And we're off!

Two very happy customers at the end of our very first floristry workshop held in long standing florist Denningtons on Roman Road. They've never held a workshop before and the road has never really stayed open late before.

Jo and Sarah pictured are trailblazers because they're the first smart people in the road to clock the value of this little but important happening on the road. It's important because it represents change and new relationships between the shopkeepers and their potential customers. And hopefully it'll be the first of many such workshops that Lee runs - I suggested that in future he could do hen parties and birthdays.

Some of the shops stayed quiet on this, our late shopping night, others stayed resolutely shut and others still had lots of people in, mulled wine on the go and a proper buzzing atmosphere. It was a joy afterwards to text a friend and say 'it was great to hang out on The Roman' - it's the first time I've been able to say that in the 20 years we've lived here. So this might not be a great photo but it's a great blip for me.

It's really interesting to see who did well and who didn't this evening - who 'got it' and who didn't. It's a really slow process, requiring lots of patience, education, learning and coaxing and it's going to take a lot of effort to enable significant change, but this is a start. A good start. We're building on the success of the Summer and I can feel the quiet progress already. Now roll on the rest of the Fest!

Sorry I'm still being a rubbish blipmate - it's just too busy at the moment. Thanks for popping by though, it's really nice to share it all with you :-)