The Aardvark Blog

February ending, can Spring be far behind
28/02/2015

The last day of February sees the Aardvarks in contemplative mood. Last year at this time we were enduring one of our worst months in the bookshop with extensive flooding on all  the surrounding roads. This year things have been much more serene, and partly as a result we have recorded our best ever February in the shop. With a strong performance in the Café as well, and some good online sales, the month has gone much better than I was expecting.

Next Sunday's Tree Walk is now full, and we have a reserve list. If you have booked for the Tree Walk and are unable to make it please let me know as soon as possible.

This last week has very busy with purchasing of new stock - some Henry James First Editions, some nice railway books, and quite a lot of fiction - and also with work on our forthcoming events. The Henry James books are from the latter part of his output and are all UK editions. They are priced between £20 and £50 and represent a marvellous opportunity to add an example from the Master to your library.

Great excitement about our Easter Event with three experienced authors and garden experts. In addition to the Cottage Herbery we will also be having for sale some of the wonderful plants from Claire Austin's internationally known nursery. With illustrated talks from all three authors, live music and some additional garden stalls, it promises to be our best ever Easter celebration. The talks will be free, but we will be asking people to book in advance to give us some idea of numbers.

Also approaching is our next map exhibition 'The Past is Ourselves'. I have nearly finished putting together the list of maps - I am viewing some more maps next week, and I am confident that it will be as strong as our previous exhibitions, and in some respects even stronger. I think that we are particularly strong in maps on Radnorshire this year - a truly magical county for which I have much affection - and there will certainly be some rarities to please the true collectors and enthusiasts.

Bookings for the Mortimer Country Food Fair are coming in strongly, and there is also great excitement about this year's re-enactment ( our largest ever event ).

Next week we begin looking through the applications for Catherine's position, with interviews posted for the week after. Change is never something that I enjoy - and working with Catherine has been a great and continuing pleasure - but new  people bring their own skills and enthusiasms, which is always uplifting.

Visitors to the Aardvark Café will notice that cakes are now all presented in beautiful high glass domes. Suddenly even the most humble cake looks like a showstopper, and the more complicated cakes look like design icons!