Generation Gap

At this time of year the average age of the staff at the tea rooms drops significantly. The GCSEs and A levels are finished and the University crew drift back after their exams.
So this week the conversations turned to all the festivals they'd be attending - one of which is, rather inconveniently, across the August Bank Holiday weekend.
"I'm not looking forward to camping this year," said one of the teenage boys. The one who's just finished his first year at Bristol. He was asked why not?
"Because last year we pitched quite a long way from the loos," he said, "and my tent became the urinating tent."
The other young ones nodded, as if that were the most natural thing in the world.
The rest of us looked horrified.

Black & White

My dad came today to cut back some of the jungle in the conservatory.
He's eighty this year, which is hard for me to fathom since he still looks the same as he did when he was my age. Except he has a shock of pure white hair.
He came with news.
"I've bought a new television," he said. He'd never call it a "telly" or a "tv".
"It's flat screen, 32 inches," he smiled, "and colour."
You can take the man out of the 20th Century....

Sun spots

So whoever it was who said June would be a wet month was wrong.
Much of it has been glorious.
The garden is being well used, as is the ice we're having to buy in for milk shakes.
The downside to so much busy-ness outside is the movement of furniture. A table with four chairs around it will suddenly have eight, leaving a poor table with none, looking decidedly uninviting. Benches are moved onto the old tennis court, tables are dragged into the shade/into the sun depending upon the temperature.
On Sunday we had so many large party bookings that we had to bring several chairs and tables out from the conservatory.
Then, at the end of the long, hot days we go around the garden reuniting tables with chairs and moving everything back to its home, tip the chairs against the tables and wind down the umbrellas.
To rest.
Until tomorrow.

Java Jive

She was the first customer of the day:
"I'd like a long black coffee with some hot milk on the side," she said, "but I don't want a big one, just a little one."
It took us a while to work out how we should give her exactly what she wanted. What she decided on was a single espresso, in an espresso cup, half filled with hot water and then the hot milk on the side.
"And a slice of that coffee and walnut cake please," she added.
I wrote it all down.
Then: "Unless you have scones?"
We did have scones, fresh from the oven.
"In which case I'll have a scone with jam and cream."
I crossed out the coffee and walnut cake.
"And, actually," she went on, "you can't have a scone without tea - so scratch the coffee please."

I told her she would certainly feature on my blog.
She nodded, "the weird Australian, huh?"

Set Fayre

We are venturing into the unknown again. Later today we are setting up a satellite tea room at the Great Witley Country Fayre.  It's a huge event with more than 100 stalls, demonstrations, sport, music, Morgan cars, tractors, local companies and volunteer groups.

We'll be serving tea and coffee, cakes from our selection, Ruby's fudge (Ruby herself is at the Three Counties Show) Tyrells crisps and Bennetts ice cream plus local apple juice.
It doesn't sound very hard but my car is jam packed with stuff, right down to aprons, tea towels and cake stands.
When the organisers first contacted me months ago they called the fair a "one-off". I now note that it's being described as the "inaugural" fair.
Let's see what they call it when Sunday comes.

Lucky for some

Friday 13th.
My older son's last GCSE exam took place this morning.
Maths.
He says it went "well". Which is the best reaction we've had from him since they started a month ago.

I, on the other hand, am not having such a good day. It is not going "well".
I have a completely flat tyre.
Again.
Grrrr.

Iron Lady

A few weeks ago we took two bookings from one 'phone call: a table for eight for lunch today and a table of 12 for Afternoon Tea in July.
And so today the first group came.
We gave them the best table outside. They had soft drinks, then lunch (most of them chose the Tomato and Pecorino Quiche) then cake and tea.
They were with us for almost four hours.
The lovely smiling lady who'd made the booking paid for everyone, so I asked her whether she was celebrating something.
"It's my birthday," she said then leaned in and whispered, "I'm 90."
I asked her her secret?
"Just keep going," she answered, adding "and from time to time eat spinach."

She then drove herself home.

1924

Today Jim came for lunch with 5 other people.
Jim is a regular customer and a former RAF man. He usually arrives with someone from his family, sometimes two or three others, often his son-in-law, Bob and always with a smile.
Today though was special.
Today it's Jim's birthday.
To look at him you might think him a 70 year old. If he told you he was 80 you'd blink and question whether he has a portrait in the attic. Today, though, Jim is 90.
After his jacket potato with chilli, an americano with hot milk and piece of fruit cake (the birthday lunch of champions) Jim asked if he could book in for his centenary....

Climbed up the spout again.

I shall find it difficult to describe the rain this morning.
It rained buckets, cats and dogs, stair rods and lots and lots of water.
The good news is that the new patio meant the rain water was channeled away from the tea room door and we weren't wading.
The bad news is that the conservatory roof leaks. Floor and tables needed attention.

Before we opened I made a dash to the local petrol station since the orange light, which tells me when I'm running on fumes, had been on for a couple of days.
The garage was not selling fuel though. A member of staff came out to the pumps and said above the rain: "I've switched off the pumps until the storm passes. We had too much damage done during the storm on Saturday." I nodded and drove away but I didn't really understand. I shall have to find out next time I go.
I wasn't around on Saturday to experience the storm.
I was in Bremen in Germany in the sunshine.
But who wants to hear that when you're facing a deluge?

This afternoon was glorious. The sun dried my weekend-away washing and the bag load of stuff my son came home from China with yesterday.

Taking Steps

This morning I went back in time.
To a place I worked in the mid 1990s (how old does that make me sound?)
I went to the BBC Hereford and Worcester studios to collect a pedometer.
We're always saying how far we must walk in our job - taking out trays to the far reaches of the garden, bringing in empties, showing people the way to the church, bringing in the signs, moving the tables and chairs back where they started the day...
The local station is running something called Walk the Week from Monday. The breakfast presenter is going to walk 20 miles a day and present the show from a different part of the county each morning. As part of that they're asking people with different jobs to wear a pedometer to see what mileage they clock up.
I'm not competitive but....

15

We have two large bookings for next year already.
Just saying...

Novel

We host a lot of U3A groups.
They come in all shapes and sizes. Small history groups; large gardening groups; groups of mainly men; groups of mainly women; groups of mainly couples; groups from all over the UK.
At lunchtime we served a group of 16 who hadn't come far. They were from Bromsgrove and they preordered their lunches, arrived on time, were very complimentary and went off to enjoy their tour of the church and crypt.
Then half of them came back for tea and cake. It started to rain and they pretty much had the place to themselves. And they were wonderfully loud. They laughed. A lot. Either one of them was doing stand-up or they'd all been drinking.
As they were having their cake (and eating it) an older gentleman came in. I thought he might be either blind or partially sighted as he fumbled with his change and pushed it across the counter to pay for his tea.
I was wrong.
As I left for the day I noticed him sitting outside, holding his umbrella above his head reading a book.

Pick 'n' mix

Shhh.
2nd June and it didn't rain today either.
A few families whose children aren't yet back at school ventured to us but we weren't exactly over run. Then this afternoon twenty two ladies and gents from Highley in Shropshire came for a talk on the Church history, a visit to the crypt (some didn't want to go in) and cream teas all round.
Four of the group, which is known as Allsorts, came to the counter for big slices of cake after their cream tea.
They know how to enjoy a day out.

Glorious First

June. Sunshine. Today at least.
We opened early for a car rally group and ended the day with a twenty-strong choir from Staffordshire who were performing in the church after their cream teas/high teas/ tea-break from rehearsing.
We've had a marvellously busy day but someone has told us they'd heard June is going to be a wet month.
Guess not much hay will be made.