2022 - The Strangest Year

It has been the strangest time… So many strange and sad things have happened in the world - it sometimes feels quite hard to remain upbeat & positive. I constantly remind myself how very lucky I am to live in the beautiful Lincolnshire village of Heighington with my immediate family all living close by. Support of my local community to keep my little business going is something I never take for granted. I don’t have to think too hard to find things I am grateful for.

Clarkes Farm Vintage Teas is still thriving with lots of you lovely lot choosing to hold your celebration teas here. We are always busy with Baby Showers, Bride To Be Afternoon Teas and Birthday celebrations. We have also hosted a couple of intimate Wedding celebrations, charity fundraisers and funeral wakes as exclusive use parties.

The core business of smaller tea bookings is still healthy with bookings filling the diary in a steady flow. It’s an absolute joy to have Kay helping me with the business at weekends, I often ask myself how I ever managed without her?! It can get pretty crazy here when we have B&B rooms to service, Breakfasts to clear, Teas to prepare & serve & also Decoration Packages to set up - sometimes I sail a bit ‘close to the wind’ and worry I’m going to run out of time to get everything done! An extra pair of hands is invaluable as at times there is an unending supply of laundry & cleaning needing imminent attention, and of course I also have to shop & bake for the teas.

We hosted a very successful Shopping Event in the Summer (Kay’s idea)we rearranged the tea room and garden to be more like a gift shop, and also had lots of goodies set out in the garden. Complimentary Tea & Coffee for guests and a few traybakes available to buy - lots of you came along and had a more relaxed look at our gifts for home and garden - it was so busy that we didn’t get as much time to chat as we’d have liked - and before we knew it the day had flown past & it was time to pack everything away to get back to serving teas the next day! It was such a success that we are now getting ready for a Winter shopping Event on Thursday 3 November … hopefully to tempt you to buy some Christmas gifts - I’ve been busy unpacking lots of new stock (most of which I’ll quite happily keep myself!

Like everyone else in these uncertain times, running a small business which is essentially offering hospitality & special treats, it is worrying to hear of the impending cost of living crisis. We will all be feeling the pinch this winter (living in a 400 year old money pit was already expensive!)I’m working v very hard to avoid increasing prices in the hope the business will not be too badly affected. Recent times have been bizarre in the number of unprecedented events which just keep knocking us all ‘for six’ - hopefully things will settle down a bit and we can all get back to some kind of ‘normal’.

I guess, only time will tell, and we just have to keep on keeping on!

Running a small business is like nothing I’ve ever done before - it is a challenge - but luckily I can honestly say that I’m really enjoying it - so hopefully we can keep it all going

Thanks to all our guests - without you none of it would be possible