After what has felt like a long, cold winter, hopefully spring is upon us. The days are getting longer, daffodils are coming into bloom, and it’s finally starting to get warmer. Hurrah! And not a moment too soon. Easter is fast approaching, a celebration of new life and hope, which might come as a surprise to some of you chocolate lovers! But, fear not! Look no further than Findon Village Store to indulge your craving. We stock eggs for every member of the family and every occasion (so long as it’s Easter). Whether it’s Peppa Pig, Hot Wheels, crème egg or smarties for the youngsters, or Thorntons or Lindt for that special person in your life, you can find it all here. I’m particularly taken by Galaxy’s Enchanted egg. I could do with a bit of enchantment this year … (couldn’t we all?)
And our Easter stock doesn’t stop at eggs. Whistlefish supply our Easter cards, which are creative and often a little bit different, as well as being very good value. We also have novelty Easter pasta shapes. Now there’s a good way to entice those fussy eaters to eat up their pasta (unless of course it looks too good to eat – oh dear, I wish I hadn’t thought of that!) But they are fun. We also have mini eggs, egg-topped chocolate cakes, iced Easter shortbreads, and Easter tarts. Mary Childs has made bunny and chick cosies for crème eggs, which have flown out of the shop (metaphorically speaking – the chicks can fly out but I’ve yet to see a flying bunny). Seriously, they have been very popular. We hope to have some more (Thank you, Mary, and pretty please). In the meantime, I am reliably informed that there will be some on sale at the Cinnamon Trust Easter Fair on April 1st at the Village Hall, 10am to 12.30pm.
On the subject of food, our Ginger cakes containing plentiful chunks of stem ginger, sourced from Bramble, are highly sought after. Customers seem to be able to sniff out when they are delivered, and buy them in their droves. Did you know that Findon residents have an exceptionally good sense of smell? I didn’t. You learn something new every day. We hope to have some more Ginger cakes in time for Easter, along with some Bramble traybakes.
Some customers have commented on the cream at the top of our new milk bottles. The milk is only pasteurised, which means it probably tastes better, and is easier to digest. The cream stays in its natural state. (As well as being pasteurised, supermarket milk is usually homogenised, when the fat particles are mixed and dispersed so that the cream does not separate.) Just give the bottle a good shake, and all is good – very good, in fact. For more information, see the Downsview Farmhouse poster in this month’s Findon News.
Sadly, prices are still increasing, and this month it’s the turn of Royal Mail, which is increasing the price of its services, including stamps. Unfortunately, we have no say in their pricing structure. If you can, stock up from your local Store/PO before 3rd April. While I’m on the subject of stamps, the deadline for the Stamp Swap scheme has been extended to July 31st. So, if you have any old stamps hiding in dusty, forgotten corners, you’re safe. You can still use them or swap them.
Well, that’s about it for this month. I was about to say how much I’m looking forward to seeing you at our Volunteers’ Meeting, but we’ll have had it by the time you read this. So, instead, I’ll say how much I enjoyed meeting you all recently, which I’m sure will be true, even if it isn’t at the time of writing!
Jean Burden