So now I can tell you all more of our plans.The building is in a state - it's been empty for over five years and has had various bursts and roof leaks so there's quite a bit of work to do.
But the gal and her friends have set to it with sledge hammers and other beefy tools and have ripped out most of it. Fortunately, despite all the mouldy plasterboard, the wooden framework looks OK and with a good scrub from some of the rather noxious anti-mould stuff I've invested in we should be able to salvage quite a lot of it. The great thing about these buildings are that they are essentially concrete boxes so all the internal walls etc can be moved about how we want them. And because they're of such simple construction we can do most of the work ourselves.
The building has two areas - a shop and workshop space at one end and living accommodation at the other, with a lovely garden (full of soft fruits but in need of a lot of tlc
) and two sheds (one of which will convert nicely to a greenhouse we think).The best news is that the shop and workshop are in a much better state and so we can get the shop up and running quite quickly, and earn some money to do the rest of it. And that's brilliant as my shop is currently being used as a storeroom for all her stuff. So Green Aura will be moving into a prime position in the village!
Longer term (but hopefully not too much longer) we're going to open a bakery and vegetarian deli and as the building's big enough we'll split the living accommodation into a small apartment for the gal and another one at the end. Unfortunately we found out recently that my brother has cancer so it will be good to have somewhere for him if needed. Otherwise we can use it as a small holiday let, which will give us another bit of income.
So it's exciting times up here - and very busy ones too
Best of luck GA's daughter and GA 
