April 6th
Well, April arrived, and as I write we've had a dusting of snow overnight. So we shake our heads and wonder when it will not be snow, but Spring that settles in? The weather lately has felt so, unseasonal. It reminds me what Dogen said about examining the change between Winter into Spring or Spring into Summer for the point where one becomes the other. For you'll never find it. He also recommended examining the relationship between life and death in the same way, but maybe that's for another day with more accommodating weather. The beginning of April is the anniversary for when we first moved to Upper Sheringham. That was all of four years ago. Time has flown by, along with its many seasons.
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Bojo gave the thumbs up to reopening our non-essential, but none the less very lovely little shop on the 12th. During this current week we are in there most days, installing in a new ceiling grid over our window, a window display, merchandising and repricing. With a stock take planned in for Friday. We have a lot of new lines, as well as a Sale, for our reopening. The ladies that run the cafe say that every time there is a change in the lock down restrictions trade drops off for a while. So we may not be overrun with eager shoppers.
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We were watching a film on Channel Four. Now Channel Four has developed an unintended humourous quirk. Whatever the last bit of sub titling on a film was, it stays on the screen during the ad breaks. So we were in giddy fits one evening as each successive advert had plastered underneath it the immortal lines
'Can somebody please tell me what the fuck is going on here'.
It's a very apt question for our unsettled unpredictable times.
On the last day before we reopened the shop we went for a jolly down the East Norfolk coast. Stopping off in Mundesley, Happisburgh, Sea Palling and ending up in Great Yarmouth. Along the way we went to California, not the state but the Holiday Park, where Jnanasalin once had an enjoyable family holiday when he was about 11.
We took in a long promenade down Great Yarmouth's seafront admiring some of its grand seaside architecture, often now useless, dilapidated or down on its luck. The local council is, after many years of neglect putting in some dosh to try revive its appearance and fortunes. Currently they are building a modern stylish Marine Centre swimming centre. Plannng to save the very beautiful, but endangered, Edwardian wrought iron and glass of the Winter Garden, and has already restored its fabulous Venetian Waterway ornamental garden and boating lake.
Yarmouth is one of the countries most depressed towns and you are left wondering quite what it will take to engineer a major turn around in its fortunes. It has some really fantastic buildings, but also a reputation as being a bit of a dump with urban deprivation, drug and alcohol problems and chronic unemployment. So how will they get people with money moving to live there? Perhaps encourage companies who want to get out of London relocating there, develop an arts/alternative sort of vibe going. I could see it could transform itself into the east of England equivalent of Brighton. Oh how we can dream such empty dreams.
April 20th
Well, the shop's opened. Our first week was as busy as at the height of summer season. The sale is going well. Some bargains to be had. We are pricing really low in order to clear stuff that would just hang around in our garage otherwise. Saturday of this week was our best days takings ever. All our new lines have already begun proving themselves. So we've already put in top up orders on most of them. This may all just be a result of the pressure valve of lock down being released and it will settle down subsequently. We enter uncharted territory anyway because we have never been open in April and May before. The shop does look stunning at the moment.
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Retail can throw up odd requests. We currently have a mirror with a decorative fabric surround in our sale. One day a guy came in whilst I was on the phone. He was stood looking up at this mirror. I thought hopefully we might sell it. Once I was off the phone, he said -
'that mirror up there, could we buy just the mirror on it without all that surround. Its the right size for our bathroom.'
I suppose you have to ask.... don't you?
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One consequence of the various lock downs has been realising how much we need to ensure we have a life outside of the shop and making for the shop. So we intend to continue having our Art Club one day a week regardless of whether we are working in the shop or not. Also, other than high season and Bank Holidays - July to September - we will be closing the shop on Sundays, which is our quietest day sales wise. So Jnanasalin and I can have some quality time off together. We are already excitedly making plans for little jaunts in the car.
April 22nd
This week has been generally quieter in the shop than the first week after lockdown. We are noticing that even though we have slightly fewer customers they spend more with us, and are seeking us out. Its heartening to get a tangible sense that we are getting better known.
It cannot be put down to unrealistically raised expectations either. Despite improved production values and money being put into it, it remains a very boring plod, altogether bit of a dud. There is no central dominant performance that holds it all together. We gave up halfway, tired of the lack of pizzaz, and a script and performances that lacked edge or any knowing camp. It gurns and preens without any affection being present. Whatever it hoped to achieve, it needed to be doing it several times larger and more over the top than it was.
It appears to be an attempt to send up American reality programmes, but manages to mostly miss its targets, by slapping it as hard as it can with a piece of limp gauze. It has echoes of Rocky Horror, but very pale ones. RHPS evolved through many incarnations in development, via rehearsal and repeated theatrical performance, you cannot completely script that mannered archness. You can never achieve consciously what you previously did unconsciously, through instinct. Though its easy to see how O'Brian could go from Shock Therapy to end up in The Crystal Maze. Its trashy, but not remotely classy.
April 26th
Today was Jnanasalin's birthday, his 44th. As is the tradition, I have the occasionally daunting undertaking to make a birthday cake worthy of the cake making supremo. It always feels more of a nerve racking task than it needs to be, I've made plenty very successful cakes before. This year it was, as per his request, a Raspberry & White Chocolate Cheesecake. I was somewhat dumbstruck by the huge amounts of sugar, white chocolate and glutinous white fat it contained. But, I have to say it was worth it, it looked and tasted wonderful. To hell with the diet for one day.....or two!
As if on cue the vaccine schedule opened up to 44 year olds exactly on his birthday. So he's booked himself in for both his jabs. the nearest available was in Wisbech well over an hours drive away. So we've decided to take a Sunday day trip out to Kings Lynn and explore the old part of that town, on our way back from him being ever so gently pricked by a peripatetic nurse.
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Though the weather is sunnier, and hence generally bright enough to lift any remaining winter blues, the gradual edging upward of temperature is offset by the stiffest and most biting accompanying breeze. The wind chill could cleeve a well dressed eskimo in two. This week in the shop, as it preludes one of the May Bank Holidays and the end of the month, we we were not expecting much from. Whilst the footfall is noticably down, the take is holding up. April has been kind, and in the weeks since we reopened reassuring, The improved appearance of the shop is being appreciated. We appear to know what we're doing after all.
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