Did you give something up for Lent this year? Or perhaps you feel that we've all already had to give up too many good things over the last year? Either way, what's certain is that we could all do with a few small treats to look forward to over Easter, and even if it's not going to be the 'family Christmas at Easter' that we were all hoping for (has anyone else got Christmas turkey legs lurking in the freezer and a Christmas pud loitering in the cupboard?) we have all sorts of delicious things in the shop to help you celebrate. Our wine …
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We're hoping that March will bring the glimmerings of light at the end of the tunnel for everyone, with falling Covid cases, re-opening of schools, warmer weather and longer days. We will have some good things going on at the shop too with two local businesses ready to supply us with their first-class produce again. Firstly we will have Spring bulb flowers from Colestocks Flower Farm, what could be a better symbol of new life and a fresh start this Spring? Last Autumn Jenny and Tom were busy planting masses of tulip bulbs and beautiful scented …
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Ding dong merrily on high! Once again we are offering you free hot drinks this December to provide some comfort and cheer this gloomy winter. In return, if you felt like giving a donation to our fund for village groups that would be very welcome. Or why not buy some of our raffle tickets in December and you will have a chance to win £50 or £25 to spend in the shop. This year, all profits from our weekly raffle and all last year's hot drinks donations went to the Friends of Payhembury School who have been prevented from doing most of their …
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The government's mantra of Hands, Face and Space is of course important, but a few months ago who would have thought that Keys, Contactless card and Mask would be essentials on everyone's 'things to remember when going out' list? Whilst we can't help much if you forget your keys, we do have ideas to help if you forget the other two. Most of you will know by now that we have a simple and convenient accounts system for customers, but if you are new to the village we should probably explain; you just need to come into the shop, sign the paperwork …
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This month we were hoping to encourage everyone to come to our annual members meeting but at the time of writing it looks like this is unlikely to go ahead in its traditional form. We will keep you posted about arrangements and will make sure that everyone will be able to read chairman David's report on this year's trading and our plans for the future. In the meantime we are always happy to try and answer your questions and we welcome any suggestions you have; it's your shop! Sadly, our favourite local yoghurt and ice cream makers …
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We have all been admiring the flowers by the Payhembury sign and along Church Lane recently as well as the fields full of cheerful sunflowers at Rull and brilliant blue chicory flowers at the bottom of Poffitt Lane and it made us wonder if we could start selling cut flowers. Luckily for us we have found a grower and garden designer in Colestocks who we hope is going to provide us with beautiful fresh Devon garden flowers to sell in our shop, none of your long distance air-freighted flowers here!  Weekends are busy in the shop with lots of …
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It's lovely to see the old familiar faces of our 'senior' volunteers back behind the counter again this month, we missed you! We have been tremendously lucky in Payhembury with the support we have had from all our volunteers who have continued to help in the shop throughout the lockdown and also from all the people who stepped into the breach and started helping us during that time. We recognise that now life is beginning to return to some sort of normal and everyone is busier we will inevitably lose some new volunteers but we really hope that …
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There are many tasks which go on behind the scenes in the shop, from entering reams of data on the computer to paying the bills, date checking the stock, fetching the frozen food from Exeter, ordering and sourcing products, cleaning and tidying, watering the plants, keeping the storeroom organised and hauling the deliveries up there each week. We are very grateful to everyone who helps with these and the countless other jobs, as well as to all those who have become masters of the electronic till. Your help has enabled us to make donations this …
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We've been enjoying another very busy month in the shop in May and are feeling lucky that we have so many great local businesses keeping us well stocked. Unfortunately, in common with many other small shops at the moment, our relationship with our wholesaler has been a bit strained, so if you see gaps on our shelves (remember liquid soap and hand sanitiser anyone?) rest assured that our fantastic buying team are doing their very best to fill them. You may remember that at the beginning of April, we ordered a screen to go in front of the …
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