Tess-Array is re-opening.

Yes Tess-Array is re-opening.

When ?????  is the unconfirmed detail at the moment.

Soooo, it's been a long time since 6th November 2021 at 6.30am when I fell on my ankle while walking my Archie boy. Laying on the ground for hours with a long stick warding off the big ants coming in to make a meal out of me, waiting for the ambulance, was the worst thing I thought, it wasn't..... Thank God for the two green whistles. After readjustment to get my foot going in the same direction as my leg, I waited for what seemed like forever for an operation, 11 or 12 days...? 

I am so grateful I was gifted with good surgeons, a hospital with staff who cared well for me, drugs to help me chomp through all the pain, and being cared for after release by my partner. He fed me 3 times a day and took on many additional things that I used to do to keep things running, as well as getting me out of the house and to Orthopedic and Physio appointments. I'm so very grateful to The Rock Guy.

It didn't take long to realise I just wasn't who I used to be, and couldn't do what I used to do, and it was pretty clear that things were now moving at a different pace. In an instant I had lost everything. As well as plates and screws and tightropes now permanently in my ankle I was blessed with CRPS, an un-delightful and rare condition, that they don't know why people get it and they don't know how to fix it. Lets just say it makes the whole walking thing rather difficult for me. Firstly I was in a wheelchair to get me back and forth in the house to the important places, and I had to have my leg elevated above my head for as much time as possible. I did my exercises hourly and used walkers for support to get my foot working again. I persevered and with the help of my Angel physio Georgia, finally the end of August 2022, I took my first steps unaided in a physio session. She wondered if I could manage crutches yet, having only just recently regained my balance, and was in an adjacent room. I thought I wonder if I can walk these few steps to the bars without my walker. I said Georgia I am going to try to walk to the bars, and she called out, wait for me to come back in the room. I think I waited about 2 seconds and took those first few liberating steps and grabbed the "gangplank bars", and just kept walking and I realised I didn't need them. I started screaming and crying, I can walk, I can walk, I can walk, and people going past put their heads in to see what the ruckus was, and so kindly gave congratulations. It was a moment!  So many tears of joy were shed that day. Until that point I was pretty sure I'd never walk again.

So why the hell isn't your online store open yet then?

I currently am able to walk around the house unaided, except first thing in the morning when I often need a crutch to get me going....and am slow and somewhat restricted, but I do the best I can.  I believe things are improving every day. As much as I try I cannot negotiate the 20 stairs down to my car without descending like a toddler, and I still require one crutch. There is just no way I could carry boxes and boxes of orders down those stairs to my car. I used to park my car in another spot but because it is not flat, I am unable to park there anymore, and the few steps there have no handrail. Once you have fallen and sustained an injury like this, self protection is in the forefront of every single moment and choice. So I have gone from being a fit person able to run an online store and run up those 20 stairs with a 10kg box of tiles 5-6 times a day, to someone who just cant. Good news is I'm able to drive again, and having my independence is bliss.

I've been on the look-out for somewhere nearby to run the store from, and whilst I made an offer today on a property I was hoping would be accepted, it has not been. Keeping my fingers crossed it may be by the end of the week. If so, I'm hoping for a quick settlement and relocation, and a moment to take a breath.

Then the store will re-open.

I have held off making announcements because it is challenging responding to the many many messages and questions and comments from people these announcements provoke. Sometimes I just haven't had the energy to respond. I just wanted to be moved, set up and ready to go when I made the announcement.

On the bright side, I have all your old favourites, and I have so many lovely new products to sell, lots more to list for sale into the store- maybe I'll get some more of that done before the packing starts in earnest.

I've said it before, but not long now xxx Karen Baker.