Today, in keeping with tradition, was a Wednesday. As the first Wednesday of the month it was also our second outing to the Birmingham farmer’s market. The last one, a month earlier, had proven to be cold and windy but otherwise quite entertaining, so with the weather now fixed we had made the trip and parked ourselves up ready for a long day of people-watching and trying to stop the wind from stealing our stuff.
Turns out though that our various menu tweaks and a bit of warmth were all the people of Birmingham needed to get out into the street and eat toasties. Not only that, but the mood has also lifted and, most excitingly of all, we had visits from some of our lovely regulars, Mai Wong and Andy Systematik among others, which is one of the best possible compliments you can get. Even more so when they tweet about it to say it was tasty.
So overall it was a thoroughly worth-while Wednesday, which is what we will need as a matter of urgency going forward, because as of this week I have started to reduce my hours at the day job, with a view of soon being able to Wocky full time.
If you have ever been on that ride at Alton Towers with a sheer drop – Oblivion – then I’m currently at the moment when it stops, and you look over the edge into the black hole below. Only the difference is that this is real life, so rather than a massive harness, a boat-load of electronics and more safety shut-downs than you could shake a badger at there is just me, with a rather unreliable van and a husband who can’t stand up for more than a couple of hours.
Luckily the husband is gradually improving, and hopefully he will continue to do so if we didn’t break him today with all the driving. It’s probably bad timing, something we seem pretty good at, for me to be dropping hours now while Barny is still not fully fixed, but we can’t stop the summer. At my last count every single weekend between now and August was booked, so there really isn’t any going back now.
Hypothesis: It is possible to make a living out of Street Food.
More specifically, it is possibly for us to make a living out of toasties. This summer will be the test. We have to earn enough over the next four months, the busiest time of our year, to see us through the winter. If we do this without dribbling away into an exhausted mess then it goes much of the way to proving our hypothesis. If we can’t then we need to take a very long, very hard look at what exactly were doing.
On my mark. Right, bring it on Summer.
Wow, big step Flic – but hopefully a step in the right direction!!
Jabberwocky HOOOOOO!
No going back now – onwards to cheesy greatness!
I vow to try your toasties at some point this summer. I must be the biggest Wocky fan never to have even seen the thing on duty!