I’m still reeling at being told to ‘go lose myself in a festering compost heap of rotting flowers‘ … or words to that effect. The person telling me wasn’t actually that eloquent, his vocabulary and imagination seeming somewhat limited.

When I arrived to open up the shop on Friday morning, coffee mug in hand and mouth full of toast dripping with butter and jam, I was met by a couple of council workmen resurfacing the pavement area outside the shop. I nodded a polite hello and just about managed a grin without spraying anyone with wholemeal toast. I knew they were going to be doing this and was only surprised by the fact that they had started so early and were almost finished, it not yet being 8am!

The sticky wet surface covered almost the whole area at the front of the shop and as I was moving out the various truckles, barrows, crates and boxes of plants and flowers I realised that people would struggle to get passed, into or out of the shop, without sticking to the treacly tar.

So… I asked the gentleman, who was now putting up his pavement re-surfacing contraption into the back of his van

“How long will the surface take to dry?”

His reply was short and to the point, but it didn’t actually answer my question, unless there is a Effie off  time that I’m not aware of!!!! After which he jumped in his council transport and sped off, wheel-spinning out of Pulborough.

Well, after chocking on the remains of my toast, I managed to compose myself enough to call West Sussex County Council’s Highways department with a few choice words of my own!

The morning’s events could have clouded my mood for the rest of the day, but I’ve found that the best thing in these circumstances is to fool about and act like a five year old. Pondering on what had caused such a reaction or why someone should be so rude would only cause me to be stress and  scare off potential customers with a scary, crumpled up expression.

So if you ever walk into the Flower Shop and find me hiding in a cardboard box, then assume that someone has been rude to me and I’m simply retreating to my ‘happy place’.