Happy Smiles and Dirty Sexy tiles

As Plato said "Wise men talk because they have something to say


Fools talk because they have to say something"



Mmmmmmmmmmmmm I wonder which category I fall into??



Well, to be truthful I'm rather terrified of writing my blog this evening as there are going to be so many more people reading it now as we sent out our first newsletter to keep all our customers up to date and gave them the link to read the blog.............dear God why oh why did I agree to this?? We also put it on the front page of the new website where you can check out the logo and some photos, and a competition to win a table for the re-launch party...........now that's not to be missed!



Anyway, seriously I cannot believe how close we are now to Easter and our proposed date for re-opening. Yikes, whilst the builders continue at a great rate I seem to be languishing behind and getting no-where with all the things that need to be done. I thought it would be great fun to have 3 months off work...........yeah right. I have been learning so many new things it's scary and yet very empowering too. However tomorrow, and thank god I really am busy I was invited to a seminar on Web site analytics.....................yawn! What does this have to do with running a restaurant and hotel? Well seemingly quite a lot and I would tell you, honest, but I don't think I was paying attention that day!!



You may remember that , last week I was meeting up with the staff for the first time since we closed and it was really nice to see them again, although we were to discuss all the important things like uniforms, tag lines and training schedules, they started to misbehave , and quiz me on what was going on at the hotel. As per usual no-one could make a decision on what not to wear so I have more or less decided for them. I'm supposed to be their manager, not their mother!!!



Today we met up with the bric brac specialists ................yes there are companies that only provide this service. Mad, I know, actually they were two lovely young men and that at least managed to put a huge smile on my face as most of the builders leave the sexy out of the title. More on the tiling later. As I was saying the two lovely young men that I now forget their names, well I was a little bit flustered when I was introduced, have some great ideas but I will keep it a secret for now as you need to have some surprises for when we re-open!



Also met with the furniture supplier and boy are you just going to love the seats. I'm sure my restaurant booking sheet will have additional information bits like.................want to sit on those seats..........want to be in that coloured room. It is going to be so amazing



As I said earlier, the tiling is coming on really well in the restaurant area and by the end of next week I think they will be more or less finished with all the decorating jobs. Then it just comes down to the finishing touches and the dreaded cleaning..........well that'll be for the staff!



Talking of the staff, they too have been busy........

Carmine has more or less finished the menus, I've done the wine list, Clare has come up with some new cocktails, Liz has kept us all in order and is keeping us going with her home baking and Jokin, Robyn and Emma have been running hither and tither to find out critical information for me. Definitely a team effort and If you're reading this and fancy a career change........... Maybe you want to join our mad cap team, well visit www.lemon-tree.net to find out more





Can't wait to get back to work



Love

Colette xx