Kosher For Clothes

Kosher For Clothes - SALE

2011-06-22T13:53:00.000+01:00

It has been a really good 2 years, but time is something that I no longer have much of due to having a 14 month old son and recently I have become the treasurer of a local charity. All of this means that it is time to move on and so I have putting the domain name www.kosherforclothes.com up for sale. Please contact me on shop@kosherforclothes.com if you have any interest in purchasing the domain name.

The domain name "Kosher For Clothes" is up for sale. It is perfect for a modest shop to use as it already gets over 100 hits per week and has the capacity for so much more. It also has the catchy acronym KFC. Contact me via email for more information and to show your interest.

Please note that the hosting site is currently down, but this does not effect the domian name.

Modest Swimwear

2011-03-17T16:55:00.001Z

Let's bring this blog back to what it started with. MODEST CLOTHES. All that talk about migraines has now been moved to a home of its own here... http://anothermigraine.blogspot.com/.

We have just introduced a brilliant idea in modest swimwear. Not only is it modest, but it is stylish, convenient and protects you from those harmful UV rays as well. Check it all out in our newly openned department:

http://www.kosherforclothes.com/swimwear

I will be adding more lines very soon so keep checking the web site out. We are importing these from America so the postage charged is slightly higher than we would usually charge. But, looking around, it still gives you a fantasticly competitivly priced piece of clothing

We are always on the look-out for more great modest ideas, so drop me a line if you have any ideas.

Physiotherapy and migraines

2011-02-02T15:40:00.000Z

I now knew that I had migraines, which was a big plus, as I could now find some real help. This lead me to discover the world of triptans which meant that most headaches lasted only an hour or so rather than up to 3 days. But that wasn't enough for me. I wanted more! I was on a quest to discover a cure for my migraines. There had got to be someone, somewhere, with a cure for migraines. Feverish searching on-line and would you believe it? A new migraine research programme was being carried out just down the road from where I worked.

The research was based on physiotherapy to the upper neck. The top of the neck is where your spine starts. The disks in your spine, from the top down are called C1, C2, C3 etcetera. This research was based on applying specific pressure to one of the discs. This pressure would induce the migraine and then remove it. The idea was that it would reprogramme your body into not having migraines anymore.

I was in for quite a ride as I walked up the stairs to my first appointment, with five more stretching into the distance. A nice lady introduced me to the concepts and took down all of the details of my migraines. Then we got down to business. I lay face down on the bed looking at the floor through the hole wondering why they couldn't put a picture on the floor for me to look at. The physio started to size up my neck with her thumb and forefinger. She then pushed down with her thumb on my C1 and asked whether that hurt. Nope, nothing. A slight change in the direction of her thumb prompted the same lack of response.

She then moved down to my C2 and as the pressure was applied, I felt a similar pressure spread across my head. "Is that your migraine" she asked eagerly. It wasn't. The pain was too dull and at the back of my head not the front right where I normally get them. Her thumb moved slightly and the pain moved with it. It was as if she was controlling the pain with a game controller (I was going to say joystick, but does that age me at all?). A different strange feeling, but not my migraine. She took her thumb off to consider my neck in all of it's complexities and decided to change her angle of attack to the other side. YOW, that's the one!!! That's my migraine. "Good" she said and continued to apply the pressure. "Tell me when the pain stops". The pain didn't stop, but time did. Not only had I a really bad migraine, but I had someone pushing with all of their might on my neck. The pain surged up from my neck, through my head, bounced around my eye socket, down my cheek and back down to my neck. I got the pain induced giggles. I couldn't help it. The pain started to lesson after about 3 minutes and then a minute later it stopped.

As I lay there, face down and exhausted, I realised that I had another five weeks of this. "That was just a preliminary check", the physio said. "The pain might get worse next week, but it should then get harder and harder for me to find your migraine as the weeks progress until I can't find it anymore. That means that the treatment has been a success and you shouldn't get migraines anymore."

I will tell you how it went and whether I coped in my next post. Let me know if you have had a similar treatment, how it worked for you and whether you coped with it!

Triptans

2011-01-13T11:51:00.000Z

There are so many different types of alternative medicines that is can be difficult to decide which one to go for first. It is also easy to forget that there is an alternative to the alternative. Good old fashioned doctors. So I made an appointment and went along. They confirmed that I was suffering from migraines. It was nice to have it confirmed after so many years of suffering exactly what the pain was and that I wasn't going to collapse at any minute. Their first piece of advise was that I take over the counter drugs as these quite often work. I had already worked my way through all of these from paracetamol, to nurofen, to sinus cures and none of them touched the pain.

The docs then introduced me to the world of triptans. There are about 8 or so different triptans on the market and no way of telling which one will work for you. This came as a bit of a surprise to me. Surely the doctors would know how the drugs work and which one would be best for me? But, no. It is a case of simple trial and error. So off I went on an unknown adventure into the world of triptans.

Triptan 1 - I can't remember the name of this triptan as I only took a few of them. There was no change to the pain and no side effects. This wasn't the best start, but I persevered.

Triptan 2 - Zolmitriptan (Zomig). I wasn't expecting much. After all the first triptan hardly set my world alight. This triptan was different. This triptan was evil (please note that this triptan does work for a lot of people so please don't let my experience put you off). The effects were startling by their severity. About 1/2 an hour after taking the tiny tinsy tablet my whole world ground to a halt. My head started to spin, my vision was blurred, my movements were hampered like I was walking through treacle. Somehow, I had just driven and parked outside of the Synagogue where I was learning that evening and luckily I was a bit early. I lent my head back on my chair to try and clear the muggy feeling and half an hour later, woke up. The worst of the pain had gone but my tongue felt furry and twice the size and the world was still slightly sluggish. There was a stark similarity to a hangover. There was even a slight sicky feeling. Zomig had got rid of my migraine, so that's good. But, the side effects were not overly desirable which was very bad.

3 - Rizatriptan (Maxalt). Not perfect, but definitely the best yet. You have to take a triptan as soon as the symptoms appear. This is because a migraine will slow your metabolism so waiting too long means that the tablet would not be digested properly and thus might not be as effective. It took me a while to get past the "it's just a small headache and the pain will go soon" stage. Taking this route means missing the window of effectiveness for the triptan and it won't work. But did Maxalt it work? No and yes. The no is because immediately after taking the tiny little tablet, the pain gets a lot worse as the stabbing pain in my head increases. But within an hour, the pain has gone.

So I have found the miracle cure to my migraines. Yay! No longer will I have to suffer the pain and disruption in my life. Sigh... If only it was a simple as that. I will tell you why in my next blog entry.

Does Reiki Work?

2010-08-20T12:17:00.000+01:00

Continuing the trend of alternative medicine I stumbled upon an opportunity to try out reiki. A friend of mine was training to be a reiki practitioner and wanted someone to practice on. The fact that she was rather attractive didn't sway my decision to help out at all. No really... not at all.

I am a huge skeptic when it comes to alternative medicines. Especially following my laughable exploits with allergy tests. But, I also have an open mind and I really want some of these therapies to work. That way life would become that little bit more magical.

For those of you who don't know (from wiki), reiki uses a technique commonly called palm healing as a form of complementary and alternative medicine. Practitioners believe that they are transferring healing energy in the form of ki through the palms. Localised reiki treatment involves the practitioner's hands being held on or near a specific part of the body for a varying length of time.

My friend get's to my place and we turn the lights down low and put on some relaxing music. If I recall it was a rain-forest version of Pachelbel's Canon. At least I can have a relax. I lay down on my back on the floor and she kneels next to me. She started by placing her hands over my forehead. Then on the back of my head and to the sides. She says that I have a strong chakra which I thank her for without really knowing what she means. Her hands move down either side of my right arm. Her hands always hovering above my body and never touching it (except the back of my head which she had to hold up).

By this point I was starting to realise that this so called treatment wasn't really up to much. I don't know what I was expecting to feel. I was in my late 20's and fairly fit and healthy at the time. There was no tingling. No spiritual uplifting. No veil being lifted. I didn't even consider my headaches an issue at the time and never mentioned them to her. It was purely for her to practice on me.

Then her hands hovered over my stomach and it rumbled viciously. "They always do that," she says. Something to do with the energy transfer. But I wasn't convinced as my stomach had a history of grumbling. Her hands continued their floating journey past each limb and joint. Then she got to my right knee. She stopped to focus on this joint. I felt it warm up. I glanced down and she was definitely not touching my knee. One hand was over my knee and the other was palm down on the floor. This is to ground the energy if it starts to build up to much. By now my knee joint was burning and I had a strong sensation to bend my leg as if the tendons were being tightened. Her hands moved on and so did the feeling.

Working her way around my body the same thing, albeit slightly less sensational, happened to my left knee. After the treatment I got up and only then realised how good my knees felt. I had (and still do but to a lesser extent thanks to this treatment) a habit of sitting with my knees bent with my legs folded underneath my body. This put a huge strain on the joints and they always ached when I got up.

So what is my conclusion about whether reiki works? After the treatment my knees felt great for a good 3 or 4 months. A real and definite improvement. This was a double blind test as neither I nor my friend knew that there was anything wrong with me. She managed to trace and fix a problem which could have got a lot worse (he says uncrossing his legs). It's simple... Reike really does work. And the world is a little bit more magical for it.

Do Allergy Tests Work?

2010-07-28T13:40:00.003+01:00

I know…big delays so thanks for those who have stuck with me! The baby is getting bigger and it's amazing how much time they take! Anyhoo, where were we...

So what happened next? I gave up with conventional methods and went down the route of alternative therapies. The first thing I tried was an allergy test. You are what you eat so I was sure that the pain must be caused by something I was eating. Remember, I still didn't know that they were migraines.

I was ushered to a low couch in a room behind a chemists and told to undress my left foot. A strange start, but what the hey! I was given a metal bar to hold whilst the specialist, and I use the term sparingly here, held my foot on her lap. The metal bar was connected to a strange contraption containing test tubes of clear liquid. A wire connected to a metal pen completed the contraption. Each vial of liquid in turn was placed into the main hole. For each one, she moved the pen down the inside of my big toe as if she were drawing a line from top to bottom. Each stroke would emit a whining sound which would progressively get higher. The degree of change in sound was dependent on the resistance between my hand, the vial of liquid and my toe. The higher the whine, the less resistance which was good (I think). If the whine petered out before reaching it’s zenith it meant that there was something in my body that blocked the signal. That would be what I was allergic to. Or it could just mean that she didn't move the pen as far, thus giving the impression of an allergy (I know, I must stop being a cynic, but I just can't help myself).

It didn’t go that well and I did feel a little bit sorry for the specialist as it didn't go as smoothly as she would have wanted. The first item of resistance was pork. Bad start as I am Jewish and therefore have never eaten pork. I could see the quizzical look on her face as one eyebrow lifted slightly. however she hardly paused for breath before moving onto the next vial. The next low whine was caffeine. A problem there as I don’t drink coffee, or tea, or coke.
“Are you sure?” she asked, hoping that I might have forgotten about a recent caffeine binge. Nope, not a drop. The next one was grass seeds. She got me there! I do have hey fever. But then so do a lot of the population so that was a safe win for her. There was one other spurious reading but I can’t remember the details as it happened about 12 years ago.

She perked up a bit at the end as she slipped into automatic mode almost forgetting the questionable results. She advised that I go on a wheat free diet for one month and keep a food diary. I left the little room and entered the chemist on the way out. As I left I heard another, much older, couple chatting about which wheat free items would be best for them. I wonder how many people which how varied ailments she advised to go on this diet. I tried the diet. It wasn’t as difficult as it seemed. But it made no difference to the migraines.

The diary was a help though. It identified that I have an intolerance to dairy which I never knew about before. I just thought that I was a naturally flatulent person! Cutting out cheese also seemed to help reduce the frequency of the headaches. So maybe the treatment was worth the money after all!
Martin

Migraines at a young age.

2010-05-10T13:43:00.000+01:00

I am pretty sure that I have suffered from migraines since I was a kid. They were only self-diagnosed as such 4 years ago, but I know that I suffered with them for a long time before that. The memory does fade slightly as to when they started. I remember going to the doctor with my mum as a kid as I had jaw ache a lot. Mum thought that maybe I had too many teeth all vying for space or that there was a problem with the alignment of my jaw. The doctor we saw was a doctor from the old school. A very old school. He was like an old, kind, but misguided wizard. After sitting behind his large wooded desk and listening to our story, he turned to face a plethora of ancient books, some without names, which covered the entire wall behind him (at least that's how I remember it as a kid). From one shelf behind him he dragged out a particularly large book, blowing the dust from the top before opening the cover. He moistened his index finger and thumb by licking them with his parched tongue, which looked as old as the books. Peering over the top of his glasses he slowly turned the large pages. By contrast, my current doctor googles for answers, although I am not commenting on which is the better method.

His conclusion was that I grind my jaw at night and would need a mouth guard to stop this from happening. I knew that I wasn't grinding my jaw but was so in awe of this caricature of himself, that my mouth refused to budge from being tight shut. Thankfully, whilst driving home, my mother listened and we never did get the mouth guard for me to wear at night to stop this mythical grinding from taking place.

Fast forward a decade or two. I can't remember getting much pain after that until I was in my 20's. By then I just thought that I was getting headaches. Must be too much work, or too little sleep. The childhood jaw ache was long forgotten about. Over the counter drugs never even dented the pain. I wasn't the sort to go to the doctors, but in hindsight, that is exactly what I should have done. It got to the stage where I had more days in pain than not. I learned to deal with it and get on with my life. I worked my way though many kooky methods to attempt some sort of clarity. Run to the top of the stairs and grab hold of the banister. Swing up and down and round and round to stretch my shoulder joints and pull out the pain. Bang my head against the wall to knock the broken bit back into place. I used to have an old computer where you had to hit the side of it to make it turn on. I guess that I was applying that same logic to my head. Needless to say, these methods never worked.

The worry was that it might be more than a simple headache. I would analyze myself for other symptoms. My vision was always clear, although it did hurt to re-focus from near to far. My hearing was always clear and noise never made the pain worse or better. No tingling in my fingers or toes. Heart beat strong and unwavering. Fitness level as good as it ever had been. I was stuck in limbo, waiting for the pain to go, or something else to go wrong. Always scared to visit the doctors again. They might tell me something that I don't want to hear.

What I did do was visit alternative health experts. I use the term expert sparingly and will explain why in my next blog...

New ideas!

2010-03-19T13:43:00.002Z

Lots of new stock is coming real soon. Just keep an eye open for skirts, scarfs, tops and plenty more!

Migraines v's being ill

2010-03-02T12:34:00.001Z

I have this theory that in 10 years time they will have split migraines into a number of different types. Each type will be defined by it's own symptoms and each will have a dedicated cure. You wouldn't find someone saying they just have arthritis anymore. It is Rheumatoid or Gouty or Lupus or Psoriasis arthritis and the same should be the case for migraines. For the record, I think that I have either gouty or psoriasis arthritis. I am waiting for the test results which should arrive in 2 months time and will probably confirm the fact that the doctors still don't know! So why have they not yet split migraine types? They are just as varied but the cures remain frustratingly elusive. Blindly work your way through the myriad of triptans and hope that you stumble upon one that works. Or maybe you might feel brave enough to enter the scary world of preventatives in the hope that the side effects don't out way the pain. In my case the side effects were far worse than the pain. Constantly short of breath, heavy chested, difficulty concentrating, and the feeling of walking through gloop. And that was meant to be the least invasive preventative. "Stick at it" they advised, "it get's better." But after 3 weeks of feeling unfit and unwell I decided that it just wasn't worth it.

In a previous blog I waxed lyrical about my new found super cure for migraines. A simple cup of coffee (http://kosherforclothes.blogspot.com/2009/12/miracle-migraine-cure.html miracle-migraine-cure). Extended trials have shown (that is me grabbing a cuppa each time I get a mig) that a cup of coffee will stop about 3 out of 4 migraines in their tracks. Then I stumbled upon another preventative. But it's not really one which I would advise anybody to take. I mean, it works, but it's not something that you can take. It's called being ill. No really, stay with me here because this really happens. I rarely get a migraine when I am not well. Just to re-cap, my migraines normally appear every 2 to 3 days. During the recent round of colds, I had quite a bad cough and runny nose that lasted for about 5 weeks (ok, so stop the man-flu comments. I can hear you out there. As it happened, my darling wife kept on complaining that I didn't go to the doctors quickly enough and that I needed to accept that I really wasn't well rather than trying to push through. You just can't win sometimes!) Anyhoo, rant over. During that time, I didn't get a single migraine. The first one hit about 4 weeks into the cold. It was at that point that I knew that the cold was going. Strange but true huh? But, it doesn't end there. I have a habit of criching my back - Yiddish word in this context referring to when I pull a muscle, or trap a nerve in my back. Whilst the pain of the back and the immobility of my shoulder remains, the migraines stay away.

To be honest, I think that I prefer the migraines because they are, most of the time, nearly instantly treatable. I really wouldn't want to go through 2 weeks of neck pain just to avoid having a mig. But, the illness and the lack of migraines has to be connected somehow? Right? It can't be my body just being kind to me by not wanting to subject itself to too much pain in one go? Clearly not. But what the link is, I have no idea. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on this. Do you find that migraines lesson when you are ill? Do you have a theory as to why? Let me know.

Martin

All the old bits

2010-01-26T13:23:00.000Z

We are having a clear out and a re-design of our web-site. In doing this I am removing the blog page as it is getting a bit old now. But rather than loose all of the information, I have decided to copy it here!

So, without further ado, here is all of the news from 31st March and 10th October 2009L

10th October 2009
We have made out first donation to charity from the Kosher For Clothes account. I stated that 10% of all profit will go to charity. Technically we haven't broken even yet and so haven't actually made any profit. But, last month was a good month so I donated £110 of sales rather than profit to charity. Hopefully this will be the first of many.

30th September 2009
Oh the excitement. It is time for our first big sale!!! Sale items are already flying out which fantastic. There are some real bargains in the sale. I really do need the space which is why I am clearing old stock at such low prices.

27th September 2009
Happy birthday to me!

24th September 2009
It's been a while since the last update. So what's been happening in the last month? Well, the Jewish Shopping Club advert was a modest success. We are appearing again after Yom Kippur. We have again advertised in EdgwareK and I love you guys cuz you love me! On-line advertising is definitely the way to go as off-line ads just don't work.
We have set up our first wholesale deal with the local store Bel Harbour and the sales are very good. You can pop in to the Bury Old Road store to see their wonderful array of stock and remember to tell them that we sent you there!
The Make-Up has been a bit of a flop. We have some really good quality items for sale. They are a little on the pricey side, but the quality is top notch and they will last for ages. We might withdraw this offer if there is no further take up, so get in now before they all go!

18th August 2009
Time for another new advert. Let's hope this one has a better response than the Hamodia. The Jewish Shopping Club email mail-out. Should be a good one!

5th August 2009
What a disappointment the Hamodia advert was. It looked great, sat there on page 6, but we haven't received a single response from it!

26th July 2009
New Sleeve Extensions and Modest Neck Covers are NOW IN STOCK. This is a real step forward for us. Keep an eye open for our Hamodia advert which should feature in this weeks issue.

15th July 2009
Make-up by proto-col is now on-line and ready to order. It is a great addition to the store and is a really quality product. We have skin care, mineral foundation and more.

8th July 2009
We have just received the second pre-production version of the Sleeve Extensions and Modest Neck Covers. We have tightened the sleeves to make them grip better and not slip. We have lowered the back on the necks to make them ride up less. All being well they will be ready next week and we will be launching them after TishB'Av.
We haven't forgotten about this new offer. It is a brand new non-clothing product range. We are aiming to get this on the site over the next few weeks with a view to launching this after Tish B'Av.

30 June 2009
We are close to finalising a new deal on Sleeve Extensions (ex sleevies) and Modest Neck Covers (ex teenecks). We are working on improving the texture of the sleeve extensions to make them lighter, more comfortable and better fitting.

23 June 2009
After 4 adverts in the Manchester Jewish Advertiser it has proven not to really pay for itself. The response is quite good, but the sales only just cover costs. Edgware K proved a much better forum for us and we look forward to their new website coming any day now. We are soon to launch an advertising campaign in the Hamodia Newspaper so keep an eye open for that!
Exciting times as we are looking to source a supplier to make our own brand of teenecks and sleevies. They are expensive to import from Israel and we have some ideas to improve on the design! As always, watch this space...

15 June 2009
I had no plans to add children's clothing to the site, but when I saw this offer I thought it too good to be true! Check out the new department to see more.
Keep an eye open for a new exciting offer coming very soon. I can't give anything away at the moment as we are still finalising the exclusive deal but it is going to be a good one!!!
Also, look out for the Kosher For Clothes Newsletter 2 coming to all good in-boxes any day now! Contact us if you want to receive it.

09 June 2009
The idea was to offer Web Exclusive deals so we wouldn't have to stock so much here. But, the take up has been so good from the K article (07 June entry) that we have purchased more than we need. This means that we actually have a lot more items in stock now. This is especially true of the long sleeve t-shirts where we currently have 12 out of 18 colour and size combinations in stock!

07 June 2009
We are really excited to be a part of EdgwareK and ManchesterK. We look forward to the launch and being a part of their new website in the near future.

22 May 2009
I have tweaked the logo to add the picture of the polo neck wearing lady and to reduce the size of the word "For". It adds a bit of pizazz to the front page and I am really pleased with it.!

18 May 2009
See our new listing on Locally Manchester. There should be more to follow soon. I love the power of the internet.

17 May 2009
We have re-stocked and got ready for our next advert in the Manchester Jewish Advertiser. We have lots more skirts in, in lots of different styles with more arriving every day!

01 May 2009
Another new idea directly from Kosher For Clothes. We are now stocking TeeNecks and Sleevies! They are a fab product at a superb price! Check out the new department on the left for lots more information.

28 April 2009
There was a small fault with Google Checkout which should now have been resolved. Please contact me immediately if you are encountering any problems with the checkout and I will arrange for an alternative method of payment to be used.

26 April 2009
Wow, what a response from the advert. At one point, both Lisa and I were on the phone taking calls at the same time! We had more people come to see our stock than we expected and we even sold a few items (after all, that's what it's all about). We have already added new stock (long sleeved round neck T-Shirts) from your feedback and hope to add even more soon. So let us know what you want and we will try our best to get it in for you.

24 April 2009
Google Checkout is now verified, so we can accept all major credit and debit cards. Our first advert will appear in the Manchester Jewish Advertiser this Sunday. It's only a 1/8 page, but from small beginnings...

23 April 2009
Some lovely plain polo neck tops have arrived. The necks are not too high so they should be perfect for those chilly summer evenings. The problem is that the missus has taken one of them already, which is always a good sign!

21 April 2009
The Email address account shop@kosherforclothes.com is at last up and running. This means that I can sign up for the Google Checkout. Once this is verified, it's full steam ahead!!!

17 April 2009
Our journey into Indian imports has sadly fallen on it's knees after being misquoted by a factor of 10! Another lesson learned. They are full of enthusiasm, answering emails within the hour, but sadly not the most reliable, at least not in this case. This is a blessing in disguise as I can now concentrate on finding local suppliers.

02 April 2009
Sign up to our Facebook group "Kosher For Clothes" and keep informed when all new stock arrives. www.facebook.com/group.php.

31 March 2009
This site is still under construction so please be patient... The checkout hasn't been tested so please call me on 07932 221 220 or email on shop@kloos.co.uk if you want to place an order or if you want to arrange to see the stock. We are located in Prestwich, just off Park Road and Windsor Road.
Our first shipload of stock has arrived. Most of it is fab and excactly what we ordered, but the sneeky suppliers have exchanged some items and sent us short sleaved tops. Still, lesson learned, I will be more specific on orders from now on.

Please contact me on 07932 221 220 or shop@kosherforclothes.com if you require any further information about anything on this site.

New Books now added

2010-01-20T12:16:00.000Z

There is still a fault whereby 3 of the books that I have entered onto the site cannot be viewed. But it was quiet today and I needed something to do, so I thought, ah what the heck, let's see if I can add some more. And guess what? It worked!

So now we are up to 11 books added to the site.
2 cookery books
2 historical books
3 spiritual books
4 books about Israel and the Middle East

I am still waiting back from my web hosting company to find out what happened to the missing 3, but at least they have made contact which is a positive thing!

Watch this space for more news...

Book 'em Danno

2010-01-17T08:55:00.003Z

It seems that we have hit upon a problem. The idea was to only add one book to see what the new pages looked like. But I got a little carried away. 4 departments and 6 books later I stopped to review my progress. And I am glad that I did, because only the first 3 books were showing on the website. This means that if you go onto the website and click on one of the "New Items" shown in the left, you will get an error message. They are there, but I don't know where.

No problem I think. I will just contact my hosting company and they will fix it for me. But this is where I hit upon another problem. They seem to go awol every now and again. You can email and email and you get no reply. Then suddenly a month later they will reply to everything. I suppose that you get what you pay for, and my hosts are certainly the cheapest out there. Sigh... I have about another dozen books to add now and then 100 or so to add over the coming months so I need this to be resolved. I will have to try phoning them and see if they can answer me that way.

Keep posted and get ready for lots of new books... I hope!!!

Hits and Books

2010-01-12T21:55:00.005Z

Excitement ensues in the KFC household. Suddenly my hits have doubled in a week. No, this isn't a reference to the battering received from a disgruntled wife, rather the number of people who have looked at the web site. But what brought this sudden wave of interest? It seems that a link to my site has been added to modestclothes.com. I now have a new mission (dives into the nearest phone-box twirls around a few times and emerges wearing a spandex super mission man suit). We have to go where no other KFC website has been before. To scour the net in search for other link possibilities.

Other amazing developments are in the pipeline. We have a new addition to the family just around the corner. In a quest to use every letter of the alphabet we are proud to introduce KFB - Kosher For Books. All we need now is to sell Apples or Ants and we would be KFA, KFB and KFC. Hmm, thinks D, E F...

I have just come back from a cold meeting with Rabbi Singer. That is temperature cold, not lacking emotion. There is no heating in his storage room where the books are currently kept. We are merging KFC with Aleph Books to put their catalogue on-line. Initially it will be a department within our site. So you can buy your skirts along side a cookery book (Jewish Holiday Cooking anyone?). Don't let anyone say that we are not a leader of fashion. If you can buy books with a cuppa then why not books with a t-shirt?

New Year - New Sale + random musings

2010-01-06T08:25:00.005Z

Dear bloggers and blog readers one and all.

It's time to embrace the New Year with renewed vigour and excitement. We have a new sale on at Kosher For Clothes.
"But how does that differ from the last sale?" you might ask.
Well, we have added more items to this sale and reduced prices even further that before! Having been snowed in for the last day I spent a good hour and a half tidying up the stock from our spare room. I would have spent longer tidying up, but, well, the Wii called for most of the morning and, well, the snow man was calling for most of lunch and early afternoon. It is amazing how quickly a small boy can create a huge snowball. Within 15 minutes it was bigger than he was! I was at friends, hence the little boy, and was meant to be going to my father inlaw for lunch, but the pull of a snow man was too much for me to resist. The picture on the right is not of the snowman as I didn't have my camera at the time, but of our back garden at 7:30 yesterday morning.

The post is still working here. The postman turned up at about 11am with snow balancing on his head. We offered him a warm drink but all he wanted was a coke! Hey ho, there is no accounting for what will keep people going nowadays in the cold. Not that we had any coke as we don't do fizzy drinks in the house any more. We had a purge a few years ago after reading the ingredients in a bit more detail and looking up what some of the items actually were! I actually drink tap water now. I tried it the other day and decided that it's not as bad as people make out. A nice cold glass of vintage Manchester tap water is actually quite refreshing (takes a sip just to prove the point - ahhhh lovely). It's also free!!! (well, almost free, but what is completely free nowadays?)

Actually, talking of what is free, just a quick plug (after all this is meant to be a Kosher For Clothes blog). Delivery is free if you live in the North Manchester area. This includes Broughton Park, Prestwich, Whitefield, Cheatham Hill and any other area near by.

Now that I am embarrassed by the shameless plug I will take my exit. Have fun in the snow.
Martin

Miracle Migraine Cure

2009-12-18T12:09:00.007Z

Ok, this has nothing to do with the shop, but I am so fascinated and amazed by this simple cure that I thought it worth sharing with you all.

Over the years the frequency of my migraines has slowly been increasing. Now I get about one migraine every two days. Funnily enough I never get them on Shabbat, but that's a story for another day. I have been taking triptans whenever I feel the early symptoms. I have worked my way through them, as you do if you are a sufferer, as nobody knows which one will work for you until you try it. I use Maxalt (Rizatriptan). They work by immediately making the migraine worse, then an hour later it is gone. For those lucky people who have never had a migraine, let me tell you what happens if I don't treat it. They can last from 3 hours to, wait for it, 3 long painful days.

If the migraine starts in my neck then I have found that Syndol is a slightly cheaper way to remove the symptoms. The problem with that is that I am often left with a fuzzy feeling for the rest of the day. Now whilst this can sometimes be quite a nice happy haze, it isn't ideal, especially if my boss is trying to tell me something important and I am sitting there grinning at her.

It was only when I got a migraine the other week, that I realised that I was out of Syndol and had left my triptans at home. Nothing else ever touches them, but in the vein hope that this time might be different from all of the rest, I took 2 panadol. Unsurprisingly, they didn't even dent the pain. Syndol contains many things, caffeine amongst them. I had recently read that the reason caffeine is added to drugs is to speed up the process and to make them more easily absorbed. I don't normally drink coffee. In fact I don't often have anything with caffeine in it. But I was a desperate man with a pain in the head. So out came the mug, in went the coffee and in went the, just off boiling, water (hey, old hotel management habits die hard. Coffee should not be made with boiling water. Tea is made with boiling water and for coffee the water should be just off boiling).

I sipped the strong black drug (no milk for me) and as I expected... Nothing! By the time I finished the mug the migraine was still th... Um actually, hold on a minute. It has gone!

Let's not get too excited here. Sometimes they do just go after a short time and this was probably one of them. So the next time I got a migraine I thought, why not! So I had another mug of coffee.

First sip.... Nothing. The pain was still there.
Second sip... Nope, it must have been a coincidence.
Half way through... Still got the pain. Oh well.
Almost finished... Wow... The pain is going.
Finished... So had the migraine!

I have tested it a number of times since. Every time I feel the migraine, even the very early signs of one, I pop on the kettle and brew up. By the time I have finished the mug the pain has gone. The amazing thing is that there are no side affects other than feeling really good!!!

I have looked into this in a bit more detail and apparently this is not unknown for coffee to help migraine sufferers. (Why am I always the last to find out about these things? The caffeine makes the blood vessels dilate (or something like that) which is similar to what a triptan does. You have to be careful not to drink too much coffee of else you will start to depend on it. But one cup every two days is fine (and yes I have checked this with my doctor).

So there you have it. A migraine cure in a mug. Cheap and available almost everywhere. Let me know if you suffer and how you cure your headaches.

Martin

More Advertising!

2009-12-09T16:50:00.002Z

I have just been contacted by The Jewish News and they have offered me a special on a colour advert in their Simcha section. I need to twiddle with my advertising format as the size is smaller than any ad I have placed before. But then that is the sort of thing that I like doing. Twiddling that is.

It will appear in their paper and on-line version. I will be interested to see what the response will be.

Meanwhile, sales are still extremely slow. Surely someone wants a good Chanukah present for someone. Modest Neck covers and Sleeve Extensions are the ideal top up pressie ;-) No but really they are...

Martin

Chanukah Advertising

2009-12-04T13:51:00.003Z

Time for a bit of advertising again. It is my last free advert in the London Jewish Shopper. Not had much response so far, but who knows. One last try huh? I certainly won't be using them again if I don't get any response this time. Time for a first. I will be advertising in Kosher Pages, Kosher Brochure. It is an on-line free ad's pamphlet so fingers crossed it brings in some interest as things are really, really slow at the moment.

We are off to Leicester to visit my mum, Rod and Grandma. It is Grandma's birthday so we are all looking forward to that. On my return it will be time to push the wholesale side of KFC as I have some interested parties.

Hopefully more news soon...

Web Site Re-Jig + Dissapointment

2009-11-24T12:58:00.000Z

I have given the website a spring clean. Make-up is gone. If you would like to purchase any then please contact me direct as we can still get hold of it to order. I have split the departments into sale and non-sale to make searching a bit clearer. It also makes the departments a bit smaller. Some of the non selling non stocked items have now gone. The Childrens and Babies section will go soon as well. I give it one more week, as despite people asking for kids clothes, I have only made 2 sales from that category, both to the same person!!! I have got some nice things for Tashi though, so it hasn't all been bad :-)

What can I do to get people interested in this blog? Despite sending out email-shots and adding it to my facebook group, nobody has joined this blog except my wife and my mum. That's quite sad really!!!

What can I do to sell anything? Recent adverts in EdgwereK, previously a good earner, resulted in 1 sale. An advert in ManchesterK, slightly less tried and tested, so far resulted in 50 views on my website, which is quite good, but no inquiries and no sales. An advert in London Jewish Shopper the other week, a subscription email advertiser, resulted in 2 sales, 1 of which asked for a refund.

I might put the website on hold for the winter and come out all guns a-blazing in the spring. A shame really as I have purchased in bulk when placing orders with my wholesalers and now have stock of everything. Perfect timing just as everyone stopped buying things!!!

Martin

Necks, Sales, Make-up and Adverts

2009-11-22T11:17:00.003Z

The Modest Neck Covers are now back in stock. We have loads now ready to send out. I am still looking for wholesale customers so if you know a local shop who might want to sell these, let me know.

The sale continues, but not quite at the pace that I had hoped. We really do need the space. Lisa is 20 weeks pregnant and I need to move the stock out of the spare room!!! So please buy something lol ;-)

The Make-Up is not selling as well as we had hoped. It's a shame, as the products are a really good quality. Lisa uses them all the time and she only uses the good stuff so I know that it's worth selling! If we don't get any take-up soon then I might have to removed them from the site to make room for more lovely goodies. Talking of which, I might have a tidy up of the site to remove some of the low sellers. Make things a bit clearer for all to see. What are your thoughts on this? Would you rather see lots of stuff on the site, even if nobody ever buys them, or would you prefer a cleaner list of only the good stuff?

We have a new advert placed in ManchesterK. It's worth signing up to see what's going on in the Jewish Manchester area. The response has been good from EdgwareK adverts and I am hoping for the same from ManchesterK. Especially as I am happy to delivery the orders myself, thus making delivery costs free to customers in this area.

That's it for now. Speak soon
Martin

New Necks

2009-11-17T10:48:00.000Z

Sigh... Still waiting for my suppliers to manufacture some new neck extensions. It's very frustrating when you are waiting all of the time and you know that there are customers waiting to buy. But, they are local and well priced, so what's a few extra days!

The New Blog starts HERE

2009-11-10T13:37:00.002Z

Welcome to the new Kosher For Clothes blog.

Join in and add your comments here or just join in for the ride.

Frank, up to date comments on setting up and running a small business from home. Read about the highs and the lows here.

A New Experience!

2009-11-10T13:10:00.000Z

Early Beginnings
Back in March 2009 I decided to start a new venture selling modest clothes to the modern woman. The idea came about after a trip to Israel and after hearing my wife and her friends bemoan that there are no good cheap places to get kosher clothes in this country.

I started by searching for wholesale suppliers. If you are careful, you can pick and choose between them to find tops with long sleeves and high necks and skirts that flow below the knee. I ordered carefully a scant few items and set up my new web site. A few weeks later, after getting Google Checkout set up I was ready to go! As it happens, I now know that the early stock that I purchased was all wrong. Eight months later, I still have have quite a lot of it left and am trying to clear it at a bargain basement price. We do genuinely need the space as Lisa is insisting that I clear the spare room out.

Most of the older history can be found on the website blog from failed ventures to Indian manufacturers to the success and failure of advertising campaigns. As it happens, the best advertising for me was online and most definitely not on paper. A huge advert in the Hamodia failed to get any interest at all, whereas a small advert on EdgewareK gained a lot of followers. All of the new stuff will be found here!