Apparently the boss was on the radio just before seven this morning, talking about the problems the dry weather is causing for trees and shrubs, not to mention plant centres. That was presumably Radio Suffolk. I didn't hear it, but the interview was shorter than the boss was expecting, so the plant centre didn't get quite such a plug as he'd been planning, with no time to mention the forthcoming open weekend.
The open weekend is an annual jamboree, with talks, guided garden walks and cake. It is now only five days away, and so we are all tidying frantically. By an irritating twist of fate, one of the gardeners has to go on jury service, starting tomorrow. There's probably never a convenient time for a small business to lose a member of staff, but this week is even less convenient than most.
The start of the jury service was delayed by one day, for some reason, so the gardener was at work today to share in the excitement of the new tractor being delivered. I gather it will do all sorts of things that the old tractor couldn't do, as well as not produce gargantuan quantities of black smoke. I find it quite encouraging that the boss feels able and willing to invest a new bit of kit. Not only the tractor, but the front wall that was threatening to collapse on to the pavement has been rebuilt (I think the council did have something to do with that, as they don't like collapsing brick walls along the public highway). And it turns out we are going to recruit a new full time member of staff. This is probably a good thing, as we are permanently one person short at weekends, and covering for any illness or holiday at all depends on a constant flow of goodwill (plus availability given other commitments) from everybody. And we are going to have a tearoom.
Words almost fail me about the tearoom. All the staff have been telling the owners for ages that we need a tearoom. Potential visitors ring and ask if we have one, and actual customers express disappointment that we haven't. I've thought that given the cost and effort that goes into presentation in the plant centre, and the fact that we have a garden open to the public, we are pitching ourselves as a destination, attraction, day out, whatever you want to call it, not just a shop where you can buy a lot of plants. And English people expect tea and cake on their days out. Bill Bryson has identified this as an endearing characteristic of ours, that a cup of tea and some cake (or even a biscuit) makes us so happy, and he is right. You can't be a proper destination without a tea room. What swung it, according to the manager, was that when the HTA came the other week to do their co-operative critique of the business, they all said very loud and extremely clear that we NEED A TEAROOM. Never mind the display tables, they're very nice, but what about the TEAROOM? The owners are going to chisel a piece out of the back of the shop to make room for it, and keep it simple. Tea and cake. Maybe soup. I think they should have soup, or jacket potatoes. Not everybody likes sweet stuff. Before I get too excited about the tearoom I should remember the new plant catalogue and the garden guide, both of which have been promised but on hold for an age. But a builder did actually come and look at the shop today. And the tractor and the wall are facts. I have seen them.
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