I have fantastic news! I won my case for the second time!!! The appeal the council lodged when I won first time round has been thrown out and I won on every point of the argument.......I am so thrilled and wanted to share it will you all........I have already drunk a bottle of champagne here in the shop and do not plan to stop........

Its such a lovely day up here in Far Sawrey, lots of people out walking and enjoying the views, its a real blue sky day and I would not want to be anywhere else in the world, not even a fly on the wall of cumbria county council, although I bet the air is blue there! I think they even have to pay my legal costs on top of the many tens of thousands of pounds that they have used to try and silence me, So any whistleblower who suffers as a consequence to whistleblowing at work, having told their bosses the harassment is going on can now be protected in law and HOPEFULLY the service users who suffer at the hands of such people will also be aforded much more protection, which was my main motivation at the onset of all of this........

Hope your all having a glorious day.....Love from far Sawrey X

Greetings from Far Sawrey.....For the first time in 2007 and we have put the vegetables outside to display, thought we would risk it as it has been fine for so many days now....hard to believe it is winter....There are lots and lots of people around today, especially cyclists and walkers.its a great day for it though. Our friends who own local bed and breakfasts are reporting a good trade for this time of year which is good all round.....

Well I could not sleep last night, the appeal from my case in london last november is going to be handed down on monday I believe and I am feeling quite anxious, not sure why, anyway I decided rather than sit up and think too much I would do something to occupy my mind........I came to the shop at 11pm last night and started decorating...how mad is that!!! Funnily enough I really enjoyed myself, I got a coat of white paint on the walls and varnished some of the shelves that were in the post office that was.....Left a note for mother telling her the decorating fairy had been in the night!!! The shelves look MUCH better with some varnish on, its a deep mahogony colour and will make the shop much look better when its all finished....Mother has just popped to kendal to get some more varnish..

Took delivery of something strange this week, yes mother has been ordering again........a bag of whole nutmegs!! Never seen anything quite like them, wont tell you what I thought they were, mother says its lush finely grated on things, it must be my age! Dont think I have ever tried it, will let you know when I do! She recommends mashed potato!!! Hmmmm I am not so sure!

The van is proving a great asset to the shop and its great driving that bit higher up, can see round corners and avoid the unexpectable....5years I have lived in the lakes and it never fails to amaze me what these windey roads do to people, they seem to lose all sense of perspective.... A couple of years ago I had to indicate to overtake a car who had its hazzard triangle out behind the car on a particularly narrow road, as I was overtaking, I saw a family of four, sat with a full picnic table out at the front of the car all sitting down and tucking in! Unbelievable but true...

Happy Saturday :-)

Good morning from far Sawrey....Benny wanted to say hello, he has not blogged for a while, this is a picture of him on our walk the other day, he has officially been promoted to Sawrey Stores meeter and greeter for 2007, He has a new jacket to protect him from the rain and he will be taking delivery of a new kennel in the near future.....Woof Woof :-)

Its another lovely blue sky morning! Cold but clear.... The new van is well and truly in residence, went to windermere last night and at 40mph mistook the break for the accelerator....Ooooooooooooopz, all of the cars behind me were not too happy and several of them had to swerve pretty quickly to stop them pilling into one and other, anyway, no damage just a few raised blood pressures! (white van drivers! ;-)

Went to pick up the fresh bread this morning and christened the van with the lovely smell of hot fresh bread and bath buns..........

We are going to the cash and carry this afternoon, it will be the first time we have gone together, not really been possible, mother, I and a van load of stock in a citroen saxo would not have worked!!! Well it would have been interesting!!!

When locking up at 5pm last night I noticed that it was not as dark as it has been, its always a nice feeling to think lighter nights are coming....I am feeling a strong urge for a cup of tea and a fresh bath bun, naughty but nice!

Happy Wednesday

Greetings from the village, it is a glorious glorious day today and there are quite a few people out walking! Nipped out from the shop and took a picture looking up the hill for the blog as words cannot do justice to the lovely day we have experienced...

More local honey has been delivered today, its selling real well, its also marmalade time again as the seville oranges have arrived...marmalade is like marmite to me, you either do or you dont! If you do I hope your making plenty of marmalade for the year....

This weekend we got a new edition to the shop......a new van!!!!!!! YAAAAAAAY!!! When I go to the cash and carry in my little ciroen saxo the guys take bets on whether the produce will all fit....IT WILL NOW!!! we are absolutely thrilled

Snow is forcast for this week...Hmmmmmmm It will look lovely up here I am sure, it just makes getting here difficult, Mum says that snow is great for cleaning your rag rugs, you turn them upside down and rub them in the snow, apparently nature cleans them really well...

Keep Warn :-)

Greetings from Far Sawrey....The only word to describe this week is tumultuous....but on the flip side the strength of care and support in this village is truly wonderful.

Friday night at the Sawrey Hotel was burns night and was as well attended as it possibly could have been, it was standing room only in the bar....I won a bottle of wine in the raffle which is in the fridge ready for a night when some friends come round for a natter..
A good friend and customer took a bit of a tumble during the nights proceedings but thankfully she is now back home and doing well...EVERY single customer who lives in the village and who has been in has asked how she is doing and has asked me to pass on to her husband if there is anything they can do they only have to ask. It is wonderful how this community cares and how people really do love thy neighbour....I do not have a final figure from the burns night supper but I think a few pounds will have been raised for the Sawrey Institute/Reading rooms...
I have done a little research into reading rooms as we have one here in the village, the link below is a good description of how things were....
http://www.aohg.org.uk/twww/leisure1.html

When I arrived this morning I had only been here 10minutes and there were some Japanese girls taking pictures of the shop and the village! (8am sunday morning!!!) Is this the start of things to come as a consequence to the Miss Potter film I wonder!

The village has survived the storms of last week, although mum did witness two 40ft trees fall in the wind in the field behind her house...

Just had a customer in the shop in a lovely tweed suit and plus fours! Anyobne would think we were in the country! Apparently the tweed was from a mill in Huddersfield, where mum and I used to live. Textiles is what Huddersfield is famous for, that and alot of asthma associated with the mills that were!

Well the sun is out and I can see blue sky! I wish you all nothing but blue skies :-)

Good Afternoon from far sawrey........I am pleased to report that it has been a blue sky day all day today, quite cold but clear and dry!!! it makes such a difference and reminds us that there is life outside the rain bubble that we have been in for the past month...

Its been a steady day here in the shop, mother nearly back to full health so we have delayed the decorating for another week, we are both still deaf in one ear from the virus, good job its my right ear and her left, we can still hear each other, just! :-)

Just had a visit from the robin who lives in the garden, he casually hopped into the shop, found a crumb of food and hopped back to the door ledge where he sat munching away for a few minutes! Very relaxed!

I have been trying to tweek the magazines that we sell here at the shop, we kept been sent lots of celebrity magazines that never sold...today I am pleased to report that we have for sale.... Cumbria Life mag... Country Living mag...Homes and Gardens...and The Lady!!! plus a selection of tv mags and a small selection of celebrity mags...

Last year we sold a range of Walls Ice creams, mainly Magnums which were a top seller.....this season we have decided to also sell a lake district ice cream called "English Lakes Ice Cream" it is one of the most delicious ice creams that I have ever tasted and their real fruit sorbets are absolutely fabulous... below is a link to their site to browse and dream about those long hot summer days ahead of us!

http://www.lakesicecream.com/

:-)

Good Morning from far sawrey.........I am feeling very odd today, I was told last night that a man who was part of the quiz team I play with committed suicide late on friday night. I still cannot quite believe it, its makes no sense, I have just looked at the coniston mountain resuce page and it is written up there but still it does not seem real.....Hmmmmm my thoughts are now with his partner and his family.....I am going to go out for a walk this afternoon and try and make some sense of it....

The shop has been steady all morning, the bath buns are proving hard to resist as usual, today they look extremely sticky and lush

The rain had ceased for a morning, it has to be the first morning tof the year! I could put the inserts into the papers outside without them all turning to paper mache....

T'is all for now I am afraid, strange day!

Hello from far Sawrey...........I slept in this morning! Oooooopz! I woke up at 8am thinking oh thats ok I can have a shower and be at the shop for 8.30aam... then I remembered its saturday, newspaper insert day! Mad dash ensued, made it here on time and was helped along the way by my young friend Alan who helped me with the papers and the vegetables.THANKYOU ALAN!


All of the breakfast mushrooms sold out yesterday, got some more today and half of them have gone already, if you like mushrooms they do look nice!

At the trade fair last week we met a man from westmorland packaging company, we have arranged to have some shop carrier bags made for this season, the proofs have arrived and look great! We also bought a pricing gun from him as ours kept failing, its FANTASTIC!!! labour saving device is an understatement! been pricing things by hand for months now, but now it should be much easier!

Mother is still ill, I feel really bad as I know it was me who must have given her the bug, she has exactly the same sympotoms as I had including ear ache!, ear ache which I still have some weeks after it started....the grommet it looking more likely by the day! OUCH!

Had a customer in this morning who yesterday lost his dog down by the lake at cunsey where he lives, I asked hime this morning if he had found him, after over 2 hours searching, and many neighbours helping the dog was found safe and sound in the back of the land rover where his owner had put him 2 hours before ready to go out! :-)

Steady away day in the shop today, seems to be a few cyclists out and about but no walkers as yet, the wind has died down and the rain is much lighter than it has been

We are selling tickets here at the shop for the burns night over at the sawrey hotel next friday night, pleased to report that I have sold all of the tickets that I was given! will ask for some more, a bargain at £4.75 which includes a haggis supper, bagpipe music and darts and dominoes

Happy saturday :-)

Good morning from Far sawrey....Well the shop and I are still here, we have not been blown away as yet!
I believe the meeting at the braithwaite hall was well attended last night, news is that visitors to the area will be encouraged to use boats buses and feet to get to the area rather than using their cars, i am pleased about that as it will make for a grand day out getting the ferry across the lake, walking up to the village, experiencing the views, seeing hill top and rambling back down, much nicer than rushing in in a car and seeing hardly anything and of course leaving less of a carbon footprint...
The subject of affordable housing was also raised, an issue which the trust have some responsibility as they have been bequithed many properties which I am sure were given with the intention that they would be let to local people who work in the local area... Its an issue that I feel passionately about as there is such a shortage of housing in this area and especially housing for single people such as myself, not that I want to reamin single or without children but the cost of properties to rent is very expensive when there is just one person paying the bills...
I am aware that applications for trust proerties are subject to an interview requiring an explaination of what one can quite rightly offer to the local community that they want to live in, theissue which does not sit comfortably with this process is the cost of the rent from the income of people who are on low wages and live in the local area........I am now waffling on and will stop as you have probably guessed its an issue very close to my heart....

On a lighter note, I am a member of the local freecycle recycling group where unwanted items can be donated to wanting homes, today there was a very unusual and amusing item up for offer....I will cut and paste it for you to see for yourselves...... It has really made me laugh....

I'm looking to give myself away to a lucky person who isn't quite so fussy as my last girlfriend. Having been consigned to the tip for being too old-fashioned, honest, dependable and poor, I am making my youngish, well-maintained and well-proportioned self available to the first (preferably female, but I'm always open to considering new ideas, but actually thinking about it I'm not very keen on that sort of thing although I have nothing against those who enjoy it) person willing to go out with me. No I'm not desperate if that's what you're thinking, just not interested in doing things the old-fashioned way of going out and getting hammered and letting gravity do the rest.Of course this offer applies only to the mortal self which is within my power to offer, my true self already being the same as yours and therefore having no need of any attempt to eliminate separation or even recognising the concept thereof. I reserve the right at all times to take myself far more seriously than is necessary.Any takers?Should there be an overwhelming response, a reality will be created in which I will constantly be able to change my mind about anything I wish and still enjoy all that life has to offer!Should there be no response, I will resort to going out and getting hammered, seeing as it makes no difference in the end.Oh, and don't forget: all the best things in life are free like me.And isn't it annoying that people try to palm off all kinds of useless tat that's only fit for the tip.

PS....We have some super looking breakfast mushrooms for sale today...YUM YUM :-)

Greetings from far Sawrey, no film crews today but lots and lots of wet and wild weather. Tonight is the meeting in the village arranged by the trust to talk about the new Miss Potter film, its at Braithwaite hall and starts at 7.30pm
Its a quiet day here in the shop although there are people staying in the holiday cottages, I have looked online at companies who offer cottages in the village and there are some real bargains at this time of year, the waether may not be brilliant but the roads are quiet! the cottages accross the road from the shop are run by two people, one is cumbrian cottages and the other is run by a local lady who owns Hawkrigg bed and breakfast in the village, can only find a link to one of the cottages at the moment, but its really nice and very popular
http://www.cumbrian-cottages.co.uk/property-details.aspx?productid=41001
Just had to go out and brave the elements, the wind had blown open the newspaper stand and the daily mirrors were all over the garden.
Pleased to report that the soup mountain has been replaced by a Bean mountain, red kidney bean, Aduki bean, Organic Mixed Bean, Cannellini Bean and chick peas. Gillian Mckeith the healthy eating food guru speaks extremely fondly of the benefits of Aduki beans, must say they taste better than they sound!
http://www.mckeithinteractive.com/recipes.aspx
The wind is really getting up this afternoon, feel a bit like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, here is hoping the shop does not get blown away!

Good Morning from Far Sawrey....We have had a film crew in the shop this morning, they popped in to fill up on goodies before a day out filming the area, unfortunately we do not sell thermals! they are going to need them today!

Sending GET WELL SOON wishes to our neighbour who had a car accident at the weekend, he and his wife have survived but their porsche has not I believe, hopefully they will both be fully recovered sooner than soon...

I decided to start some DIY on the shop yesterday....Woman that can!!! NOT....We had a small fridge that stopped working late last year, I decided to put it outside as an obliging friend said he would take it to the tip....No one mentioned to me that the fridge held up the kitchen worktop above it!! Yes, crash bang wallop........Anyway the space will make a good storage area, have not broken it to mother yet :-)

The trade fair I went to the other day was great! lots of ideas for new ranges for the shop this season, going back tomorrow to place some orders having had a few days to think about it...

Just looking over to the shelves as I am typing, this shop, one of the smallest grocery shops I have ever been in has 7 different types of sugar! yes 7!!! (Organic Demerera Sugar, Dark Muscovado Sugar, Golden Icing Sugar, Golden Castor Sugar, Soft Brown Sugar, Granulated sugar and Golden Granulated Sugar)!!! Hmmmm the thing is it all sells!!!

Toodaloo for now

Saturday.......

Good afternoon from wet wet far sawrey...in true tradition of lakeland its raining sideways as I type, the rain however is not detouring the potter film fans, had quite a few people in today asking how to get to hill top.

Talking of the film, the National Trust have put up a notice in the shop today, its an invitation to Braithwaite Hall on Thursday the 11th of Jan @ 7.30pm, the leaflet states "there will be a chance for us to let you know about the film, what we are doing differently this coming season, when we will be opening earlier etc. There will be a short presentation fromt he trust followed by a discussion and an informal chat over tea and coffee. No need to book , just turn up at 7.30pm" Public service broadcast over an out :-)

A customerwho has a property in the village who is also an excellent photographer has left us some of her postcards to sell. They are absolutely lovely and are of the damson blossom from Crossthwaite, they are very different from your average postcard and would make excellent little notelets for keeping in touch with friends and family.

We are going to Cumbrex tomorrow afternoon, its a trade fair in Windermere, and as its our first year in business we thought we would go along and see whats on offer for the shop. http://www.cumbrex.co.uk/

The virus I have gad all xmas has left me completely deaf in my right ear!?! and I still have painful sinuses, my ear is really painful but the doctor says its not infected, he says if my hearing has not returned in 6 weeks he will refer me to the hospital to have a gromit fitted! Whatever a gromit is it sounds painful, had the tv on last night and it was so loud I think the neighbours could probably hear it, my nearest neighbours being in the next field! :-)

Guess I better get on with taking down the xmas decorations, its the 12th day I think

Tatty Bye for now

memories of summer

Greetings!

Good morning from far Sawrey......Despite the delay in blogging may I take this opportunity to wish all of our customers and blog readers a VERY VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.......
There are 2 reasons for my absence, illness and connection problems. I have been in bed for a week with a virus and what can only be described as chronic earache....Thankfully the virus has left the building but a slight earache remains, feels like I have been under water for too long, anyway it is good to be back!!! I so missed being here and seeing everyone!
I have been on the phone to AOL all morning trying to get them to help me log on as it was not letting me, seems it was some kind of update problem, anyway fingers crossed its all resolved, I dont know any computer men that can!
Today in the village the Sawrey hotel there is a lunch for the senior citizens of the village, a couple have been in for their papers looking all togged up and very smart!
We were invited to the suprise birthday party of one of our customers last week but could not attend due to illness but want to wish SIMON HILTON A belated but VERY HAPPY 21st Birthday! ;-)
We appear to have run out of lucozade whilst I have been off, lots of you must have required nrg after all of your partying!
We are going to do some decorating here in the shop this month, that and a bit of jiggling stock about. Been here nearly a year now and we have a much better idea as to what sells and what doesnt.....tinned carrots dont sell, I am sensing a tinned carrot sale! Suprisingly breakfast in a can has sold! Wonders will never cease! Thats about all for now folks....
Love from far Sawrey :-)