A former nurse is transforming a Fife ice cream shop into a 1950s-style instagrammable destination.
Shona Jones left her role as lead nurse at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary’s emergency department eight years ago.
Twenty-four years of dealing with traumatic cases had taken its toll on her mental health and she wanted a different pace of life.
Shona, 50, took over Carol’s Shop in her home village of Elie, running it on behalf of owner Carol Birrell.
The popular High Street business sells ice cream, milkshake and waffles and sees queues of customers outside each summer.
However, Shona has now bought the shop from Carol and has grand plans for the East Neuk spot.
She said: “Folk come from far and wide for Porrelli ice cream but I want to put my own stamp on the shop.
“It’s already a popular shop but we’re going to have a 1950s theme and make it instagrammable.”
Looking for treasure under the floor
In order to do that, Shona and husband Kenny are in the middle of a huge redecoration project that has involved digging up the floor.
“We knew there was an issue with the floor when we bought the business because when you walked past the cheesecake machine, it wobbled,” Shona said.
After stripping back several layers of old linoleum they dug into the floor and thought they had struck gold.
“I thought we’d found the Elie hoard,” joked Shona.
“But what we found was a china doll, two china handles, some broken bottles and a Courier from 1942.
“One of the stories was about the then Queen and Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret going to an event.
“And another included a war scene with a picture of soldiers in Europe.
“The work on the floor has set us back by about a week but we’re hoping to catch up so we can open in March as planned.”
New name and retro design
Shona will still sell Porrelli’s ice cream and her other well-loved products.
But among the changes will be a new name for the shop.
“I thought about leaving it as Carol’s Shop but my name isn’t Carol,” said Shona, who also runs the Elie and Earlsferry Photos page on Facebook.
“We’ve decided on LJ’s, which is the initials of my maiden name, Lamond, and my married name, Jones.
“We’ve gone with a retro design and colours for the shop.
“I honestly believe I was born in the wrong decade. I just love the 50s!”
The only things that won’t be retro are two Instagram frames – one inside and one in the window – where customers can pose for selfies.
Elie ice cream shop ‘is my happy place’
Shona described her business as her “escape”.
“I had been enjoying nursing but 24 years of sustained tragedy and then a series of unfortunate cases affected me mentally,” she said.
“I handed in my notice, which was a scary step, but my ex-colleagues and family all supported me in it.
“My last shift in charge was Hogmanay 2016-17.
“A lot of my work mates still come and see me and have an ice cream.
“The shop has become my happy place, which is reflected in the branding.
“The biggest issue I have now is a dropped cone.
“99.9% of the time our customers are lovely and happy and I just love the kids’ wee faces.”
Conversation