The jewel in the crown

Yesterday a lovely lady and gentleman, both sporting healthy tans, spent a lot of time looking at our jewellery before the lady settled on a Firefrost turquoise pendant and matching earrings. "We've just come back from a Caribbean cruise" the lady told me "and I looked all over the Caribbean for turquoise jewellery but I end up buying it here!" Meanwhile, her husband was jovially muttering something to the effect that most people built conservatories but they had to build wardrobe extensions to accommodate his wife's fashion purchases. Whereupon his wife turned round to him and announced " I don't drink, I don't smoke and I don't do drugs. I'm entitled to spend your (???!!!) money on something!" Good line that, I might use it myself if I can ever give up red wine.
Speaking of jewellery, we've got 2 new jewellery stores opening in the village. The first is Silver Moon who also have a shop in Ambleside, the other is a Pandora shop -  Bowness must have proved itself to be a mecca for people with disposable income to be worthy of a Pandora shop but, for a fraction of the price, you can buy one of Jules' Pilula Aura bracelets which really are lovely and leave you with enough change to buy a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape!
Louise

Consider myself told off

Yesterday a lady on a mobility scooter accompanied by an older lady in a wheelchair stopped outside the shop and asked loudly "Can we get in your shop?". I went outside to explain to her that as the step into the shop is only a few inches tall we didn't have a ramp for wheelchairs. She then informed me that I was breaking the law and that she would have happily spent lots of money in my lovely shop but couldn't get in there. She then proceeded along the street to Jim and Sue's cafe next door and I was a bit miffed to see that she managed to get off the scooter and go inside to order.
Muttering to myself I went to the Post Office to send a few internet orders and asked Malcolm, the Postmaster, if he thought we were breaking the law by not having wheelchair access. He thought not and that the law only applied to banks, Post Offices and other businesses offering a public service. When I got back to the shop I googled the issue and found, to my complete surprise, that indeed wheelchair access to any shop has been the law since 2004. I then looked online for wheelchair ramps and found a portable lightweight aluminium one for £70 which I then ordered (it's just arrived). I then went along to Jim and Sue's to apologise to the lady and she admitted that she was only so vociferous about it because not only so few shops comply with the law but also because she was only registered disabled a couple of years ago and was still coming to terms with the complete frustration she felt with all aspects of her new life.
What astounds me is just how many shops do flout the law, probably unwittingly.
Louise

Where's the sun gone?

We've had a fantastic few days: since last Thursday the sun has shone and all has been well with the world. Heady temperatures of over 19 degrees were recorded at the weekend and folk have been wandering round the village in shorts and t-shirts. We've seen numerous cases of sunburn amongst customers and Jules arrived yesterday with an attractive red glow about her after tackling 3 Wainwrights on Saturday. We've even stocked up on natural Insect Repellent and After Sun Soother in anticipation of demand. However, after a very promising start this morning (beautiful blue sky and gradual climbing temperature) the sun has now disappeared and I'm now sat shivering in my totally inappropriate sandals. I'm going to log on to Metcheck for a quick weather update.........phew, bright sunshine reappearing on Thursday and no rain forecasted....hang on, what's this????? Snow showers forecasted for April the 22nd. Surely not!!!!
Louise
#fb

Summer's coming: the flies are back

What a grotty Easter weekend we had weatherwise. There was only one decent day, Sunday, and I was asked by countless tourists what they could do to keep dry other than visit the World of Beatrix Potter, the answer being not a lot if they didn't have a car (although I find a bit of retail therapy to be the best pastime). Yesterday, the local paper reported that the Wild Animal Park in Dalton had had its worst Easter in 12 years and certainly the weather, once again, proved to be the dampener (literally) on what should have been the kick start to the tourist season. No matter, today the weather is glorious (brave men have been spotted in shorts and sandals) and is forecasted to be good to the end of next weekend. That'll explain why flies have suddenly appeared in the shop  - they've got their eyes on Metcheck and have ventured forth only to discover they should have put on their vests. It's not that warm yet and several have perished without the aid of a swift swipe from any handy magazine. It'll be the wasps next....
Louise

my hawthorn bush

When we were setting up the shop nearly 2 years ago I noticed on my daily trip up to Bowness in May a beautiful hawthorn bush standing alone in a field just past the Hill of Oaks caravan site. In full bloom at the time, it was a majestic site and I began to always look out for it on the way to work. Last year it didn't produce any blossom but it is a bonny bush, about 20' tall and a lovely shape. Today, I noticed that it looks a little bit plumper than its normal winter shape and can only speculate that it's getting ready to produce leaves. So, despite the huge drop in temperature today and the low lying snow in the Langdales, I'm thinking the better weather really is just around the corner and we can finally say farewell to cold, cold days.
Incidentally, after a very shaky start this morning with a bit of snow, a bit of sleet and a bucket of rain, the sun is now shining..yippee
Louise

Whatever the weather

Well it's Easter and last year we were mostly basking in sunshine: but in 2010 the weather gods have decided to give us a little reminder of the past 4 months by throwing down a vast amount of water in the past 24 hours and the possibility of snow tomorrow. On the bright side, any rumours of a hosepipe ban have fizzled away and it's perfect weather for shopping at Love the Lakes! Many guesthouses in Bowness seem to be fully booked for the bank holiday weekend so we'll all be praying for better weather at the end of the week - there's nothing so miserable as dripping wet folk trudging around the village and crowding into the bottom deck of the ferries only to endure steamed up windows and no view whatsoever! Come on weather gods, give us a break....
Louise

The team is complete, bring on the new shop

I'm all talked out today. 3 new team members started this weekend and I'm now sick of the sound of my own voice. It's ok covering all details of our products and suppliers that our new girls need to learn to advise customers,  but it's the idiosyncracies of the workings of the shop that are hard to remember. For example, when the credit card machine freezes you need to turn it off and on again to get it working, the water heater blows a fuse if you leave it running too long, we only turn on 4 of the 6 light switches in the small shop because the other 2 are irritating flickering fluorescent tubes that we don't need on. Jules and I compiled a complete list of these little peculiarities before Nicky, Daisy and Adrienne started and going through the list took quite some time! I hope they all remember for next weekend....
Meanwhile, after several weeks of protracted negotiation, we're up to preparing "heads of terms" for the lease for the new shop. Now we've agreed everything in principle everyone seems very keen to get it moving quickly so we shall see what happens this week!
Louise