Never too late ...

We've been absolutely amazed by how many Fathers' Day cards we've sold in the 9 days that have passed since the event! We didn't have this kind of late buying after Mothers' Day - perhaps because it's better known?

Growing up

Back from Ascot, we had a fabulous day - great racing and hardly any rain. While we were away the baby swallows in Splodge's stable have fledged and are flying, quite expertly, in endless circuits round the garden. Also, the ewes were separated from the lambs yesterday. The lambs have remained in the field underneath our bedroom window and needless to say there was much plaintive bleating last night, though already this morning everything is quieter.

Big hats all round

Aaagh, I wish it would stop raining ... we're off to Ascot tomorrow (never been before but managed to find a lovely old top hat for Richard on eBay!) and the forecast is not good. Never mind, the rain's not so bad when you have a glass of champagne in your hand I don't suppose!

Advert in the Times

We're publishing an advert in The Times newspaper on Saturday (in the Web Directory). This is the first time we've ventured into newspaper advertising, as we currently get most of our customers from Google, and we've simply no idea what the response will be. I've been really busy all week stocking up on our most popular designs so we have a really good range of stock available, but I'm dubious about whether the ad will be effective or not ... we'll keep you posted!

Waiter service

The woodpecker came to our peanut feeder again today - and brought its baby with it, something I've never seen before. The fledgling was almost as big as the adult, but fluffier and less colourful. It sat on the fence and received a most excellent waiter service from its parent, much the same as was going on in our kitchen at the same time!

Now we are two

I’ve managed to find a really nice local girl, a farmer’s daughter, to help me on a part-time basis.

One of my biggest worries has been how to guarantee a reliable salary for an employee when I cannot predict how much work my business will generate on any given day. Some days we receive just a handful of orders, and on others there may be quite a number to pack and dispatch. I feel lucky to have found Becky so quickly, she seems both capable and good company (important when there are only two of you in the office), and she’s also willing to make up her hours on days when business is quiet by mucking in with the household chores - fantastic! Now, all I have to do is learn how to operate payroll, should be easy eh?