Rushing off for a hectic day for Redgrave Stores getting approval from Bury St Edmunds magistrates court for granting our Protection Order to me to trade in alcohol.
Three meetings concerning publicity and point of sale software amidst confirmation from Sarah Francis accepting the job as manager to start on the 4th September.
Then across to see my friend Jim Bird. He had made great strides in terms of finishing off his dog kennels and garage which he showed us with pride.
We stayed at the Norwich Hotel Nelson and booked a double room for the night and, after washing and changing, walked over to our favourite Floating Restaurant and had a nice meal at 9.30pm
It was always going to be a busy day and so we were up early and packed to get ready for it.
**"Read More" BELOW for the complete story**
We showered, had breakfast and then loaded Sam quickly aboard and set off before he could complain.
The normal stop at Barton Mills was not possible as we were due to go to the Bury St Edmunds magistrates court and so we got as near to their as possible and then took him for a nice walk along a bridleway and next to a stream.
We had dressed nicely to impress the justices and Wiggly was quite hot in her French Knickers and took me by my hand and put it up her skirt onto her bare buttock to get the appreciation that they warranted.
It was a nice still and temperate morning but their was no opportunity to take this encounter any further. We were early for our hearing and I took time to find a nice shady spot for Sam in the car in the grounds of a nearby private hospital rather than leave him and the car in the open sun.
Our experience of the court was a bit nerve wracking as we were kept waiting a while and then our paperwork was not completely in order. We did not have written consent from Freda and had not got any confirmation of her being notified about the application.
They adjourned for a while to consider the legalities and also hesitated initially about me not being able to show any experience of this trade in alcohol but eventually granted our Protection Order pending the final transfer when I would have to satisfy them of these points.
Back to Redgrave and me first to se the Brookes couple again to review the poster copy that Mr Brookes, the village correspondent, was preparing for me to display around the village.
Hardly time to draw breath on my return before first the Londis rep and then Peter Mould from Triple Software came, each to demonstrate their EPOS software. Peter was early and I had to take him to the pub whilst Wiggly bade farewell to Londis to avoid them clashing.
The weather had warmed up by then and I was getting uncomfortable in my shirt, tie, jacket and trousers after weeks in shorts and T-shirt. Some time with Freda and Alf discussing the arrangements for taking over now that we had received the formal confirmation of Sarah accepting the job to start on the 4th September.
Freda and Alf will go on the 13th September which will give a small handover time and there will be the handover stock-check on Monday the 11th.
Information on the shop assets had arrived from TAS and showed that both the photocopier and Chris's computer had been bought through the business yet taken from it which did not please me very much.
They will even be taking one of the freezers and have no idea of how to conduct themselves in business. I was waiting for the builder Keith Warnes to come at the end of the day and his news was not much better; wanting to finish off where he is next week and only come to Redgrave on Thursday/Friday.
Still, the handover arrangements are progressing reasonably well and we have protected the drinks license to carry on trading in the meanwhile so progress is being made.
Once we had finished off at the store, it was another rush to get over to Wymondham where we had made arrangements to see Jim Sayer to get the replacement aerial wand fitted.
This proved to be quite simple as the mechanism was able to grab the plastic ratchet wire and pull the new fitting down so as to be repaired within minutes.
Then across to see my friend Jim Bird. He had made great strides in terms of finishing off his dog kennels and garage which he showed us with pride. We went in for a mug of tea and to watch the game-keeping programme on the TV before setting off for Norwich.
We heard from Sarah Francis on the way who had already got on to the job of reviewing kitchen equipment and I briefed her about other developments and she was as enthusiastic as ever.
As it was getting late and we did not fancy the task of driving over to Horning and setting up the boat for a night's sleep, we stopped at The Hotel Nelson and booked a double room for the night and, after washing and changing, walked over to our favourite Floating Restaurant and had a nice meal at 9.30pm.
Our usual mushroom brochettes and plain onion rings to start and my favourite steak'n mussels to follow whilst Wiggly opted for the chicken pasta. We combined for a fruit ice cream special afterwards and some coffee before wandering across to bed for the night.