Tag Archives: Vladamir Putin

Scones, Top

Kirkhouse Inn

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After our previous post from Coffista in Leven we’ve gone west to Strathblane in the foothills of the Campsie Fells. However, if we had wanted to be here when the Kirkhouse Inn first opened its doors to guests we’d have been over four hundred years too late. Yes, this place opened in 1601 as a “tavern with stables” and has been welcoming people like us ever since. Back then, Elizabeth I was on the English throne and James VI was King of Scotland. As far as we know neither ever stayed here, however, this Inn was the scene of secret correspondence between the two monarchs which eventually led to the Union of the Crowns in 1603. So it’s all their fault.

View from the Campsie Fells
From high on the Campsie Fells, Strahblane’s Kirkhouse Inn is down there somewhere.

Just north of Glasgow, as a “tavern with stables” the Kirkhouse Inn was presumably a place for travellers to stop overnight and rest their horses. We were doing the same though for us it would be more of a “tavern with car park”. Nowadays it’s a hub for walkers doing the West Highland Way and the John Muir Way. They both pass nearby. The Campsie Fells form an impressive background to the hotel and on a gorgeous day, we had a beautiful drive through them to get here.  An overnight stay and an afternoon tea was what we were looking for!Internal view of the Kirkhouse Inn

It was good to see that the service seemed to be provided by mostly young local lads.  Afternoon tea at the Kirkhouse InnIn our experience, usually due to poor training, this can sometimes be problematic.  But not here, it was excellent. First they brought a plate of delicious savoury sandwiches. When they were finished three tiers of sweet things appeared and everything explained in detail. Lemon possets and macaroons on top. Meringues and chocolate dipped strawberries in the middle with scones and French fancies on the bottom. Unusually there was only one scone each. A good thing in our opinion. Normally you get two but inevitably, because you’ve just had a feast of sandwiches, you end up leaving one of them. The scones came with perfect little dishes of jam and cream and were just the way we like them. The right size, crunchy exterior with a soft fluffy centre … topscone.

Monarch of the glen at the Kirkhouse Inn
Another monarch, this one of the Glen

In 1601 the British East India Company was just starting its   plunder of India leading to almost a century of disastrous British rule. Regrettable perhaps but where would we be without curry? It doesn’t bear thinking about! Ironically perhaps, the young Sagar Massey, raised in Delhi, has launched his fine dining restaurant “Sanja” at the Kirkhouse Inn.

Picture in our room at the Kirkhouse Inn
The Chief Returning From Deer Stalking … another picture at the Kirkhouse Inn

It would be nice to think that we have progressed a wee bit since 1601, however, we have our doubts. As usual, land seems be the problem. Ukraine’s incursion into Russia is welcome but guaranteed to get right up mad Vlad’s nose. Israel’s murder of 40,000 people because a couple of thousand years ago some guy in the sky said the land belonged to them is beyond reason. In 1601 the area around the Kirkhouse Inn had to deal with MacGregor bandits  running off with their cattle under cover of darkness, In comparison with today’s problems it sounds positively romantic!Logo of the Kirkhouse Inn

G63 9AA           tel: 01360 771711              Kirkhouse Inn

///snail.uttering.kiosk

Ordinary, Scones, self-service

Powmill Milk Bar

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Logo of Powmill Milk BarIt seems as if Powmill Milk Bar has always been there. Since time immemorial we have driven past it on our way to other places and said “we must go in there some time“. It’s always been a wooden shack style structure but it’s been there so long, the current incarnation must be third or fourth generation. Internal view of Powmill Milk Bar

Easyriders

Anyway, It was a nice day and we had been driving on inexpicably quiet roads to get here. Then it all became clear. Everybody was already here at Powmill Milk Bar! It was mobbed and it was obviously a favoured spot for motorbikes. Leather clad blokes were standing around admiring each other’s bikes in the way that leather clad blokes do. There was also some middle aged car bound blokes admiring all the Ducatis and Kawasaki flying machines and presumably dreaming of a life that might have been.

Scooters at Powmill Milk Bar
Scooters in the car park
Preloaded!

Inside it was going like a fair. We had to join the line at the self service counter but fortunately it went very quickly. A fruit scone was all we wanted but when we asked for jam and cream it seemed to cause some confusion. They just looked at us and said “we have cream scones“! It seemed easier just to agree though normally we steer well clear of preloaded scones. We’re just pernickety and like the performance of constructing our scones according to our own personal taste. On the plus side, however, we were delighted to find that they served Henry’s coffee … our long standing favourite.A scone at Powmill Milk Bar

Maybe the coffee influenced our experience but we really enjoyed our visit here and wondered why we hadn’t done it years ago. With its straight forward, no airs and graces, approach, we completely understand why it’s so popular. Generally you can’t eat preloaded scones without getting in a bit of a mess. The contents squidge out in all directions. However, a fork and knife helped make this one more manageable. Mind you, the light crumbly nature of the scone even made this quite tricky.  Very nice though.Internal view of Powmill Milk Bar

Unforgivable

Politics is so incomprehensible these days we are reluctant to comment on any of it. Putin’s war in Ukraine seems incomprehensible and unforgivable. Imagine if we could just go around murdering anyone who disagreed with us with seeming impunity? Goodness, that would reduce the world’s population quite considerably.

Britain and America’s slavish support for Israel also seems unforgivable. With all the anger generated it’s little wonder that George Galloway has won the Rochdale by-election. Let’s see what his acknowledged oratory skills can do for the Palestinians. Precious little we suspect. 

Starvation is now a huge problem in Gaza. Who would have thought that a Jewish state would end up guilty of genocide? Perhaps Israel is being advised by Britain. The British government has form. Its  God-given sense of superiority led to them having a long, if not illustrious, history when it comes to starvation. The Irish Famine in the 1850s and the Bengal Famine in 1943 in which millions died, come to mind.

Terminal boredom

On this side of the pond, the prospect of a Sunak/Starmer General Election is boring everyone to death. On the other side a Biden/Trump rerun Presidential Election is depressing everyone to death.  We’ll just stay here in Powmill looking at flying machines and dreaming of things we do understand … aah, the wind in our hair!

KY13 0QG       tel: 01577 840376          Powmill Milk Bar FB

///valued.passages.tripped

Scones, Top

Craobh

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Today, we are out wandering with the intention of finding somewhere for dinner in the evening. Not entirely random, however, we do have a little French restaurant called the Barley Bree in mind. It’s in the lovely conservation village of Muthill and we used to go there quite often to visit our aunt. The story gets a little convoluted but bear with us. Unfortunately when we looked it up on the internet it seemed to be closed and up for sale. Phone calls went unanswered. Not to worry, it had been a long time since we had been in this beautiful part of Perthshire so we decided to carry on and find somewhere  in the next town, Crieff.

However, when we were driving through Muthill we passed the Barley Bree and Pat thought that it looked as if it was open. We couldn’t stop because of the traffic so we carried on another couple of miles to Crieff. Hence you find us here in the middle of the afternoon in Craobh, slap bang in the centre of town. However, wonder of wonders, in the course of the afternoon we discovered that the Barley Bree was now called the Coorie Inn (a play on the Scots saying “coorie in” meaning to snuggle). We got their phone number and voila, we had a booking for later! 

Parking again!

Back to Craobh! We parked right outside and surprise, surprise had to pay via an app. After our previous experience at the Old Mill in Christchurch this gave us a touch of the heebie-jeebies. Guess what, it failed again! We asked a passing lady if she could get it to work. She just laughed and shook her head. However she did tell us that we could park round the corner for free. What a woman! Pat went off to park while I went into the restaurant. To be fair to this app called RingGo, other people seem to use the it without difficulty so we suspect that our version has developed a glitch.Internal view of Craobh restaurant in Crieff

Craobh is Gaelic for ‘tree’ and is pronounced “kroov”. Perthsire is famous for its big trees, hence the name. It’s a lovely restaurant with quite a few tables at the front and then several more through the back. It was completely deserted. The Mary Celeste had more folk. There was only a couple of young girls behind the counter.

They welcomed us and confirmed that they did have scones … hurrah! Then they spent some time consulting their reservation book to see if they could fit us in. Curious, because as far as we could make out every single table was available. Turned out that they were actually fully booked for dinners so were probably just checking that we were not going to interfere with their first reservations. Anyway it was great to hear that they were fully booked and by the sounds of it that was the case most nights … fantastic! 

Slate plates

Since we were having  dinner later we just asked for a scone to share and some coffee. It, or rather they, arrived nicely presented on a piece of slate. Obviously this would upset the bellyachers at wewantplates.com. Scones at Craobh restaurant in CrieffThey get terribly upset about food served on anything other than a plate. Thankfully we have never been known to bellyache about anything! We can tolerate a bit of slate … especially if it’s adorned with warm scones, jam and cream. And we did have side plates. With this sort of attention to detail we began to understand why this place might be so popular. We thought that they just managed to squeak into our topscone category. Well done Croabh!

Stranger than fiction

Sign at Craobh restaurant in CrieffGoodness, it’s all going on in the world. On one hand we have a Russian president gayly murdering anyone he doesn’t approve of.

On the other we have a former US president being fingerprinted and mugshotted. As an ex-professional photographer I can honestly say that I would have been sacked if I had taken a mugshot like that. Besides the subject matter, there just isn’t anything right about it. Trump, as ever, is up to his old school boy tricks, deflecting attention so that nothing of substance ever gets discussed. And yet his supporters keep following like mesmerised cattle apparently oblivious to the harm he does to the US and the world.

In sporting news it is all about the president of total plonkers  Luis Rubiales and the turmoil created by THE KISS. If any of our most imaginative readers were asked to make up a surreal, fantastical week of news it would probably fall well short of the actual reality.Internal view of Craobh restaurant in Crieff

Schwarzenegger says

Our dinner at the Coorie Inn was great. It’s been taken over by Andrew, Phil and Lisa … all previously of the five star Gleneagles Hotel. They’ve only had it for five weeks so still settling in but they seem to be making a real go of it. We wish them well. After a delicious dinner we discovered that they do scones every afternoon! We will be back!

PH7 3EY       tel: 01764 650762       Craobh

///accompany.inkjet.ideals

Notice at Craobh restaurant in Crieffps: This notice was in Craobh …. discuss!  Think we know  why it’s from  “source unknown”.

Ordinary, Scones

Hidden Treasure

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We’re on our way to the Northern Isles but have stopped off here at the Hidden Treasure Tearoom in Johnshaven. It’s off the main road going to Aberdeen but we’ve always wondered what it’s like when we’ve seen the direction signs. Today is the day.Street view in Johnshaven

Blackbeard

Johnshaven is an odd name and obviously we wanted to know who ‘John’ was. Turns out John Blackbeard was a famous 16th century pirate who was washed ashore here with lots of treasure after being shipwrecked. Unfortunately though, that’s all nonsense … we’ve just made it up. Nobody in Johnshaven has any idea how it got its name.  Shame, they should just make something up … that’s what they do in Westminster. Internal view of the Hidden Treasure Tearoom

Anyway, we thought the Hidden Treasure might lie in this tearoom. Maybe it would be a scone … exciting?

Picture of last boat built in Johnshaven
Before it became a tearoom it was used for boatbuilding.. The Sea Venture was the last to be built in the tearoom.
The postie

It’s a wonderfully friendly place and we were entertained the whole time. At one point an old worthy arrived on an invalid scooter which he parked at the door. The conversation with the girls behind the counter and several of the other customers went something like this. “Don’t forget the cheesecake, she loves the cheesecake and she thinks I make it myself. She’s pregnant now but it’s nothing to do with me!” one of the other customers contributed that someone else was pregnant as well. Eventually the consensus was “It must be the postman because he has a bike!”

A scone at the Hidden Treasure TearoomThis was the backdrop to our scone. It came with the jam of our choice and a fantastic bowl of cream, enough to do two or three scones. We thoroughly enjoyed everything about this place. Everyone was so friendly and chatty. The scone was a treasure! Not quite a topscone but really enjoyable.

Harbour at Johnshaven

The world is our lobster

Johnshaven is a tiny village but amazingly huge juggernauts come here every day to transport the lobster catch to Paris and Madrid. Pat's first taste of lobsterWho would have thought it. We went to the Lobster Shop and the chap in there, when he heard that Pat had never had lobster, insisted on her trying some of his. She loved it so it might be lobster from now on …. argh! Might need to go back out to work. We also got a fascinating insight in to their operation on the Isle of Luing. We know the island well but had no idea there was a massive lobster facility there.Logo of the Hidden Treasure Tearoom

Not exactly in the news loop any more but we gather that an arrest warrant has been issued for Vladamir Putin … not before time! Wouldn’t fancy being the arresting officer. And our Home Secretary, Suella Braverman is visiting Rwanda. Let’s hope she likes so much she decides to stay there … for ever!

DD10 0EU        tel: 07506 896842    Hidden Treasure Tearoom FB

///mysteries.spice.toward

Ordinary, Scones

The Courtyard Tea Rooms

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Now you would think that the Courtyard Tea Rooms would be easy to find. They are on the High Street in Poole and that’s not all that long. How difficult could it be?

The High Street in Poole
High Street in Poole

You will see from the title picture, however that it is just a door sandwiched between a convenience store and an Indian restaurant. Just a little door with a little sign above … easy to miss. Not a lot of people miss it however because it’s very busy so it must have a good reputation. It’s over 500 years old, not the tearooms but the building in which they are housed. Entrance to the Courtyard Tearooms in PooleThe entrance is down a long passageway and then you emerge into a delightful little courtyard. There are several little sitting-rooms off the courtyard. But we chose the courtyard itself with its ancient stone slabs that many feet must have trod before us. In 1405, local lad come privateer Henry Paye had made such a nuisance of himself with raids up and down  the French coast that a combined French/Spanish naval fleet plundered Poole in an act of revenge. If this courtyard could talk it would have a few tales to tell. Don’t think the plunderers would have had scones here but we thought we had better check them out anyway.

Internal view of the Courtyard Tearooms in Poole

Hairsbreadth

In our previous post from the Kitchen we were served very disappointing scones. Hopefully they would be better here. The young girl looking after us was fantastic. Scones at the Courtyard Tearooms in PooleGood happy service can change a fairly mundane meal into something special but this time we had a really nice lunch which she made extra special. Unfortunately she couldn’t quite do it for the scones. Henry Paye would probably have bisected each scone with a swish of his cutlass but we just uses the knives we were presented with. Not so heroic, perhaps but we didn’t have a cutlass. They were almost topscones. Very good, with nice bowls of jam and cream but their overall consistency meant that they just missed out by a hairsbreadth. This is a really nice place, however, and we recommend that you pay it a visit next time you are in Poole.

Back in the USSR, you don’t know how lucky you are, boy

Normally, we don’t have much in the way of praise for politicians … maybe you’ve noticed? However, we feel that with the passing of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last President of the USSR, we should make an exception. When you think of Soviet Presidents the word ‘charming’ is not one that comes readily to mind … but he was! Not many people could honestly say they changed the world … but he could! Although he didn’t mean to dismantle the Soviet Empire, because of his actions, it happened anyway. Momentous, and with hardly a drop of blood being shed … contrast that with Putin’s Russia of today.

The USSR is something our children have probably only heard of through  a Beatles song. Strange words such as glasnost  and perestroika  became part of our everyday language. The collapse of the Berlin Wall … these were heady days indeed, full of optimism and hope … contrast that with the world today. If Gorbachev had been a scone he would have been a topscone … praise indeed!Sign for the Courtyard Tearooms in Poole

BH15 1BT         tel: ????            The Courtyard Tearooms FB

///mugs.vouch.scarf

Scones, Top

Gleneagles

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Gosh, it’s a month since our last post about the Platinum Jubilee. Apologies to those who have been patiently waiting … and to those who have been enjoying the peace and quiet. We thought we should start again in style so we’ve come to Gleneagles.

View from Gleneagles Hotel
View over Glendevon from the Glendevon Room
A Highland Playground

Gleneagles is one of these places, like the Connaught and Claridges, that doesn’t need to bother putting ‘hotel’ after its name. You’re just supposed to know. It’s the playground of the rich and famous. So what on earth are you doing there, we hear you ask? Okay, did you know that Gleneagles has three Championship golf courses and one nine hole course. Surely that’s way more than enough? Did you know that it has a Shooting & Fishing School an Equestrian Centre and the British School of Falconry. Did you know that it hosted the G8 summit in 2005 with the likes of Blair, Putin, Berlusconi, Bush and Chirac? All largely forgotten, apart from one, of course. That was before G8 became G7 after Russia was suspended in 2014 for being a bad boy and invading Crimea. Goodness, that seems like a relatively minor misdemeanour now!

The Glendevon at the Gleneagles Hotel
The Glendevon Room, the scene of the G8 dinner hosted y the Queen  …. and now our scone

Of course, none of that is of any interest to us, we are only here for the scones. Having said that, we also have a very special Canadian  with us (Pat’s brother) who we are determined to introduce the genteel  refining intricacies of taking afternoon tea. You know what those Canadians are like … bit rough around the edges! What better place to do it than this? If they can’t do a decent afternoon tea here then there is precious little hope left for the world. Okay, he only wanted to be out on one of the golf courses rather than doing this but, much to his dismay, we stuck to our guns.

Friendly service

There are over 1000 staff servicing the 232 rooms so expectations were high in terms of service. We were not to be disappointed. In fact, in many ways our expectations were exceeded.

Cakes at Gleneagles Hotel
top tier of the sweet stand

The staff looking after us, of which there were many, were all great. Not only did they take the time to explain all the sandwiches and other delicacies we were getting but also took the time to answer our questions about the hotel and all the people who have stayed there. Some, even more famous than us! As you can imagine, a stay at Gleneagles is not exactly cheap, quite the reverse. So the staff were impressed to hear that my dad had been a guest here for six months. Eventually I had to divulge that it was when the hotel had been turned into a hospital during WWII. He was recuperating after a bad motorcycle accident.

The ballroom at Gleneagles Hotel
the Ballroom but no dancing today

Anyway, back to the scones. Forgive us if we go In to slightly more detail than usual. Before you get anything here they give you a little champagne glass into which they pour some iced tea … very nice. That’s followed by an amuse bouche of tomato consommé … very nice again. Then they bring the savoury three tier stand BOTTOM TIER Perthshire smoked salmon with sweet dill mayonnaise sandwich +  egg mayonnaise with mustard cress sandwich +  Tweed valley roast beef with nasturtium  butter sandwich. MIDDLE TIER vol-au-vent with red onion marmalade, goats cheese broad bean, radish, carrot and candied walnut + toasted pickelet with white crab meat and creme fraiche + Hardwick lamb sausage roll with lovage emulsion and choucroute. TOP TIER pea, cabbage and potato croquette + toasted charcoal baguette with pickled cucumber smoked trout and golden beetroot. No scones!

Peachy

Then, only then, when you have stuffed yourself with all this deliciousness do they bring out the next three tier sweet stand. Argh! Afternoon tea at GleneaglesBut at last we caught our first sight of the “soft and fluffy” buttermilk scones. Would we have room for them let alone everything else? The scones were indeed soft and fluffy as described but with a slight crunchiness as well … perfect. They came with loads of jam and clotted cream, all beautifully presented. A very easy topscone. Sitting here in our secluded little alcove gazing out across the croquet lawn to the sunlit hills of Glendevon you could easily think that everything is absolutely peachy with the world. You would be completely wrong, of course,  but just for a moment … 

Doggy bag at Gleneagles HotelNeedless to say we could not get near finishing everything that we had been presented with … even when it was washed down with copious quantities of Glendevon blend tea. And this being Gleneagles, even our ‘doggy bags’ were posh. A custom made handbag style box in which we could transport our leftovers back home. Did our Canadian feel enlightened by this experience? Of course he did … a “soft and fluffy” scone at Gleneagles … who wouldn’t be?

PH3 1NF        tel: 01764 662231         Gleneagles Hotel

///claim.facing.showcases

ps: if there is anywhere in Scotland that can rival Gleneagles for culinary expertise and originality it is the Oystercatcher restaurant in the lovely little village of Portmahomack. And guess what, our Trossachs correspondents are on the loose again and that’s exactly where they are. As well as a fabulous dinner the previous evening they sent us a picture of their breakfast … Scallops-o-Scone.

Scallops-O-Scone at the Oystercatcher, Portmahomack
Scallops-O-Scone at the Oystercatcher

They also reported on a scone they enjoyed in the company of members of the Portmahomack Salsa Drumming Band in the Carnegie Hall Cafe. The last time we reviewed this place was back in 2016 … too long ago. 

Salsa Drumming, Portmahomack 2016

Our correspondents sound like they are having a brilliant time … we need to go back.

Ordinary, Scones

Caffe Barista

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I regard Angus as my home county having spent my early childhood in Glen Isla. These days, however, I am only in Angus on rare occasions. That said, here we are today in Caffe Barista in Arbroath. Many a summer holiday was spent here in the caravan park but today we are just passing through.

Declarations

The town is well known for its smoked haddock … the famous Arbroath Smokie. Wonderful on its own in much the same way as you would eat a kipper or alternatively it could be used to make that soup of all soups, Cullen Skink … yum. Arbroath, of course, is also a great place to declare things. In 1320, in Arbroath Abbey, a group of Scottish nobles did just that.

The Declaration of Arbroath
Declaration of Arbroath ritten in Latin and sent to the Pope. They knew how to declare things back then

The intention was to assert Scotland’s status as an independent, sovereign state and defend Scotland’s right to use military action when unjustly attacked. Oooo, do we hear echoes of Ukraine?

Little did they know that a few hundred years later, in 1707, Scotland’s nobles would sell the country down the river in return for English bribes. Heyho, here we are, another couple of centuries on, still struggling to reverse that ludicrous decision.Internal view of Caffe Barista, Arbroath

Guys and Dolls

In Caffe Barista the declarations were of a different type “Hi guys, how are you today? What are you having guys? Was everything okay guys?” Pat, more of a doll than a guy, weathered the onslaught manfully! We just wanted a cuppa and a scone to share. The choice was plain, plain or plain, so plain it was!

It came with butter and jam from somewhere that couldn’t be determined. A scone at Caffe Barista, ArbroathThis being Angus, it was ironic that we had just driven through mile after mile of strawberry and raspberry fields and yet the jam here came prepackaged in plastic, probably from some foreign land. The scone itself was reasonable enough but a country mile away from a topscone. We left suitable refreshed with “Bye guys” ringing in our ears.

blackboard at Caffe Barista, Arbroath
A rare opportunity to combine scones and telephone boxes
Bailing out

It is also ironic, given that in 2014 we were told there was only a dribble of oil left, that the UK government is yet again being bailed out by Scotland. It’s late conversion to a windfall tax on energy companies will raise billions, 95% of which will come from Scotland. Things have got so bad for Boris we wouldn’t be at all surprised if, one day, he simply walked away. However, he could also be developing a Putinesque inability to foresee his own inevitable downfall. The latter is perhaps the most likely.

World records

We cannot leave Arbroath without mentioning the world record held by the local football club, affectionately known as the Red Lichties. In the Scottish Cup of 1885 they beat Bon Accord of Aberdeen 36-0. They had a further seven goals disallowed for offside. Of course that means that Bon Accord must also hold a world record but nobody seems to mention that?

Anyway must get back home and start planning our Platinum Jubilee celebrations??

DD11 1DP        tel: 01241 872664        Caffe Barista

///taken.voter.transit

Scones, Uncategorized

Coffee 1

3 Comments

All good things must come to an end so this post finds us on our way north again after a fab time on the south coast. It’s bitter sweet … good to be heading home and at the same time sad to be leaving family behind. All we have to do is reverse the road trip we did to get down here. We’re taking a slightly different route and our first stop is in Warminster in Wiltshire … at the Coffee 1 café to be precise.

High Street, Warminster
Warminster High Street

In 1086 the Doomsday Book refered to the town as Guerminstre.  so it’s not hard to see how it ended up as Warminster. It may be famous for many things but after this post it will also be famous for its lack of tearooms – one closed for refurbishment, one a huge chain that doesn’t do scones and this one. And this one didn’t do scones either! “We might have them in again for the summer” they said.  Scones are not swallows for goodness sake, they’re not migratory. They are perfectly happy to be eaten all year round. (Please let us know if you sense we are getting grumpier, it’s difficult for us to tell).Internal view of Coffee 1, Warminster

Also, only one toilet in the entire place, what’s that all about? Do you know how long a woman (or a man) with a baby can be in a toilet? If you need to go it can seem like an eternity and unfortunately for us there were several women with babies ahead of us in the queue. We’re not sure what should be banned – places with only one toilet or women (men) with babies? Okay, we do sense an increase in grumpiness!

Sconeless

A tea cake at Coffee 1, WarminsterIn the absence of scones we had little choice but to opt for a teacake. A poor substitute but what can you do? As it turned out our teacake was rather good and they had even toasted it for us so we really have a cheek to complain. But it wasn’t a scone!! If you ever find yourself in Warminster, be warned, it is a sconeless place!

Song contests

Walking through Warminster we came on a rather nice little arcade. Warminster folks are obviously getting geared up for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Elsewhere things are gearing up for that surreal of surreal things, the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. As if the planet didn’t have enough problems, it’s being broadcast across the world tonight. Russia has been banned … is this the reason for Putin’s inexplicable fury?

BA12 9AN     01985 213118.         Coffee 1  

///steepest.incomes.careless

Ordinary, Scones, self-service

Gee Whites

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Having been in Poole for a few days now we are getting to know the place quite well. Did you know that this town has produced some of the most beautiful women in the world? Yes, not a lot of people know that! How else would you explain the fact that two of the five British Miss Worlds have hailed from here? It’s also renowned for attracting the rich and famous … we’re here after all! On Panorama Road the property price-per-square-foot has exceeded that of waterside streets in Miami and Monte Carlo.
Resisting schoolboy humour
We don’t want to start any arguments but today we are trying to circumnavigate the largest natural harbour in the world, Poole harbour. Other places have tried to claim this title e.g. Sydney harbour. But that claim is usually made by Aussies and we all know what they are like when it comes to bragging! Poole harbour has an area of fourteen square miles and a coastline that extends more than one hundred miles. It also has a single access to the sea … the very definition of a ‘harbour’. Rest assured, if you heard it on allaboutthescones, it’s correct! The harbour is fed by four rivers, the main ones being the River Frome and the River Piddle. The Piddle is actually quite a bit bigger than you might expect!
One of the main streets in Swanage
The High Street, Swanage
Fossils
Circumnavigation involves quite a long drive (not by Australian standards obviously) but it cannot be done without ending up here in Swanage. This is the first town at the eastern end of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site. But with no time to go scavenging for fossils we ended up here at Gee Whites scavenging for scones. It’s an odd sort of place. They have a roof terrace but it wasn’t open. In fact, there did not appear to be any inside seating at all. So outside it had to be … at the mercy of the seagulls. We ordered tea and a fruit scone at a sort of kiosk window. When we asked if the scone came with jam and cream “That’s a cream tea if you want that” was the reply “Okay, can we have a cream tea then?”  We triumphantly transported our ‘cream tea’ to a table by the water’s edge.
View from Gee Whites in Swanage
View from our seat … some folks fishing for crabs
This was not at all unpleasant. A scone at Gee Whites in SwanageAlthough overcast it was warm  and  nice to sit and watch all the activity that typically goes on in all such seaside places. Rather oddly the jam and cream came packaged together in a little plastic tub. Perhaps that should have given us an early warning on the scone. It was a disappointment and worst of all it had a soggy bottom and we all know that soggy bottoms are never desirable. Inevitably perhaps, It became fodder for some of the man-eating seagulls that surrounded our table. One gull swallowed what was left in one gulp. We were impressed by its swallowing skills but mostly by its ability to fly off afterwards. It seemed to thoroughly enjoy it so maybe we’re just getting too fussy?
Another cruise
In spite of this scone setback we were happy to be in Swanage, a place we never ever expected to visit. It had taken us a good hour or so to drive round to here but to complete the circumnavigation we had to take the Sandbanks Chain Ferry across the 242 foot harbour entrance. Another four minute cruise for Pat, I know, I spoil her! First time on a chain ferry and it meant that we were home in no time at all … brill!
Unexpected consequences
Finland has applied for NATO membership after many years of steadfast and proud neutrality.  The 830 mile border with Russia will achieve the exact opposite of what Mad Vlad intended and couldn’t have been achieved without his crazy invasion of Ukraine. Funny the way things turn out sometimes!
 
Our time in the soft south is coming to an end. Shortly we will be heading back to the wild and woolly north.

 

BH19 2LN      tel: 01929 425720      Gee Whites

///requiring.paint.rated

Ordinary, Scones, weird

Not the Smiddy

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Okay, this is a weird one in several ways – weird scone,  weird  circumstance  …  just weird! The other day we were visiting Doune and on the way we popped into the Smiddy to get some stuff in the farm shop. Short on time, we didn’t bother with the café and anyway we had reviewed their scones previously. When I asked Pat when she thought that was she thought that it must have been last year sometime.

External view of the Smiddy
The Smiddy

No, it was 2016 when we last reviewed a scone at the Smiddy …  unbelievable how time passes when you are enjoying yourself! Anyway, as we approached the checkout we spotted this packet (title picture) of banana and chocolate scones. What? As ever, of course, we are willing to risk life and limb in order to further our reader’s sconological knowledge, so into the basket they went.

Pre packed

Scones in packets are usually to be avoided. We don’t think of ourselves as scone snobs but, having said that, there are limits. However, we hadn’t ever come across this particular combination of ingredients before so obviously, they could not be allowed to escape our customary rigorous testing.  It would have to be done at home, however, hence the “Not the Smiddy”  title. 

A chocolate and banana scone for the SmiddyThe big test took place the following day while watching the tragic events unfold in Ukraine. Pat whipped up some cream and served them with some of her own plum jam. Dilemma, what do you serve with chocolate and banana scones? They looked deceptively like fruit scones but what appeared to be fruit was in fact chocolate chips. We like a bit of crunch to our scones but these ones were very soft all over but not unpleasant. We won’t be rushing back to buy more but overall they were surprisingly nice. All we can suggest is that, if you ever come across chocolate and banana scones yourselves, don’t be frightened! And the plum jam went fine!

The government

Today the government announced a new approach to the UK’s energy problems. North Sea oil is going to be fully developed to alleviate the  economic crisis. Could this be the same North Sea oil that, according to the same government in the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum was at an end, only a dribble left? They’ve also hiked up National Insurance contributions for all employers and employees to help pay for the NHS. Could this be the same NHS that was supposed to benefit to the tune of £350 million per week as a result of Brexit? At the same time Rishi Sunak’s wife has registered for non-dom status to escape taxes.

The plight of the people in Ukraine is heart rending. We’ve volunteered to take refugees but due to the government’s opaque immigration system our chances of getting any are slim to say the least. Could it be that our UK government is devious, dishonest, sleazy, self-serving and incompetent? Perish the thought! Remember, these days everything is Putin’s fault! However, he’ll be relieved to hear that we’re not blaming him for banana and chocolate scones.