Today was a special day.

Firstly, there was a meeting of the Advisory Board at the Rutland Arms, Wanganui, see below.
This is a group we have set up to help Dowdeswell's Delphiniums Ltd grow the business and achieve greater market recognition and penetration. We want to do this while maintaining the high level of service that has become a cornerstone of our business, and the quality of our product, New Millennium Delphiniums.

The advisory board consists of a professional business consultant with organisational expertise in taking micro businesses such as ours, up a notch or two and two "outsiders" who each have extensive experience at the CEO level, in export orientated, high value, horticultural enterprises and institutions. Janice and I complete the picture. I am mentioning this meeting because I want to emphasise how important it is for a small business like ours to have access to such high calibre people, their knowledge and the many, many connections and networks that they hold the keys to. They have encouraged and mentored us and made us see opportunities we would undoubtedly have overlooked.

Secondly the day was special because I got to see mum and dad. Dad is in hospital care in the late stages of Alzheimer's disease and mum in a rest home facility in the same building. It is only recently that we have been able to arrange for them to be so close to each other, close to us and so well cared for. It is particularly satisfying to see mum so happy and content and once again able to be near her husband of over 60 years.

Thirdly it is a special day because it is Anne Cooke's birthday and we got to call her. Anne is a great friend from Dawson Creek, BC, Canada and I'd been trying to reach her for the last few days and getting a message that the number was no longer in use. She wasn't answering emails either. Anne is not as young as I and I was becoming worried but finally managed to track her down through one of her friends. It turns out that Anne's finally sold her large house and garden and moved, at extremely short notice, into a smaller house and greatly reduced garden just this week, hence the disconnection of the phone. Her email is down until her daughter's, you know, special relationship, comes this weekend to fix it up again.

That's my day. How was yours?