25th August 2010

Sometimes a trip into Birmingham is a delight. Sometimes it is unavoidable! Todays' visit was a bit of both. Had to buy some uniform stuff, some provisions for a weekend camping trip and some 'bits'. The children were actually very good and the sneaky coffee at the end was right up their street!

Krispy Kreme Donuts, Selfriges, Bullring
Sneaky Coffee-ers: Anna, Ethan, Naomi, Edward, Susie
Bought: Coffee for me, original glazed donut for Ethan, Powder blueberry donut for Naomi, Strawberry Kreme donut for Edward, Cinnamon apple donut for Susie
Cost: £7.15 - eeeeek!

And: The coffee was actually amazingly nice. AND I got the last bite of Susie's donut - also very nice.

18th August 2010

In contrast to the previous day today was dry and even warm!

Cafe Main, Cromer
Sneaky Coffee-ers: Anna, Marjorie, Naomi and Edward
Bought: Two coffees, two smoothies and three pieces of cake
Cost: Nanny paid! (Anyone notice a theme emerging?!)
Cafe: Functional, not unpleasant. We sat outside overlooking a road like yesterday but in the sunshine roads look much nicer it seems!
And: The cake was nice, the smoothies were really nice and the coffee was excellent. The loos were a long way away though.

14th August 2010- part two of two

Now this is more like it - a proper sneaky coffee!

Tides Restaurant, Cromer Pier
Sneaky Coffee-ers: Anna and Naomi
Served: by a waitress!
Bought: A filter coffee, juice for Naomi and a slice of carrot cake to share
Cost: £6 including a tip
Cafe: On the pier on a sunny day. Sat outside and smelled the briny spray, the sun on our skin and watched the waves roll in. Lovely.

And: lovely coffee, nice cake, a nice interlude with Naomi. Having four children does mean spending individual time with them can be a challenge

4th August 2010, part two of two

Armed with the exciting news that the pregnant woman we shared a curry with last night has actually gone into labour AND delivered a baby boy I met my crowd at Aston Hall for coffee and to take advantage of the free children's activities on offer.

Aston Hall
Sneaky coffee-ers: Anna, Auntie Anna, Ethan, Naomi, Edward, Susie, Amanda, Ben, Elizabeth, Daniel, Naomi, James, Danni, Naomi, Maddie, Laura, Rachel, Viv and Alex
Bought: Tonnes! Anna bought for us... a coffee, a tea, two slices of cake and three ice creams
Cost: £9
Sat: Outside - the patio was crowded when we arrived and emptied when we left (although threatening weather may have contributed to this as well as the foghorn like racket the kids were making!)

And: This time I asked for my coffee in a mug instead of a cup - which made my drink twice the size. I don't even think I was charged more for it. I noted on the menu that you could buy a 'Cafeteria of coffee' (as opposed to a Cafetiere) which irritated my inner (or not so inner!) pedant!

26th July 2010

My wonderful parents have taken my adorable children away for the first week of the holidays. They have only gone as far as Stafford and they are camping... but it's at a Bible Week which the kids really get a lot out of as well as having a lot of fun. I nurtured the idea of romantic interludes with Simon but various work and church commitments have got in the way. So I have decorated Susie's bedroom! It looks so good and, amazingly, can be done very quickly when there are no interruptions! Anyway - on the Monday of the Bible Week there is no daytime meetings so I went up and joined them for a day. We ventured out to Sudbury Hall, a National Trust property which has the National Museum of Childhood on site, and (crucially!) a National Trust tea room! (I suspect Heaven will feature National Trust tea rooms!)

Sudbury Hall
Sneaky Coffee-ers: Anna, Ethan, Naomi, Edward, Susie, Mum and Dad
Bought: Three coffees, four ice creams, three variations of cake (fruit for me, millionaires shortbread for Mum, a tea cake for Dad), then later on three mugs of coffee
Cost: Not cheap! The first round was £15.?? and the second was nearly £6.
Cafe: Typical of the genre, a converted stable block (or similar!) with light pine tables and chairs, canteen style service with unutterably tempting cakes on display!
Position: But we sat on the picnic tables outside!
And: Nice coffee BUT the cheapest option (still £1.60) was a CUP, a small cup! You can pay more for a mug or even more for a large mug but I think the cup is too small.

However - the rest of the museum and the play area are excellent and very well worth a re-visit.

9th July 2010

A short but lovely concert in Handsworth Park featured the one and only Naomi Cherry-Tuesday Smith playing the flute so obviously I had to collect Susie early from nursery in order to hear the musical masterpiece. (The fact that it was a sunny day and I was to meet the incomparable Danni and the promise of a sneaky coffee was the in offing was only coincidental in my enthusiasm!)

The Boat House, Handsworth Park
Sneaky Coffee-ers: Anna, Danni and Susie
Bought: Two coffees, two slices of banana and sultana loaf and an ice lolly
Cost: £5.something
Sat: The cafe is in a very small building by the boating lake in Handsworth park. We tend to visit during fine weather and sit on one of the outdoor tables enjoying the view of the lake, the mature and fine trees and also giving the children (there is usually at least one!) a chance to wander and explore.
And: Coffee acceptable, cake nice, trashy magazines available and read.
Perfect way to spend a Friday lunchtime.

Tuesday 29th June - part two of two

My friend Sarah has been ridiculously busy for the last two years as she attempted to do an ESOL teaching course, do some ESOL teaching, do admin work for her church, run the children's ministry at her church, raise three children, be a devoted and godly wife and manage a lovely but slightly bonkers greyhound named Lulu. She is like to become busy again doing a selection of the above PLUS a job as well. Thus I had to make sure a coffee date was made before she forgot what I looked like!

Starbucks, New Street
Sneaky Coffee-ers: Anna, Danni and Sarah
Served by: the barrista (sorry - too busy chatting to notice!)
Bought: A small black coffee and a skinny peach and raspberry muffin
Cost: £3.20
Cafe: This Starbucks has a ground level and a basement. Both levels have a selection of high and coffee tables. We didn't get an armchair table this time. We felt we ought to go and sit in the basement as we had smuggled in sandwiches purchased at the Tesco across the road (because spending £3 on a sandwich in Starbucks would be silly!) However - once the illegal contraband had been consumed we went back upstairs as the air conditioning in the basement was at full pelt and we were shivering!
Position: This Starbucks is on pedestrianised New Street. A little distance from the Bullring where we usually begin our town visits but this made us confident that our calorie intake was already 'paid for'!
Busy: Yes - mornings are always better for a quiet coffee
Food: Lovely yummy chicken fajita wrap from Tesco, equally yummy muffin from Starbucks
And: Well how nice to have a good chat and a catch up. Sarah provides me with Christian conscience and encouragement without the complications of church politics as we go to different (although theologically similar) churches.

11th June 2010 - part two of two

Ok - this one's going to look at bit random. Danni, Viv and I had an afternoon to play with. All of us had more worthy things to be doing - it cannot be denied - but somehow the lure of 'going out to play' won out over the laundry, cleaning and housework!

We'd aimed for Ikea as Danni had stuff to return but I needed a DIY place and B&Q is right opposite. I suggested combining the two and Danni, shockingly, pronounced that coffee at B&Q was probably nicer than coffee at Ikea!

B&Q, Wednesdbury
Sneaky Coffee-ers: Anna, Danni, Viv and Susie
Served by: A lady
Bought: Two cappuccinos and a black coffee, a muffin for Susie and I to share and a scone with jam and butter for Danni
Cost: My drink and cake cost £2
Cafe: Not brilliant. A few tables and chairs in the corner of the DIY shop.
Position: Views of radiators!
Food: Lovely, really lovely, muffin. Apple and toffee I think. Took vast amounts of self control not to scoff Susie's half.

And: How can coffee and time with these lovely ladies be anything but wonderful? Plus I bought blinds for my newly decorated bathroom and toilet!

8th June 2010 - part two of two

I had a few errands to run which necessitated a trip to Birmingham. I wasn't in the mood really as it was chucking it down with rain and I had remembered, thirty seconds after leaving the house in the morning, that my boots had started to leak. Thus I had wet socks and soggy feet for most of the day. However - my husband doesn't often ask me to do things on specific days so I headed into Birmingham anyway and Viv was kind enough to keep me company.

Errands complete we had planned to meet at Starbucks on New Street but en route I was accosted by a Market Researcher who wanted my views of bleach bottles and was willing to pay a fiver for them! Viv and I cheerily offered said opinions (very nice new Domestos range coming up in fabulously bright coloured bottles) and pocketed the fiver each!

The novelty of earning money led me to buy a cake as well as a drink!

Starbucks, New Street, Birmingham
Sneaky coffee-ers: Anna and Viv
Served by: Couldn't tell you age, race or gender but they did offer (without being asked) to give both of us a cup with ice in the decant our bottles into.
Bought: Two bottles of juice / spring water stuff (I had serious caffeine jitters) and a skinny peach and raspberry muffin to share
Cost: I paid for the muffin - the drink and cake was £3.55 but Viv gave me some for her share
Cafe: Typical Starbucks, some comfy seats around coffee tables, some hard seats around dining height tables. We got two armchairs.
Position: This particular Starbucks is on a corner which makes it quite light and airy. It also has a basement cafe which isn't light or airy but is quite cosy. Today we sat upstairs.
Busy: Getting a comfy chair was a bonus as it was quite busy but a few high tables were empty so it wasn't heaving.
Food: The muffin was really nice - much nicer than I expected and a half was totally ample to serve as a small treat.
Complaints: None at all.

And: A lovely oasis in a rainy day. AND the rain stopped and the sun appeared while we were in there. AND it was effectively free given our 'earnings'!

29th May 2010

Viv, a dear friend, is a somewhat nervous driver. She has no need to be. She is perfectly competant. However, this nervousness means that on occasion she asks for help getting to bits of Birmingham she can't drive to. Today that place was Tyseley. Danni, newly free from days of busy-ness, was happy to join us on our little road trip. The business at hand took mere minutes leaving plenty of time for the more important things in life... coffee!

Pausa Coffee, Dunelm Mill, New Bond Street, Birmingham
Sneaky Coffee-ers: Anna, Danni, Viv and Susie
Served by: Phillip
Bought: We all had a drink and cake combo. Thus the order was three varying types of coffee, a carton of orange juice then one slice of farmhouse fruit cake, one (humongous!) slice of marmalade cake, a toasted fruit bun and a pink gingerbread bunny rabbit!
Cost: Danni paid but the coffee cake combo is advertised at £2.75
Sat: Around a table - soft chairs. Nice.
Busy: No
Food: Lovely fruit cake - light and a lovely sugar crust on the top
Complaints: Again coffee was spilt into the saucers. It is a small thing but has happened three times out of three visits to this place.

And: Lovely as ever! Susie was on form with her 'mock' adult conversation which isn't quite perfected! (Mainly as she is only four!)

Short mooch around Dunelm afterwards. Danni bought a duck egg blue towel for her newly decorated kitchen. I resisted navy blue bath mats for my newly decorated bathroom despite the fact they were in the sale!