It’s late on Sunday evening and I have only just had a chance to sit down and blog about the incredible weekend we have had. My back is aching, my brain is buzzing and I’m tired to my very bones. But I’m happy. WE HAVE A BOOKSHOP!
As you can imagine it’s been a bit of a blur but here is a potted diary of what has been going on in the Bookbugs and Dragon Tales World.
Thursday – 2 days until the Grand Opening
The shop was full of cardboard, bags and assorted things that we had bought and could no longer remember what for. The coffee machine was finally installed and the amazing Poppy and Sally were trained and cracking on with all the things that needed to be done.
Meanwhile, I was at the Walk-in Centre with an ankle three times its normal size, pain like a million shards of glass stabbing me and no idea what I had done. Just as an aside, my mum was a nurse before she retired and as such, I am very much a ‘walk it off’ kind of girl. I used to get a badge from my school every year for 100% attendance, so the very fact that I was seeking medical assistance at all shows how much pain I was in. So, anyway it turns out I had inexplicably developed gout! I suspect it was caused by all the port I drank at the Hunting Lodge…Obviously, despite the pain, this caused great hilarity in the shop with various assembled ‘friends’ complaining that they had developed the plague and other oldy timey ailments.
We finally left the shop at 2.30am with Dan insisting that he wanted to do a ‘soft opening’ for an hour the next day and me insisting it wasn’t possible.
Friday – 1 day until The Grand Opening
We arrived bright (as bright as 4 hours sleep allows) and early at our lovely shop that still looked like it sold cardboard rather than books and started to put the finishing touches in place. The bank card machine person had seen us and verified our existence and we were assured that we would be up and running in time for the big day. Myself and my big, sore foot were thrilled.
The day passed and while we never stopped working, nothing seemed to be getting done. At 4.30 I think Dan finally accepted that there would be no soft opening for us. We had invited our friends and family to a ‘private view’ at 6.30 pm and we had filled our office with prosecco and crisps! Everything was still in uproar at 5.30 when, in a way that has happened throughout this whole process, a huge group of random friends turned up and asked if they could help and help they did. In what can only be described as the best version of 60 Minute Makeover I have ever seen, by 6.30 we were a shop ready to take visitors. It was incredible.
We passed the evening chatting and thanking people and feeling as proud as punch as they admired our beautiful shop and beautiful books. We did a speech and gave out gifts, but even so, this didn’t even go a tiny bit towards showing how grateful we are to have so many wonderful people around us.
Too much has happened since then to fit in this post so we will do a seperate post to cover the weekend we have had…Oooh, cliffhanger…