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Ho ho ho

Look, I'm not going into it. The paint, the constant sore throat, the hammers and walls and tiles oh my.

But we managed to open.

So your humble correspondent has been an upstanding pillar of the community, one of Bonaparte's famed nation of shopkeepers for a whole three weeks though, most of which has been spent in a state of blind panic staring at the door and willing it to open. Things seem to be taking a turn for the cautiously optimistic though, and I have been knocking out some seriously decent grub and yes, it is a relief to be my own boss and yes, it is a relief to get to cook with decent ingredients rather than worry about some distant owners unit cost percentage, indeed it's a relief to never hear the words unit cost percentage. It's nice to work my way slowly though the beer list (should you ever come across anything by the Marble brewery of Manchester, buy it, better yet, come to Ormskirk and buy it from me). It's nice to actually HAVE to taste a variety of cheeses, it's particularly gratifying to have people come back and ask if there's any more of a dessert I made that their friend bought and loved (banana and maple bread and butter pudding, since you ask), it's an actual thrill to have people try the ice cream we stock and see the surprise and delight on their faces as they realise what the damn stuff is actually supposed to taste like. It's fun tracking down obscure cheeses that customers ask for, it's amusing handing our vouchers for a free coffee outside the local Costa.

Quadruple the amount of customers and I might even say I'm enjoying myself. Still, early days.

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