We visit the Smiddy quite often so we have posted from here several times. It’s at a junction in the road, which means that if we are going west or north (our usual practice) we have to pass it. No hardship is involved, however. It’s a great farm shop that stocks lots of produce from local farms. It also has a large café area, which is always busy.

Today we were heading to nearby Doune but stopped off to get Pat’s favourite milk. It comes from the Wee Isle Dairy on the Isle of Gigha. and has that extra creaminess, which is excellent on her cornflakes. Their coffee is Henry’s, our favourite, so we decided to have a cup.

Then, we noticed the afternoon tea, which seemed reasonably priced at £12.95. We felt duty-bound to investigate. One afternoon tea to share was the order.

You could choose which sandwiches to have, and the scones came nicely warmed. Loads of jam and cream as well as a couple of little cakes.  Not topscones but perfect for us!

Smoke signals

What’s happened since our last post from the Ship Inn.?  Well, we’re no expert on Conclaves, but a new American Pope seems to have been elected with almost miraculous speed. Slight panic to begin with, but then we realised that it wasn’t the Orange One.  The Conclave is conducted in complete secrecy by a handful of dubiously holy men. Communication is via smoke signals. Hopefully Pope Leo XIV can drag his church into the 21st century.

Will he, won’t he?

Volodymyr Zelensky has arranged to meet Putin in Istanbul on Thursday.  Considering how far both sides are apart, it will be interesting to see if Putin even bothers to turn up. Maybe they should change the venue to the Smiddy, where they could participate in a suitably pared-back budget afternoon tea?

FK9 4UY            tel: 01786 235024          Smiddy

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