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Ladies and Gentlemen- may I introduce your new friendly shop owner! Yes, the lovely council have agreed to let me open my shop! Hoorah! 
Right- lot's to do- buy cash register, new stock, get leaflets printed phew! My hands are shaking! This is a dream come true!
Must dash- got to organise myself (And calm down a bit!!!)
Love Carli xxx
Well, escape to the country I tried. Travelling through London on a stinky bus in the rain, with £2.20 in my pocket and a ticket to my beloved village. The joys of bank holidays, if you are a commuter you'll know, are Replacement Bus Services. No sooner than I stepped onto the concorse at Liverpool Street, I noticed the red notices over every destination board- "Special Service".
Now, I love my cottage very much, but, having left my coat at home, and my willingness for adventure, I did nothing more than turn straight around and board the 214 back to Camden. There was only one thing that could drown my sorrows-
Closely followed by...
Oh, the sweet, sweet taste of chocolat. It was my first viewing of this film that I realised I was in love with Johnny Depp (just a bit) And I am very thankful that I have my own real-life guitar-playing vagabond in my beloved DH. So, the moral of the story is this- I'm greatful to british rail for forcing me to come home and do absolutely nothing.
Thankyou, BR
Thankyou, Rain,
Thank you, Bank holiday! Love Carli xxx
I'm enjoying my garden for five minutes before the dash back to Camden. Look at my lovely peonies! I don't remember planting them, but they're certainly there- beautiful and big and bold. I love summer.
Ah.. the joys of opening a new business. My website is sooooo nearly there, all the pictures and descritions are up, but the website needs tweaking, so I can't show you yet! I still have a mountain to climb regarding the shop- all those silly insurance things and tax what-nots, blah blah blah!
I really wanted to use biodegradeable carrier bags for the shop- do you think I can find them? No. All I seem to get are "Bin bags". I have ordered some cloth shoppers and I will sew my own logo to them and offer them as my own version of "bag for life". I hope that persuades shoppers!
Feeling tired after another late night slogging away at the laptop, I am about to drive the 2 hours back to London to see my beloved DH. I shall be returning here on Monday to get cracking with the shop, and hopefully by then I may have some good news re the planning. I'm a bit stuck if they refuse- My lounge is now without a carpet!
So, Until monday, my friends, adieu xxx
Well, I've opened a business account and sorted the insurance. I wanted the shop to be ready as soon as I get permission so I set about last night sorting the "shop". I was thinking about what sort of flooring to put down- I seemed to remember when we moved in, I pulled back the old carpet in the lounge and I saw concrete, but last night I noticed a little creek underfoot- I pulled back to carpet and- hey presto! Floorboards! And nice ones too! I immediately set about pulling up the carpet and underlay. I took DH's (Dear Husband's) Stanley blade and ripped across the thresh hold! I folded, pulled, pushed and tore and then my heart sank... about halfway across the room the floorboards started to give way to some nasty concrete. Pooh! Looks like I'll be using laminate after all!
I've put some gorgeous wallpaper on the chimney breast too. Here I will display my mirrors and hooks. Unfortunately, in my haste, I papered two panels upside down. What a ninny! How do you paper upside down? Luckily, It's quite an abstract design, so only you will notice. I know it's going to grate on me over the next few months though- it just goes to prove the old adage- "More haste, less speed!"
I have started organising my stock into the catagories I will sell them in my shop. I've already done it for the website. I'm not sure what will be the best sellers, so it's all a bit 'see as you go'. Maybe I have too many different things, what with wedding stationery, cards, vintage dresses, baby stuff, homewares, gifts... phew! I love baby stuff though. maybe I should surround myself with them in an attempt to get my body in the right state (If you know what I mean!)
O.k, I know that I said I would start this in April, but it's taken a little time to get things off the ground. I have finally put things to plan- the council are due to let me know if I can indeed open a shop in my little cottage on Monday! Hooray! I have booked a man to come next week to design and make a new front door for me, I have measured for the shelving, I have bought a LOT of stock (see below) and have made hundreds of tiny cards and wedding invites for the website and shop. I have my friend Johnny Johnny coming tomorrow night to finalize the website, and am VERY excited!
All I can think about is that gorgeous film 'Chocolat' with Juliet Binoche (Spelling anyone?). I dream of sitting behind my little counter sewing and wearing pretty dresses! Of course, I know it's a lot of hard work, but this is a dream I've had since playing in the front garden with my garish plastic sweet shop as a child...
I have started buying my delightful vintage dresses to sell. I'm so excited about this one, What a beauty! I particularly like the little original roses sewn to the skirt. On close inspection, you can even make out the Chinese newspaper that makes the stalks! As soon as the website is up and running, I promise you there will be a link.
I have also made these gorgeous baby cards, a selection of Christening, baby naming and birth announcements. Will this all be more full-filling to me than acting? I do hope so, as I plan to stop acting completely very soon. After all, one can't be galloping all over the country if one is looking after a shop and (hopefully) a little baby!!!
Love Carli xxx
