Work at the 4 Square is much quieter at this time of year; some hunters, trampers and tourists prefer the off-season and it's nice to chat to them when they come in the shop. Our winter hours are 7.30am to 6.30pm so there's usually time to get stuck into cleaning the shop shelves and checking dates on stock. Delivery times are disrupted for a few months over winter as some ferry sailings get dropped. Our Wednesday dry-goods delivery remains unchanged though and there's still plenty coming in, including lots of new chocolate flavours.
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| Cleaning time - take everything off the shelf, clean, check dates and prices, then pop everything back in its right place |
Jules reigns supreme in the chocolate display area and, at last count, we had 42 different chocolate flavours on show. Harking back to Douglas Adam's 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' I'm pondering whether our chocolate display has something to do with the meaning of life! I'm a fan of Lindt Chilli chocolate but up until now have had to wait until I'm off island to be able to buy it.
Whittaker's have come out with a new Artisan collection including a chilli chocolate called Kaitaia Fire; Fern ordered in my Lindt favourite so the two chocolates could battle it out for supreme champion. A German friend told me a number of years ago that the only way to eat chocolate was to let it melt in the mouth - no chewing! Although Kaitaia Fire is yummy, Lindt remains my favourite but having it in the shop is now too tempting!!
The wind seems to have abated and I've finished my drink but before I head outside a quick update on my deer defences: the bird netting fence has worked well so far. Touch wood that it continues as the rhubarb has just started coming away again!
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| Rhubarb plot #1 |
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| Rhubarb plot #2 |
