lizwilliams | The week

Not a lot of writing has got done, in the absence of the laptop, but I've been catching up with some reading, namely Philip Ball's biography of Paracelsus, The Devil's Doctor. Fascinating for anyone who is interested in alchemy (or early mining technology, come to that). I've also been re-reading a bio of Culpepper.

We're nearly there with the re-organisation of the shops. Witchcraft Ltd is now more or less an apothecary's- we've got a stack of jars in there and a herbalist on the premises part time. People used to say that it looked like something out of Diagon Alley, but now it really does. Things are generally going well, although the credit crunch has been notable in town and indeed, throughout the country. We're being cautious. Culpepper had similar problems, I note. But the mood in town is positive, with all (well, most) of the businesses pulling together, exchanging information and undertaking some joint projects And the place looks fantastic - the hanging baskets this year are glorious and the town is filled with flowers. I haven't said much about the Chamber of Commerce here, but this is going well: we have a new office and some funding projects coming up.