Tag Archives: Syria

Scones, Top

The Wee Blether Tearoom

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Direction finder at the Wee Blether Tearoom, KinlochardBefore we start and for those of you who do not speak ‘pure Scots’ perhaps we should explain ‘wee blether’. It is when people get together and gossip about anything and everything. A blether can also be a noun. The act of blethering or someone who blethers .. tells stories not necessarily based in fact. You remember an earlier post about the MP for Shetland who mislead his constituents so as to get elected. In English you would call him a liar, pure and simple. However, in Scots, if we wanted to be less harsh, we might call him ‘a wee blether’ .. got it?

Meanwhile back in the real world, Russia is bombing Syria, the US is bombing Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia is bombing Yemen and Britain’s nuclear submarines patrol endlessly and uselessly. Fortunately, in the midst of this mess  the Wee Blether Tearoom is a perfect oasis of light hearted good sense. We had had it on good authority from a couple of local Kinlochardians (or whatever you call people from Kinlochard) that this place was worth a visit. They were not wrong.

Soup and bread

The menu reminds you that “we are not a fast food establishment, not even a restaurant, we’re a small family run tearoom, we strive to provide the best quality food as quickly as we can” .. a good start! Notice at the Wee Blether Tearoom, KinlochardIt is up to the minute with deals, in fact everywhere you look there are offers that have to be read with some care. However, for not taking themselves too seriously Ricky and Shona (the owners) do a great job of combining a lovely relaxed atmosphere and great food. Sitting in the sun looking out over Loch Ard it is not difficult to relax and the sweet potato and coconut soup accompanied by almost a half loaf of wonderfully soft brown bread was absolutely delicious.  A scone at the Wee Blether Tearoom, Kinlochard

When our scones arrived however we realised that the soup and bread might have been a mistake .. they don’t do dainty scones and they came fully loaded with jam and cream. Now  we have said in the past that we prefer to load our own scones. Make a scone of two halves then load and eat each half separately. In our opinion that’s the way it should be done. On this occasion at least we were provided with a fork and spoon with which to tackle them. They were fab!

Sweeties

Even although there was not a single kid in the place Ricky came round dishing out sweets to everyone. Like the big kids that we are, we dutifully took them. Nice touch though. We also took up their latest offer, pay double for one scone and get the second free .. great! This place is friendly and well named. If you came here on your own it wouldn’t be long before you were having a wee blether with someone. Well done to Ricky and Shona, great place and topscone.

teapot collection at the Wee Blether Tearoom, Kinlochard
teapot collection

FK8 3TL      tel: 01877 387337         Wee Blether Tearoom

Ordinary, Scones

Grange Manor Hotel

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The government’s announcement that it is to take in 20,000 Syrian refugee children over the next five years (on 5yr visas  after which they will have to go somewhere else) raises the question. How proud are you to be British? ‘Not very’ or ‘not at all’? There are no other options. Their attempt to show this as Britain at its most compassionate by comparing it to the Kindertransport in 1938 conveniently leaves aside the fact that the Kindertransport itself was a pretty taudry episode in British history. It was only brought about by the government of the day being sufficiently embarrassed by images of Kristallnacht. The parallels with today’s situation and the pictures of little Alan Kurdis are obvious.

At the same time the German government announces that they will take half a million every year for as long as it takes. The Germans are not more compassionate, but they have a solid economy which actually needs these people. We, on the other hand, have an economy based almost exclusively on a square mile in the centre of London. It cannot even provide quality jobs for its own citizens .. arrgghh. It’s enough to drive you to afternoon tea.

Value for money?

The Grange Manor is an old well established hotel at Earlsgate, between Falkirk and Grangemouth. It has seen many changes in its surroundings over the years and nowadays it has the misfortune to have an Asda super-warehouse across the road and an empty car showroom next door. On the plus side it must be the nearest hotel to the Kelpies and that probably generates some tourist business. We were using an £11 voucher for afternoon tea for two so it was going to be difficult to go badly wrong.Grange Manor 02 It didn’t go far wrong but even if it is cheap you still want it to be good. Everything was fine except the scones which tasted like they had been made the day before. Or maybe even the day before that! Service was so scant you had to go looking for it.

It is tempting to ask what you would expect for that sort of money but unfortunately the answer would be  … exactly what we got! Unfortunately it seemed to be priced about right with the voucher. Thank goodness for the voucher. The Grange Manor, like the government, has got to try harder.

FK3 8XJ          tel: 01324 474836        Grange Manor

Scones, Top

The Pierhouse Hotel

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We stopped off at Port Appin for a break and of course the Pierhouse Hotel is the place to go for any kind of refreshment. It is a beautiful spot with the little ferry running back and forth to the Isle of Lismore. There is always something going on .. though in a peaceful kind of way. With so many horrendous things going on all over the world this little oasis on the west coast of Scotland seems like it is on another planet. A place where everything is just fine. Grexit, Syria, Tunisia are all far far away.

And yet, even here, little niggles creep in. They tell us that Scotland cannot survive on its own. That we take more than we give to the Union. So why oh why does the party that refuses to subsidise a disabled person’s spare bedroom so desperately want to continue subsidising a whole nation. Perplexing if it wasn’t actually the other way round! A scone at the Pierhouse Hotel, AppinYou will be happy to hear that this conundrum did little to disturb the relaxed atmosphere on the shores of Loch Linnhe. Our scones were fantastic and came with lots of jam and cream,  and a big pot of coffee. The Pierhouse is a few miles off the main road but is well worth the detour. It has a superb seafood restaurant with beautiful views over the loch towards Castle Stalker, Lismore and beyond .. the place just oozes quality.

PA38 4DE     tel: 01631 730302      www.pierhousehotel.co.uk