Dancing Around with Scones!

This week has been a busy but exciting week. We’ve been giving the blue scone van a much-needed spring clean and tried to declutter her. It’s surprising how much clutter has accumulated in such a tiny space. For this reason, we have had to bring in the big guns. Have any of you encountered the Marie Kondo method? The idea is that you only keep things in your space that spark joy or can be seen as useful. We had a look around the caravan which is where we prepare our pots of loose-leaf tea, plunge our cafetieres, warm scones, slice sandwiches and cut cakes and realised that there were lots of knick-knacks that we have never used at our events. In such a small space, we only want to keep those things that enhance the caravan’s vintage stye (which we love) or help us to serve teatime treats. A plastic lemon squeezer, picnic plates and three tubs of fake flowers illustrated how difficult we find it to throw things away when they still have a use. It was no surprise therefore, to also discover a box of twenty small jars with handles! We really tried hard to give them a creative purpose but, sadly, they have been added to the discard shop pile. Our neighbours have set up a ‘Buy Nothing, Woking’ page on Facebook. So, we’ll put anything we don’t need on there to make sure it doesn’t go to landfill or take it to the charity shop to help others. We will also be taking some of the unwanted crockery to our favourite brocante shop, Alchemy, in Byfleet. Charlotte, the owner, has very similar taste to us at Mel's Marvellous Cakes.

We have also downsized our crockery collection to 100 sets – this took absolutely ages as we are so attached to every piece and kept playing at tea parties while we were supposed to be packing! We had over 150 sets but, a collection of 100 sets will be much easier to look after. We will add photos of the crockery sets to the website over the next few weeks. Everything is available to hire for special events so keep an eye on our website for your favourite pieces.

Our exciting news this week is that Mel’s Marvellous Teashop has been invited back to Weyfest, at the Rural Life Centre from 19th to 21st August. We hear that Del Amitri and Billy Ocean are headlining, as well as our favourite 90s band, the Stereo MCs. We were serving next to the Old Kiln Stage last year but, this time, we are in the main stage area so will be even busier. Our plan is to serve afternoon teas with vintage crockery, cakes, sandwiches, scones, clotted cream and jam on specially decorated tables. We will also have our take-away teatime treat boxes, toasted sandwiches, coffee and tea. Last year was great fun and we spent most of our time dancing around with scones!

Finally, we will be publishing our first newsletter for members at the end of February. This will include information about our events, recipes and discounts. If you would like to receive a copy, do sign up on our website at www.melsmarvellouscakes.com. We look forward to seeing you there.

Lots of love

Mel