Go on

Walter was christened yesterday and we hosted the post service party - sandwiches, scones, lemon drizzle.
Thank goodness because otherwise the rain gave us very little to do.

A family who visit us once a month or so came for lunch.
Dad was wearing such a stunning coat (wool, plain back, pristine condition - looked brand new) that I commented. He opened up the coat to reveal a scarlet lining. Not the sort of thing a farmer from these parts might be expected to wear.
He smiled and said the coat had a story.
It had belonged to Harry Secombe.

Harry Secombe's coat. In MY tea rooms.
Made my day.

Gingerly

This drought we're in is horribly wet. So, in between serving the six customers the day brought, I made a ginger cake with black treacle, golden syrup and muscovado sugar. Not my personal favourite but I have been persuaded of the merits of ginger so I might try a stickier version. Trying out new cakes is the way I'm going to get through the rainy season. If the rain doesn't stop soon I'm going to need elastic waistbands.

Drizzly when wet

So we knew it would be quiet. The forecasters had made the UK look like a glass filling up with water. It rained. Boy did it rain. So I made lots of Lemon Drizzle cake, which made me very happy. Eleven people braved the weather. Eleven whole people. Eleven people more than I thought we'd see. The first two were from Oklahoma: "what are we gonna do? stay in the hotel? We're only here for two weeks." They told me about the addictive qualities of caffeine. There were two en route from London home to Liverpool. He asked if we had anything low carb. Erm no. And then had a scone with jam and cream. Two more en route from Herefordshire home to London. They had a full lunch. Thank goodness. Two men came in twice (I only counted them once). Tea and cake twice in a day. My kind of men.

What the Dickens?

This has been a weekend of firsts.
I had to explain to a family what a quiche is. Try it. It's tricky.  
An old gentleman asked if his teeth would be able to cope with our special panini.
Fortunately for us all they were.
We gave away 14 copies of A Tale of Two Cities having been chosen as a World Book Night Giver (ten more to give away tomorrow).

And yesterday some "lady" swiped a full bottle of hand wash from the ladies loos.
Must've thought it came free with her tea and scone.

  

Stars

One of those speculative 'phone calls that I love so much came today.

The young sounding girl asked to speak to the manager. Then:

"Do you want to sell your cafe? "

Erm. No thanks.

"Are your sure?"

Yes, I'm sure.

"Oh, ok then. Bye."

The other momentous event was the Environmental Health man turning up unexpectedly for an inspection.

He gave us Five wonderful stars again and bought two pieces of cake to take home.

It rained. A lot.

Which meant we had few visitors.

The upside was that we were able to have lovely conversations with them all.

Ho ho.

I made a joke today.
Not a great one, admittedly, and it was trounced this afternoon.
2 ladies ordered 2 filtered coffees, three men with them had 3 teas.
I delivered the order and asked which of the men would pour the tea.
"Philip" said the men, pointing at their friend.
I arranged the pot with the handle towards him.
"You can 'phillip' the cups" I said, inwardly groaning.

Later two regulars commented on how much they'd enjoyed their soup:
"although we were a little worried when we saw it was 'Nancies's pea and mint' " they said, "We weren't too sure what Nancie might have been drinking."

It's how we get through a long, busy Sunday.

If it weren't a dastardly plan then it could have been.

We put up a sign telling people that the conservatory would be closed from 1.30 for a private party. The High Tea birthday party of a wonderful 85 year old. No one believes he really is 85. He must have a portrait hidden in some attic somewhere.

Anyway, the sign prompted several people to ask for details about booking parties.

If I were cunning I'd put one up every week....

Tart

Tomorrow we have an 85th birthday tea at 2pm.

First coach party of the season on Sunday.

Lemon Bakewell will make its first appearance tomorrow.

My idea of heaven.

A question too far.

"Ham please" she said.

"Ham salad?"

"I don't like salad." she said

"Sandwich?"

"Do you do ham sandwiches, oh yes please" she said.

"The sandwich comes with a little salad on the side....would you prefer not to have it?"

"I'll have it," she said, "then I can put it in my sandwich."

O

K

Fun and Games

A couple from Ho Chi Minh City came this week and wanted to try everything.
And they kept saying "local" which was music to my ears.
They asked if I had heard of Vietnam, then ordered soup, made with locally grown asparagus, she had quiche, he had pork pie ploughmans (having first asked if he could have the pork without the pie) local apple juice and two pieces of cake. A lot of food, I said. No light lunch, she answered.
Half an hour later they sank back in their chairs and exhaled.
Then wrapped the cake up in napkins and took it away with them.
Yesterday we served a young couple from Vancouver.
Last week the Russians came.
Is this the Olympic effect come early?

When will I learn?

Note to self. For future Bank Holiday weekends with poor weather please remember that people STILL GO OUT. If it's cold they just eat and drink different stuff.
A much, much better day than expected given the dreariness of the forecast and the grey of the sky.
Still selling heaps of chilli for masses of jacket potatoes.
Came close to running out of milk due to the gallons of hot chocolate we were making.
The special panini have sold out so in the morning - Bank Holiday Monday - I have to trawl the stores for a replacement.
That's a nice predicament to be in.

Feeling Good

I have never known us sell so much chilli. We're making it daily now. One American lady who said she was very hungry ordered a jacket potato with a double-chilli filling.

We tried out our homemade pork pie ploughmans. It was more popular even than the Lightwood cheddar option and will certainly stay if we can make enough. The bacon, Brie and cranberry panini sold out so that's a winner too.

A Bank Holiday is an odd day to choose to try these things out. But I have been making some strange decisions recently.

Chilly

The heating went back on today. That chill in the air means most opted for soup and jacket potatoes. We had to make even more chilli yesterday to warm those cockles. Children were the only ones to brave the garden.

But Summer is nearly here. The "asparagus for sale" sign has gone up at one end of the village meaning that, joy of joys, it'll be our feature soup tomorrow and for the foreseeable weeks.
Pork pies are being made tomorrow in time to serve them as ploughmans for Easter.
Have just collected my compost bin prize. It looks like a green dalek. The lady who gave it to me said mine wasn't the only entry. And I believe her.