Shaping up

At last the telephone is working again and we are making serious headway in the shop spaces. It will take a few more days yet before we are fully settled in.

The internet provider still has to do their magic so I don't have access to the internet in the office at the moment and have to keep running back to home to check things. It's tiring work in this lovely mini heatwave that we are enjoying.

The picture above shows the kitchenware area, I am just starting to put everything out on the shelves. Well it's been a really long day and I am heading off to find a cuppa and for a well earned bath.

Chat soon, Liz
Words and images copyright Pretty Practicals 2009.

The Garden Room

Today Dave and I have enjoyed the amazingly warm weather whilst preparing the new unit and moving everything across from the old unit. We took time to eat our salad lunch outside in the fresh air as all this moving business is hot and heavy work.Here's a sneak preview of what we have called the garden room, full of lovely things that have a garden theme.

The telephone is still not working. Business continues as usual, but we are unable to take phone calls until Monday afternoon.

More pictures tomorrow, chat soon, Liz

Images and text in this blog entry are copyright Pretty Practicals 2009

Phone fault and moving day

Outside Unit 3, the new shop premises

Well today we started the move to the new home of Pretty Practicals and part of the way through today, my darling daughter rang me on my mobile phone to say that she couldn't get through on the work number.

After I little investigation and a considerably long call to BT (that will make my mobile phone provider happy), I found out that BT in their infinite wisdom, had decided to cut off our telephone on Friday afternoon in preparation for putting it into the new unit on Monday afternoon.

Please note that business continues as usual, but that we are unable to take phone calls until Monday afternoon.

Dave and I are busy getting the new premises ready for the move which will happen over the next few days. Luckily we are only moving next door so don't have too far to move everything.

Well, after a long day of removing partition walls, cleaning, painting and sorting out, I am heading off for well deserved bath and long sleep.

Chat soon, Liz

Moving thoughts

It's been a hectic time of late, not least because we were given the opportunity of moving premises and have been packing up everythng in readiness for heading to all the way to next door. The new unit whilst simply being on the other side of the adjoining wall is also a long way from the current home of Pretty Practicals. The party walls to these units are end on, creating a long thin building and the front doors are as far away from each other as you can get.

So the new unit is much nearer the main road (the A44) and next to the new Rhayader museum which is due to open in mid July and we get the keys on Monday, just 6 days away. Yippee!

Amongst all the hustle and bustle of pre-move chaos, we have also taken time to enjoy the warm weather, the local wildlife and the company of friends.

Cow parsley growing on the edge of the river Wye, this photo was taken on an early evening walk along the river bank.

On Friday I drove to Bath and met up with Michele from Cowboys and Custard; although we met at the Vintage and Handmade Fair 3 weeks earlier, this was the first time that we have met for tea and chatter. Sometimes something wonderful happens with the chemistry of new friends and this was one of those times. After half an hour, I felt like I had know Michele my whole life, we shared stories and laughter, swapped ideas and laughter, drank tea, ate biccies and laughed. There was definitely a theme developing and I can't wait to meet up again for more laughter therapy.

After I left Michele, I headed off to meet up with Cecily as we had an evening planned of girlie chat and company at Westonbirt Arboretum where McFly were playing. Cecily and I found a spot at the back of the field about as far from the stage as we could get, not because we objected to the band, but because we wanted to chat and be heard.

My beautiful daughter sharing a moment of frivolity with me.

We spent a lovely couple of hours laughing and singing and as the sun went down we headed back today Cecily's home for the night.

On Saturday we spent the day doing highly important mother and daughter stuff like buying make up, trying on clothes, having my hair cut, eating gorgeous flan and tart purchased at the farmer's market and other essential bonding activities.

So the week ahead is full of packing, sorting and preparing for the big move next week and no doubt it will also bring some more laughter.

Chat soon, Liz

Images and text copyright Pretty Practicals 2009.

Party season

As many of my friends know, I have a party season, not really so much parties but going out to see bands, plays and other art performances. And the season is well and truly upon us.

So on Friday, I left work early and headed towards the capital, no not London, Cardiff to meet up with a friend who now lives there. It turned out that they live right next to the Millenium Stadium... usually I would think that this might be ghastly, but if one is attending something at the Stadium, it is really incredibly convenient.

We had time for a quick cuppa before heading off to the Stadium to see Oasis. For my friend, it was his first really big concert (um, er, like baptism by fire then!) so I grabbed his hand and made our way to near the front of the crowd.

Two little bits of advice I should have offered my friend here... wear sturdy shoes and old clothes and don't go down to the front if you are of a delicate nature. It can be 'not a very pretty sight' at the best of times. But at least once a year, I like to go into the breach once more and let off a serious bit of steam. The front standing section at an Oasis gig can be a bit... well rowdy.

So 2 and half hours later we emerged from the Stadium (intact), having danced and sung and cheered and shouted, and headed back to my friend's flat for a very civilised cuppa and something to eat.

All I can say is that Oasis were better this year than when I saw them in November last year and I can't wait to do it all over again next time.

Thanks to my friend, I was able to stay in Cardiff over night and not have to do battle with the busy roads at the end of the concert, it made the whole thing so much nicer.

A few quick comments in case the following people find my blog...

• ugly, naked guy ... shame on you for showing us all how not to behave at a concert


• crazy dancing man who sang with me for the last few songs ... what a gentleman! I look forward to seeing you again next year


• the two guys in front of me who (willingly) acted as a protective wall when I was being a delicate flower, thank you so much


• the two Australian girls and their boyfriends, standing to the side of me ... what shiny happy people


• thank you to the St John's Ambulance people who did an amazing job of looking after people


• and thank you to Dave ( who didn't come with me as it's not his kind of thing and he has more sense) but has had to listen to me excitedly chatter about the evening ever since.

And tomorrow it's back to work to catch up on the things that didn't get done on Friday afternoon.

Chat soon, Liz

Gremlins and the email

Oh good grief, it's so annoying when technical stuff decides to have a funny five minutes!

It seems that some of our email responses to our customers are not reaching them, so if you were expecting to hear from us over the last week or so and haven't done so, please be aware that I have been merrily emailing without the emails getting through.

Dave is now working to sort out the problem.
Chat soon, Liz

Hearts and flowers

How wonderful, today has been full of hearts and flowers.

Having sold out of lavender filled hearts at the Vintage and Handmade Fair last weekend, it was time to get busy once again with my sewing machine. My mother rang to tell me that the Vintage and Handmade Fair made front page news in one of South Gloucestershire's weekly newspapers - yeah!

So today I have hidden from the rainy weather, got myself organised in my kitchen, found the sewing machine (which has been put away for the last few weeks) and spent a lovely few hours being creative.

There is now a new supply of hanging hearts filled with lavender that was grown on a Welsh hillside overlooking Raglan castle. I seal these lavender filled lovelies into bags to keep the fragrance fresh and strong until it's time for them to be used. While I was there, I made a few other bits and pieces too.These little cushions, ideal for decorating a dressing table, popping into a drawer to perfume the undies or for using as a scented coaster (the heat from your cup of tea or coffee encourages the lavender flowers to release more of their lovely fragrance). Below is a selection of the cushions waiting to be filled.

Dave surprised me with a gift of a vintage tea set comprising 8 cups, saucers and teaplates in this lovely pink chintz design which will sit really nicely with my collection of vintage china on the dresser in the kitchen and coordinates cleverly with the colours of these velvet and lace lavender filled hearts and with my kitchen tablecloth.And, today some of our items have been featured in an article in the Daily Mail's Weekend magazine, you can see the online version here.

So all in all, a gentle and happy day, chat soon, Liz