To begin at the very beginning........

Well, here I am then, starting my first ever post(?) on my brand new blog.  I wouldn't have ever thought of doing this if several things hadn't happened - but "twas ever thus", as someone said.  My lovely daughter became a blogger a year or two ago, and now has quite a following.  Before reading hers, I'd always said that they (blogs) were a total waste of time, but I rapidly changed my mind, & now I am a big fan.  But what has really decided me to start my own blog is that one of the two bookshops where I work is about to close due to falling sales, & the future of the other - same owner, different town - is looking rather uncertain.  I'm really upset, as I had to wait until I was in my fifties to find the perfect job for me, & now, four & a half years later, I'm losing at least half of it.  It's not just the money I earn that I will miss, but my colleagues - there are just four of us, a full time manager, & three of us part-timers.  We are like a family, covering each other's holidays, rejoicing at each other's good news & commiserating with bad news.  We have to be at death's door to be off sick.  It's the first time in my working life that I've experienced this.  We are all dreading the final day, when we close the shop for the last time.  It's the same at the other branch where I work.  There is some prospect that that branch will stay open, we just can't be sure of anything yet, & that doesn't alleviate the sorrow of the other closing.  Anyway, as a result of all this, my husband & I have decided to try & fill the gap that will be left in the town as a result of the shop closing, & will be opening a bookstall in the same shopping centre where the shop is/was, so that the customers who don't like to order their books online will still be able to obtain them.  We at the shop have been telling our customers about it since we thought of it - only eleven days ago! - & the reaction has been very encouraging.  So it's all systems go, we're frantically arranging renting space, insurance, suppliers, business cards, & all the other paraphernalia which goes along with running one's own business.  Luckily for us, we have lots of very supportive people on our side, from the shopping centre manager to local independent traders.  Our daughter (the blogger) is also being an enormous help on the publicity side of things.  It's frightening, but also very exciting.  This blog will be in large part about our progress, as well as goings-on in our family.  I look forward to reporting back very soon, but for now this chronicle of the doings of a bookselling granny has reached the end of its first chapter.