Yesterday I rode with John back up to Cambria..and while he worked..I did a little side trip to my favorite shop...Heart's Ease. I wanted to share it with you, dear ones...and most especially I had my dear friend, Dawn from May All Seasons Be Sweet To Thee in mind. I really wanted her to see it and knew all of you would enjoy it as well.
As some of you know..it was started nearly 30 years ago by my friend, Sharon Lovejoy... I was Heart's Eases's first employee..and it is still my most favorite job I ever had...and it really did change my life. I have to give credit to Sharon for showing me the ways of a New England lifestyle. She taught me about gardening and herbs and decorating and always making time in you day for making small fresh flower and herb bouquets in your home...for all things New England really.
Sharon sold the shop several years ago, and it isn't the same as it was.You can tell Sharon is gone, but the building is so wonderful..it's an old home that sits on Burton Drive in the downtown of Cambria.It is filled with soaps and lotions and cards and potpourri, candles, books old and new and gardening supplies. Out in the back is a nursery section with herbs..many of them that are very hard to find....
It is a shop filled with charm...I have always loved Heart's Ease. But as I was telling my friend Julie Whitmore yesterday it makes me sad too. I remember the days when all of us would laugh and giggle and run across the street to Robins to share a bowl of soup for lunch on a rainy day..my mom would come to Cambria every Friday..we called it 'The Friday Loop'. We would all go to Robins for lunch then hit the Friday Cambria Farmers Market and then ...we saved the best for last. We would always go to Heart's Ease late in the afternoon to see what treasure we could bring with us back home. I looked down the street where we would all walk together. And I was alone. Sharon was no longer there. And I lost my mom 3 years ago to pancreatic cancer. And me too. I don't live there anymore. All memories of good times....that are no more. I told Julie last night about it and I told her it made me sad. She said, "yeah, it makes me sad too".
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What a moving post. When things are the same, but are not the same, it is bittersweet. I know that feeling.
ReplyDeleteI remember Sharon Lovejoy - didn't she have a monthly column in Country Living or Country Home? She always wrote so beautifully about the country and herbs and flowers.
xo
Claudia
what a heartfelt post...sorry about your loss. sending lots of positive vibes your way.
ReplyDeleteone love.
What a cute little shop! I can see why it was your favorite job!
ReplyDeleteand Happy anniversary! :)
ReplyDeleteNice memories you have of a fun little shop. Love your new blog look!
ReplyDeleteWhat we need is a big bouquet of fragrant rosemary. for Rememberence and to drive all sad thoughts away. Part of the wonderful benefits of working at Hearts Ease (Another alumni, me) was learning about the language of flowers. Remember?
ReplyDeleteDonkey in the pines standing in a bed of forget me nots......
Yes, it is sad when things that made us happy have changed. We want to hold them in a time capsule and cherish them forever. Thanks for the cup of tea and cookies today.
ReplyDeleteDearest Kary, I so know how you felt at Heart's Ease. Yesterday we had lunch in a small town next to the restaurant that was the first place I worked in (and became Head Chef) The owners I knew sold it more than 20 years ago & I left then too...but I have a sadness whenever I remember the happy times, the friends I made, who are no longer in my life. The only thing is that I have a sneaking suspicion that somewhere, in a parallel universe maybe, The Willow Tree is still as it was all that time ago - and we're still having fun the way we always did! So maybe the old Heart's Ease and the people & times you loved are doing the same? A sweet & poignant post that I'll treasure, thank you so much. With love & hugs, Rachel (kisses to Buddy from A & C too xoxox)
ReplyDeleteSad..yes..but look at all the wonderful memories you have made and what a joy you had reliving the moments with your mom and your friends. Thanks for sharing this as you time traveled back to a specail place.
ReplyDeleteWhat a thoughtful post full of good happy memories. It is bittersweet to remember good and then be sad at the same time. Life can be so confusing. But you have cause to celebrate today is the last of Jan. enjoy your first day of Feb.
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful little shop :) I loved it !
ReplyDeleteI wish you a sweet February, dear friend :)
xoxoxoxo
Traditionally, after our annual conference at Shell Beach, a few of us would leave at noon on Friday and head to Cambria, stopping first at the winery in Harmony, then we'd visit a few of the Cambria shops and then have dinner somewhere. I don't think we ever went to Heart's Ease! Sounds like it was an especially wonderful place back in your day.
ReplyDeleteI felt happy and sad right along with you while reading this post. It is nice that you have such fond memories of this lovely little store, but I can understand how they make you a little sad, too.
ReplyDeleteTake care, my friend.
That is such a moving post, Kary! I feel that bittersweet feeling every time when I visit my former home in Germany. And even with other things - we have wonderful friends we used to do so much with until their marriage dissolved and everything changed. We are still friends with both, but those sweet times are gone. And I can so relate to you having sad memories of the things you used to do with your mom... my mom died some 23 years ago and I am sad that those memories are fading a little. She's now been gone for almost half my life. Wow, you are sure bringing up memories for me... Thank you!! Love, Silke
ReplyDeletewhat beautiful memories.
ReplyDeletewhat a touching post. Its bitter sweet to look back on those happy memories isn;t it? On one hand you miss those people and that time shared so much on the other hand you cherish what you had.
ReplyDeleteThinking of you.
xoxo
Happy anniversary btw! xox
ReplyDeleteKary, thank you for this post. For the photographs (what a magical little spot) and for the memories you've shared here. I can totally relate.
ReplyDeleteI feel that way when I drive around the lagoon on the road that leads to my birth town Bolinas. And when I see the school I went to there with the white libaray with the bell tower. It's strange for me that other children go there now, and that all the friends I had, and I, have all grown up now and are scattered around the world. Sometimes I feel like, if I would turn one corner on the school grounds, I would see my friends, on the swing set or eating lunch at the wooden picnic tables, and we would all be children again.
I am sorry you lost your mother...but I am so glad that you have happy memories of her.
And a belated happy anniversary! Ramon and I are celebrating our 11th on February 26th. Ahhh, love. We are so blessed.
xoxo
There was a New England shop a lot like that where we used to live-- in Ponte Vedra/Jacksonville Beach. They served amazing lobster rolls and so many homemade pies and jams. Looks like they had a lot of the same things on the shelves as this place.
ReplyDeleteHusband and I loved to go there on Sunday afternoon, have lobster rolls, peruse the store, and talk to the lady who ran it. It reminded us of our honeymoon in Maine!
oh! This post brings a lump to my throat...so many people must understand this feeling...the feeling of nostalgia...how places stay but people move on, pass over...how things change...how you can see the ghosts of the past when you revisit...just thinking about it now...it is weird. It is weird to look at an old place that was so much a part of your life and somehow it looks the same and in other ways it is not. It is hard to place your finger on it. But it is all an illusion I think...everything- the grass, the trees, the houses, every little bit has changed in some small way - it has aged or died, been weathered, painted differently, re-positioned, taken over. You're are not looking at the same scene you did all those years ago...and yet you are...(unless someone has come along and completely mowed down everything and planted a new shopping mall or housing estate there... think of how the foundations of most modern cities looked before the development began!)It is a weird feeling that comes with it...bittersweet...you can still feel the past lingering but it is gone...only your memories can keep it tied there...and then, when you are gone...well...it will be like it never happened. I once wrote about this before...fields where Roman wars took place...so much history that vanishes forever...it is unsettling...hard to fathom...but you know what? I'm glad we can recognise this...I'm glad we do feel nostalgia... xxx
ReplyDeleteLOVE this post. It makes me happy to see words from YOU, the first employee ever, and one who saved me many a time (including when you helped move me to Cambria in your BIG car), and to see a comment from another Heart's Ease favorite, Julie Whitmore. Two creative women who helped make Heart's Ease one of the best places ever.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I miss it and all the excitement.
Love,
Sharon
Loved your post. It is the first time here and I was surprised that I knew of the store you mentioned. Never been there but I have two of Sharons books. I have them out on a table year round. Sunflower Houses and Hollyhock Days. Love them! There is another one that I never got~~~~yet. One I have is suppose to be signed by her. Glad you have such nice memories of the store.
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