Village Shop Life

Since most of my time revolves around the shop now, I thought I'd document a typical day here.  When we first started I had visions of sitting in the shop making pretty things, leafing through magazines for inspiration and floating around making everything look lovely.  Ha!  Not a bit of it.  This is what my days are typically like:

5.30 - 6.00am Get up (reluctantly - I'm not a morning person)

6.30 - 7.00am Leave home.

7.00 - 7.30am Open up shop, turn off alarm, switch on kettle and coffee machine, make myself a cup of coffee and breakfast (cereal).  I don't have breakfast at home as it's too early for me.  Sign onto lottery terminal and unlock scatchcard machine.

7.30am   Move all the plants and outdoor stock outside (they are stored inside the shop overnight).  Count papers, arrange on shelves, put by regular orders, count milk and put in fridge.

8.00am Switch on lights, open the shop, eat breakfast in between serving customers.

8.30am  Chat with earlybird customers, can learn useful things - one reminded me this week that Marlborough Summer School allows local businesses to have leaftlets in the foyer.  We need to promote the shop as much as we can.  Mental note to design a proper shop leaflet (this has been on my 'to do' list for months).  Water all the plants.

9.00 - 12.15  Serve customers, in between which stock up shelves, place any orders for groceries, tidy, weigh and bag up the birdfoods (we buy in sacks and divide into 1kg bags),  box  eggs (we buy in trays and box them up ourselves), check perishable stock for sell-by dates. These are ongoing daily tasks - I never really manage to catch up with all of them.   Take photos for our website and facebook and try to resist the tempation of all the chocolate and sweets I am surrounded by (usually I fail).

12.15pm Try to each my lunch - get interrupted several times to serve customers.

1.00pm Our Post Office clerk goes for lunch so I cover the Post Office counter as well as the shop (we don't close at lunchtimes).  Fortunately lunchtimes are fairly quiet and I usually have the chance to  tidy the greetings card racks which become untidy on a daily basis, or re-arrange some displays.

1.45pm Check/update my "to do" list, this can include updating our website & Facebook, making signs and tags for stock, working on marketing and promotion, choosing and ordering greetings cards, sourcing stock. I rarely get these things done in shop time.

2.00pm - 4.30pm  see 9.00 - 12.15

4.30pm  Count newspaper returns, put in crates and take out to shed for collection.  Vacuum and mop the floor. 

5.00pm Cash up - this can take a shorter or longer time depending on interruptions.

5.20pm Bring in as much stock as possible without causing obstructions.

5.30pm Put up Closed sign, bring in remaining plant stock.  Sign off Lottery terminal, lock scratchcards and cash register.   Switch off coffee machine and lights.

 

5.45 - 6.00pm Alarm on, lock up and go home - phew! 

6.30 - 7.00pm Arrive home, eat my tea (luckily Mr. Bloom is home before me and cooks the tea) and flop on the settee until bedtime.  Same again tomorrow!

Painting Projects

It's been lovely to see some sunshine this week - trade has picked up a bit in the shop and we are seeing more visitors.  I've had a busy week, we are selling a lot of plants now which means more trips to the nursery.

 

I love these little book racks, you can still sometimes find them at a reasonable price at the usual thrifting haunts.  I always pick them up when I see them, quite often they are home made.

A bit of distressing and some rose decals as a finishing touch. 

They don't need to be just for books, depending on the slope, you can use them as mini shelves for any knick-knacks and they are good for adding height at the back of a display.

I haven't decided yet if this one will go to the shop or not, I love it a bit too much at the moment. 
These lavender sacks did make their way to the shop though.

With the better weather it's great to be able to paint outside, I have some larger items in the pipeline.  Indoors I don't have much room and have to keep to smaller things.

I mixed my own shade of pink for this card holder and wooden storage box.  These I decoupaged with floral cut-outs and vintage paper doyleys. 

Several coats of varnish are required to protect the paper.  Also, it is not recommended to have these items in strong sunlight as the cut-outs are prone to fading.

 

This is my weekend off, I have nothing much planned except pottering around the house and garden  which are in desperate need of attention.  Oh and staying up late tonight to watch a film as I don't have to get up early tomorrow!  Hope you all have a good weekend.

Lucy x

How not to dry roses

Of course I love fresh roses, but it always seems a shame once they've wilted and I try to dry them whenever I can.  These are drying on the radiator (suitably covered and with props!)

 

 

It's not the recommended way to dry them (I think hanging upside down in a dry, warm and dark place give greater success).  However, these were in an arrangement I had been given which I forgot to water.  They had already started to crisp up so just needed finishing off.

 

I was surprised they dried so well, I don't usually have success with paler colours.  Drying them is one thing, but then what to do with them.  Usually I snap the heads off and put them in a jar "for future use".  Not having a jar to hand, I popped them into the paper roll.

 

 

I rather like how they look there.  The vintage toilet paper is not "for future use"!

Sunday Harvest

I did get to the Car Boot on Sunday morning.  It's quite large and only on once a month so I was quite keen to go.  Not keen enough to get there for the start though.  I have enough early mornings on my days in the shop so we (trusty friend Jayne and I) got there about an hour after the start. Downside - we had to park a long way away.  We went back to the car for a tea break at mid-morning when some people were leaving and moved the car a lot closer to the gates!

I didn't have a particular shopping list and this was more a day out than a buying trip, but all in all I was very pleased with my harvest.  I tried not to think about what I might have missed out on by not getting there earlier!

pretty petit-point on the travel alarm clock case

Fortunately the weather was kind this time and we spent a pleasant morning wandering about and making a few purchases. On the way home we saw a sign for an Antiques and Flea market, naturally we had to check it out. 

Not as exciting as the car boot - it was small and not at all busy.  I did feel sorry for the stallholders, they had to be there for another 3 hours and it didn't look like they were selling very much (been there, etc!). 

This was my weekend off and mainly it was spent making, sorting, organising, tidying, the usual stuff that seems neverending.  Our washing machine is out of action at the moment (ongoing dispute with the appliance company I won't bore you with) so all washing must be done by hand (fortunately the spin dryer still works).  Whilst I don't mind hand-washing anything that's vintage, actual clothes to wear are a real chore, not appreciated how much until it has to be done.

Devon violets perfume and soaps in original box - how long did that sit in someone's drawer!

Some four-leggged friends amongst my finds.

 

 

These two my particular favourites.  I'm not quite sure what the grey one is meant to be - a mouse maybe?

 

 

Finally, a whole teaset including pot, of violets china.  I only photographed a few of the pieces.  All came in a lovely blue painted basket which I plan to line and show another time.  Violets china seems harder to find these days (as do most vintage things!)

Well, back to the shop tomorrow so I must get a few things ready.  Enjoy your week.

 

 

 

After the Party

The weather was not kind to us on the day - fine in the morning, pouring with rain in the afternoon (party was 2-5pm).  Everything we had planned for outside had to be scaled down and moved indoors.  Although we had a reasonable turn-out, I think the weather probably put a lot of people off.

 
The homemade bunting did look good outside the shop - sadly most of it has now been blown into the gutters, waiting for a man with a ladder to retrieve it for us. Great weather for ducks though!

 

 

Inside the shop was decorated with more bunting and balloons. Getting ready was quite a rush as the shop was open until 12.30, giving us 1 ½ hours to get everything set up.  I tried to do as much as I could during the morning but with customers coming in all the time this was quite difficult. 

 

 

Beforehand I had created some collages to display around the shop - this one showing labels from household products...

 

 

...and assorted kitchenalia.

 

 

In the gift room I made bunting from vintage greetings cards - simply pegged onto a length of ribbon - you can see it hanging above the window..

 

 

In one corner a display of sewing items and magazines.

 

 

We had planned to have a flea market with a couple of tables outside - again put paid to by the weather, so I just set up one table in our garden room.  I had lots more stock which didn't see the light of day.

 

 

 On the Post Office windows I hung some old photographs of the village and our shop.  In its time it has been a fire station, an undertakers, a tannery and a stonemasons.

 

 

Our beautiful vintage-style cake - made by my sister-in-law/business partner. Post Office red but softened with lovely pink roses and blue forget-me-nots.  It tasted delicious too.

 

 

Behind the cake you can see another collage - this one of vintage wallpapers.

 

So, it was a lovely afternoon - everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. (p.s. I took the photos before the start)  It was a lot of hard work and lots more I would have liked to have done but simply ran out of time.   Now I have the weekend off - I'm hoping to get to a car boot sale on Sunday, let's hope the weather is better this time!