How to Checkout on Our New Website!

So, we have a brand new website, provided by Square Up, who are a payment processor, we have the website for free and they take a fee for processing the payments. I find this a superb way for our business to work because it means we are not wasting money on monthly website fees, without knowing if we are going to make a sale or not and when we do make a sale, Square Up get paid. I think that is a realistic way for them to monetize their business, so that it is fair to them and fair to small business owners.

Whilst we are talking about business, if you do have your own small business and because of the situation with Coronavirus and having to shift your business online, I really do recommend Square Up, you can literally make your own e-commerce site and only pay for it, as a percentage of your sales.

If you would like to look into that, please use this link, which means that you will get free processing fees for a time and so will I, for referring you. Now, I must point out, that I'm not referring you because of the freebie but because it has really worked for me, the free processing is an incidental happiness that occurs if you use this link.

In the main, people have been finding the website easy and simple to use, once they get to know how it works and I have found it to be really helpful because, a lot of the time, when people are putting in their orders, the work is automatically done by the website, the stock levels, the payment and the organising the delivery, or Click and Collect time, which means I can juggle the home learning that I am doing with Elijah, far more effectively and it is better for our family, all round. More about that, here.

If you are using the website checkout for the first time, there is a bit of a learning curve. Several people, upon using it for the first time, have found it difficult to check out. Sometimes, they have tried late at night, not been able to do it and then they have tried the next morning and it has worked. Sometimes, they have chosen the Google Pay button, instead of the Checkout button and that has worked better for them, sometimes, they have found putting in a full postcode doesn't work, so they have just put in the first 3 digits. It is frustrating when you want to buy something from a local business ad you want to support them but you just can't seem to make that payment go through. Please don't worry, or feel embarrassed, it's not just you. If these were normal times, I would stand by your side and show you how it's done on a computer in our shop but the reason we need the website is because, this is our future and this is our new normal.

This is why I have written this article, to help you navigate your way through the Checkout section of our website.

How To Checkout on Our New Website!

First go to our website, here.

How do you find the products that you want?

1/ You can search for an individual item by clicking on the magnifying glass icon, circled in red in the picture below, to the top right hand side and entering your search term in.

2/ You can click on the relevant category on the list to the left hand side of the pictures, as also circled in red, in the picture below.

3/ You can browse through all pictures of the items and click on the ones you want, which gives you the opportunity to put them into your basket.

Once you have clicked on an item you like, to put it into your basket, select the green 'Add to Cart' button, circled in red in the picture below.

If you want to continue adding items to your basket, just look at the bottom of that section, underneath the Checkout Button and Google Pay Button and in blue, in small letters, it says, 'Continue Shopping', click on that. Keep repeating the selection procedure steps above, until you are ready to checkout and then select the green Checkout Button, circled in red, in the picture below. Then follow the steps outlined in the next section, 'How Do I Buy the Item or Items, that I have put into my Basket?'

How Do I Buy the Item or Items, that I have put into my Basket?

1/ To buy your item, or items, you need to click on the green 'Checkout' button, that has been circled in the picture beneath, in red.

2/ If you have continued browsing the products and you can't see the Checkout Button on your screen, you can get to it, by clicking on the trolly icon, in the top right hand corner. Circled in Red, in the picture below.

3/ Once you have clicked on the Green Checkout button, you will be taken to a section titled Secure Checkout.

4/ There is a subheading underneath that called, Your Details. (To the right hand side of the page you will see your Order Summary.)

5/ You will need to fill in all parts of the Your Details Section, taking special care the for the Phone Number part. Scroll down and select 'United Kingdom' for the Country Code, (If that is where you are ordering from) and then in the box for your phone number,
DO NOT write the first 0 of your number, as circled in the picture below.

6/ Click the Black Button that says NEXT.

7/ Please note, that if you are still on the Your Details section, then you have done something wrong, you'll need to scroll up and see if there is a message in red and correct what the message has highlighted.

8/ If you have done the last part successfully, you will then move onto the next section, this is called Store Pick Up, as shown in the picture below. Details are given about how to pick up at our shop. You can keep the default time you are given, or you can select another later time, by clicking on 'Schedule for Later'. The dot is beside the one that is selected.

 9/ Look further down that section and you will find the black button with NEXT written on it, in white, select that button. This is circled in red, in the picture below.

10/ That will bring the next section up, which is pictured below, called Payment Information.

In this section, if there is just one digit wrong, or one space, in the wrong place, the transaction won't go through. So, you have to really double check everything that you enter.

 11/ First you'll have to enter your credit or debit card number, that is the long number across the middle of the card. Just type one number in after the other, no spaces. (The website will automatically put the spaces in for you)

12/ Then you will have to enter the expiry date of the card, don't mix this up with the date of issue and make sure you have written the exact digits on the card, otherwise your transaction will not be successful. (The computer will put in he forward slash)

13/ You will then have to type in the CVV number. This is the last 3 digits of the number printed in black on the back of your card, on the signature strip. Get them right, otherwise the transaction won't go through.

14/ Next you will have to enter your postcode, this has to be the same postcode as the card is registered to, otherwise the transaction will be unsuccessful. You will have to make sure that you type in the first digits and then leave a space and then type the following digits. The postcode BA4 5AS, for example needs a space between the 4 and the 5, if you don't leave a space, the postcode won't be accepted.

15/ Then you will need to enter your billing address, make sure the postcode matches the one you have written by your card details and has the same space in between.

16/ Then you will have to enter your phone number. Again, you will select the United Kingdom in the scroll down menu and only write your number, without the leading 0, otherwise, it will not work and you will get an error message.  The photo below show the correct format for how to write your phone number.

 17/ Select the Black Button that says 'Next'. It will bring up the Review & Submit Order section, as shown by the picture below.

 18/ You'll notice that you can write me a note, you don't have to but you might need to if you have already ordered and you want to add this order to another order you are due to pick up, or if you can't make that time, or if you want to ask about another product. That kind of thing.

19/ You might want to save your information for a faster checkout next time, or you might want to do the same process that you have here because a faster checkout involves a code getting sent to your phone and you might not like it.

20/ There is a big black button at the end of this section which says Commit to Buy, click on that and your order should go through.

21/ You will definitely know if your order has gone through because there will be a confirmation screen that pops up. It looks like the picture below. It starts off with 'Your Order has been received'.

22/ It tells you when your order is due to be picked up, the pick up location and even has a link to directions.

24/ You will probably receive an email and/or a text message confirming your order too.

25/ If you don't get the above message, then your order hasn't gone through and you need to scroll up and down the page you are stuck on, to find an error message written in red.

26/ If, however, you don't consider technology your strength and you have managed to follow these instructions and you have persevered, then congratulations and you definitely deserve to get your order! WELL DONE!

Please let me know if you have successfully ordered using these instructions, I'd love to know. I'd also love to know if there is anything I should amend in these instructions.

Thank you for your time and effort in doing this.

Karen.

Bin There, Done That But...

What a great job, in front of the iconic Pyramid Stage!

The reason that I find it difficult to imagine enjoying Glastonbury Festival is because I do not enjoy being in any type of queue, the traffic chaos of last night (June 21st) is something that I would not be able to put up with at all, I cannot tolerate changes in temperature very well at all, especially cold, so being wet and muddy and feeling cold doesn't appeal to me whatsoever. For many years I thought I was just a snob, as I felt the only way I could enjoy the festival would be in a special bit away from the crowds and with no queues and looked after properly. Then after photographing Collett Festival, the other week and being able to go backstage and right up in front of the stage, to get my shots, I realised that perhaps I need to be just working at Glastonbury Festival, in order to enjoy it, rather than being a member of the public. I need to be involved from the inside. I find the whole concept rather overwhelming and the space huge and the amount of choice of what to do just incredible, so for me the whole thing is about getting myself accustomed to the sensory overload that I would experience in these conditions. I've suspected for a long time now, that I am on the high functioning end of the autistic spectrum and that is why I have these issues, that 'Neuro Typical' people just don't seem to have. So, when a very special family, customers of our shop, told us that they were organising bin painting at the festival, I was very interested in seeing what it was about. They told me that if I did 10 shifts of bin painting, that I would be able to get free tickets to the festival! I didn't know if I would like the vibe, or painting bins, or even if I would be able to do it, or anything, so I just kept saying 'No'!

From left to right: Andy, Thali and Holly.

However, Holly, Andy, baby Thali and brother Sky, are lovely, lovely people and really encouraged me to do it, even if it was for just one hour. (Well baby Thali didn't encourage me verbally but he has such a lovely way with him and a gorgeous beaming smile too, very hard to resist!) My problem was I was just very, very scared! I was worried about going there, finding them, doing it and just everything. I was frozen by the thought of stepping a bit outside my comfort zone. So frozen that I dressed in old clothes specially for bin painting for three days in a row before I finally managed to convince myself to get into my car and drive down to where I didn't know where I was going.

When I found the Worthy Farm Festival site, the security where wonderfully smiley and welcoming and not intimidating at all and there was a very friendly lady in the office called Emma, who offered me chocolate biscuits as I awaited Holly to pick me up in her 4x4.

I eventually got dropped off in a field and Sky, Holly's brother was my leader. I was introduced to his team of bin painters and then given brushes, paint, a bin and instructions to do something happy and bright! So before lunch, I painted bunting going round my bin and then after lunch, which was a very delicious vegan option from Goose Hall, the onsite restaurant for staff, I painted flowers around the bottom half. I took a sneaky peak at some other finished bins to get an idea of the technique that I could use to paint some pretty flowers. I LOVED being let loose on a bin! It was a happy, relaxing time. I didn't really want to chat, I loved being in my own little world just happily painting, whilst someone blared out some tunes from their phone and a speaker. ( I think I was expected to interact a little more though, as John, another volunteer bin painter told me about the bonding exercise that they had done as a team and how it was really good to break the ice and so on). After I finished my bin, I said goodbye to everyone and planned to come back again the next day.

My first and only bin so far, with bunting and flowers.

The next day, I had to park up in a lay-by and then walk into the site. I found a great little spot to park up and due to my inexperience with Glastonbury Festival and where everything is, I ended up walking, not knowing where I was going for a couple of hours, I was completely lost and found a perimeter fence, there was a sign about a gas main and phoning the site office for permission to dig, so I decided to phone that number to find out where I was and how to get in, then as I dialled the number, Michael Eavis' office number came up, I described to them where I was but they didn't recognise it either, there are a lot of places looking the same, so they advised me in the end to just keep walking around the fence and I would bump into someone to help me eventually. I had actually got straight through to Michael and I was really shocked that it was him who answered the phone and he was just as shocked that it was me who was phoning, different reasons to my shock of awe and admiration, I think! After a quick chat his PA, was the one who gave me the guidance to follow the fence and there was I imagining special treatment, like a rescue helicopter loaded with food and drink for me and a special guided tour by Michael himself but I really should have known better!

Eventually, I came across the right people to help me and I marched all the way to the Bin painting field where I discovered, there was no-one and I realised that it was lunch! Yippee, so after walking all that way, pass The John Peel Stage, pass The Pyramid Stage and taking some pictures too, I arrived just in time for lunch. There was a queue, I didn't have a meal ticket but for some reason the very lovely security took pity on me and put me at the front of the queue and asked a bin painter, with purple paint marks on her face to explain why I would need a meal. Then I bumped into Sky! So synchronicity was starting to kick in at last and it kicked in so perfectly, that as I sat down to enjoy another beautiful vegan meal at Goose Hall, torrential rain banged on the tin roof of the structure we were in and I felt extremely lucky to be fed, watered and dry and not still lost!

In the afternoon, we were told that we wouldn't be painting bins but we would be painting a mural! Which sounds really exciting but I just wanted to go home, as I find working in a team really difficult indeed, unless I have my own role nicely mapped out, starting to panic a bit, I made a joke about there being no 'I' in team, so I'd better F@*"k off then but Andy told me to stay and paint my own little piece of wall on the end. That felt ok to me, so I stayed. It suddenly felt very not ok when other painters came by looking at what I was doing, maybe thinking I must be a really good painter to get my own bit of wall, until I explained to them that I'm rubbish at working in a team, that put the score straight for them and immediately lowered their expectations of what was going to appear on that wall. I was blown away by the murals that they were creating, I couldn't understand how they managed to communicate with each other within about 5 minutes what they were going to map out and how they were going to paint it, they were all extremely talented! The rain was relentless whilst we were painting but we kept going as luckily we were undercover. Then, when I finished my piece, Holly, Thali and her Mum picked me up and very kindly gave me a lift to my car.

Do I want to do this next year? Oh yes please! Would I like to do the ten days for a ticket to Glastonbury Festival? Absolutely! So yes, I've 'Bin There, Done That But...' I haven't done the festival yet and I really would love to because now I see that the festival is a place that pulls many like-minded people together! How could I, a lover of performing arts, not be involved in the festival in any way, when I live in the nearest town? So, yes, I am a convert, I admit it, I am a Glastonbury Wannabe and I want to paint those bins next year!

If you would love to be a volunteer bin painter for 2017, then you need to email Holly!

Shepton Mallet: Somerset's Festival Town!

Sssh, there's nothing to see here, move along please, there are no festivals here!

Shepton Mallet: Somerset's Festival Town!
Wow! Why would you say that? Why would you want to plaster that on every sign post as you enter our town? Why? Is that even TRUE?

1/ 'Glastonbury Festival is the largest greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world and a template for all the festivals that have come after it.' (Official Glastonbury Festival Website) and Shepton Mallet is the nearest town to the world's largest greenfield music and performing arts festival! Why should we not bask in that reflected glory and embrace that amazing association? Our town is crammed with people visiting because of Glastonbury Festival, it's only for a few days of the year....but then other towns that capitalise on historical events, for instance, are only referring to something that's history and isn't going to happen again! There are film and TV crews and media companies from all over the world to film this event and it is imperative that we embrace our close association with this phenomenal happening! The link being made clear is long overdue.

2/ The Royal Bath and West Showground is in Shepton Mallet and the NASS Festival, The New Wine Festival, The Soul Survivor Festival, The Somerset Food and Drink Fest and West Fest, are all held there. Plus there are several events and shows, which are festival-like in nature although not in name, such as the Royal Bath and West Show, The Giant Flea, The Motor Home Show and other big events and happenings. The word Festival embraces the feel of all these functions and events.

3/ The Mid-somerset Show, or Shepton Show, held on the ground by Cannards Grave Road, is right in Shepton Mallet itself. It's been running for 163 years and attracts thousands of people! That is a really, really big deal! Let's acknowledge it.

4/ Collett Festival, celebrating our own wonderful park and hopefully the slight name change from Collett PARK Festival, will mean the festival spills out from the park and into our High Street and that individual shop keepers are inspired to put on different events, exhibitions and happenings, alongside the celebrations in the park, to raise the profile of Shepton Mallet even more!

5/ The Lantern Parade, is another fantastic reason to visit Shepton Mallet, as an outsider coming from London, that looks pretty much like a festival event to me!

6/ Then we have the absolutely incredible Shepton Mallet CARNIVAL! Filled with lights and music and dancing and theatrical tableaux on floats! You might not know BUT this does not happen in every town! This is a brilliant event and another festivity that we need to proudly proclaim!

7/ In our day to day life, living in this town, no it doesn't feel like one big festival....but for people that visit us, for people that look for accommodation here, for people passing through, or using hotels, or B & Bs and so on, they see us as a Festival Town because that is mainly the reason that people come to Shepton Mallet! We are in the middle of all the festivities!

The only good reason that I can see for NOT plastering 'Somerset's Festival Town' all over the sign posts on the entry to Shepton Mallet is if you just want to keep it a secret and you DON'T want to share the fun, with anyone else, from anywhere else, you want to keep it under your hat and don't want anyone else to know.

The truth is, WE ARE SOMERSET'S FESTIVAL TOWN and we ought to enjoy and embrace that title and feel proud and sing it out loud and be thankful that somebody with brains, balls and vision has pointed it out to us! This title is more than a title, it's the key to us recognising our strength and to let other people know about it. It's the key to reviving our economy, to boosting our morale and to at last realising our TRUE identity!

The Day Michael Eavis told me NO!

2013 was the year that +Michael Eavis  successfully booked the Stones for Glastonbury Festival and it was the year that I first met Michael. He has such vitality, energy and wit about him, he is definitely no ordinary old age pensioner! 

I asked Michael if I could have some free tickets to Glastonbury, as I had never ever been before and he said something along the lines of,'Wow, amazing, incredible, gosh that is so very unusual, not many people can say that, you've never been to Glastonbury before? I quite admire that, it's quite amazing, different, yes, yes, very admirable, I respect you for that.....'

Of course I just knew he was going to give me some freebies to welcome me to Shepton Mallet, the nearest town to the festival and get me to realise why I would absolutely have to go every year....
He continued....

'It's a wonderful thing, you've never been before....' I'm nodding away, thinking...'this man likes my independent thinking, he knows I'm discerning, I'm special and once he's won me over, he knows that I'll be telling everyone how wonderful it all is, after experiencing it for the first time ever!' I was smiling at him, he was smiling at me, we both chuckled and nodded our heads at each other happily and he said....
'Let's keep it that way!'

'What?' I asked, not believing my ears, thinking he's joking.....
'I think it's a wonderful thing that you've never seen the festival, let's keep it that way!' All the while he was chuckling and smiling an impish looking smile.

This must have been the nicest way to be refused a freebie ever, ever, ever.....with smiles, laughter and jovility but my heart sank. Here I was, after just 30 minutes or so, thinking that we were best pals and he understood my quirky, eccentric ways because he too has quirky eccentric ways and oh, I was just a traitor that had never supported his vision. 

I felt bad and tried to remember why I had never ever wanted to go......wellington boots, muddy fields, too many pop stars and big egos, (my ego is enough for me in a wet, muddy, cold field) I didn't want to stand in the cold, not hearing the vocals properly, or hearing people sing flat because they can't hear themselves through the sound system. I didn't want that disappointment when you hear the talent live and compared to the tight studio sound, it's as if all the notes have been mixed up in a blender, thrown into the air and only vaguely resemble the music you know, when they come back down again. Yes, I admit, I am a Glastonbury sceptic but the reason I want to go is because I live right next to it and I love local and I love supporting local, so if this is a local initiative then that is fab and I want to join in and experience the fun! Then when I've experienced it I want to shout about it.
I'm just going to have to save up really, really hard if I want to get some festival tickets!

The reason that I went to see Michael with  is because I wanted to ask him to support me in my campaign to be Town Councillor in  and he did and I won the election with a landslide victory! So a massive thank you anyway to Michael for supporting my campaign and of course to Garfield and  for supporting me all the way! 

Did you ever ask a cheeky something from someone? Did you get what you requested, or did they say 'No' and have you ever had a 'no' as nice as the one that Michael gave to me? I'd love to know, please comment here.