Candlestick maker?

I haven’t walked home from the station since leaving for Oz so, this morning, it was a wonderful opportunity to catch up on the changes wrought since early May.

Generally I walk back via Gostrey Meadow, across the Central car park and up Downing Street, across West Street and up the delightfully cobbled Lion and Lamb Yard, which is what I did today.

The first revelation was the new beds of dahlias planted around the war memorial. I can’t remember there being dahlias planted there before but they should do it every year. The flowers are not all quite out yet but they are showing a lot of promise. I noticed a lot of the Bish sprinkled through the beds, which is always a joy.

The Bish (Bishop of Llandoff) is our favourite. We had some success with them before arriving at the snail heaven that is our garden. Snails and slugs absolutely love the taste of dahlias. Ours was devoured poste haste and we didn’t bother trying again. It was a sad day. It’s always nice to see someone else’s.

But the discovery of the dahlias was as nothing compared to what awaited me in Downing Street. Right on the edge of the road to St Andrews, a tiny corner shop has suddenly appeared (it opened on June 5). It is called Loaf and is, I am very happy to announce, a bakers.

Yes, somewhere to buy fresh bread, pastries and cakes. The one store (ignoring a fishmongers or candlestick maker) Farnham was missing. The one store that now means I can call at independent shops for nearly everything I need on my daily expeditions.

I walked by before realising what the small sandwich board was announcing. I stopped; I thought long and hard; I turned around. It was true; my eyes had not deceived me. It was a baker.

I went straight in and bought a small hedgehog loaf for lunch and dinner. I then went down a few doors to the butcher for some meat and I was set for the day. Such a joy.

Shopping aside, the day was mostly spent in the garden. I managed to finish weeding the ex-nettle bed, I mowed the lawn (I use the word in the broadest sense), I dead headed the roses and generally potted about, which mostly involved re-poisoning the bind weed.

We also went for a lovely long walk around the Park, where we noticed the fun fair setting up. Fortunately the weather has been somewhat kinder than last year and it’s unlikely that the big trucks and tents will wreak the havoc of last year. Well, let’s hope so, anyway.

And that was it for today. But, I’m fairly certain, the discovery of a new baker is more than enough excitement for any House Husband.

This entry was posted in Gary's Posts and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

4 Responses to Candlestick maker?

  1. Caroline Walker says:

    When I worked in Downing Street in 1971-73, Farnham was full of bakers, and several of them were in Downing Street (which was not good for me). There was a baker on that corner which would make lardy cake on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. My colleague and I would go over mid-morning and buy a hot one straight from the oven, and quite often eat the whole thing between us before it cooled down. We worked in Hammicks Bookshop which was where the opticians is now.

  2. admin says:

    Oh, Caroline! Now you have me dreaming of lardy cake. I’ll have to keep an eye on their cakes…

    Gary

  3. Caroline Walker says:

    Let me know if they start doing them. It would be worth the 600 mile round trip.

    Caroline

  4. flip 100 says:

    Oh my goodness Lardy cake like nearly 53 years since we have had it but a bit more then 600 miles to come and get it. My mouth is watering at the thought.
    love mum x

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.