Lucky for some....

Well here we are at the end of another year. For me it's been a very busy and eventful one. Just before Christmas my brother had a new baby which is always a nice thing to happen any time of year. I had been anticipating a move into new shop premises for Mr. Books for most of the first half of 2012 and was on tenterhooks for much of March and April. I got the go ahead from my landlord in March and signed a lease in May, opening the very new look Mr. Books on June 1st. What some of you may not know is that this was the shop I'd looked at almost as soon as I opened the old shop around the corner in Bank Street. I saw it in an old Tonbridge Guide from the 1950s advertised as Greg's Bookshop and Stationers. I looked through the window one day and saw its huge potential even back then seven years ago. In fact, as I later found out, 142 High Street was a bookshop and/or stationers for most of the 20th Century. So you see, in a way, I've restored it to it's traditional use. Sadly though the move was tinged with sadness as the owner of the previous business passed away just after I'd moved in. So a big thank you has to go to Christine Izzard for being so lovely, putting a strong word in for me to my new landlord and for putting up with my cheek! She always said that my business would do well in this location and, so far, touch wood, that is proving the case. The last six months have flown by for me but, right now, I'm really feel the need for a few days off having only taken Christmas Day itself. Even the serfs in Medieval times would have 12 days off!
So onwards to the brand new year of 2013. That sounds like a date well into the 21st Century. No longer can we say the dawn of the new millennium; we're in the teenage years already. Lets hope that those years are a sight more peaceful than the teenage years of the last century. 1913 was the dawn of an age far more frightening than most of us can still imagine. Here's hoping then that 13 is a lucky number for all of you....