Well what a week I've had! Despite the Royal Mail strikes (flippin' nuisance!) the orders are still coming in - probably not as many as there normally would be at this time of year, but luckily it seems that good ol' Joe Public is gritting its teeth and getting on with things as usual, so at least things are still ticking over. I have held orders back so that they are not actually posted on strike days, but have posted the first available business day after the strike and that seems to be really effective - most items reach their destination the day after posting and, so far as I am aware, the worst that has happened is that items might have been delayed by a day, which is fantastic considering the backlog that they must have had to deal with (can you imagine what 30 million items of mail looks like???!). I really hope that the Royal Mail and the union can resolve their differences sooner rather than later though, as this could be crippling for many small businesses like mine, where courier deliveries are not an option for items which are mostly large letters or small packets (and the Royal Mail has the monopoly over those items).
Having said all that, I would normally be the last person to say I wish it was a bit quieter with the orders, but this week I could have really done with it! I held my first workshop on Wednesday evening and although it was originally going to be held in the nearby village hall, I decided that it would actually be far easier to hold it in my barn. However in order to fit some peeps in, I first had to shift some boxes of stock out! So I spent almost two days solid on Monday and Tuesday doing just that, and generally having a good spring clean in there. I worked really hard but it was so worth it! The workshop went really well; I had a lovely group of people who spent an enjoyable evening crafting, chatting, laughing, munching chocolate cake, drinking coffee ... luckily not all at the same time! Unfortunately I forgot to take any photographs of my group of happy crafters, but I enjoyed the evening so much and am really looking forward to doing more workshops and also my "Craft Therapy" drop in craft evenings from January next year.
I also now have a much tidier barn and have resolved to keep it like that!
