Day: Jan 23, 2020

No Scone of the Week (but Good Cake)

Posted on by Jackie B

There were no scones where we went today, but the cake looked good so we stayed and had some of that instead.

We were at the Paw Prints Coffee Shop at WCF Pet and Equestrian on South Road, Alnwick, close to the the Aldi supermarket. There aren’t many places for a cuppa and a snack in this part of Alnwick, away from the town centre and the tourist haunts. But being handy for Aldi and having it’s own car park should attract customers, even those who simply want a takeaway coffee (currently on offer for only £1).

Being inside a pet/equestrrian supplies shop, Paw Prints is of course dog-friendly. The menu is very limited however. They only serve hot and cold drinks, a small range of home-made cakes and pre-packaged biscuits, cereal bars and crisps. The staff were great – very helpful and friendly (and quite apologetic about the absence of scones).

We opted for coffee and walnut cake, which was lovely: home-made with a nice texture, just the right amount of icing and a a generous sprinkling of walnut pieces on top. It was served with proper cake forks too. Our drinks were fine. – filter coffee and hot chocolate, but nothing fancy (no whipped cream or marshmallows), though the tall, thin mugs with saucers looked quite elegant. It was all very reasonably priced too.

The cafe has been open since just before Christmas and they plan to expand the offer to include sandwiches (and scones, I hope!) It provides a low cost alternative to the town centre venues if you just want to get a quick snack to eat in or take out.

Do you have a favourite kind of cake?

Family Walk

Posted on by Jackie B

It’s been a busy week. I really needed to get on with some book editing so I needed a couple of days away from the blog to get some more done. I mentioned before that I’m helping a friend with her third fantasy novel – read about it here.

I did have a lovely trip out on Sunday though. Our daughter lives close to Druridge Bay Country Park. We (K, myself, daughter, son and dog) went for a walk (or in my case, a scoot – I use a disability scooter) around the lake that afternoon. The afternoon sun was shining but clouds were beginning to gather and it was cold.

The paths are good, so despite the mock threats, there were plenty of routes round the lake without negotiating this row of stepping stones.

There were lots of families, dog walkers and cyclists about and Buddy the labrador was in his element. He absolutely loves it when the whole family is together. He wasn’t sure about the swans though. They had come out of the water along with the ducks and a large flock of gulls when someone started to feed them.

We all went back to daughter’s house for hot drinks. I’d lost all feeling in my fingers, despite gloves, so knitting was out of the question for at least half an hour. I was soon back at the socks though!

It was so good to be out with the family – it’s not often that we do something all together like that. Do you have a family activity that everyone enjoys?