If a picture paints a thousand words todays picture says wet wet wet wet wet, this soggy but beautiful doggy popped in from the Tower Bank Arms at Near Sawrey and braved the rain for his walk. What a day! There was no-one at the camp site this morning, well there was a brave person in a caravan right in the middle of the field, curtains closed so I did not wake them up, its one of those days to stay well and truly under the duvet!

Mother has gone back up to the wool festival today, she came back last night very very inspired by all things wool. Watch this space for some refurbishments we are going to do in the shop to make room for some more crafty goodies and some more groceries

Chocolate is the order of the day for most customers, this weather seems to make everyone feel like they deserve something sweet! Too right!

What I did not mention yesterday when writing about the article in the lake district life magazine was the lovely picture of Buckle Yeat which was in the article too, it must have been taken earlier in the year as it does not do the current floral display justice, but nonetheless it’s a lovely picture

Several customers came in yesterday asking if the postman had been in yet, I said no, the post men and women are on strike today, to which several of them said, “does that mean they won’t be coming then!” They even had me thinking!!!

Someone has just bought some ice creams! Blooming marvellous! That’s all for now folks :-)

Good afternoon from Far Sawrey, I have published a picture of the effect an article published in Lake district life has had on me, its made me smile with bells on (I am the one with the sheepy necklace, not the yellow marrow!)

The article is a feature on the walk around the villages and it says and I quote “take the opportunity to visit this little shop, a triumph of private enterprise serving the local community….buy something here if its only a cold drink, these local shops depend on the likes of you and me” Also in the article is a lovely review of the Tower Bank Arms, so from us THANKYOU Lake District Life! Also in the magazine is a feature on a resident of Far Sawrey who has restored a couple of “gentlemans launches” on the lake, he was over the moon to see the article when he popped in for his daily paper today….

As I type the rain is staying away, the same cannot be said further down and across the country, it reminds me of the devastation levied upon Carlisle a couple of years ago, poor poor people!

Mother is away for a couple of days at the “Wool Fest” in Cockermouth meeting up with all of her ruggy friends

It has been a very quiet week here in the shop this week, I guess the forecast has not helped, the trip to the fruity market was successful and we came back with lots of juicy fruits and some very yellow marrows! Scottish strawberries are plentiful and so too are the English beans, so if your feeling fruity why not pop along to Sawrey Stores :-)

Last night was a New Orleans theme night at Sawrey Country House Hotel, the driving rain could not dampen the spirits of the evening, The new owners of Sawrey Country House put on a lovely evening of food and music, here is to many more…

That’s about all for now folks :-) :-) :-)

Good Afternoon from Far Sawrey, its a very very quite day here in the village, a complete contrast to last mondays road chaos day!

I have posted a picture of one of the sheep cushions handmade and on sale here in Sawrey Stores

One of our customers decided to get the bus into hawkshead today and I was astonished to learn that a ticket costs £5.75 return or £3.25 single! Where is a segway when you need one!

Despite the quietness we have sold out of fresh bread, its a day for eating bread I guess, I am now dreaming of hot buttered toast......

Benny is curled up indoors today recovering from his long walk on saturday, a customer took him out for a full day ans apparently when she got back to the tarns and decided to do a bit more Benny would not budge and pulled her in the direction of the shop! He had had enough I guess!

We heard some good news today, some of our customers who live in Near Sawrey are renewing their wedding vows in the church this week. I am a romantic at heart and think its a lovely thing to do, I have my fingers crossed that the weather brightens up

Thats about all for now folks, wellies on and off home :-)

Good Morning from far Sawrey, its a tad overcast, but fingers crossed the rain hold off until after the Rose Queen procession in Hawkshead. Today is the birthday of a good friend of mine so HAPPY BIRTHDAY Andy...

Look at the picture above! How fab is that for a eco friendly mode of transport! never seen anything quite like it, it zips up the lane and turns on a sixpence, you can even attach a trailer I believe! Our customer loves it! I WANT ONE! It would be fabulous for doing Sawrey Stores deliveries! Big hazard triangle attached to my behind and I would be off! ;-)

The camp sites were quite quiet today, there were a few large expedition groups there, they come equipped with everything, but they could not resist the chocolate brownies!

Thats about all for now folks! Segway away!

Good Morning from Far Sawrey, its a blue sky morning despite what the weather men predicted....Our pictures of the traffic chaos made it into the Westmorland gazette today with an explaination from the traffic authorities, its still a very busy morning road wise.

Popped to Buckle yeat yesterday to deliver some fresh fruit and saw their lovely garden which is an absolute haven away from all of the road chaos. Cream teas are served their during the day which were being lovingly home made as I arrived, the look and smell of the flowers combined with the smell of the home baking makes for a lovely sensory experience for any weary traveller who feels like a bit of rest and relaxation here in Sawrey

The above pictures are of our tray bakes which are made for us by the pudding lady in Ambleside, her white chocolate brownies have now got quite a following here in Sawrey with many people coming back day after day for their daily fix of the yummy slice, a blogger came in today and she loves them that much she is taking some back home with her

Thats about all for now, fingers crossed this lovely weather holds for the hawkshead May Queen Festival tomorrow which starts at 2pm at the village school

Good Morning from Far Sawrey, its fruity market day today, we have come back with lots of soft fruit to tempt our customers. Large punnets of strawberries are only £1. I have just checked out fruit and vegatable prices online and I am pleased to say that our fruit and vegetable prices are very competitive. Many of the major supermarkets are offering the same sized punnets of strawberries as us at half price and they are still £1.99!!!

As I type Benny is having a handbags at dawn moment with a girly dog who is taking offence to him sniffing at her bits, he is kicking up all of the stones in protest! Animals!

We noticed the high tech signs at Newby Bridge telling HGV and coach drivers the road was not suitable for them, its written on paper and by hand!!! here's hoping that it does not rain today!

We have also bought some lovely hanging baskets to sell, they are from a nursery in lancashire and look just lovely...they were been delivered just as we bought them...mini carbon foot print hey!

Thats about all for now folks, better go sell some fruit :-)

A Picture paints a thousand words hey!

Tony and Lorna the blind custmers who were in last week have called to say they are home safe and sound and that their parcel arrived. its half day here today,

Last night there were thunder storms and heavy heavy rain showers in the village, its all calm as I type, just off to kendal, which way to go??? Decisions Decisions hey :-)

Just as I published the blog a coach got well and truly stuck, I am sensing its going to be an interesting day, someone said there are 7 coaches booked into Hill Top today! I hope they have got it wrong! Click on the pictures for the enlarged version to see just how tight it is!!!!!

Good Morning from Sawrey.....What a morning it has been.for a moment I thought the village wa sin for free logs for the year! It appears the road between Graythwaite and Hawkshead has been closed and traffic is been diverted through Sawrey, not a problem for cars but haulage vehicles are getting stuck like flies in honey, combined with the potter pilgrimes, its been a bit busy out there to say the least.... I have never ever seen the colour drain away from a man's face so quickly when the lorry driver realised he was stuck and going nowhere, thankfully a HGV driver who lives in the village came to the rescue and took him out in his car to see if the lorry would get out another way, after a heart stopping reverse, he has managed to get on his way....I did my finest traffic diverting impression and tried to calm lost potter pilgrims and a couple of coaches, boy what a morning!

Prior to that a man had been in asking if we sold alcohol...it was only 9am when he asked! I said sorry no we dont, he said thats a shame my wife is driving me b***dy mad, b***dy holidays! He came to the conclusion it was easier to get drunk than he could not drive and his wife would have to go out alone!

Poor man, hes best off inside with the chaos outside!

Good Blushing Morning from Sawrey...For whoever wrote the comment on friday, Thankyou whoever you are......unfortunatley we only sell small bottles of oil, I am not sure ours would be enough for the task you have in mind :-)

Its a quiet weekend here in the village, I guess the weather forecast can put some people off, it did say we were in for a wet weekend, and its a dry morning! Hopefully the weather will improve greatly for next weeekends Rose Queen Gala which will leave Hawkshead School at 2pm and head for the Market Square for fun and games and some Maypole Dancing

I must say a big big thankyou to the blogger who read my dry stone wall blog last week and has left me a book on dry stone walling and some very interesting pictures, I believe your staying at Buckle Yeat....It was a lovely suprise....THANKYOU VERY MUCH...I also got an email from a company who do dry stone wall courses, the power of the internet amazes me!

Thats about all for now folks, better go source some new oil's :-)

Good Afternoon from Sawrey, its a wet wet day here in the village although as I type there seems to be a bit of a break in the showers...It is very very quiet in the village today, hilll top is closed and I had to break it to some soggy tourists who had walked here from Windermere!

The pictures above are of some of the new ranges we have here in the shop

Tony and Lorna the blind couple who are staying in near sawrey walked up to the shop with their guide dog again today, they have bought lots of goodies from our store and we are have put them in a box with one of their special address labels on and it can be sent to them for free! I had never heard of this service before but what a great one it is!

Te vegetables remain inside today, they would have been washed away with the rain that was coming down earlier!

There is an article in the local paper asking cumbrians to log their sightings of adders online as part of their "add an adder" survey project, the site can be found at http://www.adder.org.uk/

As I type sally traffic on radio2 is announcing that as a result of an accident on the M6 their are tail back from lancaster to Blackpool! Yikes thats long! I am pleased to announce that there are no traffic jams in Sawrey!

Thats about all for now :-)

PS......I JUST NOTICED THAT THE BLOG COUNTER I PUT ON THE BLOG A MONTH AGO HAS HIT 1850! WOW! THANKYOU ALL FOR STOPPING BY AND READING THE BLOG :-)

Good Morning from Far Sawrey, its a rather overcast morning here. Benny is outside the shop chomping on his bone and putting his cute face on whenever a customer approaches (he has had 2 biscuits already!) The village is extremely quiet today, in goes the sun, in goes the visitors I guess...Time to catch up on chores and re stocking the shop...

Todays picture is of a dry stone wall, I have a thing about dry stone walls, I think they are beautiful, I always have!

"Yan on twa and twa on yan, One stone on two and two stones on one" walling quote I like :-)

One of the things I want to do before I am 40 is learn how to build a dry stone wall? I want to learn the basics so that one day I can make a garden with a lovely dry stone wall and some dry stone wall balls, probably sounds stranger than it is! I have asked both of the local farmers if they will teach me later in the year, they both laughed, they think I am joking! One day hey! this is a link to an inspirational site...... http://www.drystone-walling.co.uk/news.shtml

Below is a poem that I also like.....

THE OLD WALLER by Gordon Allen North

I see him now, the rangy, dry-stone waller, his long, lean frame and shabby, greening hat; his twinkling eyes; the way he'd greet a caller with friendly nod, content to work and chat. His long, sinewy fingers, scored and calloused, selected stones with judgment long matured and placed them firmly, neatly - and unharassed - where the perfect stability ensured. The wall and he seemed almost kin together, dun-coloured, earthy, with a touch of green, elemental, piquant as the weather that sweeps the rugged, Lower Pennines scene. I shall not forget the rangy, dry-stone waller, his long, lean frame and shabby, greening hat: where is he now, and what celestial caller hails him today and pauses for a chat?

Good Afternoon from Sawrey which is baking in the heat....Boy is hot!!!

The BBQ was a great success yesterday afternoon in the village, I am reliably informed that the festivities went on until late and finished off in the Claife Crier bar. Everyone worked so hard in making the day a success, Buckle Yeat have raised hundreds of pounds with Mr Mcgregor outside their Guest House, Jane from the farm entertained the children with games in the field, did the shopping for the event and organised the raffle and I am sure did many more things, The farmers Richard and Johnny worked hard on the bar and Stan the man worked like a trooper cooking on the BBQ in the heat!......A fantastic village event!

Another great event for the village is a planned theme night at the Sawrey House Hotel, its titled a "taste of mew Orleans at Sawrey House", its on Thurdays the 28th of June at 8pm, its £29.95 per head which includes 5 tantalising courses and A four piece jazz band!!! Booking essential, the menu offers choices such as.........Gumbo, Jefferson Salad, Garden District Peppers and French Quarter Chicken to start, Lemon sorbet course, then Cajun Crusted Rib of Beef, Jambalaya, Lakeview Swordfish, Gentilly Peppers, then Desserts, then Coffee and Mints

The air conditioning has completely died on us here in the shop and its soooooooooooo hot with the heat from the weather combined with the heat from the fridges and freezers!!!

That is about all for now folks :-)

Good Morning from Sawrey, there is a big wedding in the village today, its made quite an impact on the village, it is not a couple who live in the village, they own a holiday cottage.

Unfortunately the proceedings are having quite an effect on village life, in the past 24 hours there has been 4 incidents of road rage here outside the shop, people who do not live here rushing through the village and when they hit sawrey pace it seems to have annoyed them, one customer was threatened that he would "have him" if he did not move his car instantly.. one was screamed at, one was beeped at and shouted at and I was called the C word.. It is an absolute shame that something that should be so joyous is having such a negative imapct on such a lovely village...Anyway they came and I am sure they will all go and life will get back to the lush normality it usually is... (and they say its quiet in the country)

Busy morning at the campsites, the shop is quite quiet as the village is full of wedding guests who do not require our services, I tell a lie, we do not sell confetti but we have just suggested rice instead! ( a sale)

Its the BBQ to raise money for the playground in Near Sawrey this afternoon and evening, by all accounts its a lovely afternoon out and the money raised helps to maintain and replace the playground rides when needed,

Thats about all for now folks, love form Sawrey

Good Afternoon from Sawrey, its very hot today despite it been overcast, we are pleased to report that our shop local promotion has made it into the Westmorland Gazette today, its a lovely picture and a really nice write up. The promotion is going really well and today we have some of our local cheese and oatcakes on offer to sample.

The bakery has supplied us with some speciality bread today, its dark cotswold with cranberries, hmmmmmmmm

We are pleased to report that the customer who had the road traffic accident in the village a few weeks ago has been discharged from hospital and is on the mend

A couple of local men are this morning trying to help the local farmer with one of his calves which has broken its leg! Ouch! By all accounts its mother is not letting anyone near it!

Benny did not make it into the paper this week despite him wearing his shop local t shirt this week so I have just taken a picture of him so he does not feel left out

Happy friday from SAWREY :-)

Its fruity day! Glorious Glorious fruity, the radishes look so lush and the pear are real sweet, the shop is filled with the aroma of fresh basil, its better than any air freshner you could buy!

Lots of soft fruits on sale this week including juicy plums, crisp red grapes, kiwi fruits, necterines, english strawberries, raspberries and blackberries

Seem to have gone a bit mad on the lettuce front, we have some cos lettuces, some red oak leaf lettuces and some webbs lettuces from lancashire

The first english broad beans are here, just popped one open and the beans are protected like jewels in their pod...If pod is the right name? Hmmmm I dont know!

"Beans -- legumes -- first appeared in southeast Asia during the late Neolithic era, at least 10,000 years ago.
Beans are one of the longest-cultivated plants, broad beans having been grown at least since ancient Egypt, green beans for six thousand years in the Americas.
Many modern dry beans come from old-world varieties of broad beans, but most of the kinds commonly eaten fresh come from the Americas, being first seen by Christopher Columbus during his conquest of a region of what may have been the Bahamas, where they were grown in fields"

Broad Bean recipes suggestions include, bean puree to go with crispy Pork, Braod Beans served with crispy bacon and crutons, Broad Bean and vegetable soup....

Thats about all for now, vegetable price list to do,

Happy Thursday :-)

P.S

Cannot believe what I have just heard, a customer and her daughter have just been in and the 9 year old daughter had never EVER seen bread that was not sliced!!!!! She could not understand how you sliced it and threw the mother of all wobblies as she wanted bread that was ready sliced!!! Mother calmed her down by telling her that her dad would be able to slice it for her.... Words fail me!!!

I was just looking at old photos saved on the computer, have enclosed one of the things I have done when not working, gorge walking 3miles in waist high water, just whats needed on this hot hot day!!!! It was great fun though!!! :-)

Good Morning from Sunny Sawrey, As I type I am slightly distracted by the semi naked window cleaners are stood at the window with their wash leathers.........bronzed....chest bearing men all hot and sweaty.................anyway back to reality.....

Its a glorious morning here in the village, I am however sad to report that our Peter Rabbit's ear fell off this morning! Glue needed!

More double yokers have spotted from the free range eggs we sell here at the shop!

Its fruity market night tonight so early to bed for us.... Just checked the weather forecast for the next few days and it does not seem too bad, sunshine is mentioned every day! http://www.lake-district.gov.uk/weatherline/home/index.php

Sorry its a picture of eggs and not semi naked window cleaners, could not get my camera out in time ladies! Imagination is a powerful tool tho!!!

Happy Wednesday :-)

P.S

The shop local promotion has gone very very well!!! Might even make it into the wezzy gezzy on friday, you never know! :-)

Good Morning from Sunny Sawrey........its Local Independents Week or to you and I its SHOP LOCAL WEEK, we have invited the local paper to come and do a feature on this local shop, but I have taken a picture to show you all our display

The campaign highlights the importance of the local shop in a community and the former CBI boss Sir Digby Jones says that “local stores are the glue which binds communities together”. We hope you agree that Sawrey Stores fulfils this role and we wish to thank all of our existing customers who’s support makes running the village shop a very special experience

If you haven’t been to Sawrey Stores lately then why not take this opportunity to visit us, free parking is available outside the shop and at Braithwaite Hall opposite The Sawrey Hotel.
We are open 7 days a week from 8.30am-5.30pm except on Wed when we close at 1.00pm.

We have fresh bread delivered 5days a week from the Apple Pie in Ambleside and from the new Munx Lakeland bakery in Stavely.

Due to our very healthy customers we go to the fresh fruit and vegetable market in Manchester and we come back with the van loaded with lots of juicy fruit and vegetables at very reasonable prices.

We stock a large range of English Lakes Ice Creams for those hot summer days that are on their way (we hope)

We are very proud to sell the award winning Cumberland Sausage stuffed with black pudding and Bacon which comes from Keswick Fine Game and Meats

The Cheese Man from Kendal supplies us with a range of local cheeses including Kendal Crumbly and Kendal Creamy which go very well with some Cumbrian Oat Cakes

We also sell a range of Organic nuts and seeds from SUMA the whole-food co-operative in Yorkshire.

A Full range of daily newspapers are available seven days a week and our magazine range is increasing by the month

We hope to see all you soon at Your Local shop Sawrey Stores

Good Afternoon from Far sawrey, its another hot hot day here in the village, mother is doing her finest tourist impression and has gone to Hill Top with some friends who are up for the weekend... As I type a fire engine has just gone through the village with its sirens going, its always quite worrying when any of the emergency services go flying through the village as there is a good chance it is to someone we know, no news as yet... update in the fire, it was two anglers and a camper van on the lake shore, its now two anglers and no camper van, its just gone up in flames! reports from the scene say the camper van has completely been blown up! I hope the fire crew could give them a lift home, our sympathys go out to them!



A customer who was in the shop a few weeks ago celebrated having his new book published by buying three kilo's of chocolate raisins from the shop! Anyway today in the post came a copy of his book signed for me thanking us for the raisins, it was a lovely suprise.......the book is called s.u.m.o (shut up and move on) the cover says that its the straight talking guide to creating and enjoying a brilliant life!!! I will review it once I have read it, it does look like a good read tho! The auther is called Paul McGee and it sounds like just what I need post battle with the council!!!



Thats enough excitement for one day I think!

(P.S.. the pictures above of the new craft area in sawrey stores!)

Good Afternoon from heat wave Sawrey! its like mid summer today! Everyone wearing shorts and eating ice creams, glorious! The temperature gauge is in the mid 70's! Totally tropical! yesterday afternoon we had giant hail stones and a thunder storm

The above pictures are of the new deli bread which we now sell.....ITS YUMMY!

My little helper Alan popped along this morning and helped put the vegetables out, THANKYOU ALAN! he was pleased to see that he had a mention in the local paper regarding last weekends May Day parade...

We are getting ready for a promotion next week as its national independents weeks, "shop local" is the word of the week...

Today is the beginning of the Holker Hall Festival, customers are coming in saying they have had a glorious day out,

One of our customers is catering for a wedding in Finsthwaite tomorrow and Sawrey Stores has suplied her with fresh produce, hopefully she will send some pictures of the food which I am sure will look glorious! Good luck Mrs Woodhouse......I made a mistake of ordering one foccaccia bread less than is needed! Silly me! Thankfully I have time to get another one before tomorrows wedding!

Thats about all for now