We went to Harlow Carr yesterday but decided not to repeat either the scones from the garden or the cost of the main tearoom.
I couldn’t get all the way down to the bottom of the garden this time, as going downhill (I refer here to my direction of travel, rather than in my accelerating physical decline), is tricky with a bad knee. So I returned to sit near the sycamore key sculpture.
As I sat, a robin played hide-and-seek and a blackbird perched on a dead tree turned it up to Number 11.
Here I eavesdropped on several bizarre conversations (which may have been more mundane if heard in their entirety) and waited patiently, taking a few photos, as Julia went to fetch tea.
Eventually she returned, and placed a cup of tea on the bench next to me. Then she sat down next to me and we talked of robins, rhubarb and whether she had anything in her bag. Knowing her as I do, it seemed unlikely she’d been to a tearoom and not purchased comestibles.
She had done us proud, with a pair of Fat Rascals.
Yes, make all the jokes you like. They are rock cakes with spice. My Mum made them like this for years. Betty’s claim them as a traditional recipes, add cherries, nuts and a daft name and suddenly a legend is born!
They were very nice. They were even better with butter (though the butter pat was a bit chunky and needed slicing rather than spreading.
Of all the things I’ve eaten in the Scone Chronicles, this was the tastiest. It was also the best dining experience. No sticky tables or dirty cutlery here!
Fat Rascal at Harlow Carr
Still no pictures, Julia pointed out that the netbook actually does have a USB port, but when I connected the small camera, with yesterday’s card, the computer refused to cooperate.
I’m beginning to hate this bloody netbook…
As you may have noticed I can now add photos…
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Fat Rascal…good one. I think it is also a chubby youngster.
It sounds more like a child than a scone, to be honest.
That scone looks so yummy ☕😜
It was!
Photos worth waiting for
Thank you Derrick. 🙂
I love fat rascals but haven’t eaten one for absolutely ages. One note about them I could add is that they do go stale quickly, then you need jam to resurrect them. Such a shame.
Thank you for the note on jam – it has saved me a lot of work finding something suitable for reviving Fat Rascals (as if they are going to be left to go stale in this house!) 🙂
There is always a first time (we over-buy when we have access to them).
🙂
I am glad that suitable comestibles came your way and equally happy to see that you have mastered the communication between camera and netbook. A scone chronicle illustration always brightens my day.
“Mastered” might be a bit optimistic. I know what you mean about the comestibles, of all the excellent photos you have treated us to, the recent pile of dropscones is the one I keep in my mind.
Oh, the things I learn from my blogging friends. Fat rascals! A daft name, indeed. Actually, the scones I made looked very much like those fat rascals. Except mine were very tender. After years of making biscuits—the American kind—I know how to handle dough. Anyway, as we Mainers would say, sounds as though you and Julia had a finest kind of day.
We did, but no day with Julia could be a bad one. (However, there is no need to tell her that). 🙂
Awwww. So sweet.
Deep down I have the heart and soul of a teddy bear. It’s just well hidden.
Gosh, that made me smile!
I like to keep her on her toes!