I’ve invested in a new van, which I use for everything from going to the cash & carry to deliveries to walking the dog, so it’s being seen a lot by the locals.

I was looking for a van for a long time, and now I’ve finally got one – but I wanted to make it stand out.

Well-known author Tom Sheppard lives in the village, and he shops in our store. He came in one day and we had a chat; I told him that I’d been looking for someone to do an artist’s impression of the village but hadn’t found the right person.

He volunteered and produced a great design, which is now on the side of the van – it includes pictures of local hubs like the church, and sheep to remind people that we supply fresh, local meat.

We’ve received so many compliments on it; even people from outside the village stop me to tell me they like it.

In terms of sales, drinks and ice creams have been going well, and I’m thinking of increasing my focus on my frozen range.

I’m on a mission to try and make the village more in love with the shop, so I’m closing for a few days in August.

We were going to have a complete refurbishment, but that’s too expensive, so we’ll concentrate on the areas that need the most attention.