Touché

A good day when we ran out of soup. Again. This time A Taste of the Garden, followed by an utterly delicious Mildly Spiced Parsnip. The warm weather we'd been promised failed to materialise (deja vu) but I did manage to nip home and place a winning ebay bid on 6 cups and saucers in our no-longer-made range. The downside is that I have to go to North Yorkshire to pick them up.
Three ladies came for lunch and cake. They also went shopping. One bought a bird box, the second a necklace and a pair of earrings and the third 13 plants. They told me they don't get together often. Were they old school friends? I asked.
No. They were in a fencing team together.
Of course.

I'm alright, Jill.

The surprise was twofold: the good weather failed to materialise and we had a busy lunchtime.
Two members of the coach party came in early. They had their tea. their soup, their sandwiches. Two more arrived. They had their coffee, their soup, their sandwiches (this is going well, I thought). Unusually we'd made two seasonal soups: parsnip & apple and cream of spicy cauliflower. Both delicious. But I wish I hadn't bothered to give a choice. The problem was that 95% of the coach party wanted the first one. Which meant we ran out. So the people we served last got the raw end of the deal - we served them last and they didn't have a soup choice.
With one particular table this didn't go down well.
Still, the organiser (who DID get her choice of soup. Yes. Parsnip & Apple) was very happy.

Not so Chilly

It's been a lovely week *sigh*. The sun has shone and I'm sure a few folk would have enjoyed a cup of tea IF WE'D BEEN OPEN. Still. Back to it tomorrow when a coach party's due for lunch. The 42 Friends of Salisbury Cathedral have booked soup and sandwiches. I've had to buy more soup bowls. Today I went in to cook a ham and a lemon drizzle ahead of a weekend which the forecasters promise will be glorious. Is this what's known as "St Luke's little summer?".
George is going to Chile tomorrow to lend a hand with the trapped miners. Don't know when they'll be brought out. Don't know when he'll be back.

The beginning of the end

It rained. But people came. Not in huge numbers but enough to keep us from falling asleep.
Tomorrow is the first day the tea rooms will have closed since March 26th which means that at the end of today I brought home leftover cake, salad, cake, ham, cake, tomatoes, cake, tuna, cake. And more cake. Please don't let anyone be inspecting the kids' lunchboxes tomorrow.
Mary and I defrosted one of the freezers too.
Made me feel quite sad.
Which means I obviously am.

Each to their own.

Ah. Back to normal. If only for a day. Lots of lovely people who bought bird boxes, jewellery, plants as well as tea, cake and soup. We're back round to the beginning on soup. Way back in the spring we did that mildly-spiced-parsnip. Today we did mildly-spiced-parsnip-and-cauliflower. The cauliflower was rather lost in the mix but the soup went down well nevertheless.
The most surprising event of the day happened at lunchtime. Anna brought her family for lunch, coffee and cake. She ordered 4 pieces of cake: carrot, fruit, millionaire's shortbread and mystery cake. What's strange about that?
Anna MAKES my carrot and fruit cakes. She'd only just delivered a batch to me.
I'm still shaking my head in disbelief.
Rain due back in town tomorrow.

Perchance to Dream

This morning I woke to rain, rain and more rain. I knew we were in for a rotten day. It started in surprising fashion with a couple, three mums and their toddlers, a couple of sisters and a group of three. Then it stopped. Noone for ages. Then a mum and her 8 year old son (just collected from a nearby boarding school) came for the only lunches we did all day. Apart from our own.
At 2.30 Sue and I started to clear up. We'd decided to close at 3. No point in prolonging the agony. At 5 to 3 (you couldn't make it up) EIGHT people (at least three of whom were in Hunter wellies) and a dog came in, stood their umbrellas in the entrance hall, pulled a couple of large tables together and ordered tea and cake. Their order accounted for a third of the day's takings.
So that was the last full week of the season. Just weekends and half term left, then hibernation.

Thursday - last of the summer

Marginally better yesterday. A few more people came some of whom were even able to sit outside. Having seen that the rain (lots of it) was heading our way I put all the table umbrellas up to dry out and then in the afternoon took them inside for the Winter. It looks pretty bare outside now.
This morning the rain has arrived. I'm taking my book with me to work today.