Thanks to You All, We Won a Grant!

 Dear friends,

This is a VERY belated thank you.

On December 2nd we were notified that not only did we win one of the three 2013 Green America People and Planet $5,000 grants for Green Travel and Tourism, we received THE MOST VOTES OF ALL BUSINESSES!

Wow.

Needless to say, we were (and are) beside ourselves. So, so happy. And what even better than the money is the outpouring of support that we received from all of you. Thank you so, so much for logging on to the Green America site and voting for the Milkweed Mercantile!

We even made the front page of the local Memphis Democrat Newspaper.

Thank you also to all of the good folks at Green America.They do a lot more than give out money to cool green businesses that we love. They are doing really valuable work in all areas of sustainability.


We're still waiting to hear about the $250,000 Chase grant. It is, indeed, a long shot, but would be such a game-changer that the very idea of it takes my breath away. All their website says about the date of the award announcement is this: "...a list of grant recipients will be posting on the program website in January 2014."

more soon!

love,
Alline

A list of Grant Recipients will be posted on the Program Website in January, 2014. - See more at: https://www.missionmainstreetgrants.com/rules#sthash.WoKE8tgf.dpuf

Grant Recipients: A list of Grant Recipients will be posted on the Program Website in January, 2014. - See more at: https://www.missionmainstreetgrants.com/rules#sthash.WoKE8tgf.dpuf

Grant Recipients: A list of Grant Recipients will be posted on the Program Website in January, 2014. - See more at: https://www.missionmainstreetgrants.com/rules#sthash.WoKE8tgf.dpuf

Grant Recipients: A list of Grant Recipients will be posted on the Program Website in January, 2014. - See more at: https://www.missionmainstreetgrants.com/rules#sthash.WoKE8tgf.dpuf

A Poem for New Year's Eve

 

A Poem for New Year's Eve

 

The two of us are older now

(ahem, much older).

Wrinkles soften the formerly taut plains of our faces

and we no longer need to be the center of attention.

We have nothing left to prove.

Our inner party animals slumber,

safe and secure in the comfort of the lumpy bodies of former wild children.

No drunken New Year’s Eve bacchanalia,

no stay-up-to-prove-you’re-having-fun for us.

Tonight, we’ll ring in the New Year together,

on the couch.

The cat,

weighing in at more than a bowling ball but (thankfully) still less than a refrigerator,

will manage to nestle between and on each of us, 

the way he likes it best.

We’ll all watch a movie;

it doesn’t matter which one.

And when 9:30 p.m. rolls around we’ll wish each other a Happy New Year,

because, in Newfoundland, it is.

Then we’ll turn off the TV, stoke the fire, and head upstairs

to sleep, and to dream

of the year ahead and of us,

and of our lives,

together. 

The "big-boned" Fionn MacCool (all delicious 13 pounds of him)