I just love the smell of an old book store and the feel of the crisp pages along my fingertips.
Leah Spiegel, Foolish Games
It is 7am. I’m standing at the arrivals gate at Dublin Airport, waiting. I’m tired but my parents will be more tired. They left their house at the ungodly hour of 3am.
Despite of the awfully early flight, my parents seemed very excited when we talked on the phone the day before. Hopefully, they will be full of energy.
Unfortunately, the flight is delayed. I'm wondering whether it is too early for another coffee? No, I could do with more caffeine. I left home very early on this foggy morning…sometimes it is nice to drive up to Dublin Airport when there is not much traffic.
While I’m waiting for my parents to come out of the arrivals zone, I have enough time to think about the last few weeks. As you might know from my previous blog post, I didn’t get much done last week. Will I be able to open the bookshop well before Christmas? I have been very worried and slightly stressed about this. The to-do-list has been growing over the weekend and, without additional help, there will be a lot of sleepless nights ahead. But I’m also incredibly thankful for this opportunity. Not in my wildest dreams would I have thought this would happen. It is so very exciting!
Finally, my parents have arrived. We’ve just gotten into the car when they explain to me, that they want to see the bookshop asap. It’s lovely to see how excited they are.
Thus, our first stop is Warrenpoint's town centre. I open the entrance door to the shop and…suddenly my parents turn very quiet. I guess, they thought that there was a little less to do. Then I show them my to-do-list ….. Despite of the volume of tasks at hand, my parents are super motivated. “Do you have enough paint brushes?”, my mum asks. My dad glances into the tool bag that my husband and I bought two years ago (and somehow half of its content has disappeared). No drill, no pliers…….
After a quick breakfast, we drive over to B&Q to get some more tools. I have never, ever spent so much time in a hardware store. We manage to walk around the shop for 2 hours! But most importantly, in the end, we got what we came for.
And so the work begins (again)….
And what a great week it was!
The plasterer came on Tuesday to fix up the ceiling and walls. That gave me some time to show my parents Rostrevor and the Fairy Glen. It was a lovely sunny day and my parents couldn’t believe how beautiful the surrounding area is. Warrenpoint and Rostrevor are magical places.
After our little break, every single one of us had a bit more energy for the next tasks. My dad built a display unit for the window as well as a checkout counter, which is absolutely fantastic (and it really looks great too!).
I like that the checkout counter isn't too big; it gives me much more space for the workshop area.
The display unit is a much-needed addition to the shop. It is big and fantastic for displaying Wee Bookworms's newest treasures!
To my delight, my mother loves to clean. When you open the door to the bathroom now, you are blinded by the gleaming washbasin and toilet….that’s how clean it is! My mum also painted the bathroom and kitchen. These rooms were completely transformed. The walls were mint green and dark purple before! Everything is looking fresh now.
My dad also took off a very old and grim looking halogen lamp. A funny find was the shop's doorbell ….Why do shops have doorbells? Does anybody know? Outside we removed the shop signage and inside we wallpapered three walls.
We also went to see the fireworks in Warrenpoint on Thursday evening. It was pouring down but despite of the weather, my parents did not want to leave until the fireworks had finished.
I think by the time my parents left on Friday, they were absolutely exhausted. Thanks again mum and dad!
The bookshop has totally changed in just a few days. The entire renovation process this week reminded me a bit of the book 'The Hungry Caterpillar'. In the last weeks I only had to feed the shop a wee bit but now it is cocooned and slowly transforming into a real children’s bookshop!
I’m so very thankful that my parents came over from Germany. It was such a productive week! Without them I wouldn’t have gotten this far. Now the opening party on the 07.12 feels much more achievable and realistic.
A lot of families and kids are passing my shop and I can see their delighted faces when they read the banner that is attached to my shop window. I’m so happy that so many people are looking forward to the shop opening!
I sent out a lot of book parcels this week for my Subscribers and I also had my first costumer from the USA, which I thought was amazing! Wee Bookworms is going global. 😊 I’m especially looking forward to preparing next month’s book parcels. They will be verrryyy Christmassy.
By the way, thank you for your great book suggestions for my shop! You had fab ideas and I will take them all into consideration!
Thank you for reading! Watch out for my new update at the end of this week!
Do you want to follow my bookshop journey? Click here for the first blog post in this series.
