Not only is the title of this post a Scottish expression meaning ‘the small talkative one’, it’s also the name of a tearoom that sits in a little village along a dead end road on the north bank of Loch Ard near Aberfoyle in Scotland.
A side wall of the Wee Blether tearoom and post office, Kinlochard.
The tearoom is a most interesting place, with plenty both outside and inside to draw the attention.
Lots of teapots hang outside the tearoom, a situation that apparently came about by a happy mistake.
Hoping to make a sculpture from broken bits of pottery, the owner asked people for donations of their old teapots, but was given such a plethora of fine pots in good condition that she abandoned the idea of smashing them up, and instead slung them onto hooks around the building.
There’s seating inside and out, and on a warm sunny day you might imagine you were somewhere a little more exotic than bonnie Scotland.
Inside, the tearoom has a friendly, welcoming feel and, naturally enough, more teapots.
After consuming jacket potatoes with very generous salads, my delightful assistant and I tottered out into the sunshine for a short walk to work up our appetites for sweet treats.
Loch Ard, near Aberfoyle.
Carved owls in a garden in the village of Kinlochard.
Burgeoning foliage, Kinlochard.
Back in the Wee Blether, we turned to the ‘Ye Shouldnaes’ [things you shouldn't indulge in] section of the menu:
My delightful assistant was particularly attracted by a three-layer Victoria sponge filled with raspberries and cream.
It was served freshly stabbed, giving the fork little chance of sliding off the plate onto the floor.
I was very taken with this arrangement, and can imagine how satisfying it must be for the waitress to plunge a fork into each slice of cake ordered. If I worked at the Wee Blether I would go out of my way to recommend sponge cakes to customers.
Scones, on the other hand, don’t come with forks but at the Wee Blether they come in a very decent size (£10 note for scale):
My scone was so large that I initially cut it in two intending to take half of it away in the napkin, but, what do you know, when it was time to leave the whole thing had mysteriously vamooshed.
A large scone – now you see it, now you don’t.
