Masseys More than just another village Shop

So, Christmas is over for another year and we’re all supposed to start thinking about making resolutions for the New Year.

Reflecting on this Christmas, I can say it was really different and made me think about how we deal with all the glitz and the bling of this particular holiday. For various reasons – some of which were a result of the fantastic support we’ve had in the shop over the past couple of months – we had no Christmas decorations, tree or baubles at home. I just about managed to get our Christmas cards put up, and I must admit that, to my embarrassment, some of our cards were only delivered yesterday. Our Christmas was disorganised to say the least. And yet, it was one of the best I can remember.

We had our busiest Christmas ever in the shop – thank you all for your custom. It was fantastic. (We’ve had brillian  feedback on our pre-ordering system for veg, bread and basics and many customers used it for their Christmas orders rather spending time in the supermarket).

This meant we just didn’t have time to do anything fancy for Christmas ourselves. Christopher and Helen made lunch on Christmas day, and we spent the time, quite simply, being with family. It was just perfect.  For us, Christmas was spent doing what we enjoy; cooking good food and sharing it with people we love. Simplifying it all meant we could be more relaxed and focus on getting back to basics. I thoroughly recommend it. I hope yours was just as good and you got to celebrate in whatever way you enjoy the most.

One of the highlights of this Christmas for me was taking the food we’d collected and donated to Jimmy’s Night Shelter. It was sobering and at the same time immensely uplifting to hear staff saying things like, “Oh, look at this broccoli!”, and “Brussel sprouts! Fantastic!”. They told me that this was just what they needed and said we’d somehow managed to give them just the right quantity of fresh fruit and veg for their Christmas. Here’s the list of what went to Jimmy’s

And so, on to the New Year…

I am questioning the wisdom of New Year resolutions this year. We make them in the hope that we will become better – healthier, thinner, more knowledgeable or whatever you think you should be – all of which sounds laudable. But here’s a thought: Why do we only think we should start doing these things on the 1st of January? Why not the 29th of December, or the 15th of May, or any other date for that matter?

(If you’re interested in some more thoughts on this idea, Dave Navarro writes a compelling article about resolutions – New Year or otherwise – here)

So we’ve decided to simply continue doing some of the things we started this year:

• Let us know if there’s something you want that we don’t have in stock, and we’ll source it and add it to our regular stock list
• We’ll continue to get fresh fruit and veg to order, including some of the unusual and exotic if you fancy trying something new
• Our blog will still carry simple recipes for great tasting food. If you have any to share, please drop me a line. I’d also love to hear what you think if you’ve tried any of them.
• We’ll let you know about special offers and what’s new in stock in our weekly newsletters – sign up on our website if you’re not getting that news yet.
• Our Jimmy’s collection will continue online so we can donate fruit and veg from time to time during the year rather than just at Christmas
• And overall, we’ll make every effort to provide a truly local, personal service for our customers.

Let me know if I’ve missed anything off the list.

I was going to post a recipe for turkey rice bake for all those leftovers, but I thought you’ve probably finished them by now. But just in case, here’s a link to Rick Stein’s Christmas Odyssey on BBC iPlayer which covers the subject of leftovers far better than I could.

Have a great New Year celebration.

Photo credit: Ahisgett

Posted under Shop news

Saturday’s tea in the garden charity fundraising event proved popular with many Whittlesford’s residents who, despite the fact that the weather wasn’t absolutely fabulous, came and enjoyed a bit of late summer in the garden. The cup cake competition drew some fabulous entries – all imaginative and beautifully decorated.

Congratulations go to (in no particular order)

Kathryn Wearing
Jackie Bonner
Dot Rickards

and

Alex, Ben & James.

James receives his prize.

Judges Tim Stone, June Bater and David Toop turned out to assess the hard work and ingenuity of Whittlesford’s cake decorators.

Fellow organisers of the day – Jack Briggs, Mary Bulman and Val King all opened their gardens and were visited and by many. Ronnie Walker’s green fingers played their part and plants were sold for the charity to complete the garden theme.

By far the best part of the day was the result for Alzheimers Trust who gained over £860 from the good people of Whittlesford and surrounding villages.

Thanks to all for helping to make this a special afternoon.

Posted under Whittlesford