Lavender's Blue

An Invitation to Everyone

2009-01-29T12:30:00.000-08:00

You are cordially invited to join me on our new blog

everyone is welcome!

Follow the ongoing story of our conversion from town dwellers to country folk, with the guaranteed mishaps, the tears and the laughter and the love but always with our usual zany, wacky take on life, (and by the way the lavender story will continue, as soon as I get it planted).

Thank you for reading Lavender's Blue.

Sue xxx

Moving Day

2009-01-16T04:31:00.001-08:00

Well here it is.......moving day. The boxes are packed, we don't know where anything is and the cats are completely freaked out. Their catflap is being removed and they are confined to quarters, (I think they are actually forming an escape committee as I type).

My kitchen cupboards are the tidiest they have ever been!!!!

We have spent the last couple of days trying to eat our through the contents of the freezer, the fridge and the food cupboards. I told my lovely son off for having the audacity to buy 4 tins of soup to eat for his dinners instead of making meals from our supplies and then I went to a friends charity auction and came home with 2 lovely food hampers...........his words are unprintable!!

Yes that is a tree you see in the top picture, lovely Hubby came home with a 'bargain' plum tree that 'he just couldn't live without'. If you see a Rover 75 estate driving down the M6, M42 or M40 anytime tomorrow with a plum tree sticking out of the sunroof that will be Hubby!!

Never say life at Chez Hall is boring!!

This house has been a happy home and one we are quite sorry to be leaving. The only downside to this 3 storey townhouse is the 2 flights of stairs that run creakily up the middle. We now know we will never again live over 3 storeys, it just doesn't suit our lifestyle.

But it has been a warm and cosy family home with lots of love and lots of laughs, what more can you ask? Since moving here we have got married, I have opened my shop, my son has graduated from University and found himself 2 lovely jobs, where he has made lots of friends. We have been accepted into this lovely little market town, we have had some lovely neighbours, lots of brilliant friends and aquaintances and we have gained our lovely little Archie.

All in all it has been a wonderful 18 months. Now we are ready for our new adventure.................Oxford here we come!!

Sue xx

My old man.......

2009-01-10T00:23:00.000-08:00

50 years young and still a sex god!!

My old man........said follow the van!!! Well actually he did, seeing as the council bin men decided to let the large wheelie bin roll into his little white van and smash the indicator light panel and on his birthday as well!! Yep...my old man is 50 years old and I love him to bits. He, however cannot say the same about the council bin men!! Good job we're not moving till next week, because now we have another little job to organise.

Poorly van!!

Seriously, thanks to Alan for being the love of my life and for all his help in the past couple of weeks helping me to wind down the shop and supplying me with endless cups of coffee at every opportunity, for being there when I need him and for all the happiness he's brought me over the last four and a half years.

Our adventure begins in earnest in the next couple of weeks and if we didn't have each other (and the help of a strapping couple of sons) we couldn't do this.

Happy Birthday Babe

Sue xx

Teddy Bears

2009-01-04T15:28:00.001-08:00

My final week in the shop..........in most ways I'm looking forward to our new adventure, but saying farewell to my little shop is terribly hard. The past week has been SO busy. All the stock is flying out of the shop, and many of the things I thought I may have to take with me are now gone, including bears.

Teddy bears have always been a brilliant seller in the shop, I have been selling mostly Boyds Bears, which are gorgeous.....and many of my customers think so too. All my Christmas bears sold straight away and now the last of my back up stock is in the shop. I love it when little children pick their favourite bear and leave the shop clutching it, (after paying I hasten to add!!)it reminds me of my youngest son who was an avid teddy bear collector for many years, he was always SO thrilled to get a new one for his collection.

Well there aren't many left now and as the last bear leaves the shop it will feel very strange, the final countdown has now begun. This is my last week, just 6 more days of trading. I am busy preparing the shop for my friend who is taking over the lease until April, then she will decide whether to keep it going in her own name.

I will try to get some pictures of the shop this week, last week was just too busy, my lovely hubby dashed back and forth from the house with fresh supplies of stock but we struggled to keep fully stocked. Everyone was in shopping mode in Ulverston and business was brisk and exciting.

Hopefully we will sell out this week and have little to pack away for the move in 2 weeks time, and who knows, maybe one little bear will sneak out of the shop and into a box to greet us on arrival in Oxford...............

Sue xx

A Happy New Year

2009-01-02T23:04:00.000-08:00

At last....I return to my blog!! After a busy busy time in the shop in the run up to Christmas, I had to do it....start the dreaded Closing Down Sale. My customers are being lovely, loads of good wishes and genuine interest in what is to be our exciting, hard-working future.

Many of them have started to read the blog and pass comment on it in the shop, I hope they will continue to read as I vanish from their day to day lives on the high street and into the ether.

I have wilfully neglected my blog, and feel SO guilty when I read all the other lovely blogs that I follow, they have all somehow managed to keep things going and have a family Christmas. I have been up and down the country travelling to visit relatives (a lovely time was had in Scotland for the New Year) and to clean up our lovely new farmhouse ready for its coat of fresh paint.

The immediate future now is to be taken up with closing my beloved little shops door. I have today (Saturday) and then just one more week before the closed sign goes up for the final time on 'Lavender's Blue... ' the smallest shop in Ulverston.

There is no photo on this post, I could not think of one in my collection that sums up how things are at the moment, I will take some of the shop as it winds down and post them for posterity.

Sue xx

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T14:15:00.000-08:00

A very Merry Christmas from the littlest shop in Ulverston. The shop is tucked up after the busiest shopping season ever, looking slightly bare and very tired.

I locked the door at 4.30pm tonight, and tootled off home for a reviving and much needed cup of coffee with my family.

A huge THANK YOU to all my customers over the last year. The shop has been a HUGE success and without my lovely, lovely customers where would I be???

Enjoy your time with your families as I intend to enjoy mine. We are off to the new farmhouse on Boxing Day to begin the biggest clean up of our lives..........the future starts here!

Merry Christmas to everyone and a prosperous New Year. May next year bring new surprises around every corner and happiness to all.

Sue xx

Christmas is coming.........

2008-12-19T11:48:00.000-08:00

Christmas is coming.....the shop is SO busy, so why did we pick this time of year to move house? We must be mad!!

We are packing up and taking down to the farm half of our furniture on Monday when we will have the use of a large van, the sofa frame is going, so we will only have cushions to sit on, the bed bases are all going so we are currently sleeping on just mattresses on the floor, so Christmas is to be a low level affair.

Its a good job we are game for a laugh and the wackiest Christmas ever is just around the corner. It's quite liberating to be having such a different Christmas. We have no tree up yet, no decorations, Christmas cards are just piled up on the coffee table. I intend to have a decorating night on Monday while my lovely sons and hubby are taking the furniture to the farmhouse. Only then will I be able to see what I can do to get the house festive, at the moment we are living in a sea of cardboard boxes. (Who bought all the books? Maybe it was me! I LOVE Amazon!)

The shop is emptying nicely of all the lovely goodies and the core stock for the new website will be picked soon and then packed ready for the move, the rest will be sold off at a massively reduced rate to thank all my lovely customers for their support over the last year. I have met such a mix of really nice people through the shop, many have turned into friends and I hope that they will visit the website, when I finally get the time to set it up properly.

Finally, A special message tonight for my Dad, we have given Mum and Dad a computer for Christmas and one of their first lessons was how to get to here.......well if you've managed it Dad HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Leave me a comment if you can!!

Sue xx

Gifts Galore

2008-12-15T15:14:00.000-08:00

Well, what a fantastic weekend. I had a whole weekend off, lovely youngest son opened the shop for me on Friday, unfortunately, he was working at his real job on Saturday so the shop had to remain closed for the day.

Me and lovely hubby went to Manchester for the weekend, to deliver Mum and Dad's Christmas presents and visit the lovely German Market that's there for the whole of December. We had a fantastic couple of days, wandering around savouring the lovely Christmassy atmosphere, sampling some gorgeous foods and doing lots of people watching.

Lots of food was consumed and lots of alcohol washed it down, just what we both needed at the moment,a real relaxing weekend off, what with the shop being SO busy and the move starting to gather pace.

Now it's back to business and a chance to move as much stock as possible through the shop before the Christmas break. I'm not looking forward to the shop closing, but I am looking forward to our new country life.

I have half decided to start a new blog for the new life, but what do I call it?? Lavender's Blue is continuing as a website, so my lovely regular customers can still get their hands on the things they need. But my new life will be about revamping a farmhouse and bringing an old farm back to life, learning about chickens, ducks, turkeys and all the country things I have no knowledge of at the moment. So it's all a real learning curve and one I think I really want to document, so I can look back and (hopefully) see just how far we've come in a couple of years from now.

Suggestions for names would be welcome, in fact if a real good suggestion pops up and I either use it, or it gives me inspiration for a name I do use, the person that suggests it will be the recipient of a Lavender's Blue Goodie Bag.

Sue xx

Miserable weather and happy shoppers.......

2008-12-08T08:57:00.000-08:00

Well today it rained, rained and rained some more.......the shoppers scurried in and out with macs on and brollies up, we all had a good moan about the weather.........

but the lavender smelled lovely and filled the shop with its' glorious scent. The Christmas spices were drowned out by the calming smell of lovely lavender.

Amongst all the sales of cinnamon sticks and Christmas scented sachets the lavender sales climbed steadily, until unbelievably it was todays best seller. The ribbon tied bunches, the cellophane bags of lavender heads ready to tip into dishes or fill your own handmade bags and the little ready made organza bags to scent your drawers and cupboards.

I didn't for a moment think when I started this little shop that lavender would be SO popular, obviously I hoped, and it was a bit of a calculated guess, but I thought it would take longer to gain in popularity. I didn't realise the age range of people loving the scent of lavender. Once always thought of as a little old ladies scent, now lavender is used by so many people for its calming and sleep inducing properties. I am amazed I have so many men that come in to buy lavender scented oils and candles on a regular basis.

It is an addictive scent and one that makes you feel calm, serene and at one with yourself. I will miss my little shop so much when I move in the New Year but I am hoping that the lavender message will come with me and together we will fragrance the Oxford countryside.

I am going to try growing my own (on a small scale admittedly) and using it in all my craft works and my home made cooking. I am inspired by this gorgeous little plant, of which there are an unbelievable number of varieties. The 'lavender lady' as I am sometimes called here in Ulverston is on the move and raring to go.

Colour me purple, but Lavender's Blue...

Sue xx

A Dickensian Delight

2008-12-01T00:34:00.000-08:00

The shop set out at 9am.

The weekend was absolutely fantastic. The atmosphere in town was lovely, the weather Saturday was truly Dickensian, cold and mildly foggy, and on Sunday icy cold but with gloriously blue skies.

Dickensian folk looking at the lovelies.

Mum and Dad came up from the weekend from Manchester to savour our last Dickensian Weekend in Ulverston and kept popping into see how things were going. Lovely hubby bought me coffees and acted as stock control man, dashing from the house with any stock I needed. He spent the first half hour of Sunday pricing nearly 300 scented sachets that had arrived at the last minute. I sold about a third of them so it was well worth the effort.

Ralph....our local Estate Agent.

We had visitors from all over England and Scotland and a few from further afield. Sales were brisk and my little shop at times was bursting at the seams. The locals were mostly in costume and some of the visitors had hired costumes too, so town looked fantastic.

Throughout the day there was street entertainment, including fairgrounds (yes.....plural), donkey rides, train rides, a lovely antique fair, the famous Tim's Flea Circus and hubbys favourite..... the Hog Roast. Every street was bursting at the seams with market stalls, craft stalls and things to see.

Carols were sung to the local bands' music in the daytime....

and again as darkness fell........

The weekend ended with a glorious firework display and a carol service in the local church. If you're in the area next year it would be well worth a visit, indeed I may be tempted to return as a visitor myself!!

And as the customers drifted away, a tired little shop, much depleted of stock, was put to bed, while the (very) tired owner was dragged (kicking and screaming!!) to the local tavern for a few drinks and a lovely meal.

Thank you to all who helped me make this such a successful weekend for Lavender's Blue...the smallest shop in Ulverston.

Sue xx

Fantastic Weekend

2008-11-24T00:39:00.001-08:00

Wow....what a fantastic weekend. After a busy, busy day in the shop on Saturday, we closed up and headed up the motorway for the Country living Fair in Glasgow.

Spent the whole of Sunday browsing, buying (and spending way too much money).

But all the purchases are for our lovely new house in Oxford, so I have a good excuse.

Met the lovely Karon from Dream Acres, her stand looked fantastic and my cat thought the catnip mouse I brought off her was heaven! I've had too hide it in a metal filing cabinet to keep him off it, it's supposed to be his Christmas present!!

Also met the lovely Jane from Snapdragon, unfortunately forgot to introduce myself as my husband was just drooling over her table, the actual table....not the contents!

All in all a really good weekend, time with my lovely hubby and meeting lots of really nice people ( and a good spot of retail therapy thrown in for good measure).

Sue xx

A Brilliant Weekend

2008-11-18T12:36:00.000-08:00

What a brilliant weekend. The picture shows my car outside our new farm house. I travelled to Newbury to stay with my lovely hubby in his mid-week digs and we went to visit our lovely new house to take measurements and make plans. What a fantastic feeling......planning our new start together, we're a fantastic team. I can't wait, we have SO many brilliant ideas and now it's getting closer and closer.

One thing that's worrying me slightly is this -

I've never cooked on an Aga in my life, indeed this was my first time alone in a room with one!
Does hubby remember the M & S ready meal girl that he married!! Still, I'll give it a go (there's always the microwave to fall back on). The lovely lady we're renting the farm off was telling me about turning the heat up the night before dinnerparties to ensure that the oven will be hot enough to cope with all the courses.............anybody coming to a dinner party at our house will be getting a jacket potato if they're lucky or a lovely cheese and onion bun if they're not!!

Anyway I'm back in damp and cold Cumbria now and back into the shop, re-jigging it slighty for our lovely Dickensian Festival the weekend after next. I've so many lovely Christmas goodies in the shop now it puts me in a good mood just walking through the door.

The lavender is getting drowned out slightly by the smell of some gorgeous Spiced Mug Mats that I've just got in and the lovely Spicy Apples that match them. Bundles of cinnamon sticks tied up with lovely red and gold ribbon are in the baskets on the top shelf and the Christmas fairy lights twinkle in the dark afternoons we've been having.

I've been posting pictures of our fresh start with the farmhouse etc. on a door upstairs in the shop to let customers know what's going on in my life, they all know somethings happening because I'm so excited about everything at the moment. I've also been letting them in on this blog address so they can read my mad ramblings for themselves. (If you are a customer and you drop by here leave me a comment.)

This weekend coming we're off to Glasgow to visit the Country Living Fair, I luckily managed to win a pair of tickets from Karon at Dreamacres ...........I can't wait.

Sue xx

Wow....what a day!

2008-11-12T12:13:00.001-08:00

What a busy, busy day! Ulverston still has a traditional half day closing on a Wednesday, but more and more shops now stay open and the ones that do (me included) sometimes do a roaring trade. The sun was shining and lots of lovely customers were in a shopping mood.

I spent the day re-jigging the window and adding to my Christmassy things, that always gets me in a good mood. Everytime I sell something now, I think of the space it has left and what I can bring from home to fill it. I must reduce the stock in the dining room at home ready for our big move, it seems to be going down really slowly (do you think that could be because I keep re-ordering?) I will have to be strong and start to sell out of things.

I just hate to disappoint people though. I decided this week to put up a sign in the shop telling all my lovely customers exactly what is going on so that if they see something they know to buy it and not to wait until nearer to Christmas.

Up to now I've had lots of positive response to my choice of gift ideas and decorations, it's so hard choosing what to stock and what not to. You really can't help but to make it a very personal thing, I just couldn't sell something I didn't love myself.

I am trying to get my new website up and running in the evenings but I am having lots of trouble getting the fiddly bits right. My lovely hubby is away during the week, so as he's the technical one, we have had emails flying back and forth and not a lot getting done, it's SO frustrating!

Looking forward to a brilliant market day tomorrow, but I've been told the weather forecast is bad, so we shall see.

(Yay....did you notice, I've managed for the first time to include two pictures on this post...!)

Sue xx

Lavender Bliss

2008-11-11T00:17:00.000-08:00

I did my second craft fair of the season on Sunday and a brilliant day it was too!! A fantastic atmosphere in the village hall and loads and loads of different stalls, all very complimentary of each other too! We spent slightly too much money (as you do) but we got some lovely handcrafted items.

My little lavender bags, that I have been busy sewing in the shop all through the Autumn went down a treat and all my lavender lovelies sold really well, with lots of people asking for advice and planning further purchases from the shop.

All in all a really good day and a brilliant start to a trading week. My new website is now 'under contruction' so we are busy, busy, busy, and to top it, all I get to see our lovely new farmhouse for the first time (in person) this Saturday.

It shows how much I trust my lovely hubby, that we have signed all the documents and made all the moving arrangements before I've even been there!

The week started well in the shop yesterday, with all the vintage clothes coming out to make way for my new pine unit full of Christmassy lovelies. The upstairs window is twinkling away with a net of fairy lights and the upstairs tree is full of my lovely scented hearts and chrome bells.

Today will be the day to do a lovely display of all my lavender gift bags ready for customers to put together their own personalised gift bags for family and friends. I LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR............................Lol.

Sue xx

Making room for Christmas

2008-11-05T00:32:00.000-08:00

This is a piccy of one of the many shelves in the shop that are about to make way for Christmas. The time is nigh, Halloween is over, Bonfire night is about to be over, and Christmas is on it's way.....I feel the tingling and anticipate the lovely Christmassy tunes....yippee, I can go Christmassy in the shop.

The past few weeks I have smuggled in the hanging tree hearts with little bells, the gloriously scented Christmas hearts and mini stockings and the handmade Christmas cards, the customers in the know have known where to look and made their early purchases and now it's time to roll it out BIG STYLE........I love it. I can tinsel and decorate and start to plan the Christmas windows, yes windows with a S, I change my window every week, it's so tiny I can do it in 10 minutes and it gives all the passers by something different to look at (and generates lots of sales too).

I have to hold on for the true Christmassy windows though because here in Ulverston it's Dickensian Weekend before Christmas, and we all traditionally do the windows for that weekend (29th and 30th November this year), it's always well worth a visit to our lovely little town then, almost everyone dresses up and the whole town is like a page from a Charles Dickens novel. Even empty shops have their windows hijacked and decorated Dickensian style. We have roasted chestnut sellers, the man with the Flea Circus, an old fashioned funfair, a bustling street market and mini train rides for children, every shop is open all day Saturday and Sunday and we have a lovely Antique Fair in the Coronation Hall. If you have the chance to visit DO, a warm welcome is always here and you can call into the shop and say hello to little old me too!! What more could you ask for.

Well I must go....no good just talking about it.... there are plans to made, actions to be taken and most of all fun to be had!!!

Sue xx

Crafty Business

2008-11-03T12:46:00.000-08:00

Well here's a bunch of my lovely Boyds Bears, that I sell in the shop. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the craft fair stall as there was no space to stand back and take it when it was set up at home and I completely forgot to take the camera on the day.

I have, however, got another fair this coming Sunday, so I will try to remember this time. Remembering anything at 7am on a Sunday morning is hard enough!!

My lovely hubby came with me, he was a huge help with the carrying and moving around, and looked especially cute when he fell asleep among the teddy bears with his head on the radiator!! The lovely photographer on the next stall decided to take a picture of him, but just as he was doing it the hall went quiet (cos everyone was watching) and lovely hubby woke up just in time for the flash.....luckily he doesn't embarrass easily....good job being married to me and all!!

All in all it was a good day, a bit too quiet as not a lot of advertising had been done, but nevertheless a good start to the Christmas season, funny how you suddenly start getting in the mood for Christmas, especially now Halloween is out of the way. I love the build up to it all, funnily as a family we don't do much at Christmas, just have a quiet time together and enjoy each others company, with a bit of extra alcohol and chocolate thrown in for good measure.

I got my new book on Saturday it's by Niki at Nostalgia at the Stone House and a VERY good book it is too, brilliant pictures and lots of lovely information. I keep trying to read it in the shop, but customers keep coming in and expecting to be served........very annoying!! Lol. :-)

Sue xx

Busy, busy, busy.....

2008-10-30T13:20:00.001-07:00

Well this week is proving to be a very busy week, lots of the new Xmas gift stock is flying out of the shop, and loads of people seem to be on holiday and visiting our lovely little market town.

I had a visit from a lovely lady called Pam (hi, if you're reading this), who is a reader of my blog. Hope you enjoyed your visit to my little shop.

I'm in a terrible dillema at the moment, some things are selling well, but do I re-order them and risk having lots left over when I need to close the shop or do I just sell all the lovely things I have in stock?? (I don't want to be one of those shops that sells things to people at the normal price one day and then reduces everything to silly prices imediately after Xmas and makes people wonder why they spent their hard earned money earlier). I would rather sell at a fair price now and just reduce the really unwanted items later, but am I providing a good service if I don't replenish my current stock........................? Help.... any comments/opinions would be appreciated.

Preparations for my first Xmas fair are under way at the moment. My poor son, came home at 1am this morning from his late shift at work and had to crawl under a paste table to get to the freezer so he could make himself some oven chips for supper. I decided last night to have a trial run, and of course all the boxes had to be opened and goods laid out and played with, so by bed time it was too late to dismantle the display, so I just left it, anyway I wanted to show my lovely hubby when he gets home from work what the display should look like, so he can help me re-create it on Sunday. The lovely guy is coming with me and bringing his laptop,so he can get a bit of work done too, it's the only way we get to spend any time together, still all that's about to change thank goodness.

If I can get picture of the table for tomorrows' post I will, but I don't think there's enough room to stand and get a shot! If I can't you will just have to wait until I'm up and in action on Sunday.

Sue xx

The start of things to come.....

2008-10-27T14:08:00.001-07:00

Well this is it........our new house, down in sunny Oxford, not quite as flooded as rainy Cumbria. The deed has almost been done and we are planning to move in January. As you can see there is lots to do and boy are we raring to go, loads of ideas are flooding through our heads, and sleep is interrupted with sudden ideas and lots of excitment.

We have a house, a barn and 5 acres, (I don't even know how big 5 acres is, can anyone out there tell me?). Anyway there is lots to do and many plans to be made, we are buzzing....at the same time more stock is flooding in for the shop, I only hope I can sell it all before we have to move.

Normal service will be resumed tomorrow with stories from the shop. I just had to let everyone in on our little secret.

Sue xx

How do you know when you've got the right man?

2008-10-23T11:33:00.000-07:00

You know..........when you phone him and ask him to drive 50 miles out of his way on a 300 mile trip home to pick up the 400 door mats you have just bought off Ebay by mistake and he just laughs and says 'course I can love'.

Seriously I love this man to death, we have been married almost a year, that's one of our wedding photos above. We decided on the spur of the moment on the drive back from my mum and dads, that we should get married and not tell anyone but the parents......they found out a whole half hour before the wedding. It was a fantastic day and they have eventually recovered from the shock.

One of the volunteers from the charity shop I managed last year took the photos, they couldn't resist sneaking round to throw confetti at us and take pictures. I had to let them in on the secret as I had to keep dashing out of work to organise the reception (meal at the pub, with balloons and champagne), order the cake (a big sponge with 'Happy Wedding Day' on it) and show all my documents at the registrar. All this took us 2 weeks from start to finish. We both treated ourselves to new jeans and somehow all our guests look colour co-ordinated on the photos taken by the registrar. She was in on the secret being kept from the parents, and let them all remain seated for the entire ceremony as they all had the shakes!

This post "Is dedicated to the one I love".

Sue xx

Vintage Lovelies.

2008-10-21T23:57:00.001-07:00

This week has been spent...up to now, mainly unpacking all the lovly goodies that I've been ordering for my Xmas stock, so it's nice to take time out to pick a few goodies from my vintage stash to add to the shop.

This little cupboard is built in upstairs in my shop and it lends itself beautifully to a concentrated display of some of my 'older' stock. The rest is usually dotted here and there amongst the new goods.

You can't beat handling a lovely old hand decorated dish or plate, or to wash and press a lovely old bit of linen.

I don't think I could just have a shop full of new items, I love vintage too much. It doesn't have to be really old, just be pre-loved, have some character and be pretty, for me to love it.

This is the stock I find hardest to part with, although I choose the new goods, order them, unpack them and then display them all together, the vintage bits are special, and they are the ones that always sit at home just that little while longer than the rest before they come into the shop.

Even then I get a tug at the heartstrings when someone comes to the counter with a favourite, as long as it looks like they're going to love it I can cope..........and I call myself a business woman ... haha...!!

Sue xx

Life goes on.....

2008-10-17T13:26:00.000-07:00

Today has been a day of linen, linen and yet more linen. I ordered 20 dozen napkins off company in London and I have spent the day the day checking and folding all the said napkins, they are lovely and so are the pillowcases that I ordered, (luckily they only needed a bit of lovely ribbon tied around them to make them look truly 'Lavender's Blue...' stock. I see a whole new window for next week with lavender, linen and hearts.

Good news from Karon at Dream Country Chat, I have tickets for the Country Living Fair in Glasgow, this will be a lovely excuse to visit my lovely mother in law and the home country of my beloved..... Thank you Karon!

Sue xx

My magnetic window......

2008-10-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

This window is creating SO much interest! I added a mixture of my new Christmas gift ideas with some of my existing stock and it's acting like a magnet, drawing people into the shop that have never visited before. I have sold more of the little teddies in jumpers and the larger of the noticeboards than I thought I had in stock!!

It's really busy here in Ulverston at the moment, even with the weather we've had today, (sunny spells with sudden VERY heavy showers). I always feel sorry for the market traders on a day like this, but today at least they got set up in the sunshine and luckily they had all put the awnings up before the first heavy shower. Some Thursdays they set up in the rain, stand all day in it and then pack away at the end still in the rain. And boy have we had a lot of rainy Thursdays this year!!

The shop is doing really well at the moment, I've had the shop in it's present incarnation since April of this year, I chose lavender as my main theme because I love it SO much and there seemed a real gap in the market here for a specialist gift shop. Up to now it's working well!!

Plans are slowing coming together for our next big adventure and I will be sad to see this go, but onwards and upwards and anything we do together is a thing worth doing. Life will be different and very special and I think we're both equally looking forward to our changes.

If you by any chance have a copy of last weeks Farmers Guardian you will see our advert and have a clue about what we're up to!!

Sue xx

Boxes, boxes and more boxes....

2008-10-13T09:04:00.001-07:00

I remember, way back, when this used to be our dining room, since I opened the shop it has been my own little warehouse, usually filled with boxes in various stages of being opened, unpacked and the goodies stored on shelves on the other side of the room.

As well as all the boxes from wholesalers it tends to be a dumping ground for all my lovely car-boot sale finds, either waiting to be cleaned or waiting to go to the shop (or be found a place round the house).

At the moment it is getting choc a bloc with all the lovely gifts I've been ordering like crazy ready for the Christmas sales rush (I hope!!).

The one thing it can never be again is a Dining Room, as soon we are upping sticks and moving to a whole new area and a whole new way of life!! So soon it will be a holding area for all the things we are going to be packing into the empty cardboard boxes that I am accumulating at the moment.

Exciting times ahead.

Sue xx

Goodies in the post....

2008-10-09T13:26:00.000-07:00

Look what was waiting for me when I got home tonight. My lovely bag ordered from Niki at Nostalgia at the Stonehouse http://nostalgia-stonehouse.co.uk/, absolutely gorgeous, the little card at the front of the bag is a lovely old birthday card from 'Auntie Maud' dated 1937.....I wonder if cards we send these days will be saved and treasured for the future, we seem to live in such a throw away society at the moment, hopefully things are a changing and all our recycling and re-using is a sign of better things to come.

Well a big thank you to Niki for my bag, a present to me from me with love!!

An extremely busy day at the shop today, with lots of customers snapping up the last of the sale bargains, it ends tomorrow (thank goodness) and then I can get all the lovely new gifts into the shop. Ah well, I better sign off now and get back to unpacking all the cardboard boxes in my dining room. I'll go and take a photo of my dining room and post it tomorrow, so you can see exactly what I've been up to.

Sue xx

I'm a long cat I am........

2008-10-08T14:58:00.000-07:00

How long is a cat.........as long as this, it's not a camera trick, it's Toby having a mid-walk stretch. He's my big beautiful boy, 9 years old and quite a character.

Well it's been a busy day here in lovely sunny Cumbria, yes the sun came out and so did the shoppers. Lots of things sold in the sale and I was just about beginning to see a bit of space in the shop, when along came a delivery truck with a pallet load of goodies for the shop. Yep, this is the smallest shop in the town and the pallet was half the size of the shop (and a third of the width of the road I'm on) so immediate unloading was required and my own little 'leaning tower of pisa' fashioned from cardboard appeared in the corner of the shop.

Customers find it quite amusing when the shop disappears under a mountain of boxes, and don't seem to mind at all that they have to peer over and around boxes each time I have a delivery!! Usually they hang around waiting to see what is inside each box, it's like Christmas....................I love it!!

This delivery contained the first of my Christmas orders, gorgeous wirework hearts with little glass beads, peg boards, little angels and cherubs, creamware trinket boxes and miniature cups and saucers. I will post photos after weekend, unfortunately these gorgeous gifts will have to remain in their boxes (now located in the dining room at home) until Sunday as I am still in the midst of my sale.

How I hate the tale end of a sale, all the odds and sods, I don't feel the same about things once I have reduced them, it's like taking things to a car boot sale, once I have done that they can never go back into the house, it's usually off to the charity shop for the unsold bits and pieces. A few weeks ago we did a car boot and came home with nothing!! A very nice man made us an offer for everything that was left and the thought of having nothing to unpack when we got home swung it for us, if only that happened every week!!

Well it's late and I have another busy day tomorrow....hopefully. It's market day and fingers crossed for nice weather and lots of lovely customers in buying mode.

Sue xx

Rome and it's many views.......

2008-10-06T13:47:00.000-07:00

Well, what a glorious break. The weather was out of this world, lovely and warm, glorious sunshine.......and to think I packed an extra jumper because I was cold the night before we left!!

We took LOADS of photos, mostly lovely views and art, but my cheeky hubby seemed to find one view particularly fascinating......something I didn't know about till we got home....lol!!

Today has been a day of getting back to normal, emptying our old office and getting ready for a whole new season at the shop. We have plans afoot for the New Year, something that will be revealed in the course of time. In the meantime I've got a sale on in the shop to make way for all the lovely Xmas stock I've been ordering, so it's pretty busy. It was really hard to get in the Xmas frame of mind at first, but now the ball's rolling I'm really enjoying myself. Hopefully lots of things will sell in the sale and make way for all this new stock. The only drawback to having the smallest shop is keeping it full of the right things, a challenge I love.

Blogging should be back to normal tomorrow.

Sue xx

Our trips......

2008-09-27T11:03:00.000-07:00

This is where we went in March.......lovely Paris, it was so romantic and unbelievable weather for the time of year, tonight we're off to Rome!! I can't wait, this is a special trip promised to my son for getting his fantastic degree in Forensic Science earlier this year.

Me and my lovely hubby made a pact to visit as many capital cities as possible in our lifetime, and Rome will be 5th on our list.

SOOOOO excited and looking forward to a break, although I will miss my little shop like mad. Pictures will be posted (especially now we've found the camera!!).

Arrivaderci (or words to that effect).

Sue xx

Teddies.......

2008-09-24T08:59:00.000-07:00

Today I've been selling mostly teddy bears........two of my gorgeous girls to be precise, the last spring bears I have in stock. Now truly autumn will be upon us, as the new stock going in the shop this week is bears in woolly jumpers and the most divine little girl bears in velvet coats.

It's been a beautiful sunny day here in Cumbria, a real autumn day, to make you want to tidy the garden, have a good clean up and prepare the house for the winter months ahead.

Customers are thinking of Christmas!!!! So I guess it's about time for me to browse the net for my new stock lines and get ordering.....oooh the things a girl has to do....shop in bulk!! Haha.

Sue xx

Back to business.......

2008-09-23T15:06:00.000-07:00

Well here I am after a busy gardening weekend in sunny Scotland.

Straight after closing the shop on Saturday night we flew up the motorway for a lovely evening with my favourite mother-in-law, followed after a short nights sleep by lots of sorting out in the house, and then an afternoon of manic weeding. The weeds were everywhere in every crack of every paving stone and every nook and cranny. Me and my lovely hubby, weeded hoed and generally made good. Then it was a lovely stroll through the moonlit park to the local club to sample the cider.......mmmmm, lovely it was. After another nights sleep it was off to the village centre to buy more bark chippings and a watering can for the weedkiller, Mum-in-law has decided the weeds will NEVER be allowed back, they were to be ZAPPED good and proper.

Of course while hubby was buying the gardening goodies I had to have a wander to all the lovely gift shops and charity shops, (so many in such a small place,) HEAVEN! I managed to buy some lovely bits of old linen and lace and the most gorgeous cut glass milk jug and basin. They'll most likely live with me for a while, and then travel to the shop for a lucky customer to acquire.

Will be back blogging tomorrow when I've had a chance to unpack all my lovely things and have a play!!

Sue xx

All things lavender.....

2008-09-18T13:36:00.000-07:00

Wow....... what a day!

Started with a quick trip to our indoor market where the lovely ladies were raising money for a cancer charity (can't for the life of me think which one it was!). Bought a few lovely bits and a gorgeous old basket, then on to my bestest friend Fiona's market stall, she sells bric a brac and 'quality' nearly new ladies clothes, (ask her her if it's a charity stall....I dare you!!! ).

Then finally it was off to my lovely little shop.

First job of the morning is to decide what is going outside on the pavement, on a glorious sunny morning anything can. Lovely weather, lots of lovely, happy customers and lots of lovely sales of all the lavender products in the shop.

What more could a girl ask for....her husband home for the weekend......yes, he's on his way. I love my life!!!!

And, best of all the bestseller today was the little lavender hearts that I have been mass producing for the last week. I must have sold at least a dozen today alone. Now I know why crafters get such a buzz, it's brilliant when someone chooses to buy something you have made yourself. I need to get producing them again because I have a number of craft fairs coming up soon, and it will be lovely to be selling things I have made from scratch, with my own fair hands.

So here's me signing off, as happy as Larry.....(I wonder who Larry was???).

Sue xx

Playing around.......

2008-09-17T09:07:00.001-07:00

Here's a peek at a bit of the shop I played around with last week.

Thought I'd have a play around with the layout of the blog too, don't know what I think of it yet, can't quite make up my mind. It may change again.

........I think I'm turning into a player!!

What do you think?

Sue xx

Sons with brains

2008-09-17T09:07:00.000-07:00

Obviously my son has inherited his good looks and his enormous brain capacity off his mum!! This was a very proud day for all the family, especially so for my mum and dad who are pictured here with my lovely son. My other son (the eldest) is also very clever and works extremely hard as a HGV driver, after being in the Army for 4 years and serving in Kosovo and in Iraq at the start of the war.

Brilliant day in the shop today with lots of lovely comments from visitors to the town, you can't really go wrong with a shop that smells of lavender can you? A nice comment can really make your day and I find myself doing it all the more when I am out and about shopping, it can have such a good effect on people.

Perhaps I should set myself a challenge of brightening at least one persons life a day.......

Enjoy yours. Sue xx

Toby...my special boy!

2008-09-15T01:15:00.001-07:00

This is Toby, our other gorgeous cat. Eating his dinner in the utility room because our 'timeshare' dog Sophie was here for the night. He really doesn't see the point of dogs, Archie loves winding Sophie up and teasing her relentlessly, but Toby just sees it as a huge imposition on his living arrangements and refuses to come indoors for the entire length of her visit each time.

Toby was a born to a feral mum 9 years ago, and we managed to adopt him imediately after his 'capture' so although it was hard work winning him around, me and him have such a close bond now it's very special.

He grudgingly learns to love the people closest to me and it took my husband a good 8 months to be able to stroke Toby, but the lovely thing is once he trusts you, he trusts you forever, my eldest son Simon lives away from home and Toby knows him immediately and will always be happy in his company, my parents who only visit once a year have barely seen Toby let alone touched him!!!

For all his foibles he is a special cat, and I love him to bits.

This has been a world away from the shop blog that I originally set out to do each day....normal service will be resumed......soon!!

Sue xx

Work temporarily suspended!!

2008-09-11T23:42:00.000-07:00

How do you get any work done when your basket is under a bundle of fluff??

Believe it or not this little basket I use for my cut out hearts is only 8" x 10", the cat is a fully grown fluff ball! But how could I possibly move him, after this shot was taken he curled up and fell fast asleep.

He's called Archie and is 1 year old and a bundle of energy, we love him to bits. (He has his own blog on Yahoo, Archie - shop cat.)

Sue xx

Just a picture to start the day....

2008-09-10T00:00:00.001-07:00

Just a little picture of my latest aquisitions, bought from Karon at http://www.dreamacres.co.uk/. They look gorgeous and smell divine. The work that has gone into the gorgeous little 'basket' is unbelievable, well to me anyway as a novice crafter. I also bought two delightful little fridge magnets in the form of flowers, these are actually stuck on the filing cabinet here in the office to try to turn this hi-tec space into a more feminine place (I may need to order 50 more to achieve that!!)

I realised I should post a thank you when I was taking the photo of my dressing table for yesterdays blog.

That's it for now, must get dressed and go forward into the (unbelievably) sunny morning we are having here in Cumbria.

Sue xx

Teddy Bears and Children......

2008-09-09T12:29:00.000-07:00

Here she is, especially for Jayne at Country Cottage Chic, Valerie in her pearls (well my Nanas' pearls really, but Valerie looks after them beautifully. As you can see she's not in as good a condition as 'Teddy' but she is the same bear. They were obviously designed to be loved!

It's been a good day at the shop, although the sun refused to come out and the customers were dripping wet, the lavender plants had a nice drink and I got lots of lovely lavender hearts made, ready to sell on market day, (that's Thursday here in Ulverston). My lovely son called to the shop with a coffee and lunch for me, (I do enjoy it when its his day off work), and then he went to Tesco for the weekly shop. I think children are brilliant once they can drive!!

Sue xx

Teddy bears......

2008-09-08T23:49:00.001-07:00

Spent the morning re-jigging part of the shop...looks good, took some photos to put on here, but then left the camera at the shop....handy eh! So they will be posted, tonight hopefully.

Was reading a lovely blog, Country Cottage Chic when I spotted a bear in amongst her shop pages but on a not to sell bit, and it jumped out at me, it was a plusher looking 'Valerie', the bear that followed me everywhere through my childhood, partook of all the teddy bears picnics, went to the big bad hospital when I had my tonsils out and generally knows as much about me as anyone, later to do the same for my son (but not to survive in quite as good a condition). Memories came flooding back........she now resides on my dressing table wearing her favourite pearls and looking a little sorrowful, but knowing how loved she has been (and still is).

So I posted this bear that is currently for sale in my shop, who knows.......whoever buys this bear could have the same fun, gather the same sort of memories and pass him down the family for years to come......will this bear survive the next 47 years?

Another week begins......

2008-09-08T00:47:00.000-07:00

Well here it is...Monday morning, the sun is shining!! Wow, I thought it had already gone into hibernation!

This fortnight is Charter Festival here in lovely Ulverston and the mood is good, I am giving all my customers a free gift (2 gorgeous little pure lavender soaps in a little gift bag) to celebrate, they went down so well on Saturday that I am going have to get to the shop and make some more, well, all I do is pack the hearts in the bags and tie the bows, but you know what I mean. I quite like a little no brainer job like that for Monday mornings, pushes me into the week in a productive way.

Today I have decided to completely re-jig a part of the shop. For the past month I have had a £1 section, so the school children could treat themselves or friends and relatives with a pressie from their holidays, now they have returned to school and the town is full of lovely 'older' holidaymakers who have not as much need for this section, so today can be re-jigging day. If it turns out well I'll post a pic....if not I'll come home and sulk into a glass of wine!!

Sue xx

Sunday....Day of Rest!!

2008-09-07T12:09:00.000-07:00

Well here it is Sunday, day of rest.......haha.......never in this house. Up at 6am to set off for a car boot at the local auction mart. Brilliant day though, and in the end you feel better for an early start and a longer day off. And a bit of extra money in your pocket and a few bargains certainly give you a buzz.

That's the only drawback to being a sole trader, working a six day week. Not as bad, now the boys have grown up and one has flown the nest (family of his own now, but that's a different story). I used to dash around like a mad women, doing housework and trying to wash a weeks worth of laundry etc etc on a Sunday but now I have a lovely husband who mucks in and we share everything, housework, early starts and carboots included.

Car boots give me a chance to clear out old stock, keep the clutter down at home and pick up a few choice bits to sell in the shop. My customers love to find a gorgeous bit of victorian china or a lovely old vase in amongst the lavender and lace that I sell. I used to have an antique shop, so I like to keep my hand in looking for lovely old english china and many a piece lives in my house for a couple of months before it hits the shelves in the shop.

Met some interesting people this morning including a few of my regular shop customers, so lots of lovely chats and a few cups of coffee helped the morning fly by. This afternoon has been spent catching up on paperwork and getting my husband ready for his working week, he works 300 miles away, so forgetting things is NOT an option.

Going to chill now with a dvd, a glass of wine and a bar of chocolate......oh it's a hard life!

See ya soon

Sue xx

Hearts, hearts and more hearts....oh and a bit of rain!!

2008-09-04T12:13:00.000-07:00

Another lovely wet day here in Cumbria, the rain fell, the customers scurried in and out and the pile of hearts grew and grew, I am determined to fish out my sewing machine tonight and turn some of these single hearts into pairs, with a little stuffing and loads of lavender in between.

I can't wait, and neither it seems can some of my customers, lots of interest was shown while I was busy cutting and chopping in the shop. Most were thrilled that every little scrap of fabric can be used out of a tablecloth or napkin or old bit of linen that was not in a fit state to sell. It's recycling at its best, turning an unwanted and unloved bit of fabric into something lovely and very usable. I have people waiting with baited breath for the finished article......so no pressure then!! Lol.

Sue xx

The ball is rolling......

2008-09-03T13:13:00.000-07:00

Today was the day, well only a few brave (mad) customers braved the monsoon weather and called into the shop, so what was a girl to do. The world was on a wash cycle and as the poor lavender plants outside the shop tried hard not to float down the street I decided now was the time to go for it.

Anything fabric that had not sold in its current format, old linen, lace, cushion covers and some gorgeous FQs that I got off Ebay a while ago, was marked out and cut up, and a lovely little heap of hearts filled my basket and made me want to do more and more. When I finally ran out of things to chop up I sat back and had visions of lovely scented lavender hearts, smelling gorgeous, looking divine filling every spare corner of the shop, hanging from the dresser, piled up in baskets.......

Now I'm home, and I was going to dig out my lovely mini sewing machine (also purchased on Ebay but never even removed from it's box) and pray that it works. But, catastrophe!! I put a gorgeous jumper that I bought from a charity shop today in the washing machine with my other jumpers and I just went to pull them all out and guess what......yep, the fluff is unbelievable, it's everywhere, all over the other jumpers, all over the washing machine and ALL OVER the kitchen and the cats. (Black cats look very strange with grey dandruff.) So sewing is suspended for this evening and de-fluffing is about to commence.

Do other people have day to day mini disasters on such a regular basis or are they attracted to me specifically?

Life is fun, never boring....and always worth a laugh.

Here's one fluffy girl signing off.

Sue xx

The First Entry.....

2008-09-01T23:52:00.000-07:00

Well this is it, my first entry in a brand new blog!! Thought after reading so many lovely blogs I would have a go myself. Bloggers seem such nice people, I've been reading other peoples blogs for a while now and leaving the odd comment, but never before felt the urge to join in. Well here goes......

Decided to call the blog Lavender's Blue after my shop, it's in a small town in Cumbria and is the smallest shop in the town. I opened it in April of this year and have met so many lovely, lovely people, both in the form of customers and other shop keepers. It's been a wonderful learning curve as well as a good way of keeping my head above water.

Just lately, now I have the shop running smoothly, I have had the urge to try making things myself and after a lovely day selling at the local agricultural show and meeting lots of 'crafty' people I have decided to start with lavender hearts, I have seen them in other places and on blogs and now is the time to give it a go!!

I'll let you know the results.........