First of all, the picture at the top of our blog page is part of our courtyard. On the upper right were you see the brick is the patio area. This wasn't a picture we found just to stick in. Also, the picture of the knot garden on the right is Jay's work. He designed it and has been maintaining it for 21 years.
Aside from touch-ups the painting is done. With Iden's help we're moving the light fixtures which has already made the store seem bigger. It's great being able to work on the construction stuff since we're sick and tired of painting. Just wait until we start working on the outside!
And . . . . we got our first shipment today from New Dimension Seeds. It feels like we've really started. This is a cool seed company specializing in unusual Asian vegetables. Each seed packet contains a recipe for the crop. We're really happy to be able to offer them.
That's it for now. It's been a long day of teaching and working.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
it's a bird! it's a plane! it's...
The good news is, I think I've found my Inner Superman - in a Nietzschian, rather than DC Comics kinda way, as I remain unable to leap tall buildings or even short ones. *g* Painted last night 'til after midnight but out of bed again by 7am (kinda late for me, truthfully) and I'm ready to go back. I am a painting machine.
Andy did the same, though he also found time to teach some martial arts classes last night. Trained killer that he is, we already knew he was Superman, so for him it was just another day. :b
The office is finished. A small part of the floor still needs a second coat. About 80% of the walls are finished. By Friday, we'll be done.
Yesterday was Sally's first day back on the job, and it was wonderful to have her company and her good help again. Today, hopefully we can turn her loose on some office stuff! Those seed orders ain't writin' themselves and I've so far failed to get to them. 6.5 weeks to go 'til we open; no need to panic yet but the anxiety will be ramping up every day...
Andy did the same, though he also found time to teach some martial arts classes last night. Trained killer that he is, we already knew he was Superman, so for him it was just another day. :b
The office is finished. A small part of the floor still needs a second coat. About 80% of the walls are finished. By Friday, we'll be done.
Yesterday was Sally's first day back on the job, and it was wonderful to have her company and her good help again. Today, hopefully we can turn her loose on some office stuff! Those seed orders ain't writin' themselves and I've so far failed to get to them. 6.5 weeks to go 'til we open; no need to panic yet but the anxiety will be ramping up every day...
Sunday, January 13, 2008
What a great spring day this was for January 13th...we played in the sun for hours mid-day, drunk on Vitamin D and - planting bulbs! Yes, it happened! 100 mixed daffs, 35 'Kung Fu' tulips (dark red with ivory edges), 35 'Negrita' tulips (a rich mid-purple) and...some mid-pink tulip I can't remember the name of. 35 of those, too.
Got some more clean-up performed in the great outdoors then I made the mistake of thinking, "Hmmm, I bet that mat of Luzula sylvatica encroaching on the sidewalk would be easy enough to get rid of..." Well, we did it - with combined heavy labor from both of us - but that was all she wrote; the day ended there and it was home for naps. Hey, we're old! :b Good intentions were to go back tonight and paint some more, but...y'know.
In fits and starts, though, stamina is returning. It better.
Yesterday we donated a $50 gift certificate to the Hazel Heights P-Patch auction. This will be a new p-patch very near the nursery; if like us you're going, "Hazel Heights?..." we had it explained to us that a woman named Hazel donated the land for this project, thus the name. I hope they got big bucks for our generous contribution! Well, at least a buck or two. Hopefully we can coordinate a fundraiser for them at the nursery sometime this summer.
Tomorrow being Monday I'll stay home and do some more ordering. We're less than seven weeks from opening and there's so much still to procure. Still having massive email headaches (sending) with that spamhaus.org nonsense and it's time to fight that more aggressively...I haven't been able to confirm new subscription requests for some time and we've *ulp* had a few résumés sent to us that I haven't acknowledged, either! It's been flattering, all these people wanting to work for us before we're even in business, but I hope it's not a sign of an economic downturn and work getting harder to come by. We can't pay a living wage and no bennies so I'm sure it's just that everybody wants to hang out with us and be our friends. Uh-huh. ;)
Got some more clean-up performed in the great outdoors then I made the mistake of thinking, "Hmmm, I bet that mat of Luzula sylvatica encroaching on the sidewalk would be easy enough to get rid of..." Well, we did it - with combined heavy labor from both of us - but that was all she wrote; the day ended there and it was home for naps. Hey, we're old! :b Good intentions were to go back tonight and paint some more, but...y'know.
In fits and starts, though, stamina is returning. It better.
Yesterday we donated a $50 gift certificate to the Hazel Heights P-Patch auction. This will be a new p-patch very near the nursery; if like us you're going, "Hazel Heights?..." we had it explained to us that a woman named Hazel donated the land for this project, thus the name. I hope they got big bucks for our generous contribution! Well, at least a buck or two. Hopefully we can coordinate a fundraiser for them at the nursery sometime this summer.
Tomorrow being Monday I'll stay home and do some more ordering. We're less than seven weeks from opening and there's so much still to procure. Still having massive email headaches (sending) with that spamhaus.org nonsense and it's time to fight that more aggressively...I haven't been able to confirm new subscription requests for some time and we've *ulp* had a few résumés sent to us that I haven't acknowledged, either! It's been flattering, all these people wanting to work for us before we're even in business, but I hope it's not a sign of an economic downturn and work getting harder to come by. We can't pay a living wage and no bennies so I'm sure it's just that everybody wants to hang out with us and be our friends. Uh-huh. ;)
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Painting, painting . . . .
All I want to do is to sell and play with plants!
We're spending most, if not all of our time painting. One evening we had help painting when Rhonda volunteered to come by for a while and help. All in all there's so much and many jobs to do. As some of you know I've had a sole-proprietorship (service oriented) business since 1974. It's nothing compared to a retail store.
There are so many sub-jobs required to run a store aside from selling what you like. Business forms, bank accounts for retail, payroll stuff, IRS stuff, employee stuff, insurance, and tons more. When does the easy part start?
Check out the picture above with the December 29th blog picture.
Our friends and customer based enthusiasm really helps remind me that once all this is done, it'll be fun!
Right?
Monday, January 7, 2008
rest for the wicked
I'm trying to take a little time off today but the guilt is overwhelming...I feel like I should be at the store, painting something. The superman work ethic I'll need to succeed hasn't quite kicked in yet but I know it will come if I ease into it. So: my "ease" this day will be sitting at home trying to finish the three seed orders I started months ago, talking to the phone guy and finally getting a number of our own choosing and, if that succeeds, add the # to business cards, website etc. Oh, and figuring out how to embed this blog in the website. Finally adding other pages, too - actual content! Wow.
In other news, we're painting the floor red. Film @ 11.
In other news, we're painting the floor red. Film @ 11.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Little by Little
One task at a time
The inside needs cleaning, painting, and organizing before be figure out where the stock goes.
The outside needs sweeping, fixing (the fence), and organizing so we know where to put the inventory.
Jay was there last night until 2 am painting! Once you've started a task it's easy to get lost in it or just be determined to finish it.
January 1st we had a 'before' gathering. Those on the email list and my club members came by to see the empty space. This way you'll be so impressed with what we've done with it by the time March 1st arrives.
There's so much to do but we're doing it one thing at a time, it's the only way to stay sane.
The inside needs cleaning, painting, and organizing before be figure out where the stock goes.
The outside needs sweeping, fixing (the fence), and organizing so we know where to put the inventory.
Jay was there last night until 2 am painting! Once you've started a task it's easy to get lost in it or just be determined to finish it.
January 1st we had a 'before' gathering. Those on the email list and my club members came by to see the empty space. This way you'll be so impressed with what we've done with it by the time March 1st arrives.
There's so much to do but we're doing it one thing at a time, it's the only way to stay sane.
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