Human kindness

"Do you have soya milk," he asked, "or lactose-free milk?"

It just so happened that on this occasion I did have soya milk. I was thrilled to say a great big "yes". (We are, after all, in Britain's Got Talent season).

The lady at his side had another question:

"Which is it?"

I went to the fridge and brought it back to the counter to show them. Bonafide soya milk. I was very proud of it.

"We'll have ordinary milk," she said, somewhat bursting my balloon, "we don't like soya milk."

All change

Sunday was a big day for so many people.
Baby Wyatt was to be christened in the Church. His parents asked me to reserve a table for them and twenty friends for afterwards.
The archdeacon was visiting for the service, coincidentally, and the congregation would stroll down to us afterwards for their usual coffee and biscuits.
We were set up for both.
And then, half an hour before they were all due to arrive twenty lycra-clad cyclists rolled in, parked their bikes (and two tandems) outside and ordered multiple tea, teacakes and cake.
I love cyclists. They never question the need for cake.

Today I rushed home mid-morning to "borrow" some bin liners.
On my return,  I saw a small coach reversing up the drive towards the tea rooms.
It brought a group of coffee-loving Dutch people (two double espresso for one man alone). We were the last stop on their way from their holiday in Wales to Birmingham airport and as a result they were very keen to pay with any leftover British coins.

Got the hang of this photo-on-blog thing, Bill.

If I were at all green fingered I'd be able to talk more about the wonders that have arrived in both the garden and conservatory this week.
Suffice to say that, inside, the jasmine and arum lilies are bloomin' lovely and we've spotted the first passion flower of the season:

While outside everything is eclipsed by the wonderful wisteria - better than ever this year, we reckon, and being photographed by lots of visitors:

Addendum

I found another one today (see previous post).
We gave lunch in the conservatory to a large group from the Worshipful Company of Educators.
"Are you the ham?" I asked one of the men.
"Don't you start." he answered.

Easily pleased.

One of the small pleasures of working at the tearooms comes when delivering an order to a table and being able to ask a complete stranger: "Are you the fruit cake?".
It's even better when they answer, yes.
And then laugh.

Keep Smiling Through

Such a good weekend.
On Saturday we hosted a very special party. B has just finished her horrible treatment for breast cancer and she and K wanted to thank their friends and family who'd been such a support through an awful few months. High Tea for 35ish in the conservatory was kicked off with a brilliant speech by K who, with his voice cracking, told us that his wife is his hero. At that point I had to leave. It's unseemly to serve scones with tears pouring down your face.
Yesterday they sent an email to thank all the staff.
They'd arrived with an orchid as a gift for me.
To say I am touched is an understatement.

At the other end of the scale one customer today was, shall we say, hard to please?
One of our crimes is that the sign on the loo door isn't big enough.

Post election post

There were some tired eyes at the tearooms today.

A good many middle aged and older people confessed to having been up all night. 

One man said he'd flown in from Orlando to vote.

A lady said she'd fallen asleep on the sofa at 5am, went to bed, woke at noon and was out walking to try to sort out her body clock.

One couple, trying to tell me about a group booking they wanted to make, kept losing track of what they were saying and eventually admitted they hadn't slept at all.

Such is the power of a General Election when the result is meant to be on a knife-edge.

I bet they'll all be abed early tonight....

Crumbs

The result of the General Cake-lection has taken me by surprise. It has a real impact on my future.
It means I'll have to get up earlier for a start. It also means I'll be buying more lemons.

Here are the full results:

Lemon Drizzle 27%
Chocolate Cake 18%
Coffee & Walnut 17%
Victoria Sponge 14%
Carrot Cake  13%
Fruit Cake  11%

There were no spoilt ballots, although some did have some very nice comments written on them.
A man called Steve (we asked for names if voters wished to go into a draw to win Afternoon Tea for Two) wrote that he is "clinically addicted" to Coffee and Walnut cake. Another voter wrote DELICIOUS in capital letters next to the name of their chosen cake.
Chris Evans told his audience this morning that his vote went to Victoria Sponge, Vassos Alexander chose Coffee and Walnut.

Quite a spectacle

A quiet day which began with me making red onion marmalade - lots of onion slicing. Then some onion chopping for chilli and some more for soup. Today we made sweet potato, carrot and cumin which was a great response to the positively autumnal chill in the air.
We thought we might close up early but at four we had two sets of visitors.
A German couple came for the second time in a week. She loves the carrot cake. Last week they brought a group of Germans who all had coffee. I asked her how it had gone down?
"The coffee is very good here now," she said, "when we first came to England in the sixties it was like the water after you have done the dishes. Now it is all good."

A trio of Sussex ladies arrived at the same time for tea. They're in the area for the Malvern Spring Show. I complimented one of them on her glasses, at which point she whipped them off her face to reveal the hidden secret.
I would definitely like some of these:

    
All three ladies voted. Two of them revealed they had chosen lemon drizzle. A late surge?

A Cross the miles.

Helen came back today. It was her idea to use the ballot box for the General Cake-lection. It was her idea to have rosettes worn by staff, manifestos, ballot papers and an Afternoon Tea for one lucky voter. So she just had to have a vote.
This is a woman who believes in democracy. She drove a long way to exercise her right.

My guess is that she voted for chocolate cake, since that's what she chose to go with her tea....

That's a wrap

This week has been interesting. For most of it we have been visited by a film unit who've been making a new ten part cold war drama for BBC2 next year. Stephen Poliakoff, Alfred Molina, Robert Glenister and Jim Sturgess have been enjoying the surroundings of Witley Court. We have seen lighting crew, riggers and members of the production team and the receipt-giving facility on the new till has been well used. 

On Friday afternoon, returning from a cash and carry shop, I had to wait for "cut" before I could drive past uniformed men, lying on the bank behind military vehicles. Just to remind myself when the time comes...it's called Close to the Enemy.
Yesterday this was all that was left. A solitary portaloo with the word "children" stuck on it.