Wednesday was a bleah sort of day, full of sadness, worries and upsets.* In the end I just loaded the kids into the car and we drove. That's the best thing about the country. Two minutes in the car and we're in rolling green hills followed by temperate rainforest. I headed for the town of Mirboo North. It's a quaint, thriving little place full of weatherboard cottages and interesting shops, all tucked into forest. It's what people expect when we tell them we live in a country town, rather than the multitude of shops for lease, social problems and ring of surrounding power plants that's the reality. However, a pleasant drive and voila. The dream is ours.
Telling myself it was all for research, we popped into the cafe Dalliance. (With toddlers, I know, I was feeling brave!) And... it sold all my favourite teas... including Liquorice Legs! And o the chocolates. After brief but intense scrutiny of the handmade chocolates on display, I chose a Red Rose, an Exotic Spice and a Cinnamon Truffle. Going to order a cappuccino I spied a glug of chocolate swirling. Being told it was European Hot Chocolate, I decided it was my duty to try it. You know, for when I write my Emporium Sisters Escapade book set in Susie's Chocolate Shop. Which is at least a year away. But still. It's good to be prepared.
Yum, huh. For the record, the exotic spice and the red rose were okay, rich and incredibly filling but lacking the wow factor. The cinnamon truffle was divine. Completely covered in cinnamon with a sweet soft inner contrasting. Mmmm.. The European Hot chocolate was a winner. Not too sweet, but warm and gelatinous and cocoa-y. More Please.
Luckily for my sanity, there was an outdoor courtyard. Winner. We shared it with a mother's group and it made all the difference. If only all cafes had a similar space to run the kids!
And then, across the road to the park.
*My Granny's funeral was being held in Scotland, my Beloved was panicking that he'd just failed the year - now, half-way through, on some retrospective marking technicality, and let me say, I can take the whole impoverished student thing as a necessary evil but an extra year of it? The thought did not make me sing with joy. And then a particularly negative crit on Scribophile to ponder. And did I mention the wonders of toilet training? Sigh. Okay, I'll stop whining now!
Telling myself it was all for research, we popped into the cafe Dalliance. (With toddlers, I know, I was feeling brave!) And... it sold all my favourite teas... including Liquorice Legs! And o the chocolates. After brief but intense scrutiny of the handmade chocolates on display, I chose a Red Rose, an Exotic Spice and a Cinnamon Truffle. Going to order a cappuccino I spied a glug of chocolate swirling. Being told it was European Hot Chocolate, I decided it was my duty to try it. You know, for when I write my Emporium Sisters Escapade book set in Susie's Chocolate Shop. Which is at least a year away. But still. It's good to be prepared.
Yum, huh. For the record, the exotic spice and the red rose were okay, rich and incredibly filling but lacking the wow factor. The cinnamon truffle was divine. Completely covered in cinnamon with a sweet soft inner contrasting. Mmmm.. The European Hot chocolate was a winner. Not too sweet, but warm and gelatinous and cocoa-y. More Please.
Luckily for my sanity, there was an outdoor courtyard. Winner. We shared it with a mother's group and it made all the difference. If only all cafes had a similar space to run the kids!
And then, across the road to the park.
*My Granny's funeral was being held in Scotland, my Beloved was panicking that he'd just failed the year - now, half-way through, on some retrospective marking technicality, and let me say, I can take the whole impoverished student thing as a necessary evil but an extra year of it? The thought did not make me sing with joy. And then a particularly negative crit on Scribophile to ponder. And did I mention the wonders of toilet training? Sigh. Okay, I'll stop whining now!
