First of all, thank you to everyone who signed up to support the shop in the Best Village Shop awards run by the Countryside Alliance. Whether we make it to the shortlist or not, (we hope we do!) it has been very heartening to know that so many people appreciate our village shop, thank you! It's always good to see new products on our shelves, particularly local ones, and this month we are very pleased to be stocking a range of face and skin creams and herbal teas. These have been developed by Halina who is not only a volunteer in the shop but …
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Ding dong merrily on high and tidings of comfort and joy.......we have once again been filled with the Christmas spirit and are giving away our hot drinks from the middle of December right into the New Year, and if you're lucky you'll even get a free cookie to go with them. Of course we'd be very happy if, in return for your drink, you chose to make a donation to support village groups or maybe bought some tickets in our Christmas raffle; you might win the first prize of £50 to spend in the shop and all the profits from the raffle will go to …
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The highlight of our annual members meeting in October was when Anita, on behalf of the Friends of Payhembury School, presented us with a folder of letters and pictures from all the children thanking everyone in the shop for the contribution we made to their lap-top appeal. We have left the folder on the shop counter for everyone to see. This year the profit from the weekly raffle was shared between the Flower and Bulb Show, a not to be missed village event, and a Christmas lunch for the members of the Tea and Bingo Club. We also gave the …
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Our annual members meeting is to be held on: Thursday, October 10th at 7.30pm in the village hall and we are looking forward to welcoming all our shareholders, volunteers and customers to hear about how we are doing now and our plans for the future. Our meeting currently holds the record for the shortest and speediest AGM in Payhembury and we aim to continue in this fine tradition, with tea and cake afterwards as well, so we hope this will encourage you all to come along. We always like to support local enterprise in whatever form it …
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Bring out the cake, candles and party poppers (we sell them all!), our birthday is in July and we're going to be eight years old. We've made some changes over the years; when we started we had a part-time paid manager but now we are completely "do-it-yourself" except for professional help to oversee the book-keeping each month. We have tried to respond to what you, our customers, have told us you would like to be able to buy; more local produce, more fresh fruit and veg and a great range of competitively priced wine. We hope that when you …
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Ed East's Lamb Dauphinoise and a trio of luscious desserts were on the menu for our annual  Volunteers Supper this year and were much enjoyed by everyone. The supper is our opportunity to get together with all our volunteers who work so hard during the year to ensure the success of the shop. We had over 40 sitting down to supper this time and when we counted up later, and included those who sadly weren't able to be there on the evening, we realised we now have 50 volunteers. Anne, our volunteer coordinator, would kill me if I didn't mention at …
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We are sad that Leonard Salter, one of our most loyal and loved customers, has died. He was a true gentleman who came into the shop nearly every day wearing his battered old hat, and with a twinkle in his eye he would raise a smile from everyone. His knowledge and love of Payhembury and the surrounding countryside was unparalleled and he was always generous in sharing this knowledge with anyone who asked. We miss him. Are we heading towards a cashless society? When the shop was opened 8 years ago who would have thought that our cash …
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We're lucky in Payhembury to have local producers who supply our shop with all manner of food and drinks which often can't be found in big supermarkets. We have, for example, Farstrete free-range eggs from Whimple; has anyone else had the excitement of finding a double-yolker in their extra-large eggs? From Clyst Hydon we have honey made by bees kept by the Mitchem family, and near Dunkeswell the Common Loaf bakery make the most moreish cheese crackers you're ever likely to sample. Probably our nearest suppliers are Tuck Mill beef and the East …
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It seems like half the nation has been watching Marie Kondo tidying her drawers. If you're in the half of the nation who hasn't a clue what I'm talking about, she's the Japanese lady on the internet who is encouraging us all to de-clutter and clean up. In our shop we have many good value cleaning products to help you do just that, from bleach, floor cleaner and soda crystals to rubbish bags, J cloths and polish. So, if you get the urge to spring clean, we're sure we can provide what you need. Cleaning and checking the shelves in the shop is an …
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It's the start of the Chinese New Year on February 5th; and it's the year of the Pig so that should go down well in Payhembury! To celebrate here's a recipe with a Chinese flavour; it will satisfy the urge for something fresh and zingy at this time of year and you'll find nearly all the ingredients you need on our shelves. Spicy Crispy Beef Ingredients: Approx 250g left over roast beef (or chicken,duck, pork or tofu) Vegetable oil, for frying, 3 tablespoons cornflour, * 1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder, a little very finely grated orange …
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