...for the latest news on Cafe Sustain

We have a new website so please go to www.cafesustain.blogspot.com to keep p to date with Cafe Sustain News.

September 2010

The Wonderful Lyn

I have just finished chatting with the wonderful Lyn on the phone. She rang to say how much she liked our website. Wonderful Lyn. Jan discovered Lyn at a trade fair in Exeter many moons ago. Jan had fallen in love with Lyn's pop up vases. Now I met Lyn last weekend after many months of texting orders to her. It was at a different trade fair so things were hectic. Anyway, Lyn has ideas galore and sells toaster bags (plus much, much more). If you put those things together you get the newly titled evening session;'101 things to do with a toaster bag' (maybe a book will follow?). I had these toaster bags at university when my diet consisted of cornflakes, mushrooms on toast and toasted sandwiches but I only used them for the latter. Now, I don't want to spoil our up and coming session but did you know you can cook fishfingers in them? Cook salmon in them? If you are a coeliac, you can use the same toaster as the family without fear of contamination? It is a long time since a conversation was so fact-filled and sad as it may sound I can't wait to tell Jan! I may drop in a toaster bag fact at a rate of one a day. I don't want to over-excite her x

Jacquie's Amazing Tea Cosies

Knit or Crochet a Hat Competition

You are starting to bring in your hats and they are just fabulous. Jan, Nicole and I had a great time modelling them. Actually, I had got carried away modelling them, Nicole perched a miniature beret on her head and Jan stayed hat-free. I am going to take a photo of every hat and create a montage.It's going to be hard to part with some of these when 'The Big Hat Sale' starts at the end of November. 

We are still busy gardening. Malcolm and John were doing sterling work this morning pulling up the beans and the straggly ends of summer. We have had very little rain so Malcolm is watering as we speak (or rather as I blog). I was so pleased to go out and see our chillis turing red this morning. Not magically before my eyes (that would have been impressive) but certainly since I last looked at them. We are ready to enter our parsley into the National Championships -it is a fine clump and thanks to a lovely lady asking if she could collect some seed pods, we decided to do the same. So, at the very least next year we shall have some marigolds and borage.

Autumn in the kitchen garden...

Fame at Last!

Our fabulous Knit and Natter group were photographed today in their knitted bow ties by the local press. We will be in the Express & Echo and The Culm Valley Gazette soon. Dr Dixon chose his favourite bow tie and has promised to wear it all day. Jan says she is checking he hasn't taken it off, personally I think someone should be checking he hasn't dehydrated...knitted neck garments are warm! We are so excited to be in the paper. It causes a buzz! Now the hat competition is well under way so if you would like to be involved please pop in and let us know.

If you aren't local, you can see us in the paper online on www.thisisexeter.co.uk in the next few days. Just search on the site for 'Cafe Sustain'.

The cafe has transformed into a gallery overnight. We have the prints on the window for all to see and they are fabulous. It takes me back to my classroom days with artwork drying on every available surface. What I love about the ever changing scenery in the cafe is the discussion it starts and the interest it sparks.

Lisa Purchase (wearing the stripy top) ran the printing worshop yesterday at the cafe. It was such a success.

Treacle Tart and Custard

Jan has made the most fabulous lemony treacle tart. I am working at home this afternoon. Luckily Jan packed me up a takeaway piece so look what I've got...

Printing Workshops at the Cafe on Monday 15th September

On Monday 15th September we are starting printing workshops in the cafe with Lisa Purchase. Lisa is an artist who is converting the old butcher's shop in Uffculme into an art space. She is a wonderful lady with oodles of experience and we are really looking forward to her workshops. If you are interested in finding out more, please contact Ruth Tucker (Health Facilitator) on 01884 831300

Rhubarb Tarts and Chocolate Brownies - 8th September 2010

It's rhubarb tarts and chocolate brownies stuffed with forest fruits. Today is a good day!

Sunflowers and a new camera...

How much do I love my new camera? Well, when it takes a photo like this...very much! This is one of our giant sunflowers that are thriving in our kitchen garden. Even on a rainy day, a fabulous giant sunflower brings a little bit of summer back to the garden.

We Almost Scrumping! - 7th September 2010

You have been amazing. We asked for donations of cooking apples for our new hot puddings and you did us proud. We have had bags and bags of fabulous local apples. Jan spent a good chunk of the morning peeling and coring and as a result we have a freezer full of pudding gold! We really appreciate your support. It is not just the fact that you pick your apples and drop them in that makes you all special...it is the stories you tell us of messages passed on by friends, of conversations between neighbours and of the efforts you go to to help us out. And the marrows - see below....

Marrow-love is contagious...

It all started last week when a lovely lady offered us marrows. She had offered a week or two before but the message had got lost, and she was concerned as they were getting really big - did we still want them. My response was, "Of course!" Then on Friday I get a phone call when I was working at home from Nicole in the kitchen asking if she could make marrow soup. I didn't think it would be a big seller so dissuaded her. When I arrived at the kitchen on Monday there was a large box of LARGE marrows. These beasties were about a metre long and it was our mission to find each one a good home. The first one was rehomed with the chutney-making lady, who was then spotted my Anna the accupuncturist who had marrow envy so grabbed one. She was spotted by Clare who wanted to make a marrow-featuring childhood recipe. It was going so well but sadly the chain got broken there. If you can give a marrow a good home please pop in or I'll have to back track on the marrow soup!

Well you may have been away over August but come September you are back, in force! We have been really busy this week in the cafe and we love it. We have two lovely new members of staff. Sandy works in the kitchen with Jan on a Thursday and Nikki works with Jan on a Friday.

August 2010

Oh my goodness, where did August go?!

It's been a busy month, fewer customers as people have been away, but cafe life goes on and we are a movin' and a shakin'!

Knit and Natter

Jan's knit and natter group is doing some great fund raising for Children's Hospice South West. Jacquie is knitting the most fabulous tea cosies for sale in the cafe; Jan has organised a monthly tea cosy raffle (well done to Mrs Philpot who was August's winner) and Jan has displayed the bow ties entered into the bow tie competition beautifully by the cafe entrance (photos to follow).

Knitting Competition coming soon...

Jan and the knitting group are running a knit (or crochet) a hat competition. We are asking for all hats to be donated to the knit and natter group so at the close of the competition we can display the hats in the waiting room and then sell the hats as a charity fundraiser . By then it will be cols and we'll be desperate for warm headgear. So if you are feeling creative, or if it is time you dug out those old knitting needles then pop into the cafe and ask for details. We will have patterns available or you can use your own ideas. Any size, any colour...go wild!!!

Gardenin Group Glut

The kitchen garden has been an absolute joy this summer. We have been harvesting as often as we can and using the produce in the kitchen or selling any extras to our customers. What I love about our customers is that they talk to us and tell us when they like something (and when they don't). Everyone loved the pink fir apple potatoes and the new potatoes. They tasted fantastic. I remember saying to Judith, who is one of our gardening group, that we wouldn't need that many potatoes. How wrong can you be? We could have done with double the amount. That's the trouble when something is soooo delicious. The tomatoes have stayed blight-free this year which feels like a real achievement after last year, although I am not sure whether we can take the credit or whether it is down to mother nature.

We would really appreciate any donations of plants that we can put in for the autumn/winter. we were not organised enough to get our seedlings ready. We are learning so much each season but know we have a long way to go.

Hot Puddings!

Jan and I have spend many hours pondering over how to give you the hot dishes and hot puddings you want at the Cafe with such a small kitchen space, but we are resourceful and cunning. We have a new shiny hot cabinet which means we can do all sorts of exciting things now. So we will have crumbles, cobblers, hot fruit pies and tarts, rice puddings, treacle tarts as well as delicious hot main dishes too.

July 2010

Hot Cross Joey!

Yesterday I was cross; cross and disheartened and I am afraid I let it continue all day when, as is usually the case, there are far more constructive and important things to spend my time doing and to get emotional about. It took me far too long to remember that it really wasn't that big a deal. But I will tell you anyway. Firstly my little girl was poorly but a bit of rejigging and a lovely Grangran gave Lottie a place to be other than school. Secondly I booked two meetings at the same time meaning I rushed one and was late for the other - so no one benefitted. Then having no patience to wait for the overflowing tank on the water boiler to drip until it was empty, I unscrewed the valve completely which blew with a incredible 'bang!' sending hot water up my arm and down my front. Luckily it wasn't boiling but for a split second, waiting for the pain to hit, I thought I was in real trouble. These three events were OK as I am surrounded by patient colleagues and people who are prepared to follow me around clearing up the chaos I create. The moment my mood turned to cross was the moment we discovered that someone had stolen the community gardening group's hosepipe. Our fantastic community garden, a real labour of love, needed watering so we pulled together to walk repeatedly from the tap to the raised beds with the watering can and buckets. Malcolm didn't let his bad knee stop him but I'm sure he's suffering today. It set the mood for the day and I am sorry to say I didn't throw my heart and soul into our Butterfly Tea Party. Luckily Jan and Christine were on form and our lovely customers came to support us. Finally I was later than I hoped leaving and was worried that I was late to collect Lottie. I need not have worried. She was happily eating homemade icecream in the sunshine. So I wasted a day being cross about things I could do nothing about. Today things are different. I have picked a new and improved hosepipe with a bit of extra length so it can reach the borage and sweet peas at the far end of the beds. It has a a 25 m hose on a reel with wheels and a handle - very posh. Let the light-fingered individual keep their meer 20 m pipe (maybe their garden's need was greater than ours) and may the gardening group enjoy their new super deluxe hosepipe (now sadly kept under lock and key).

Latest Feldenkrais Workshops:

Nicole's Nail Treatments

Nicole has started her nail treatment at the cafe on Tuesday mornings. Phone us on 01884 831300 and ask for the cafe to book an appointment. From only £5.

Butterfly Tea Party

Today's butterfly tea party was great fun and a lovely chance for everyone to get together for a chat. Lovely Jacquie, who comes to our knit and natter group gave us one of her fabulous tea cosies for the raffle raising £34 for Children's Hospices UK.

June 2010

Oh my goodness - so much is happening at the cafe and I have been so busy I have let the blog slip so here is my catch-up... (facebook always seems to be up to date so don't forget to have a look for us on there)

Butterfly Tea Party on Tuesday 6th July

Please don't forget it is our Butterfly Tea Party on Tuesday 6th July at Cafe Sustain from 2-4pm. We are providing free tea and biscuits as well as colouring-in competitions, a raffle and a change to browse our Phoenix cards - all to raise money for Children's Hospices UK.

Gardening Group

 The garden is looking fabulous. We still meet at 11am on Tuesdays if you would like to join us. We thrive on the comments from people who pop their heads around the cafe door and tell us how much they like what we are doing.

Nail Trearments

Nicole is starting her nail treatments at Cafe Sustain on Tuesday 6th July. Treatments start at £5 and we are taking bookings now. Phone 01884 831300 01884 831300 and ask for the cafe for further details.

Dates for Your Diary...

The Knit & Natter Group - Wednesdays at 10:30am at Cafe Sustain

The Knit and Natter group has really taken off. Jan is now fully in charge and is well on the way to creating the first bow tie in our 'charity knit a bow tie' competition. More details to follow shortly.

Community Garden Group - vegetable stall

Knit & Natter - Wednesdays from 10:30am at the Cafe

Feldenkrais Session

I have just come back from Klaas Overzee's Feldenkrais session at the cafe. It was incredible. People who had been struggling to get up from a chair without assistance of some sort could get up without help of any sort and without using their hands by the end of the session. All this from learning how to use the body to gain maximum efficiency with minimum effort and strain on the body.

Knit and Natter Group

Our Knit and Natter group (to be run with the support of Upstream) starts tomorrow, Wednesday June 9th at 10:30am. If you can't come tomorrow, don't worry. It's a drop in / come when you can session.

NHP Relaunch

Tomorrow night is the relaunch of the Natural Health Practice at Culm Valley Integrated Centre for Health. We are providing the buffet and are looking forward to doing something quite flashy!

Kitchen Garden

Out kitchen garden is looking fantastic with all the rain and warmth we have had. The first courgette is growing and causing much excitement.

Phoenix Cards and Wrapping Paper

We have just received a new selection of the summer range of Phoenix cards. Pop in and take a look. They really are fabulous. Jan and I love the pop up butterfly cupcake card and the sparkly peacock card.

FREE SESSION

On 15th June Klaas Overzee is running a free early evening session on Feldenkrais techniques. Feldenkrais is a way of getting maximum efficiency from your body with minimum effort and strain on the body. This session is perfect for people with limited mobility or people who would like a gentle introduction to Feldenkrais.

Knit & Natter, Crochet & Chatter Group

We would really appreciate any donations of unwanted wool, knitting needles and crochet hooks for our 'Knit and Natter' group which starts on Wednesday 9th at 10.30am.

May 2010

Knit & Natter, Crochet & Chatter Group

Willow Magic

Wonderful Barbara Clift came again today and worked with our gardening group to create some wonderful structures for our plants to climb up.

Barbara Clift at work starting an arch for our vines to grow over.

Malcolm's pea sticks and peas next to the willow globe to drape courgettes over to keep them

away from the pesky slugs.

John planting the tomatoes (left) and the willow frame John and Barbara created (right) for the tomatoes

to grow up. Hope the blisters heal quickly, John.

Chair Yoga - Do you know someone with limited mobility?

Joy Davies is running a free course on CHAIR YOGA. Bring along a friend or family member and try it together. Please give us a ring on 01884 831300 (and ask to be put through to the cafe) for more details or to book a free place. More details below...

New box of tricks...

Today Simon just made life a whole lot easier. He bought and built a garden tool box for us to keep all our gardening club equipment in. This means we can tidy up all our bits and pieces and we don't have to traipse into the cafe in muddy shoes to fetch forgotten bits and pieces when gardening. We have a combination padlock on the box so anyone who wants to garden can help themselves to the bits and pieces they need. Brilliant. Thank you Simon.

Our new gardening tool box - just brilliant! Thank you Simon.

Johrei Day Saturday 8th May

Today was Johrei Day at the Culm Valley Integrated Centre for Health. Japanese visitors came especially to show us what Johrei was and how it benefitted their lives. Johrei is a family healing method and ties in with our focus self care. In Japan, your health insurance is reduced by a third if you use Johrei methods as they recognise how beneficial it is to participants health. In keeping with the message that Johrei is part of Japanese life, the visitors demonstrated how it fitted in to their culture with calligraphy, flower arranging and a tea ceremony. It is hard to see the link (before today I couldn't see how it would fit together) but it really did make sense. It means taking a moment to recognise the beauty around you, taking time to recognise the work people have put into creating beautiful things, taking time to care for yourself and recognising that we are a part of a bigger picture and we should care for the world around us. Or that was my take on it.

(above) The sweets that we ate before the tea ceremony, where the ground new buds from the tea plant were whisked into boiling water to make a potent green tea with high caffeine levels apparently. The bowl we drank from had to be carefully manoeuvred during the drinking to ensure we didn't drink from the decorated side of the bowl.

(above left) Drinking the tea, ideally in three sips. (above right) Adam writing 'light' in Japanese characters.

(above right) Martin writing 'virtue'. Our teacher marked our work in orange paint. We had four attempts before creating our final card.

(above left) The art of flower arranging wasn't as simple as it looked. The offset triangle represented, from top point to bottom, the sun, something that escapes me at the moment (!) and us. I will fill in the blank soon.

(above) My attempt at 'truth'. The orange is the teachers demonstration.

April 2010

Bloomin' Rain

On Tuesday Chris and I spent a considerable chunk of gardening club fixing together hosepipes to reach the 60-odd metres from the outside tap to the garden. Then, in trying to water the plants, watered everybody and everything within reach, taking only a small break whenever a car drove over the hose which changed the pressure and blew the safety valve. Today (less than 48 hours later) it is raining heavily making my watering completely unnecessary. Oh for a crystal ball!

Shopping, shopping, shopping...

We have trialled our shop in the cafe over the last 2 months and you love it! So with much excitement we have increased the range of goodies available to you. We now have pocket money toys, gifts and kitchen goodies. Come and have a browse.

We are still selling our Phoenix greetings cards, gift wrap and stationery. We display them on ever Friday but they are always available - so just ask one of us. The best way is to take a catalogue as you can browse at home and see the whole range. You can order as little as one card or as much as you like without any charges or hidden costs. It is just a service we provide to help us raise a little money for our gardening group.

Summer menu changes...

Our hot dishes have been such a success over the arctic winter. We have loved making our hotpots, casserole and stews. However, with this heatwave it is time to bring in changes until we get chilly again in the autumn.

We now have paninis on the menu which we stuff full of roast vegetables, mozzerella and a smear of pesto before toasting. We serve our paninis with local organic salad and our ever-popular homemade coleslaw. We also do our tuna melt and a Westcountry ham and mature cheddar with sliced tomato. Pick your favourite! We will have panini specials and as always would love to hear your favourite fillings.

Teepees and happy beans

As happens in the cafe, a women walked in the other day and started chatting about our kitchen garden. She turns out to be Barbara Clift, a very well-respected willow artist who lives locally. Upon googling her I find out more. But before I get a chance to do this she has worked her magic on our garden. We now have a fabulous teepee for our beans and peasticks for our peas (which are still in the packet but will be released soon). The fabulous thing about Barbara is that she knows the garden is very much a work in progress and she wants to keep popping back to create things to help our climbing plants. She even talked about willow domes to drape our squashes and courgettes over. The resources were left over from a project Barbara was doing and the clients kindly donated their remaining willow to our community project and Barbara gave us her time and creative juices for free.

Pampering Our Lovely Customers - Because you're worth it...

Some of you will know that Nicole who works with us in the kitchen is a qualified beauty therapist after training for two years. Nicole will offer nail treatments in the cafe for half a day a week. We all deserve a little pampering and as the cafe is subsidising the cost, for just a few pounds you can get your nails filed, painted or hand massage from a trained therapist. We will keep you up to date with further details soon.

Cafe News

The shop has been doing really well and we thank you all for supporting it. You are loving the 'kitsch but cool' heart measuring spoons and retro spot stacking bowls. The good news is that I have ordered our new and much discussed stock including some fabulous new cupcake cases with pirate themes, dinosaurs and little woodland creature. Fingers crossed we will be ready to show you all our new things by the end April.

Phoenix News

Most of you know by now that we are selling the very popular Phoenix cards. We have a range of cards and gift in the cafe ready for you to take away immediately. If they are not on display just ask - they are always to hand. If you would like to take a catalogue away to browse through, then we have them in the cafe in bright pink hard to miss envelopes. I order every fortnight so you don't have to wait long for your order. I am happy to take orders for as little as a single card and there is obviously no extra charge for orders through the catalogue. THE BEST NEWS OF ALL IS THAT ALL PROFITS FROM PHOENIX GO TO THE GARDENING GROUP TO BY RESOURCES.

Kitchen News

Well Nicole's cake was a work of art on Friday. For those of you who saw it and made all the right 'Ooooh!' and 'Ahhhh!' noises, we thank you for making our day. And a very happy birthday to Malcolm's wife who is the lucky birthday girl.

We have new absolutely delicious pizza breads. Get there about 11am to collect one straight from the oven. They are delicious hot and cold and the alternating base of tomato and basil and pesto, loaded with roasted vegetables, balsamic mushrooms, fresh basil and topped with mozzarella means they are my number one on the menu.

We now serve our perfectly poached eggs on granary toast all day. They are so popular and I can no longer take the disappointed faces of customers who arrive after breakfast finishes at 11 o'clock, so I relent. The poached eggs are yours whenever you like.

Gardening Thank you's

Thank you so much to Sonia who has given us her mini greenhouse. It means that we no longer need to traipse in and out of the cafe with our seedlings in order to protect them from the cold nights. It looks great and the seedlings are loving it too.

Also a huge thank you to our lovely customer who has donated lots of compost but this is not just compost - it is sieved compost. Now, I envy the person who finds time to sieve compost but then what do I know?! We really appreciate it and roll on Tuesday's gardening group so we can start putting it to good use. What with Brian's pot ash and the volcanic ash kindly donated by Iceland, I am looking forward to some GIANT vegetables this year.

Kitchen News

The stockpot hot dishes of the day are now really popular, particularly Jan's farmhouse mince which has a smoked paprika and cayenne pepper kick to it and flies out whenever it is on the menu. Raspberry flapjack, iced apricot loaf, American cheese and sauted onion muffins and Jan's coconut clouds are recent additions which have all proved popular. We have plans for a flourless chocolate cake which was brought in by Tiffany for us to try and was utterly delicious. We swapped the recipe for a set of measuring spoons and a deal was done. That's why we love our customers. You never know who will walk in next and what news they will bring. We even had Egon Ronay in last week - turned out to be a man with a good sense of humour but for a moment I thought we were in the presence of greatness. Thanks to Wikipedia I now realise he is 95, our imposter wasn't a day over 60!

Easter Raffle

Congratulations to all the winners in our Easter Raffle. We wish everyone could have been a winner. I think that is one of the best parts of the job - phoning people to tell them they have won. It's the closest I'll ever get to feeling like a radio DJ.

Garden Update

The garden is really coming on. Malcolm has built the most fantastic cloche for the raised beds to keep the beans warm when we put them outside into the Arctic spring we are currently experiencing. I had all the equipment to build one (a bit of wood, a junior hacksaw and a plastic bag) but Malcolm was envisaging a more superior cloche than I was and luckily for all of us he offered to build one at home. The result - terrific!

March 2010

Community Gardening Group

A huge thank you to our lovely customer who donated three hoes to our community gardening project. I didn't know you could get so many different types but this learning curve I am on just keeps getting steeper! Today, I am told we were 'making a tilth'. I thought I was bashing the living daylights out of lumps of soil but we like to talk the talk. And the result...the beds look fabulous.

Oh and the frog-toad! Not sure which is was but it was lucky it wasn't chopped in two with my vigorous digging. It was happily eating worms in the bag of manure one minute and having a tour of the cafe on a dustpan the next. That was until it escaped. Lucky Jan came to the rescue and scooped him up. He is now in the field next to the centre.

Our deck chair has arrived!

Last year we had lots of hard working members of staff who very sensibly found a moment out of their busy day to sit in the physic garden and relax. Our beautiful chairs, although perfect for sitting on at a table, didn't quite hit the spot so we have a deck chair for those precious moments. Anyone with a knack for erecting these things...if you could make yourself known to cafe staff, we will be calling for your help on sunny days!

Up and Coming Sessions

We are planning all sorts of things for the cafe. Joy Davies will be running a session on Chair Yoga, ideal for people with limited mobility. I will know more after our meeting on Wednesday next week. Marlene Hochstrasser will be leading a 'IBS information' session at the end of April. More details to follow shortly.

Community Gardening Group - Tuesdays 11am - noon.... whatever the weather!

The group is growing and I am so pleased. We planted the potatoes and the shallots. Cleaned last years pots and made mini pots out of newspaper to plant our seeds in. The seeds are now busy sprouting in the cafe which has so many windows it doubles up as a greenhouse. The nifty little gadget that creates the mini pots from old newspaper is very satisfying to use one you get into the swing or it.

Cafe Sessions

We have have a run of brilliant sessions at the cafe - one a week for the past month and we are planning the up and coming sessions. Last night's 'Taking the Mystery out of Hypnosis' was very well attended and fascinating. Eric Fawcett was full of gems of information and I am really looking forward to his return to the cafe. I wasn't sure what to expect but I found it really useful and have already put some of his words of wisdom into practice.

Our shop area in the cafe is now open! Come in and have a look.

On Fridays we are selling greetings cards. If you need one at any other time pop in and ask at the counter but the big display goes up on Fridays.

Gardening Group

We are making really good progress on the garden. We have started planning the crop rotation for the next few years and have dug in manure where necessary. The potatoes are chitting and the first of the radishes and carrots are in the ground.

February 2010

Fancy a little bit of shopping?

We are often asked at the cafe about our kitchen equipment and cafe bits and pieces. People like our gadgets, jam pots, cake decorations and children's crockery. Soon we are going to have a little shop area which means you can pick up little gifts and treats at the cafe. We will have greeting cards to grab and go, birthday bits and bobs, kitchen equipment and other cafe favourites. So pop by and take a look.

Bring & Buy Sale - to raise funds for the community gardening project

Thank you to everyone who has supported our bring and buy sale. We have had some really generous donations and as a result some very happy buyers. Our lovely customers make our events sink or swim - we are definitely swimming at the moment. Thank you.

Community Gardening Group - EVERY TUESDAY 11am-noon but help is appreciated at any time.

We had a very successful gardening group today which feels like a real achievement considering the rain and the cold. Simon put his back into digging in the manure and Judith continued his good work. It was incredibly muddy but we re-homed the invincible cabbages that have survived through the winter so it seemed mean to rip them out.

We also planned the planting for March. I am on the hunt for early potatoes, shallots and something else that escapes me at the moment(!) and Brian is sorting out the rhubarb and his cunning shelter for the short ridge cucumbers. Judith (see picture below) is always there to explain to me what Brian means in everyday English and is a great support. We also have plans for an arch for roses and sweet peas between the two raised bed but we have to keep our fingers crossed that the big chiefs like the idea. Now where's that shopping list?!

When you talk a lot, as I do, you find out all sorts of gems of information. One of our nurses turns out to be a garden designer - just what we need when we have great plans for out kitchen garden.

Free Sessions and Courses

We have been running really successful evening courses for a while now here at Cafe Sustain. We have decided to subsidise the courses from now on and so some are FREE and some are a very reasonable £5. Please pop in and have a look at our course board to make sure you don't miss out.

Easter Raffle

We have a wonderful Easter raffle so pop in and have a go!

We have lots going on at the cafe now we are heading into the spring.

Gardening Group started this week. If you are interested in joining us for a chat, a gentle dig and a cup of tea we are meeting on Tuesdays at 11am in the cafe. We will head outside to the garden when we have talked through what we are planning for the session. We have raised beds at waist level so if you find bending difficult you can still join in.

Our first gardening group on 9/02/10. We dug over the one of the raised beds ready to dig in the manure. We are hoping for a bumper crop of vegetables after feeding the beds well. Judith was doing most of the work (above).

January 2010

Happy New Year everyone. We wish you a happy and healthy 2010.

December 2009 -

Cafe Sustain is open up to and including the 23rd December. We are closed between 24th December -3rd January.

We are looking forward to seeing you all on the 4th January 2010!

November 2009 -

Christmas Recipes

Up and Coming Sessions at Cafe Sustain

Fundraising

The cafe and its customers haver raised £40.57 for the Children's Hospices as well as £30.02 for Children in Need. So thank you very much. We are also building our community cooking sets with the money from the bring and buy sale.

WIN WIN WIN!!!

If you would like a chance to win our Christmas hamper, tickets are on sale now at £1 a strip. Good luck.

Our 'Making Bathtime Treats' session on Wednesday 18th November was a big success. Everyone went home with a tray full of treats and goodies, all smelling wonderful and wrapped beautifully.

'making bath time treats' session

Tuesday: So today we made a giant seedy cake (more nutmeg, less brandy!), sold a pile of Pudsey cakes for Children in Need, re-homed an enormous blue fluffy elephant and had a generally good day. The best was when two people met and swapped numbers - a chance meeting over a cup of coffee that resulted in a new friendship. That's what we are there for. You can never have too many people to have coffee with.

Monday: Wow! Where has the Autumn gone? I cannot believe the year is flying by so fast. On Wednesday (18th Nov) we have our 'making bath-time treats session and then we are on the road to Christmas. Our Bring and buy sale is still going strong and people are bringing in new things every day. I have started building our community cooking kits which is where the bring and buy sale money is going. We are hoping to start the 'Cooking at Cafe Sustain' session early in the new year.

Jan and I have achieved something special today. During a chat between two of our very special customers at coffee morning, Marilyn and Joan were reminiscing about food from their childhoods and caraway seed cake in particular. Jan and I rose to the challenge and thanks to Mrs Beeton's online recipe from 1797(!) we made our very first caraway seed cake. Having munched on caraway seeds during the preparation, I did not hold out much hope but somehow, mixed together with ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg and baked in a light sponge (I need to add here that Mrs Beeton mentioned neither self raising flour nor baking powder but I hope she would be impressed by our creativity) the seeds turn into something magical. When you bite into the cake it is perfumed like the earl grey tea of the cake world. But when you bite through a seed you get a big burst of caraway. And half an hour later I could still taste the lingering flavour of the cake. The cake whose flavour lasts - on and on. In fact it took a large plate of carbonara to budge the taste. Forget the earl grey - it's the Duracell of the cake world. We can't wait to show Joan and Marilyn. Fingers crossed. Thank you Mrs Beeton

.

our charity cupcakes

October 2009 -

You (and we) are loving our bring and buy sale. It is a real giggle and we are practising our bartering, although we are not very good at it. We tend to put it to the customer vote. Sale of the day was a cuddly duck bought for Broc, the very well loved dog. Broc even did a wag-past the window in the afternoon to say thank you. Don't forget it is fun day tomorrow.

Come along to our fun day on Wednesday 28th October - it's going to be brilliant. Lots of fun and pocket money prices. Great prizes and lots of goodies.

ON FRIDAY WE WOULD LIKE YOUR BRING & BUY SALE DONATIONS THIS WEEK PLEASE.

Thank you to everyone has donated - we are off to a flying start. We are raising money for cooking equipment so we can run community cooking sessions.

Why not become a follower on Twitter - see left hand column

We are in the Express & Echo today!!! (Friday 16th October)

We have started a countdown to our bring & buy and our funday...

Days until the bring & buy - 9 days

Days until the fun day - 11 days

Our Team

Wow!!! Really?! TWITTER & FACEBOOK - yes, yes, yes!

You can follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CafeSustain

or find us on facebook - just search Cafe Sustain

Bring and Buy Sale 

What a day!

We are getting busier and busier and we love it. Watch out if you live in the local area as we are popping free tea and coffee vouchers through your letter boxes. We have had such a great response.

We have had a whole sting of buffets this week for various groups and occasions. Thank you for all your positive feedback. We really appreciate it.

Well done to Carol Jolliffe who won last weeks quiz (although she doesn't know it yet). Next week is a maths problem solving quiz! Get your thinking caps on.

PS is you are nearby pop in for some gingerbread - it's fabulous and with this foul weather it is flying out. It is winter's version of carrot cake but the look of things.

Making Winter Remedies

We had a really successful evening making lotions and potions. Simon Mills taught us how to make cough syrup, lozenges, a fantastic drink for shifting the most stubborn cold as well as a cream for cracked winter skin.

"It was and interesting, educational experience" Sylvia.

"It was very hands on. Simon is hugely experienced but he explained things really clearly." Jan

Simon Mills teaching us about lozenges                                                              Mixing up the gum tragacanth

Dr Burton making the lozenges                                                                         The mucilaginous gum mixture

Judith shaping the lozenges                                                                                               The finished product

The group working together to produce the lozenges...Oh no, it's Jan working hard and everyone else watching her beaver away - some things never change. Poor Jan.

September 2009

Relaxation Techniques

Sarah Hewlett demonstrating the reflex points on the feet

Sarah demonstrating acupressure on her special chair

Nicole and Susan having a go on their guinea pigs Jan and Steve

Congratulations to the Bradleys who one last weeks quiz. The £5 voucher is yours. It is a wordsearch this week so come and have a go for your chance to win.

Come and check out our Rainbow Days Table just outside the cafe. We have themed days with appropriate bits and pieces for each day.

I have just come back from a wonderful session with Sarah Hewlett. She taught us techniques for relaxation as well as demonstrating massage techniques. Brilliant - thank you Sarah. I will write some more tomorrow as well as adding some pictures. Night Night.

• LAST CHANCE to get the final few places on Sarah Hewlett's excellent RELAXATION TECHNIQUES on Tuesday at 5pm. Contact the surgery and ask to be put through to the cafe for further informaton.

• If you would like the quiz answers we have them all in the Cafe for you to look at.  Just ask Jan or myself. Remember to enter - there is a new quiz every Monday. Answer sheets to be in to the Cafe by Friday at 4:30pm.

• Quiche Lorraine a la Cafe Sustain and Individual Pepperoni pizzas next week.

Farmers Market

Maddocks Farm Organics

I had a fantastic time this morning looking around Jan Billington's organic vegetable garden. Such a brilliant place with the polytunnels and raised beds. Jan is going to supply us with vegetables as from Monday. She is also going to be a real help when it comes to our kitchen garden as she has all the tips to keep our kale and sprouts caterpillar free in the coming years as well as supplying us with some yummy but hardier leaves for the garden. Thank you Jan.

Computer Cartridges Collection - thank you for the first donations

We are now collecing used computer cartridges for recycling. If you have any please pop them in the collection box in the cafe for us to sort. Thank you.

Pepperoni pizza and bacon & egg quiche next week along with all our other goodies!

.

FUNDAY ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

.

So Jan and I are planning some key events for the coming months.

We have our sessions:

Jan and myself will be at the courses to look after everybody and join in ourselves so there will always be a familar face when you arrive. If you would like to arrive 15 minutes before the start we will spoil you with a cup of tea or coffee on the house.

.

We are also well under way with the planning of our funday which will happen every Wednesday of every half term throughout the year. So the 1st one will be on WEDNESDAY 28th OCTOBER. We are very excited and have lots of things planned for you so pop it in your diary and don't miss it.

.

29th November 2008

.

Brian has worked really hard this week to improve the drainage for the box hedge. He has put a drain down the side of the green man closest to the path and dug some sand in too. He has plans to scrape the branches too in an attempt to make the box hedge a little healthier. Thank you Brian.

.

18th November 2008

.

We now have a new featured herb. Sage plants are the lobby with the new postcards.

.

Brian, Chris and Simon are planning a revamp of the garden over the winter to put the plants that are in temporary homes into their permanent ones.

.

12th September 2008

.

The big event in September was the visit of HRH Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall for the official opening of the Culm Valley Centre for Integrated Health. They took time to visit the Physic Garden and clearly showed their interest in the exhibits!  

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Standing in front of the Physic Garden in the picture above, from left to right: Brian Chubb, Chris Fuller, Adrian Lovatt, HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, Joey Lee, HRH The Prince of Wales, Simon Mills, Dr Michael Dixon (senior partner at Culm Valley Integrated Centre for Health).

.

A big thank you to Adrian Lovatt from the Eden Project who drove up to Cullumpton with a van full of plants for the physic garden. This included four trees which we have planted at the entrance by the garden. Also a huge thank you to Chris Fuller and Brian Chubb, our gardeners and patient support group members, who worked really hard to get the new plants into the ground.

.

This month our herb of the month is Rosemary.

.

31st July

.

The variable weather has allowed the Physic Garden plants to settle in while we sort out long-term arrangements for their watering. However some of the box hedge has suffered a little with yellowing. We expect this to be a temporary problem and will be feeding the plants appropriately. New plants will be arriving soon, thanks to Eden Project. A brand new display board and other signage are also on their way.

.

Note the Lemon Balm plant in the lobby with the new postcards.

.

30th June 2008

.

.

Simon Mills gave a free talk at Culm Valley Integrated Centre for Health on Wednesday. The talk was open to everyone and drew over 30 including patients, partners from the practice and other health professionals. Thank you to everyone who came and we hope you enjoyed yourselves and thank you to the Patient Support Group who organised the evening.

.

28th June 2008

.

There are more signs in the physic garden now. We have added information on Valerian, peppermint and evening primrose.

.

13th June 2008

.

Lavender is the featured herb for this month and there is a wonderful specimen in the lobby at the practice. If you are in the practice, take a look at the information on lavender and help yourself to a postcard.

.

.

12 June 2008

.

The physic garden has really grown with our wet and warm spring. After some experimentation we have found a way to write on slates (a big thank you to the local Free-cyclers who gave us the slates), so our labelling has started. Please take a moment to have a look at the garden. If you walk up to the top with your back to the practice, you can get a much better view of the green box hedge man. We would also like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to Chris who has put many hours into keeping the garden weed-free and looking good.