Today, Saturday 20th October has been a glorious day taking us back to the Summer when people were sat outside every day for weeks on end. Perhaps not as warm today, but people were making the most of the lovely weather and sitting outside. We have brought a few tables and chairs in, mainly the wooden ones. Martin is sanding these down and will be giving them a fresh coat of paint. Just thinking about the riverside tea garden and the Summer we have had, one thing we felt we didn't have enough of was parasols. So we plan to invest in some big parasols to block that sun out, which was extremely hot at times. What we don't want though is people moving them to suit where they are sitting as happened this year, which resulted in a broken parasol, which I wasn't too happy about! Who would bet on the British weather though for next year!
Our Pie n Mash nights throughout the summer were the busiest yet. On three or four occasions we had groups in the craft area. All went very smoothly catering for fifty odd people each time. Mainly I have to say down to our fabulous staff who worked those evenings. I never get tired of telling people how good our staff are, although more often than not the customers are telling me how good the staff are!! Martin, Issy, Megan, Lynn, Sharon, Andrea, Harriet, Rosie, Thomas, Ryan and Joe. I take my hat off to you all. Missing off that list is Sam who had worked for us since we opened. He went to Teesside Uni so was still able to work for us but finally he did his last shift for us after seven years on August Bank Holiday. Sam we miss you but wish you every success in what you do. Sam lives two doors down from Shepherds Hall which was very handy for us and very handy for him!!
So we have a couple of weeks before we close for our Winter break. School half term, although plenty of children are off now, starting on Monday. Here's to a busy couple of weeks!