Ready or not ~ Shop opens tomorrow!

At about eight o'clock this evening, Dave and I decided that we needed to come home and relax for a while and that whatever hasn't been done in the shop will be forgiven by our visitors tomorrow.

Actually, unless this blog has been read prior to visiting our shop, no-one will know that we haven't done absolutely everything we had wanted to. There are still a few bits and pieces to put prices on and a little tidying up, but the shop looks even nicer than I imagined it would and I am delighted at the results of our work over the last four weeks.

Several of my friends have opened the doors of their own shops in the last 12 months and they have kindly shared their experiences with me. In particular, thank you to Lynda, Trina and Carli who have listened to me, encouraged me and given me lots of tips and ideas.

I'm not going to say much this evening as I think I may have a thing or two to share with the world tomorrow night.
Chat soon, Liz

Bags of pretty things

Red Berry Large Country Wreath £19.95
Floral Cotton Handbag £24.95
As another busy day draws to a close, I feel so happy and satisfied at what we have achieved in preparation for Saturday's opening of our shop.

Most of the morning was taken up with packaging the online orders that arrived after the couriers had made their collection yesterday and overnight. We have had lots of telephone enquiries today too. This afternoon we have concentrated on getting the shop sorted out. Dave has already made the storage area spick and span and more organised that I can remember it being (even when we were at the old unit and before that when we worked from home) ~ he's such a star. I have focused on tidying up the shop area and making sure that all the lovelies that I want to display are out of their boxes and ready to be put on shelves.

The advent and Christmas displays are now complete (see the top picture), I love the advent wall pockets with their padded hearts. Each pocket is just the perfect size for a medium bar of Galaxy chocolate ~ what a coincidence, one of my favourite choccy bars!

I have been ironing the beautiful cotton coordinating bed clothes for mothers and children and spent a little while admiring a hand made range of soldier embellished baby items (bibs, towels and laundry bags).

I discovered a pretty bag (see second picture), which is big enough to hold lots of bits and pieces but not so huge that it becomes an overnight bag. I think it would make a lovely Christmas gift for a girl who can never have enough handbags (Dave please take this as a hint).

Actually the last few days have been like Christmas and birthdays over and over again ~ re-finding gorgeous things that I purchased a couple of months ago for the shop, but had put away until it was time to stock the shelves. I keep hearing Dave say 'Oh that's nice, when did you get that?', I just grin at him and carry on finding something else that he didn't know I had selected. So whilst he continues to surprise me with his skills, his attention to detail and his forethought; I continue to surprise him with just how much shopping I have managed to do without him knowing!

Well, there is one more day of preparation left, then what hasn't been done will have to wait until another time. Now it's time for the ever-present cup of tea and a couple of biscuits,
chat soon, Liz

My shop opens in 3 days!

Lots of friends have been asking how we are getting on with our preparations for Saturday, so just before I left the unit this evening I snapped a few piccies and here they are. Chat soon, Liz

Clever Children

The postman has just delivered an enormous pile of mail, most of which has gone straight into the paper recycling bag, but one letter has made me very happy and proud.

Cecily's school has invited us to a prize giving celebration next month because she has won a prize in recognition of her achievement in Health & Social Care ~ a very nice reflection of her efforts and the subjects she is studying at university.

Five years ago, Alec won the school prize for mathematics and then he went on to gain a 2.1 in his physics degree at Bristol University.

How I made such clever children I am not sure, but they do make me feel like I have done a pretty good job at instilling in them the importance of a good education and of choosing a career that makes the most of their interests as well as their skills.

Well done to both my babies ~ I am very proud of you both!

Bathing beauty

I am so thrilled to have found a bath rack that will fit our bath at last.

When we installed the extra wide roll top bath into my bathroom, I wondered what I could put near it to keep my soap and flannel and my favourite colour-changing rubber duckie close at hand!
For a couple of years I have used a butler's tray and stand, but this still means that I end up dripping water over the floor each time I reach for the soap.

Now I can use this lovely pewter colour bath rack. It has two sections for soap and smaller bits and pieces and the central section for sponges and bigger items. And my duckie looks very pleased with his new home.

Having a bath at the end of each working day has become a real treat over the last couple of weeks. We have worked so hard doing the building work and now the sorting out, that our muscles are tired and achey at the end of day. But (and it's a big but), our efforts have been worth it, the shop space looks wonderful and I am really pleased with the results.

Ooh, did you see Cranford on telly at the weekend? What a fabulous TV production, I missed it the weekend before, so did a catchup with the repeat that was on Sunday and then watched part 2 as well. Good grief, its ages since I laughed so much! I had forgotten what a humourous author Elizabeth Gaskell was.

Anyway, must dash, chat soon, Liz

SHOP OPENING 1ST DECEMBER!

At last! We can announce that the shop will open on 1st December, our shop hours will be 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday to Saturday.

We will also be able to open the shop at other hours by appointment, so if you are travelling from afar to visit, please just telephone to request that we are at the shop.

We've decided not to open the door until 10 am and also to be closed on a Monday, so that we have time to prepare the online orders and ensure that our website customers continue to receive the level of service that they have had up to now.

If you live nearby, it would be lovely if you could visit us on 1st December or from Tuesday 4th onwards.

Hope to see you soon, Liz

World full of Sunshine

Good morning Friends!

I have woken up today to find the rain is pouring down in bucket loads and with a steady wind applied to this, the elements are ensuring that we have our usual November 'sideways rain'. And guess what, I just don't care! Usually I excuse myself from viewing the end of November in the UK and head off to sunnier climes, but this year, I've found the sunshine is somewhere near my heart ~ I think this means that I am truely happy at the moment~ YIPPEE!

Despite having so much to do at the shop to get it ready for opening this time next week, I have left Dave to have a long lay-in this morning. The horrible cold that I have been moaning about this week has made its way to Dave now and he is very definately in that 'my throat is on fire' place. I think a little extra sleep will help him to feel so much better later on in the day. In the meantime, I am catching up with some emails and paperwork and have put something highly intellectual and mind expanding on the gogglebox.

Okay, so Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is not really mind expanding, but hey! it is Saturday morning and the last one in a while that I will have the luxury of curling up on the sofa with something silly on the telly.

This time next week, we will have opened the shop doors to the public and hopefully I will be busy helping customers with their selections. The little linen bear in the picture has arrived to sit in country linen corner of the shop. He is around 25 cms high and is just £6.00. Isn't he cute?

Well, I'm off now to gently wake Dave (by yelling up the stairs), chat soon, Liz

Shabby chic Cecily roses

Oops! I almost forgot to include this picture. Here is the new chair that we have purchased for Cecily (at her request). In fact, she loves it so much that we have decided to stock it and call it the Cecily rose chair. Covered in faux suede, it is lovely to the touch and the huge pink roses are quite spectacular ~ it's one of those things that you'll either love or hate; and she loves it.

Right, now I really do need to go and get the kettle on, chat soon, Liz

Sneak Preview

Hi,

today has been all about putting lovelies out onto shelves and ensuring that they are priced correctly. Then after a couple of hours taking them off the shelves and putting them somewhere else!

However I have managed to take a few photographs and here are a couple to give you a sneak preview of how the shop is coming along.

Tiscali has managed to make a mess of getting the internet sorted out at the unit and now they think that we will not have broadband until December 2nd ~ good grief, that will have been 3 weeks waiting for them to flick the switch or whatever it is that they do. Still not to worry, luckily I have Dave who can sort something out for me, we will use dial up internet in the meantime ~ desperately slow I know, but better than nothing at all. I am so excited at how the shop is shaping up that little can dampen my spirits now. However I do need to dampen my throat, so am off to make another cuppa, chat soon, Liz

It's almost time...

It's almost time to announce an opening day for our shop.

Dave has finished all the woodwork, the wall is up and sturdy and secure and the counter has been created with lots of storage space for shopping bags and other bits and pieces. The display cabinets and dressers are in place and I have started to put all our beautiful accessories and gifts out on display.

I think it will take a few more days yet to get everything as it should be, to ensure that there are electric sockets where we need them to be and cover those that are accessible to the public ~ but there is a definate buzz at Pretty Practicals today.

We have had some simply gorgeous Christmas goodies arrive today. I love the Advent wall hangings with 24 pockets, each one with an applique heart and a number on it, these are made in soft cordorouy in red or white. There are also some very sweet country style bears, one set of Mr and Mrs Bear wearing country tweed and knitted jumpers, another bear is made of natural colour linen and cuddles a red striped heart. Ooh they are so cute!

We also have a superb pink armchair with large deep pink flowers on it, it's very modern in style, but Cecily chose it and I am really pleased to have her imput into our stock selection. Well, I went to bed about 4 hours ago and then got up at half two because I needed to use the smallest room of the house. I had better go and get a bit more sleep or I will be uncreative and incoherent tomorrow.

Chat soon, Liz

TCP, TLC & TV.

When I was little (younger and smaller) I heard lots of 'old wives tales' about things one should or shouldn't do and the dreadful results that may ensue.

One of those splendid tales was about going outside with wet hair and the inevitable cold that would follow... hey guess what... I think it's true! I washed my hair and went off to work and now I have a cold arriving and a horribly red, sore throat and am feeling very sorry for myself.

Okay, I realise that it is probably more a result of having worked for over three weeks straight without a day off to recouperate and rest properly, but I will get no sympathy from Dave if I tell him that because he has been working just as hard for just as long. So for today, the cold is coming as a result of going out with wet hair!

Actually my throat is so sore that I've just gargled with a TCP solution~ good grief that stuff smells and tastes disgusting but it does seem to have done the trick. Right now I can't afford to have to take time off work for minor illnesses, that will have to wait until the bulk of the work is done in the shop. Cecily will be home in a month and she will be working in the shop during her Christmas vacation from university, so I know that I will be able to take a little bit of time off in December.

Dave is getting tired too, he has worked so hard to turn our new enterprise unit into a shop and storage space and is still keeping up (almost) with all the website 'stuff' that he has to do each week (submissions to search engines, updates to the programming etc.).

What will get us both through the next week or so, will be that we are pretty good at looking after each other and making sure that the other is well fed, rested (more or less) and that we laugh together lots.

Dave and I share a very dry sense of humour and laugh together all day ~ I am secure in the knowledge that when we get old and frumpy and the body starts to fade; we will still be attracted to each other by our shared humour and shared ability to stare for hours on end at repeats of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, X Files and other old TV shows.

And with that, I am off to make Dave a cuppa and put on an old episode.

Chat soon, Liz

Brrr! and brie

Shortly after I finished writing my last entry on this blog, it started snowing. Lots of my friends will have heard me wittering on about how it is only so many days until 18th November and that this is the date when the snow seems to start here in Rhayader and hey-presto! yet again this year, it arrived as expected. Brrr!

Yesterday afternoon I leapt into the car and headed off to Cardiff where I met Cecily from the train and we spent a lovely evening together. I treated her to a pizza at her favourite pizza restaurant and then we went to see The Stereophonics at Cardiff International Arena (I hate this venue, but the band were superb!). Then I trundled her back to Bath Spa University and headed back towards home. Thank goodness my mother lives not too far from Bath, so I borrowed a bed for the night and finished my journey home this morning, making a quick stop at Sainsburys for some basic supplies on the way.

Dave was still busy with the woodwork in the shop when I got back, but it is looking very smart. He has completed the shop counter (where the till will sit and I will be able to wrap items purchased in the shop) and is now carefully boxing in electrical sockets so that they are not accessible to public (better to take the time now than deal with an acccident at a later date).

I spent the rest of the afternoon parcelling up our most recent orders and preparing the paperwork for the couriers and parcelforce (still no internet connection at work, so still running back and forth to our home ~ thank goodness we don't live too far from the unit!).

This evening will be a very gentle one. I find driving long distances really knocks the energy out of me and there has been plenty of driving over the last week. So our plan is to put our feet up and take it easy... in reality this translates into Dave mending Cecily's computer which has been giving her trouble (I brought back with me today) and I will be sewing, listing our new arrivals on the website and answering email enquiries.

Ooh, I have just remembered that I bought a big piece of Brie whilst shopping today... I had better go and sample it.

Chat soon, Liz

Happy Happy Shop Shop!

The last week has been so very busy, Dave and I have been working 10 hours a day at the shop to get it ready and then coming home and attending to all our emails etc.

Between BT and Tiscali, our internet access at work will not be connected until sometime next week. So to add to our already hectic schedule, I am now having to run back and forth to our home to collect orders, print out our delivery notes and answer emails. I am starting to wear a groove into the pavement with all this to-ing and fro-ing.

It has been freezing (literally) for a couple of days this week and whilst working in the old unit would have been almost impossible in such low temperatures, our new unit has a huge industrial size heater and it's toasty warm in there ~ yippee!

Preparations for the shop are coming along really nicely. Dave is being amazingly constructive and patient whilst I have been doing what I do best ~ changing my mind and rearranging things! Now is this just a girlie trait or do men do this too? Is it just that I have dreadful spatial awareness? I can visualise a finished room, I can take a piece of fabric and see how to cut it to cover a chair, I can 'feel' how the shop will be when it's completed, but can I work out how may dressers and shelving units will fit along the wall? No siree!

Poor old Dave has spent so may hours moving this dresser or that bench from 'just over here' to 'just over there' so I can see what it will look like and then not grumbled in the least when I have announced that it doesn't really work for me and can he move it back again please. My friend Trina has been over to help me a few times, we have been like a couple of wild banshees armed with pricing guns, popping sticky labels on everything in sight.

Actually it is starting to look wonderful and is very exciting to see all our plans coming to fruition. Our shop should be ready for visitors by the end of next week, so watch this space for our announcement (ooh, it's like having a new baby!).

Chat soon, Liz

Day bed.

It's been a really hectic few days. On Monday I went to work until early afternoon and then drove Cecily to Wigan in Lancashire where we found a motel to stay in overnight. Then on Tuesday, we went to Wrightington Hospital where a specialist took a look at her shoulder (she has been having trouble with it for over 6 years now!). Then we went to see a friend in east Lancashire and headed home at around half four. Five hours later we finally got back. Then this morning I was up at six to take Cecily to the train station so that she could get back to university by lunchtime.

Dave and I have almost finished moving things into our new unit, including this lovely day bed which I will use to display quilts and big cushions until the day that someone buys the day bed. We have had lots of really lovely furniture arrive this week and also some nice country style Christmas decorations.

I am really looking forward to creating a small Christmas display in the shop, I have hoarded lots of folk art and gingham ribbon to make little bows with and have angels in several designs together with lots of heart shape hanging decorations.

We have so many pretty gifts that will be ideal as Christmas presents, so I am pleased that we will be able to open the shop very soon, just in time for Christmas shopping. Talking things through with Dave, we are sure that the shop will be open by 1st December, but I am hoping that it will be a little before that. If you are planning a visit to our shop before 1st December, please ring me to make sure that we will be around when you hope to come.

Ooh, Dave has just made me a cuppa, so I am off to enjoy it, chat soon, Liz

Cufflinks and Cocoa

Wow ~ today has been so constructive and so much fun too! I crept out of the house this morning leaving both Cecily and Dave asleep in their bedrooms and headed off to the new unit and to decide in which order I was going to tackle the decorating and sorting out today.

An hour later when our local ironmonger shop opened, I trundled along and bought lining paper and paste and the other bits and pieces that I needed and decorated the long wall that now divides the unit in two. By mid-morning Dave had joined me and started moving everything across from the old unit to the new one.

Good grief, when did I buy all those things? Actually most of the stock has arrived very recently because we have been so busy that I have had to make reorders of almost everything. Some things are selling out almost as fast as they arrive with us, which goes to show me just how nice they are.

By six o'clock this evening, my back ached, I was so tired that I could hardly see straight and I was cold and hungry, so we came home. Dave made me some supper, I've had a cuppa or two and am warm again ~ so with my batteries recharged, I am a happy girlie once more.

It's Saturday night, so as usual I am curled up on the sofa with my laptop, yet again a cat on each side of me and X Factor is blinking away in the corner of the room. Dermot O'Leary is wearing a suit and his shirt has beautiful cufflinks. Am I the only person who notices things like that? Perhaps this is why I specialise in finishing touches.

You know, sad as it is, I have been watching these slightly daft talent competitions for longer than it's nice to admit (if you remember Hughie Green on Opportunity Knocks, then you will know what I mean). I get intensely irritated by the 'judges' on X Factor bickering with each other. Maybe there is some real competitiveness between them or maybe they think it makes good viewing, but whatever their reasons, I wish they wouldn't do it.

Surely the point of this programme is to showcase talented people who are trying to break into a highly competitive business? So why then, do the judges spend so much of this show hogging the limelight? I thought their role was to nurture the raw talent and teach these hopeful people an appropriate way to behave (and survive) in their business. In which case, some of them have been learning how to pout and have tantrums (& I could have taught them that!).

Enough of my grizzle... I'm off to find a cup of hot chocolate, a bath and a snooze, chat soon, Liz

Interior design

Yippee! The wall has been finished and it is now my turn to do some hard physical work as I get to complete the decorating and interior design element of our new shop space.

Now I realise that this would not necessarily make everyone jump for joy and that I may be a bit odd, but I love decorating, so faced with a wall that is 35 feet long and 8 feet high I feel almost lightheaded at the possibilities in front of me. My father once told me of his first attempt at wallpapering when he and my mother were newly married. He tried to decorate an alcove/recess in their first flat and it went dreadfully wrong. Wallpapering was obviously not his strong point as their marriage almost ended prematurely as a result of his efforts (still he must have done something right because theirs was a long and happy marriage which lasted 53 years).

Anyway, tomorrow I will go to work gleefully knowing that the bulk of the day will be occupied with a pasting brush and smoothing brush and hopping up and down the ladder. I take great pleasure in the instantness of wallpapering ~ such a huge transformation can be done in a relatively short space of time.

By the end of tomorrow, we should be able to start moving the larger pieces of furniture into the new shop space. Hoorah!

Cecily has come home for the weekend, which is lovely. I was expecting to see her on Sunday evening or possibly Monday as I have to take her out for a hospital appointment on Tuesday, but she decided to stay with us for a couple of days and to see some of her friends locally.

It has been a very tiring week, but nonetheless we have achieved so much more than I had anticipated we would. All praise to Dave who has worked tirelessly to complete the work within our original timescales despite not being able to start until a day and a half after he had planned (just goes to show what he can acheive if he sets his mind to it!!!).

Well, I am off to spend a bit of time with Cecily, chat soon, Liz

Different views

Dave has almost completed the partition wall in the new unit. I made him stop for the evening as he was starting to look tired and ache-y. Pretty Practicals' new home looks even better than I imagined it would.

At lunchtime today we stood outside and watched a grey squirrel digging little holes in the ground outside the unit. I couldn't work out if it was digging up acorns and nuts burried earlier in the year or if it was hiding them for later in the season, but I was fascinated by its busy coming and goings.
I told a friend about it this afternoon and her comment was 'yuk, they are vermin, they're rats with bushy tails'.

Well, her reaction really got me thinking about how differently people view the same things.

We create the environment that we occupy in the style that we like, but others may think it is ghastly. Does this matter? In my opinion, not at all. So here's to different views, different tastes and cute little squirrels with fluffy tails!

Ooh, my son has just telephoned with good news, he has been told today that he is about to get a pay rise and is hoping that by December he will be able to start his PhD. Alec is a physicist or something (for years now I haven't understood a word he has told me about his degree or subsequent employment) and he loves his work, so I am really pleased for him that he is doing so well.

I need to go and put even more sticky labels on things.
Chat soon, Liz

Break ins and break outs

What a bag of mixed emotions today has been. Dave and I were having a gentle start to the day when I received a telephone call from our local constabulary to inform us that our unit had been broken into last night and that our presence was requested on site to assess the damage and what had been taken.

4 pints of adrenalin later ~ The police seemed to be worried for us that so much had been gone through until I explained to them that we are in the middle of moving and actually, it always looks messy in the unit.

In the end it turns out that although they had damaged the door and frame (which our landlords have efficiently sorted out for us), nothing had been taken and they were probably looking for a cash box (which we don't have) or tools for using for another break-in (which we don't own).

What it did mean was that we couldn't access the unit for most of the day as we were waiting for the scene of crime officer to come to collect any fingerprints left behind. So I worked from home for a little while and Dave worked at the new unit for most of the day. This was today's low point, so there was really only one way that the day could go and indeed it has improved as the day has gone along.

This afternoon our bamboo towel ladder was featured on ITV's 60 minute makeover programme. Pretty Practicals got a nice mention by the interior designer and the towel ladder looked lovely in the completed room. Dave has said that when he gets a moment or two to spare he will put a video clip on this blog so you can see it if you missed it today.

By early evening, following a serious amount of physical work (and an equally seriously break out of sweat) we had completed the first stage of the framework for the dividing wall in the new unit and built the doorway from shop area to storage area. I am so very proud of Dave; he has worked so hard to research and plan and create the space that I have asked for and for the most of today he has also had to put up with my huge mood swings ~ one minute grizzeling on and on about the break in and the next being all excited about the telly and the new shop.

Dave had the spendid idea of treating ourselves to take-out pizza instead of coming home from work and starting to prepare and cook a meal, so supper was instant ~ hooray! So this evening has been spent in a hot soaky bath and chatting on the phone with friends.

Tomorrow we expect to get the rest of the wall completed in the new unit in between our usual packing and posting routine. Then I get to play with the interior design element of our refurbishment plans and get the last of the decorating done and Dave gets to have a day off from the hard graft (to catch up with some of the website development work).

Well, it's been a long day and I need tea and sleep, chat soon, Liz

Pretty Practicals and TV

Well this week's little bit of excitment is that some of our items are due to be featured on ITV's 60 Minute Make0ver programme this week. We are told that it is likely to be Wednesday's programme, although as I am not privvy to the television scheduling I cannot be sure of this. Anyway, one of our bamboo ladders may well make an appearance on Wednesday at 2pm. At their request, we have sent quite a few items to ITV for this series of programmes, so over the next few months our 23 inch French style clock (in a kitchen), a selection of duck egg blue accessories (in a shabby chic bedroom) and the large heart shaped Venentian mirror will all make an appearance.

Double shifts at work are already starting to make a mark on our energy levels. Heading towards bed before midnight is almost unheard of in our household normally, but we are finding ourselves grativating bedwards earlier and earlier this week ~ still that will do us no harm at all and help us to tackle each day with renewed vigour.

We had another constructive day yesterday, promising ourselves that we would only do a couple of hours of sorting and preparing orders to be sent today, we arrived at the unit(s) at 10 am and left by 4 pm. We spent much of the day checking our most recently deliveries. When items arrived from our suppliers we carefully check each and every item for flaws, returning any that do not meet our standards, so that we know the items we are sending out are perfect, just as they should be. Whilst this can be a tiresome task ~ not boring, but physically exhausting ~ it always feels a great acheivement when we have finished. It also gives me a chance to see any new stock that we have ordered and take photographs so that I can add the items to the website.

Most of the pictures on the website (although not all of them) are pictures that I have taken rather than ones offered by our suppliers. The Venetian bedroom suite in this picture (above) is one from our suppliers and I can hardly wait to have the set on display in our shop, so that I can take a picture of my own to use on the website.

The wood and plasterboard are due to arrive today, so that a partition wall can be built in the new unit, this will separate the shop area from storage/packing/deliveries. The shop looks like it will be pretty big or at least much larger than I had originally imagined, which is great news for me as it means that I will have the opportunity to make some really nice displays and give visitors more room to manoeuvre between tables, dressers, chairs and shelves.

Well it's nearly time to go back to work. It is so wonderful to have a job that I am excited about going to! Chat soon, Liz

A gallon of cream

Gosh, what a day great it has been! Dave and I went to the building suppliers this morning and bought the wood so that the partition wall can be erected this week (by the building fairies). We also bought a gallon of magnolia paint, rollers, brushes etc (for the decorating fairy) and a new heavy duty door lock.

Back at the new unit, Dave fitted the new lock whilst I filled all the holes in the walls of the office and main room, that were left when the previous occupant removed lots of shelving and fitments. Once the filler had dried I popped a couple of coats of magnolia paint onto the office walls and touched up the paintwork in the main room.

Whilst I was painting the office, Dave took out an old partition wall that we don't want in the shop ~ actually the wall was in the position that the internal entrance to the shop will be (so really, really in the way!).

All this has, of course, been fitted around our usual day's work, so no wonder I feel tired this evening. Now I realise that it may be other people's idea of torture, but I am going to reward myself with an evening of mindless telly watching, starting with X Factor....which is Dave's cue to exit the drawing room and find something (anything) else to do.

George left me a lovely comment yesterday, so in answer to his query ~ Not only more tea than is strictly healthy for me, but also at least 2 litres of water a day too. Yes, the visits are frequent, but one doesn't like to mention them in case readers are offended (is there a loo etiquette book?).

That said, it must be nearly time for a fresh brew!
Chat soon, Liz

Keys to the door

Yesterday we collected the keys to our new unit and the new home of Pretty Practicals. The previous occupants hadn't quite finished clearing their belongings out of the unit, so we have had to wait until late morning today before we could get started on the refurbishment.

So this afternoon, I have been cleaning like mad and have removed some dreadful eight leggers that I found lurking in the loo. Well not actually in the loo, but in the room that houses the loo.
I have washed the office walls and windows and bought and laid a carpet to help keep us warm in the office (the cold being the thing I dislike most about our current unit). Dave has measured up the main space of the building and made floor plans, in readiness to build a wall across the middle of it to create a storage space and my much longed for shop.

We have had a good response to a couple of our items being featured in the December magazines. A reproduction bust of Mark Anthony is in Period Living and our New England patchwork quilt is in BBC Good Homes magazine. Copies of the magazines arrived with me today and I skipped off work a little early so that I could wallow in my bath and spend a gentle half an hour leafing through the pages of glorious images. I just love all the rich colours used in December decorating and the sparkle of twinkly lights and candleflame.

So all in all, it's been good day and I am now ensconced on my sofa with a cat each side of me, laptop in situ and good old Monarch of the Glen on the dvd player, all I need now is a cup of tea!
Chat soon, Liz