Books on shelves, sign on front

We may have mentioned before that we are not closing the shop at all in transitioning it from a cookshop to a bookshop. This has been a real challenge (some might use a stronger word, like 'lunacy'), but with some judicious movement of stock, late night and weekend work swapping in new bookshelves, it's worked really well. We started with the back room (which will be the children's room) and this has allowed the current shop owner (Jill) to provide a sneak peek to her regulars (she has an excellent deli further along Stert Street). Part of the bookshop will be very much a 'lifestyle' section - with cookery and gardening books interspersed with selected lines of her cookware - it looks very classy (but will it sell?). We've worked very closely with Jill over the last few months, she has provided excellent mentoring throughout, and Mostly Books would not be happening without her. Things seem to be progressing smoothly - with the exception of the BT line. Having received a confirmation of the installation date (29th June) in both email and letter, when I phoned this morning, they apologies and said this 'seemed to be a mistake' (only after I'd been put through to several departments). However, the heros over at artsmeetsmatter have begged and bribed to get us some Penguin deckchairs and mugs at short notice which should be arriving tomorrow (these looked particularly splendid in the window of Wenlock Books). We've slowly been slipping books in over the past week - but the pictures I took last night were a tad disappointing (I'll post a couple below). We've put the bare minimum out from the first part of the stock order so far. Tomorrow is the last 'big push' with family and friends helping to get books on shelves and do the finishing touches and I'll post some final photos late tomorrow night/Saturday morning. Now for some sleep...