Weaving Goodness (Part 2)

This morning I called Esther again, the woman who gifted Circle her old spinning wheel, some mohair from her goats, and other fibers and yarns.

Circle CreativeJenny WonderlingNovember 7, 2020Comment

Weaving Goodness (Part 1)

It’s November 4th as I write this, the day after Election Day 2020, and wherever your politics lie, the future of the United States feels held in a precarious balance.

Circle CreativeJenny WonderlingNovember 4, 2020craft, weaving, aging, electionComment

Circles and a Clump

It was dark and one by one we entered the small, comforting building lit only by the glow of a few tiny candles.

Memoir ExcerptsJenny WonderlingJuly 8, 2020women's circle, healing, movement, Memoir ExcerptsComment

Ode to the Peony

Each year my complex friends return to meIn their next incarnation And then leave again too quickly.

LoveJenny WonderlingJune 16, 2020Beauty, Nature, Flowers, Aging, Life, WisdomComment

Those Stitches Make a Blanket

“I’ve witnessed extraordinary resourcefulness and a global movement of mostly women to respond and help through mask making, coming together through sewing...all those stitches making a blanket of love across the earth, one mask at a time. Thanks to the internet, women have been sharing innovations, new designs and materials, and helping to build an efficient effort to gather materials of distribution that was akin to the effort during World War 2.

Circle CreativeJenny WonderlingMay 4, 2020crafts, craft, sewing, quilting, women's circle, women, healingComment

Felted Bacon and Eggs, Rounded Hips

Last spring, the founders of Circle Creative Collective gathered to do a craft project to prepare us for our first public event

Circle Creative, essayJenny WonderlingDecember 1, 2019bacon, eggs, felt, felting, wet felting, crafts, craft, Hudson valley, handmae, handmadeComment

Forming Spirals

On an overcast Sunday in August, if you had beelined away from where the mighty Hudson kissed a sandy beach full of sunbathers, while children played, and swimmers ogled the show of cowboy jet skiers chopping and dashing at harsh angles on the water, you would have discovered a quieter world emerge.

Circle CreativeJenny WonderlingAugust 17, 2019handmade, craft, crafts, basketmaking, basketweaving, weaving, Hudson Valley, makers classesComment

It's Time to Celebrate What Connects Us

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” - Martin Luther King

Nectar Days, essayJenny WonderlingJuly 3, 2019Interdependence, interconnected, one world, Independence Day, July 4th, PeaceComment

Water and Wait

It is March, and I’m feeling pressured to get my seeds into soil. Every year, I’m not sure if I’m a little too early or too late.

Memoir Excerpts, LoveJenny WonderlingMarch 8, 2019organic gardening, Hudson Valley, Covid, nature, healingComment

Tales From the Counter #6: Old Love, New Love, in the Holidaze

A couple walked into Nectar, mid-December, Nat King Cole singing The Christmas Song, lights twinkling around the window displays of fancifully wrapped gifts, tables and furniture overflowing with items from all over the world.

Nectar Days, essay, LoveJenny WonderlingNovember 28, 2018shop small, small business, woman owned business, Hudson Valley, New York, loveComment

Tales From the Counter #5: Love Shopping

At Nectar I witnessed relationship dynamics every day for 12 amazing years until I closed my last physical shop this past November.

Nectar Days, essay, LoveJenny WonderlingFebruary 7, 2018shop small, small business, woman owned business, Hudson Valley, New YorkComment

Color Party

I repotted an orchid yesterday. She had been calling me to do it for a while but I kept putting other priorities first.

LoveJenny WonderlingDecember 30, 2017Orchid, Grief, Healing, PoetryComment

Tales From the Counter #4: Peace, Love, Neighbors, Strangers, and Dinosaurs

In High Falls and other small towns of America, unlike the villages and cities of Europe, Latin America and elsewhere whose thoughtful and visionary urban planners integrated the town square or piazza as an essential priority for the health of a community and individuals, most Americans must make due with stores and restaurants, the workplace and places of activities like gyms and studios to gather, exchange wares and stories, validate one another, see and be seen.

Nectar Days, essayJenny WonderlingDecember 15, 2017local business, woman owned business, Hudson Valley, peace, neighbors, shop small, HolidaysComment

Tales From the Counter #3: How Our Client Started a War

Keys in the door, alarm off, count the register, turn on the lights, put on some music, brew some tea, open sign in the window, it's a new day at Nectar!

Jenny WonderlingAugust 15, 2017Comment

Supplier Spotlight: Boldly Meso

Enthusiastic, accessible, and deeply committed to what they are growing, the owners of Meso have elevated crafts to mainstream design with a conscience, and they have a lot to be proud of.

Earth, Nectar DaysJenny WonderlingMarch 17, 2017shop small, fair trade, eco, entrepeneur, Hudson Valley, meso america, handmade, woman owned businessComment

Supplier Spotlight: On Social Responsibility with HAND IN HAND

Meet Zofia Wolicki, Director of Sales and Marketing for one of Nectar's favorite small businesses: Hand in Hand.

Earth, Nectar DaysJenny WonderlingNovember 8, 2016Haiti, fair trade, shop small, small business, organic, handmade, conscious, eco, water, water initiativesComment

Like Tiny Jewels

“Come, walk with me,” Kumi said. “There’s so much more living beyond 4 walls.” How can I convey the warmth of her voice, how her rounded syllables soothe me?

essay, Travel, Love, Memoir ExcerptsJenny WonderlingOctober 5, 2016India, travel, travel writing, mothersComment

Travelogue: Holy Cow, Human Nature, and Other Maddening Contradictions*

This is the story of a furniture and gift shop owner who lost her way. “Focus on the beauty,” my Indian mother Kumi says, ever evolved. She does not mean this in a superficial way, as in beauty of the body, she could give a rat's ass about that.

Earth, Travel, Nectar DaysJenny WonderlingOctober 1, 2016india, travelogue, travel, small business, shop small, earth, eco, environmentComment

Creating an In-Home Sanctuary

The summer months are hectic and as wonderful as it is to get outside and spend time with friends and family, it’s also important that we find moments to recharge.

Style, Nectar Days, Home decorJenny WonderlingJuly 11, 2016home, home decor, sacred, sanctuary, small business, personal, uniqueComment

SUPPLIER SPOTLIGHT: an Interview with Captain Blankenship

Jana Blankenship’s eyes become really focused and bright when she talks about subjects that inspire her, revealing complex flecks of darker patches suspended in a luminous amber sea.