Contrite

Apologies to Val and Alec.
They turned up in the snow on that Sunday morning to find the gate closed. While they were wondering if we were going to open three other cars of potential customers turned up to wonder the same thing.
Honestly, you couldn’t make it up.
We’ve all decided what we need is a WhatsApp group of regular customers to keep everyone informed.

Party time

Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday. What are we to do with you?
Another poor weather day. The forecasters said it would be mild but the wind scuppered that idea.
Bev and Annie decided to continue the kitchen deep-clean.
I arrived having had a text from the church warden; someone bringing a group to see the church would be contacting me with a reservation for May.
Annie had already spoken to one caller booking in for 30-50 teas.
In May.
It was the same date (a random Tuesday). And the same time (2pm in the church and crypt, 3pm to us)
Was it the same party?
Nope.
Cue multiple phone calls and a rearrangement of the DB Chatterboxers to the following Tuesday.
The phone rang again. Could we take a group booking for 1st September? Then an email. Could we do a celebratory family lunch in April? I went home (to avoid the deep clean and answer the email). When I rang to check the diary Annie said she’d taken another group booking for late July.

A young monarch?

This made me smile.

Cold crossed fingers

I woke yesterday to snow and a question from Annie via text: did I really want her to open?

I hate those kind of decisions so I rang her. 

In the back of my mind was a phone call I’d taken from a lady the afternoon before. Would we be open on Sunday? She was part of a walking group and just wanted to check. She doubted the walk would go ahead as such heavy rain was forecast. We didn’t know about the snow at that stage so I told her we’d be open. 

Annie suggested that we wait to see whether the Court opened and then change the answer message on the phone, in case the walker-lady rang again. The Court was closed. The warden also decided not to open the church. So we followed suit.

I really, really hope the walkers didn’t venture out. 

Parenting at its best

Would today be the day of no customers? It looked like it. For a long time. 

Then, this afternoon, a little blonde girl called Charlotte arrived. Turns out that today is Charlotte’s fourth birthday and she was given a tea set as a present. So her dad offered to take her out to tea. 

This makes me content and hopeful.

When almost everything seems to be changing the future of tea feels somehow more secure now I know that Charlotte’s dad is around.

Winter Fuel

Wednesdays are not covering themselves in glory. For the second week in a row we saw very few customers and were sort of grateful when the volunteer church steward came in for his free coffee. It gave us something to do. Thank goodness for busy weekends. So far on that score January is proving much better than December.

The logburner is causing a few headaches as the logs we’re using look dry but just aren’t. Which means I may have to buy another net from the local farm shop. 

Today is bright and sunny but there are branches and twigs everywhere - the result of a very windy night. Perhaps we should gather them up, like the poor man in the carol.

Back to Work

Mitchell, a young man from Dudley who drinks coffee (splash of milk, one sugar), has fixed the dishwasher this morning. A poorly fitted part meant the order to WASH wasn’t reaching the brain (ie the start button was broken). Mitchell has also given me cause to reflect on my hasty condemnation of it as lazier than our older model.
It really isn’t to blame.
Turns out that, as it’s only on a 13amp plug, it was hamstrung from the start. It could never heat up at the same speed. The other one has more than double the power.
I was right to give the younger sibling a break.

Bev and Annie are formulating a plan for Mothering Sunday afternoon teas. When, with luck, it’ll be a bit warmer. Bev made the scones in her coat this morning and then reluctantly turned off the oven. Annie kept her scarf on when making drinks and teacakes for the first customers, the three (cold) builders who are back working at the Court after the Christmas break.
We were so pleased to see them.
Yesterday’s fog only brought four customers in total, which must be our worst day ever.

Thinking aloud

Winter is proving a tricky little chap.
Summer days are for cream scones, Victoria Sponge, lemon drizzle, apple juice, strawberries.
We know that Winter days demand hot drinks (hot chocolate especially) but what cakes should make the cut?
We have the usual suspects - fruit cake, coffee and walnut, something chocolatey, a sturdy flapjack - but have also tried to introduce new offerings.
With mixed results.
The cranberry topped shortbread is delicious but not popular (except with me and Annie), the ginger florentine isn’t gingery enough for ginger lovers and too gingery for those who aren’t partial. Mince pies have done well enough but surely we can’t serve them in January?
Perhaps we should make a big apple crumble and serve it with custard.
Or perhaps we shouldn’t try to vary the cakes so much and stick to the obvious.

An afterthought about the weekend, which wasn’t warm but was dry.
We sold quite a lot of ice cream.
Children eat ice cream all year round.

All washed up?

On Wednesday 12th April 2017 we took delivery of our not-inexpensive new dishwasher, just ahead of the Easter weekend.
Since then it hasn’t covered itself in glory. It takes longer to heat up than our other one, takes longer to wash stuff than the other one. The only thing it does more quickly is drain. As if it’s anxious to get on with whatever it does in its spare time.
As the youngest sibling myself I am wary of comparisons. I have avoided them until now, anxious to cut the younger model a bit of slack.
My hand has been forced.
Last week it stopped working. Completely refused to wash OR drain.
I’ve just filled out the relevant warranty form to request a repair person.
Meanwhile the older machine keeps plodding on. It never asks for anything (except rinse aid, detergent, water and electricity). It never complains. It just gets on with the job in hand.
I feel I should sing its praises, quickly, before it decides it’s had enough and demands the same attention as the other one.

The Works does the job.

It had to come. I feared it wouldn’t but it did. 

We have just experienced the Hot Chocolate weekend to beat any we’ve known -plain, with marshmallows, or piled high with cream, marshmallows and chocolate sprinkles, (a new venture for us. We call it The Witley Works)  it felt like almost every order had one on it. 

One table ordered five, then came back for a sixth.

We’ll need more marshmallows for Wednesday.

Sunday’s sunshine brought families and couples out in their bobble hats. We sold out of soup (Mediterranean tomato) and had to resort to bloomer bread to make late-ordered sandwiches. 

The milk order looked lean, thanks to all those hot chocolates, but we made it to four o’clock with a couple of pints to spare. 

All is Quiet

We opened yesterday, New Year’s Day.
In my mind it was a day for people to go out for a good long walk to blow away the cobwebs; to take the dogs who’d been cooped up the evening before, for a run.
At the end of which there’d be coffee. Or hot chocolate.  Or a flapjack.
But I was wrong and U2 were right.
A few souls ventured out to Witley Court, but not in great numbers. Among them was a little boy who, once unclipped from his pushchair, climbed out and strode towards the counter.
“What are we here for, Alfie?” asked his mum.
“CAKE,” he answered in a big, clear voice.
And that’s exactly what we served him.
Alfie is the future. And it looks bright.

We spent the rest of the day coming up with resolutions and writing them down so we can look back at them and laugh.