We're half way through June? June! In two week's time we'll have been open for three months! This period of our lives has become affectionately known as "The Whirlwind" (cue the John Carpenter style theme music). Anyone who has opened a business will know what it is like to be whisked into the stratosphere by The Whirlwind. All you can do is try to enjoy the ride and keep an eye out for the inevitable flying cow.

I thought in our latest round-up I'd let you all know about some of the lovely new things we've decided to stock since we opened. News of our opening obviously travelled quickly, as a (mostly) orderly queue of producers began knocking on the door. To add to this, some of our customers began recommending products to us and even, in a few cases, ordering whole boxes of things from us that they just couldn't find anywhere else.

So where to begin? We opened with several different ciders from Europe, but left a gap for an English variety until we found the right one. In the end we plumped for Kent Cider from Jake's Orchard which has been a really big hit. It is light, full of flavour and perfect for picnic lunches and summer evenings. Alongside the cider, we have also doubled our range of beers, all of which are from small production microbreweries, including three brand new local beers by the new Parker Brewery in Formby.

One of the most popular new additions has been from Joe&Sephs who make the most astonishingly grand gourmet popcorn. We put some of this on tasting when it first arrived and promptly sold out! It is well worth a try if you've not had it yet!

We've also taken on Wirral Rocket grown in Childer Thornton. A hugely delicious range of sourdough, rye bread and flavoured loaves are now being made for us by the Little Eye Bakery in Hoylake. Little Eye also run bread making courses on the Wirral which are a lot of fun. They deliver only once a week to us on a Friday, so you need to be quick to win your prize as it vanishes fast. Their cheese and chilli loaf toasted with butter is simply divine!

Our products from North Wales and Chester are also on the increase, as we're very pleased to have been joined by Patchwork Pates, Goetre Farm Preserves, and Truly Scrumptious Pate.

Add to the list several new wines from New Zealand, including some phenomenal wine from Destiny Bay Estate, Riverby Estate and Lamont Vineyards. We've had three wine tastings at the shop this month. All three sold out and the feedback was excellent. Our next ones are all listed on our Events Calendar, but please book early as they really are prone to selling out fast!

I am pretty sure there are things I have missed off this rambling list, so I suppose you'll just have to come into the shop to discover lots of new things for yourselves - as evil plans go, this one's fairly tame!

Jamie & Joe