Tag Archives: Downing Street

Cafe Circa Abernyte revisited

15 January 2022 billpaterson1@me.com 3 Comments

Don’t worry, we haven’t taken leave of our senses completely. Although we did a Cafe Circa Revisited, only a couple of weeks ago, this is not the same. That was at the Scottish Antique and Arts Centre at Doune whereas this post is from its sister operation at Abernyte. They are about fifty miles apart. Goodness knows why we are here? When we visited Doune we bought a whole lot of stuff we didn’t need. We should really stay away from these places.

A feature wall at Cafe Circa Abernyte — A wall featuring Luskentyre beach on the Isle of Harris at Cafe Circa.

Sucked in

Doune is big but Abernyte is even bigger … there’s bound to be something we don’t need here but would we be able to find it? About half way round, however, and suffering from bric-a-brac blindness, we felt ourselves being inextricably drawn towards the cafe. The cafe is also bigger than the one at Doune. These antique centres are so large they really do need a restaurant or cafe where weary rummagers can rest and recharge.

Trauma

The very attentive staff found us a table and took our order for some sandwiches and a fruit scone to share. Pat had actually wanted a cheese scone she had spied on the way in but she was overruled. Now, far be it from us to inflict the deep trauma of our lives on you dear reader but I don’t see how we can protect you from this. Our sandwiches were excellent but, would you believe it, by the time I had finished mine Pat had absentmindedly cut our scone in half and had started to eat it … before I had taken a photo … what??

Apologies

Bear in mind that this is in spite of years of training … unbelievable! This photo of a decapitated scone is all we can offer you. However, Pat did apologise sincerely unlike some others we could mention. Nowadays, hardly a day goes by without an apology of some sort from the government. Mind you they do have much to apologise for.

Over the past year so much has puzzled us about Boris Johnson’s premiership. How did he get there, what on earth goes on in his head and why can’t he string two sensible words together? Well, now that he has admitted he cannot tell the difference between a boozy party and a business meeting, it explains soooo much! Honestly when was the last time you went to a party that was so bad you thought you were at work? Only in Downing Street!

Never learn

Everything was very good at Cafe Circa, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit. Unfortunately the scone didn’t quite make the topscone grade but was very nice nevertheless. In case you’re wondering if we found anything we didn’t need, we eventually left with a tea set (we need another tea set like a hole in the head) a sink without any taps (don’t ask) and a Lazy Susan! We didn’t need any of them!.

PH14 9SJ tel: 01828 686401 Abernyte Cafe Circa

///computer.health.radio

Ordinary, Scones

Cafe Circa revisited

13 December 2021 billpaterson1@me.com 5 Comments

It’s almost six years since we last reported from Cafe Circa. Have we really been doing this for that long?? Definitely confirms our state of mind?

Doune is not far from home so sometimes, if we have a few hours to spare, we come here to the Scottish Antiques & Arts Centre. It’s full of totally random stuff. This is definitely the place to come, to buy things you didn’t know you needed or even wanted. Today, for instance, we bought two coffee cans (one missing a saucer), a Venetian masquerade mask (don’t ask) and an 1893 book “The Tillyloss Scandal”. No idea what the book’s about but it sounds interesting. We’ll let you know!

Obviously, we don’t visit the cafe every time we are here. In the interests of expanding your sconological knowledge we would normally try and go somewhere else in the vicinity. At this time of year, however, the days are short and it was already starting to get dark as we entered. And, after six years, it needed to be re-reviewed anyway!

Nice and cosy in here though. It still occupies the same footprint it did six years ago but the decor has changed considerably! Instead of the usual COVID perspex space dividers they have voiles of thin translucent fabric that create quite a pleasing effect.

Recycling

There were many things we liked about the Cafe Circa scones. The service was great and the presentation with little pots of jam, cream and butter was excellent. We will never know why more restaurants don’t do this! The glass pots (probably recycled from the Tiptree jam you get everywhere) can just be washed out and refilled. A little extra work perhaps but much better for the planet. Unfortunately, the scones themselves (£3.50), although very good, didn’t quite make it as topscones … pity.

Cafe Circa, like everywhere else at this time of year, has their Christmas tree up and the place bedecked in an attempt to engender festive cheer. It’s usually full of people like us trying to figure out why they bought the stuff they’ve acquired a few minutes earlier. Elsewhere, however, Christmas cheer is in short supply. Omicron is on the rampage and has thrown Christmas into doubt yet again. England, at last, has followed the more sensible countries of the UK and reintroduced face masks, social distancing and may even go as far as vaccine pasports. Downing Street frowns on Christmas parties though they see to be okay with it all as long as they are termed “gatherings” or “business meetings”. Look out for mistletoe at future business meetings!!

FK16 6HG tel: 01786 841683 Cafe Circa FB

///anthems.ourselves.ordering

Scones, Uncategorized

Costa – Virginia Water

20 February 2020 billpaterson1@me.com 3 Comments

You know how sometimes you just know that it’s going to be one of these days. It didn’t start off too badly because we had a free day. That meant we could go anywhere and do as we pleased … yeah! Since it was raining heavily we decided to take a train trip to Virginia Water in South West London. Why there? There are lots of possible reasons.

The richest town in the UK with an average home cost of over £1m?
Home of Wentworth Golf Club?
Elton John, Cliff Richard, Bruce Forsyth, Diana Dors and Nick Faldo have all had homes there?

The only reason for this place figuring in our consciences at all is that my dad used to play in the Virginia Water darts team when he was a trainee forester in the early 1930s. We thought it would be nice to have a look around … and maybe find the pub .. or even a scone.

We’ve already said it was one of these days. London has a fabulous train system where you simply tap your bank card in at the first station and tap out when you have reached your destination. Your bank account is automatically debited. It works really well. When we got off at Virginia Water, however, there was nowhere to tap out? When we asked at the ticket office the chap informed us, with a wry smile, that we had gone beyond the Transport For London (tfl) area. We would get an automatic fine for our trouble and in addition, we would have to buy a return ticket to get back. Great!

When is a scone not a scone?

It was still raining heavily when we left the station. All the roads were flooded and even making pedestrian progress was extremely difficult. To top things off, Virginia Water also seemed to be sconeless. Could things get any worse? After about an hour we decided to cut our losses and head back to the station. In a last desperate bid to salvage something from our day we ended up in Costa – Virginia Water in the vain hope that they might save the day. When is a scone not a scone … when it’s an almond croissant, that’s when! Needless to say there were no scones here either. Actually the croissant was delicious, but you don’t want the hear about that. We didn’t find my dad’s pub. We suspect it was the Wheatsheaf Hotel but it was too far to walk in these conditions.

Fitting in

There’s only about five and a half thousand inhabitants in Virginia Water and they all seem to do alright for themselves. ‘Private’ notices abound and most of the houses have large wrought irons gates and gardens about the size of a small golf course. In 1998 General Pinochet was placed under house arrest in one of the houses pending his extradition back to Chile. Pity really because if he had hung around he would have fitted right into the current UK government’s cabinet.

When the Prime Minister, Dominic Cummings, sat down with the Chancellor, Dominic Cummings, and the rest of the cabinet of mini Dominic Cummingses, Pinochet might have felt very at home. Indeed, Attila the Hun would not have felt out of place! The irony is simply breathtaking. After almost four years of striving to leave the EU and its unelected bureaucrats the UK ends up being run by an unelected bureaucrat. Downing Street’s latest appointment, Andrew Sabisky, with his horrendous racist views, thankfully only lasted about twenty four hours.

Apologies for the sconelessness of Virginia Water but our day was not entirely lost. We found out that no matter how plush the mansions, we could not live in a town without scones.

GU25 4AA. Costa

///novel.hired.miles

This what happens when you decide to get your cast iron work done outwith Scotland. This old post box in London was made by Handyside Foundry in London … and London is obviously too close to Pisa.

Scones, history and a dollop of politics