This still feels so surreal to me. A childhood dream of opening my own little bakery..has finally come to fruition. Albeit in a mobile cafe as opposed to brick and mortar, but that doesn’t phase me. At all. This feels more free. Much less pressure, and I put enough of that on myself on a daily basis.
It’s taken a few years for Little Audrey’s to take shape. Setback after setback, self doubt, getting complacent, and just life in general. Then a few weeks ago, I’d just had enough. So I told Kyle that I was setting a date, and that was that! My little boy was over the moon, he’s been the MOST excited about this and he’s even planning ‘home’ lunches on a Thursday so that he can spend it with me at Little Audrey’s ❤️ he spent the morning helping me clean the kitchen, pack up the goodies and was up front with me in the car as we followed Kyle towing the trailer. Driving behind Little Audrey’s was so emotional, I looked over at my boy trying to hold back the tears and he looked over at me and was welling up too and said ‘there’s a big lump in my throat. It’s finally here! I’m so proud of you, mom!’ And that in itself is enough to make any momma cry!
When we arrived at our new site it just felt right. We started to set up and the generator powered up but there was no electricity. Kyle was freaking out a bit but I was so calm. And I said ‘it will be fine. Today is the day it’s meant to happen, and I’ve been talking to my gran (Little Audrey) for all the help she can give, I know she’s here.’ And she was. Because although it was a very bumpy start, it was meant to be that way. If it wasn’t for our fantastic neighbours who took time out of their Sunday to come and help, we never would’ve got the cafe open. That was such a lovely heartwarming experience in itself.
I didn’t advertise for a reason, I wanted to go in slow and steady. Test the waters, get a feel for how I wanted things to be, and to just see what more needed to be done for the days that I would need it. At the end of the day, we came out of that trailer with a list of things to work on, and we still got way more customers than I anticipated. So for all that went wrong, it was so worth it, and very right as well.
I’ve decided now that I will be out twice a week to start, the menu will be somewhat limited until I can get a system in place that works for me. Because I do all the baking myself, I don’t want to bite off more than I can chew…I do that far too much. I’m learning my limits…slowly but surely 😜 And I’m still crazy busy with candle orders so I need to also accept that I am just one person and I can’t in fact, do it all. And that’s ok.
So for the time being I will be setting up in the small parking lot on Culloden Avenue just off of Barn Church Rd, next to Barn Church. I’m aiming for every Thursday and Sunday from 11am and from there we will play it by ear!
I’m so excited to start bringing my baked goods and coffees to Culloden, and I’m definitely going to go back to my pastry school days and bring some French classics to Inverness! So if you’re in the area don’t hesitate to come and see me for a hot cup of soup and homemade focaccia, or a Blueberry Streusel muffin and Cappucino, or an Earl Grey Tea and a Fruit and Custard Tart ❤️ I can guarantee it’s all delicious, and all plant based 🌱
