Today we became victims of the cashless society. Not here at Cafe Circa, but at a nearby Community Plant Sale in the village of Doune. We were never sure if the whole cashless thing would ever become the norm, however, when our local pub, which has barely changed in the last two hundred years, suddenly started taking cashless payments we knew it was either the end of the world as we knew it or the beginning of a slightly scary new one. The latter turned out to be the case. We should probably have guessed that an event like this wouldn’t take cards but we didn’t. They had a very long table laden with lots of sapling tomato plants … eight different varieties. Unfortunately, when they were setting up, all the labels had fallen out so nobody knew what was what. Buying would have been the tomato equivalent of Russian roulette … kind of!
We would have loved to have supported this event more but the upshot was that we were only able to buy as many plants as our rather meagre cash reserves allowed. And that didn’t include tomatoes! At the end of it all we didn’t even have enough cash left to buy a cup of tea and a scone in their makeshift cafe … disaster!
House full
Forced to retreat we ended up, just a hop skip and jump along the road at Cafe Circa in the Scottish Antique & Arts Centre. The first time we reviewed Cafe Circa was back in 2015 and then again in 2021. It was time for an update. Prior to our scone, however, we went all round the Antique Centre. They have loads and loads of stuff and even though cards weren’t a problem, we didn’t buy a thing. Don’t be fooled, rather than indicating that there was nothing worth buying it simply lets you know that our house is already full of stuff bought from here in the past. 
It was a lovely day so we sat outside in the courtyard. It’s interesting to watch everyone leaving with their purchases. eager to get home and try them out in some pre-imagined spot in their houses. 
We soon had a scone as well as a couple of coffees. Service was good but a slight problem here was that we never saw the same person twice, It seemed to take four different servers to deal with our miniscule order … heyho! Don’t think we have ever awarded a topscone here and today was no exception, perfectly enjoyable but not quite up to the mark.
Eurovision
Society has changed in more than simply becoming cashless. We had the dubious “pleasure” of watching the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden. We are well aware of what Eurovision is so don’t really know why we watched it … just some sort of masochistic curiosity. The songs were almost all uniformly forgettable and often completely obscured by totally over-the-top presentation. The inclusion of Israel caused a few problems. Considering Russia wasn’t allowed to compete it’s difficult to see how the organisers managed to justify that decision. Heyho, it was pretty difficult to justify any of it really!
Apparently it was the first non-binary Eurovision. We weren’t sure what that meant but it all became clear when we looked it up. By comparison, a cashless society seemed really easy to understand. Anyway this year Switzerland won with a song by Nemo called The Code. Runner up was Croatia with Rim Tim Tagi Dim sung by Baby Lasagne.
Perhaps we are just getting old when we look back nostalgically at the likes of Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson … and that was pretty awful. Don’t worry if you missed it!
FK16 6HG tel: 01786 841683 Cafe Circa
///tramps.cleansed.landscape
Eurovision worse than watching paint dry I’m afraid. We must be getting old Billy, will forever be wanting to hand the grandchildren a note or two
We’re not getting old, just maturing nicely like a fine wine or, in my case a gorgonzola cheese. Think thew hole thing was invented so that Australia could be part of Europe!
I thought I was the only person who remembered Paul CARR and Teddy Johnson, and the awfulness of ‘Sing little birdie. ‘And with all due respect, wondering how Kenneth McKellar ever got on Eurovision?
I didn’t watch the latest one, but filled with curiosity, looked up Nemo and have to say I had did admire his enthusiasm, energy and balance in his bowl. Didn’t actually notice the song.
Do appreciate all your comments on life, politics, travels and scones. Thanks!
I think Carr/Johnson was the first I remember of watching Eurovision on a tiny B/W screen. Things have moved on but the quality of the entries has remained stubbornly low … maybe they should have a Samba Band next year?? Regards to all in the Port!
Although we didn’t have a lot of cash, we had some and were able to support the event a little. Onwards to the antique centre but didn’t see anything that we desperately wanted. The scone and coffee hit the mark though. Not a top scone but a pleasant one.