I've been doing a lot of pottering yesterday and today so far. Doing lots of little jobs here and there... why you may ask? Well, it can only mean that I have an essay to write. I made a good start on it yesterday. I'm already at half of my word count and it is due in on Friday, so I'm on track at least. It's for my Gender Justice course I mentioned in an earlier post. The essay is the final assessment, so I'll try not to get distracted by drying flowers and the like so that I can get it finished!
I was doing a bit of tearoom research and I found some very interesting things, a yahoo group for Tea Entreprenuers, auctions in Glasgow where you can pick up lots of vintage crockery and a couple of London based tearooms that appear to do the kind of activities that I want to do in terms of the tearoom side of the business, so I felt very inspired by them and found more confidence in my ideas.
The Tea Rooms in Stoke Newington
The Tea rooms were recommended to my by a London living friend.
I'm excited about both of these places as they each do things that I want to do in my tearoom and craft gallery. I want to do afternoon teas, tea parties for different occasions and have crafty activities for children and adults as part of both the tearoom and craft gallery. I imagine the tearoom being used in the evening for workshops or meetings of crafters. I'd like to open the gallery space in the evening for events and craft exhibitions. It is all very exciting, and seeing that others have set up similar establishments in the UK is reassuring.
I'm excited about both of these places as they each do things that I want to do in my tearoom and craft gallery. I want to do afternoon teas, tea parties for different occasions and have crafty activities for children and adults as part of both the tearoom and craft gallery. I imagine the tearoom being used in the evening for workshops or meetings of crafters. I'd like to open the gallery space in the evening for events and craft exhibitions. It is all very exciting, and seeing that others have set up similar establishments in the UK is reassuring.
Sorry to start off with a dramatic fight, but I simply refuse to believe there’s been sunshine in Glasgow for five days running. That’s just crazy talk. In the ten or so years I spent in Glasgow, I can remember feeling incredibly lucky if we got two consecutive days of sunshine. In fact, come to think of it, I feel sure the sun only shone for two consecutive hours each year. And that, pretty much, was Summer. Ah, the glory days. (Not that I’m jealous or anything, you understand.)
ReplyDeleteHello. I think, going back a bit, that Great Western Road would be a more desirable address than Dumbarton Road – you were looking at tearooms in these locations a couple of posts back (just in case you think I’m suddenly talking like a maddo). There has always been something about Dumbarton Road that made me feel a little bit uneasy. Without wishing to appear snobby, I imagine you’d get a better class of clientele on the Great Western Road - and their pockets may also be deeper.
I like the idea of the marshmallow treats your partner suggested, incidentally. I’m not actually all that into sweet things, I must confess – I leave this to my own partner (she is a crazed fiend) – but I do know that on those rare occasions I find myself having cake or the like....freshness and presentation is everything. It’s such a simple thing, but so many people seem to serve stuff that is slightly past it’s best on plates that feel cheap and greasy. Okay, I’m starting to get all moany, so I’ll stop right there.
Good luck, though.
Kind regards etc....
TPE
(Ach, I've signed into my wrong account, so there is no link back to my blog. I keep on doing this. Must be getting senile or something.)
Thanks TPE for your thoughtful comment. You're right about Dumbarton Road. It just didn't feel right, the Great Western Road one however, I can't stop thinking about it. It needs a bit of work, but that doesn't put me off, means I can put my stamp on it.
ReplyDeleteMarket research is very important and I agree with your comments on presentation and stuff being fresh. I'm always upset when I get a sandwich which is less that super fresh, same with cakes, these's no excuse for ones that aren't spot on!
I hope you sign in again with the right account with a link to your blog and I hope it is sunny every day wherever you are :-)
Given that I now live in Ireland, alas, I think the chances of it being sunny every day are almost as slim as they would have been had I stayed in Glasgow. Having said that, though, it’s been utterly beautiful weather since I last wrote here, complaining and grumbling. I feel sure I must have your wishes to thank for that – you are a miracle worker, surely? (Also, sorry to say, I was rather pleased to see that you’d been having some rain. I know, I know, this is despicably uncharitable, but I need to take my (shadenfreude-shaped) pleasures just wherever I can.)
ReplyDeleteHello, Cushion and Cake, I get so used to poor manners on the internet (blogs, I mean) that I’m almost made to jump when someone actually responds. Thank you, then, for taking the time to write back – bucking a depressing trend.
I’ll just quickly give you my blog address and move upstairs – as I need to gently mock your muffin disasters. So, without further ado..... ta da!
Please, don’t be alarmed, the blog has absolutely nothing to do with cricket (don’t be fooled by the name). Also – and this will come as a relief, I imagine – the comments are switched off at the moment (I tend to talk myself and my poor guests to a standstill – hard to believe, I know – and require time to recuperate), so you won’t even need to think of anything to say.
Don’t say I’m not good to you.
Lovely to collide with you, anyway. I need to go and laugh at your muffins now, I’m afraid. See you in a minute.
Kind regards etc....
TPE