Oatmilk latte, raspberry and coconut cake at Chessell Café; pigs in blankets with roast potatoes, peas and gravy

Apologies for the missed post yesterday: two days out in a row, combined with an early awakening yesterday (mum wanted to know if we were still going to go out for her birthday, which we were but I would have preferred not to confirm at quite such an early hour) left me too tired, pained, and fuzzy-headed to put words to page (or screen, technically speaking).

Yesterday’s outing was to Chessell Café, a former pottery turned…. well, café. (The clue’s in the name.) I have the vaguest of memories of visiting the pottery when it was still making items out of clay, although it’s not the pottery itself that I remember so much as the weeping willow tree in the garden, although it wasn’t as big in my memory even bearing in mind that I must have been much smaller then.

These days it’s famed for its cakes, displayed in long rows on the counter as you come inside. Studying the selection proved tricky while navigating a crowded café, using crutches, without treading on any small children or dog tails, and keeping up with the rest of my party. I therefore picked the first cake that caught my eye, a jam and dessicated coconut topped sponge, and didn’t regret my choice as it was excellent: the cake also contained coconut, so was denser than a classic sponge, but nicely moist and flavourful, with a layer of fruity, slightly tart jam on top. The oatmilk latte with it was excellent, and I would have loved a second cup but I wasn’t paying so had to settle for just the one.

Behind our table was this gorgeous piece of art, which I’m sharing simply because I love it and want other people to see it.

Then today I deliberately did as little as possible, although of course I still had to cook dinner. Mum said she wasn’t hungry and to not cook much, a statement I still don’t disregard as much as I should and so end up with less food than I intended. On the plus side, the roast potatoes – Iceland’s Ridiculously Crispy ones – were delicious, if not quite as crispy as the packet promised. I didn’t take any photos as my phone was charging in the bedroom, but you can guess how it looked – bacon-wrapped sausages, golden photos, green peas, brown gravy over everything.

So that’s today done (a phrase I use so often my phone auto completes it). I’m still over-tired, although not as much so as I was yesterday when I nearly cried at an advert (the Cadbury’s one about a man with dementia and his daughter, who he doesn’t recognise: it’s not surprising it makes me emotional, really). I’ll see y’all tomorrow, and apologise here again for any typos as I cba with re-reading to correct any errors, even though I know it will annoy me when I look at it again tomorrow. Oh well.