Spring Snow Heralds a Speedy Completion!

What a wonderful week this has been!

We had a lovely little launch party on Sunday evening to celebrate the start date of our new business, Giraffe World Tours. It was held at my sister's restaurant in Neckelchester, and we couldn't resist a quick peek at Necky Knoll House before the party began. It had been snowing that day, and we stood outside our future home in the pale evening light. The pearly colours of the snow-clad landscape blended with the emerging spring foliage, and the house looked almost radiant.

We all felt it was symbolic of a beautiful beginning.

On Monday morning we were just about to go out and look for a nice bus for our Tours business, when the phone rang. It was the estate agent. He told us that as everything was going through smoothly with the purchase of Necky Knoll House, we could expect to complete on the 14th!

Only a week away ... (less than four days now)!

Offer Accepted - Necks Step Forward!

Wonderful news! The owners of Necky Knoll House have accepted our offer. We heard yesterday afternoon, and decided to celebrate in the evening with a special meal out.

On the way home we took a 'thank you' present to my sister Nektareeni for telling us about the property. We ended up having a second meal, (even bigger than the first one!), at the restaurant she runs with her partner Girth. Over coffee and hot chocolate we all discussed the way ahead for our business-to-be, Giraffe World Tours. Nektareeni and Girth will be helping with the catering, and were full of ideas for exciting recipes and menus. Necky Knoll House is only a little way down the road from their restaurant so this plan should work well. Their culinary masterpieces are irresistible.

Filled to the tops of our necks, we took a stroll through the village and along the road to Necky Knoll House. Standing outside in the clear still night looking up at our future home was a momentous experience. There is so much to look forward to: new home, new business, new adventures! Spring is a good time to begin ...

Personality Profiling for Entrepreneurs

Our first training session at the Busynecks Agency was most fascinating.

One of the exercises we did was a Personality Profile Test. The results showed that I am the visionary inspired entrepreneurial type, and Maureen is the business manager type.

I pointed out that I get most of my inspiration from Maureen.

The course facilitator advised rather earnestly that Maureen should be in charge of the financial side of things and the day-to-day running of the business.

Maureen turned to me with such a wonderfully serene smile, and we exchanged one of our special 'we are in this together' looks and shook hands. (We held hands throughout the rest of the session).

This weekend we're going house-hunting!

Giraught-stoppers and Start-ups

Relieved as I am to bid farewell to the world of accounting, I will be a little sad to leave our current home, Neckmoor Cottage. We've had such happy times in this little dwelling. All three of our children were born here and there are so many memories.

Looking at it on the positive side, we're not actually selling the cottage - we're keeping it to rent out as part of the business. It will be a moorland holiday haven for clients of Giraffe World Tours.

As a building, it can feel rather chilly. The Neckmoors are notoriously windy, and even with cosy log fires to supplement the central heating, the gales find their way gustingly into the rooms and make one reach for the extra-high-necked woolly sweaters. (I shouldn't really be writing this bit, should I? It may put off any prospective tourist-tenants who happen to read it!)

Our eldest daughter, Nexi, made some very decorative giraught-stoppers for the doors. (She's in her first year at Design College, and don't we know it!) The giraught-stoppers looked splendid, all smooth and silky with gold embroidery and lots of fancy beads, but they would have kept the draughts out a lot more effectively if they'd been made from simple furry fabric which absorbed the cold air!

However, I'm sure Nexi will be a very successful designer and her creative ideas will make her lots of money when she's older.

It is funny how business ideas are born. We'd all been getting our necks in a twist trying to think of the perfect business, when it suddenly happened because of a chance remark.

Maureen loves visiting new places of all kinds; woods, hills, rivers, little villages, bustling towns - she delights in them all. I'd joked, "We could do with a special tours company to meet all your needs!"

There was our business idea! And tomorrow afternoon we're booked in for our first 'Start-ups' session at the Busynecks Development Agency in Raffsburgh ...

The Escape of a Giraffe Accountant!

After seventeen years of working as a reluctant accountant at Storey & Tawle, Raffsburgh, I have today handed in my notice ...

I'm going to be an entrepreneur!

Maureen and I have been talking for quite some time about setting up a family business. It's just been a case of timing and coming up with the right idea.

(I'd actually come up with lots of ideas, but the family all called them 'eccentric schemes' or 'wild & wacky', and generally tied their necks in knots laughing).

This idea, however, is unanimously approved. We've decided to set up a small tours company, and we're calling it Giraffe World Tours.

I can't wait. No more sitting in a stuffy office all day, adding up other peoples' numbers. No more stooping over files and shuffling around musty old corridors. I'll be able to straighten my neck and look at the horizon ... gaze up at the stars! (Maureen'll be by my side to keep my feet on the ground).

There's just my notice to work here, and lots of preparation. We're going to buy a bigger house, with rooms for guests, and find a nice big bus for the Tours.

Doesn't it feel fantastic when you know it's the right time to stick your neck out for something you've always wanted!