Cake, and cake

We've just got back from a weekend at Rob's parents.  We had a lot of cake.  
Betsy wanted to decorate a cake so she and Rob bought provisions, and Granny helped her to do it.

Later, Rob's mum and I escaped by ourselves.  I wanted to go to Dunelm Mill to be a cushion for the cover I crocheted, and she wanted to take me to the Emma Bridgewater factory shop. It's one of the very few potteries left in Stoke On Trent.  It's in a beautiful old industrial building.

The shop was crammed full of bright and cheery things.  Mugs, plates, tea towels, bowls, tea pots, fabric.  Spots, hearts, dogs, birds.  This was the seconds shop, so it sells the things that aren't entirely perfect.  Good enough for me though!

There is a cafe at the shop too.  All the cups and plates and teapots are - unsurprisingly - Emma Bridgewater.  The cake was excellent.  I had red velvet, aka beetroot.  It was the most beautiful shade of red.  Mave had carrot cake, which looked equally as good.

We admired a huge aga that was in the cafe, near our table.  It was three times the size of a normal aga, and painted white with the trademark Emma Bridgewater spots.  While we were chatting, a man came over and opened one of the doors and to our surprise there was a cake baking inside.  We had both assumed it was just decorative, but it is a working oven making cakes for the cafe!  Amazing.

I really liked two posters on the wall.  I'm not sure if they are vintage or vintage-stylee, and I hope they're up in the working bit of the factory.

We had even more cake in the evening, a little smarties one for Betsy's birthday.  
It's all go now for the next few days - a morning at a hawk centre, visit to the doctors for Meg, Betsy's birthday, a party, pony riding.  I'm exhausted thinking about it....