This morning I was guest speaker at Cleobury Mortimer breakfast club.
I had to be in a pub at 0730, a major feat for me.
The thirty or so members had to listen to me talk about myself, radio and the tearooms for half an hour or so. An even more major feat.
We all survived.
Wednesday, 12 April 2017
Wednesday, 5 April 2017
Mint
Ta-dah. I finally have a new £1 coin and have to admit to being a little disappointed. Yes it's super shiny, the design is fine, the two-colour thing is great, the size and weight are as expected but I really thought its edges would be more pronounced.
A couple paid for their tea with it. It had been their first and now it's mine.
I showed it to anyone who displayed any kind of interest including a woman from London who told me there are NONE in the capital.
I had assumed they were ALL down there and we were just waiting in the countryside for them to filter out.
Yes, today I am a little obsessed.
By tomorrow I'll be fine.
A couple paid for their tea with it. It had been their first and now it's mine.
I showed it to anyone who displayed any kind of interest including a woman from London who told me there are NONE in the capital.
I had assumed they were ALL down there and we were just waiting in the countryside for them to filter out.
Yes, today I am a little obsessed.
By tomorrow I'll be fine.
Monday, 3 April 2017
in for a penny
It's official.
The dishwasher is kaput which inevitably will prove an expensive problem.
We can possibly cope with just one for a few days but will certainly need a second in place for the looming Easter Bank Holiday weekend.
Just typing those last four words makes my palms sweat.
Still no sign of a new pound coin.
Where are they all?
The dishwasher is kaput which inevitably will prove an expensive problem.
We can possibly cope with just one for a few days but will certainly need a second in place for the looming Easter Bank Holiday weekend.
Just typing those last four words makes my palms sweat.
Still no sign of a new pound coin.
Where are they all?
Sunday, 2 April 2017
Season Eight
Opening weekend = very, very hard.
All fine on Saturday until the second dishwasher was turned on and tripped the electricity. Pretty busy but it quietened after lunch which allowed me to say hello to a few people and to go and see the firing of the newly-cleaned fountain. It looks pristine. The scaffolding went up in late August so they've been working on it for months. The first day back was sunny and lovely, rainbows could be seen through the jets of water. I felt privileged to see it.
Then to today.
We were swamped. Not enough staff it turns out. The announcement of the fountain restarting had been in the national media but no one told us.
Sunshine and warmth meant people sat outside and we were running to catch up from late morning.
We ran out of change, scones, white bread (white bread? Usually everyone wants granary. What has happened?).
Amazingly we didn't run out of milk.
And then the loos became blocked. All five of them.
The icing on the cake.
All fine on Saturday until the second dishwasher was turned on and tripped the electricity. Pretty busy but it quietened after lunch which allowed me to say hello to a few people and to go and see the firing of the newly-cleaned fountain. It looks pristine. The scaffolding went up in late August so they've been working on it for months. The first day back was sunny and lovely, rainbows could be seen through the jets of water. I felt privileged to see it.
Then to today.
We were swamped. Not enough staff it turns out. The announcement of the fountain restarting had been in the national media but no one told us.
Sunshine and warmth meant people sat outside and we were running to catch up from late morning.
We ran out of change, scones, white bread (white bread? Usually everyone wants granary. What has happened?).
Amazingly we didn't run out of milk.
And then the loos became blocked. All five of them.
The icing on the cake.
Monday, 20 March 2017
Innov8
I've been sent a letter from the Office for National Statistics asking me to complete the UK Innovation Survey on behalf of my business, covering 2014-16.
It's a pretty official letter which says I'm "required to complete" the survey online by 7th April. It does say it's voluntary but adds that my response would be "of great value to government."
I'm no rebel so I've just spent 25 minutes answering questions about innovations IN A TEAROOM.
I feel like a charlatan.
We expanded our range of gluten and dairy free goods but is that innovation?
We added gifts and cards to our shelves and sold them. Is that what they want to know?
We started making milkshakes (and stopped again). Does that count?
Well, it's innovation for us so I filled out the survey with that sort of thing in my mind.
I skipped quickly through the bit that asked if we'd used patents or exclusivity agreements when we introduced our "innovations" and the part which asked how much we export...
Obviously the survey would yield better results from a different business. ANY other business, really. Still, I did as I was told.
And I hope my answers prove of great value to governments everywhere.
It's a pretty official letter which says I'm "required to complete" the survey online by 7th April. It does say it's voluntary but adds that my response would be "of great value to government."
I'm no rebel so I've just spent 25 minutes answering questions about innovations IN A TEAROOM.
I feel like a charlatan.
We expanded our range of gluten and dairy free goods but is that innovation?
We added gifts and cards to our shelves and sold them. Is that what they want to know?
We started making milkshakes (and stopped again). Does that count?
Well, it's innovation for us so I filled out the survey with that sort of thing in my mind.
I skipped quickly through the bit that asked if we'd used patents or exclusivity agreements when we introduced our "innovations" and the part which asked how much we export...
Obviously the survey would yield better results from a different business. ANY other business, really. Still, I did as I was told.
And I hope my answers prove of great value to governments everywhere.
Saturday, 18 March 2017
Down those country lanes
Two weeks until the start of the season.
I have palpitations writing those words but I'm actually a lot calmer than usual.
I know I have time to do the Spring Clean, the Portable Appliance Testing is being carried out this weekend, the diary is filling up with bookings and we have a couple of weeks of the season before Easter hits.
My gap-year son is going to repaint the ageing finger-post for me. This will, with luck, send people the right way up to the church and prevent confusion.
In. My. Dreams.
Which reminds me - last night I dreamt Ed Sheeran gave me a lift home. There were two other people in the car but I didn't know them.
I know, fascinating.
I have palpitations writing those words but I'm actually a lot calmer than usual.
I know I have time to do the Spring Clean, the Portable Appliance Testing is being carried out this weekend, the diary is filling up with bookings and we have a couple of weeks of the season before Easter hits.
My gap-year son is going to repaint the ageing finger-post for me. This will, with luck, send people the right way up to the church and prevent confusion.
In. My. Dreams.
Which reminds me - last night I dreamt Ed Sheeran gave me a lift home. There were two other people in the car but I didn't know them.
I know, fascinating.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)