the new place doing all kinds of stuff so I haven't had time to be online anyway. But we are SO EXCITED and we absolutely love the house and Blue Ridge!
We are close enough to walk into downtown Blue Ridge so we have just been having all kinds of fun in addition to the long hours we are putting into the house to get it ready for the official move. Also, that's why we have shut down yarn bowl production for a while. We have to get moved and set up in the new place so we should be back up and running in another couple of weeks. I already have a running list of folks who are waiting on the next batch.

We have laid all new floors, cleaned, cleaned, done some cleaning and cleaned and just generally been doing stuff to make the place look like a home. The previous owner was a batchelor so it was basically just a place he "stayed in" if you know what I mean. We have three acres, a huge beautiful deck that overlooks our pond and creek with a waterfall. It is an amazing place!!!

I, of course, brought the camera back but I forgot the connection to download the pictures to the computer - it's still up in Blue Ridge. So, the before and after pictures will have to come later. HERE is a link to the pictures we took before we actually bought the place though so that will give you some idea. Since these pictures are "pre us moving in" all the stuff in the house is his, not ours. The tree that fell over in the pond has now been removed, ALL the pink carpet is GONE (thank goodness) and like I said, the place is now much cleaner. We really feel lucky to have found this place and we got it at a great deal since it needs a little work (but nothing the man and I can't do ourselves). Next up on the agenda is a fence for the dogs, tearing out and replacing the back deck (since it is pretty much disintigrating) and putting a shower in the upstairs bath (he was going to remodel but we told him that we would just finish it so that we could do it the way we wanted it). Here's a couple of shots from the photo album (two of the front of the house and the last one is the view of our pond from standing on the porch):




OK - so that was the first part of the secret. The SECOND part of the secret is that........drumroll please................we are starting a YARN COMPANY!!! We are going to be working with the Georgia Mountain Fiber customers to provide a place for them to sell their beautiful alpaca yarns and roving!!!! We are SO EXCITED!! The name of the company is Amia Yarn Company and we will be selling alpaca yarns/roving that are all processed from American alpacas. We really wanted to do something to help support the American fiber farmers since they have such tough competetition against the South American producers. It's a really involved story so if you want to learn more you can go to the site at http://www.amiayarncompany.com/. The shopping cart is something we are still working on and we aren't actually selling anything yet but there is a lot of good information on the site about why we are doing what we are doing.

We are so excited about helping to promote this luxurious fiber AND the folks around the US who are raising alpacas and need help getting their yarn and roving out to YOU - the people who want it!! We already have some gorgeous alpaca and alpaca blend products and I can't wait to let you all know about the launch for the site so stay tuned!!!!!

More pictures and information coming up soon!

WHEW - that's a load off - I have been wanting to tell all of you guys about that stuff for SO LONG NOW!!!! YAY!!

20 comments:

Turtle said...

wow lots going on, but how exciting. Love the house and property and what a dream to work doing something you love so much! congrats!!

Mouse said...

Congratulations! It looks like a beautiful house..
I'm in the process of moving as well.. we're headed toward the mountains and out of "Atlanta" as well. Hooray for open space!

Sarah said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sarah said...

I think this is wonderful. We need more stores that do just that. I am from Oregon and purchase my fiber from local farms. I think as Americains we need to put more money into local stores that sell local products.Nothing like baby alpaca fiber. So Soft...Thanks and looking foward to checking out your products.

theyarnwhisperer said...

Geez. Its about damn time you let the cat out of the bag!!!! And its about damn time you blogged something. You can't fool me, I know that Mr. Man is doing all those renovations naked and that can only lead to one thing and that's what's keeping you from posting!
The place is beautiful and I am so friggin jealous! How many years until I don't have any more kids?
I can't wait to see the new yarn as well!

evilsciencechick said...

gorgeous!

so when are you having your housewarming party? ;)

so who wins the contest? what if we only got part of the surprise right? :D

Warlock said...

A house warming party? sounds like a good time to me! And NO Ms Melissa, carpentry work using fast moving blades and and naked renovations do not mix. I will have to wait till there are fewer dangerous tools to do that! Maybe exterior house painting....hahaha!

Knit Witch said...

Just what we need to introduce ourselves to the neighborhood - a nekkid house painter (rolls eyes). Well, we don't really HAVE any neighbors so I guess it's ok.

And we will definitely be having a house warming/knitting/spinning party once we get settled in. You guys can fondle the alpaca!! :)

Hockey Mom said...

Woo hoo! Sniff.

turtlegirl76 said...

I'm so excited for you! It's absolutely gorgeous!

Phyl said...

Many, many happy years in the mountains to both of you! I'm sure your business will be a success. Very exciting.

Jane said...

Congratulations! Your house is wonderful, and how exciting the new business is going to be. Can't wait to see what the future brings for you.

sheep#100 said...

Neat house.

Unknown said...

The house is beautiful! Congratulations on your new home and business!

Katey said...

See? I CAN keep a sekrit!

I'm so glad that you guys found such a beautiful house. I can't wait to come visit you.

(Or housesit for you, you know, whatever.)

Roadchick said...

Congratulations - that is so exciting!

And I'm so jealous!!!

;-)

Just me said...

Excellent! That's so exciting for you! I'm so glad to hear everything's going so smoothly. And the house looks gorgeous!

Sherry

Calicoknits said...

Thank goodness - I thought you'd up and died. The house looks lovely - looking forward to more pics. 2 more years until no more kids at home then I can open my yarn shop and market your wares for you.

Anonymous said...

Wow, SO beautiful! I am ecstatically happy for you!!

LittleWit said...

Congratulations on everything! As someone who also recently bought a house and fell off the blog hemisphere I absolve you of your absence. :) Best of luck with everything and I can't wait until life settles down long enough for you to keep us updated!