So poor I can't even pay attention

suzeesu2000

PIQ!!! Why didnt you IMMEDIATELY apply for his job?? hope the yard guff blows over soon, am sure it will once there is something else to occupy the small brains!

How lovely that you have holidays, will give you a chance to clear some headspace. Chin up.

Big hugs

dorothy52

And here comes Dot, bringing up the rear as per usual lol. Well, I didn't half go off on one yesterday, didn't I girls? You will be pleased to hear that my anger whilst not completely disipated, has subsided somewhat. As usual you have had the most wonderful advice from our lovely, lovely mse friends - what a phenominal community we are.

Grasp the Nettle - Brilliant, absolutely Brilliant. You know that I have been nagging - I mean gently urging - you to pursue this talent and passion of yours for a while now, and (trust me, the Dorothy is never wrong) I just KNOW that you can really make this work.

Pitching your price is crucial - learn from my mistakes - go in too cheap and your potential customers will think you are not very good. You can always offer a handsome discount to older folks to attract customers and get your name out there and get some fodder for your portfolio. Serendipity - spot on as always Robin - that word must have occurred to me just as it did to you when you read of the wonderful opportunity that you grasped.

Things will calm down at the yard, this level of animosity is just not sustainable long term, and your calm and measured response to it is, on reflection, the right way to approach it.

Lady, you can do this. If you need some start up capital then you PM me - you hear? I can not imagine a safer haven for my few hundred quid
that is languishing in my current ac gaining not a penny of interest than investing it in a fledgling business that I KNOW is going to be a success.

I know that you will spend your free time wisely, and once again (as I cannot help myself from doing) I urge you to start advertising, start researching, and start producing your pot plant markers that look fabulous.

There, I hope you feel better today, I certainly do.

Dotxx

the_cake

YES! Wholeheartedly agree with all the other Piquists - go for the gardening, and maybe supplement with some cooking? You are clearly talented in both ... also, house- and pet-sitting in the summer could be another string to your bow. I am sure you could build up enough business - after all, us MSE-ers are pretty good at living (even thriving) on a shoestring. Go for it. You know we will back you to the hilt!

Igamogam

Great name for a gardening business.....happens to form part of title to my diary :rotfl:

Definitely weird stuff at JC - my OH works for that government dept and he says for that to happen it was serious !!!!!!!!

Think your 'Tales from the Yard' are beginning to form a really good script.............get typing:)

houseboatdream

Hi Piq

De-lurking quickly to post. Sorry, I post rarely but I read your diary every day, even log on from france when I am down there. One of the many silent MSE fans who are willing you to succeed.

Just wanted to say re the gardening idea - go for it. Its exactly the right time of year. Also, not just the wealthier that will need gardening but dont overlook the OAP market.

At the moment I am looking after my Mum's house as she has gone in a Care Home. For the last couple of years she was incapable of doing the garden and used the services of a local small firm run by females. Mum used to call them the "gardening ladies" and she always looked forward to their visits. she much preferred them to the chaps she had used before and they did a much better job on the garden too.

I have kept them on until the house is sold and we are paying £25 for a lawn cut (when needed) and the borders trimming and kept tidy. They (well one of them) usually comes for an hour and half every fortnight or more if the lawn is rampant.

BTW sorry to read about the Yard problems. I have an old girl who is at a retirement yard miles away now so I am out of all that, but I do remember the cliques and nastiness that could build up on livery yards. My step-daughter has just had to move her horse to a new yard due to on-going thefts - they even pinched the blunt old kitchen knife she used to cut the bales :mad:

missrlr

Hello Piq love the idea for the name and just keep smiling hope the yard can sort

brizzledfw

missrlr wrote: »

Hello Piq love the idea for the name and just keep smiling hope the yard can sort

My thoughts exactly x

beanielou

& mine too.

twiglet98

Oh Piquant, this sounds full of possibility... :j I hope you enjoy researching some of the options during your well-earned time off!

Trying to remember the exact phrase my mother used to recite, I googled... and have copied and pasted extracts of the result - the first is the wording I heard from her when I was a child; the second, new to me, is surely more than sheer coincidence with it's inclusion of t'Cap?

Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs:


Home > Library > Religion & Spirituality > Proverbs
The metaphorical phrase to grasp the nettle, to tackle a difficulty boldly, is often found.


Tender-handed stroke a nettle, And it stings you, for your pains: Grasp it like a man of mettle, And it soft as silk remains. [1753 A. Hill Works IV. 120]

Be firm, Captain. ‥If you gently touch a nettle it'll sting you for your pains; grasp it like a lad of mettle, an' as soft as silk remains.

[1925 S. O'casey Juno & Paycock i. 35]

Related to: boldness

ani_26

Piquant wrote: »

The yard is a family owned business, basically one person is dictator (yo) and his daughters work the yard.

That puts a different slant on things. In this case, you're in a no win situation? {{hugs}}