Not sure if this is the right place to say hello? I have just joined the Fforum as I am in desperate need of a Fforde Fix while I wait ffor my daughter to ffinish reading the Big Over Easy.

My husband and two oldest children are also Fforde ffans and we have yet to find anyone in day to day life who has heard of Thursday Next, let alone Shades of Grey.

My husband and I had a truly surreal experience at lunch time in a Tesco Cafe. We both bought custard/yoghurt type desserts and were told that the cafe had no spoons - not that they were in the washing machine, or that they were running low - but they had no spoons. Although we have several family in jokes about cutlery thanks to Shades of Gray (and I plan to give my husband a spoon for Christmas, engraved with our post code of course) I could not believe that we now live in a society where in order to enjoy a yoghurt in a cafe we are expected to provide our own spoon! Surely a classic example of life imitating art!

You must be in the right place because we've had all the wrong places surgically removed, making for a very comfortable and friendly gathering.

Welcome aboard. Be sure to visit the Treehouse for refreshments.

Welcome!

I have in fact seen two complete strangers reading the Eyre Affair on the train over the years. An exciting experience for sure.

I can't rest until I know how you managed to eat the custard/yoghurt type dessert.

Welcome!

If the desserts were runny enough a straw and a lot of sucking may have worked.

Welcome MrsW!

I'm just hoping the cafe didn't hand you a fork instead of a spoon.

We have lots of dessert here. Most are over in the Treehouse. There are sweet ones, marked with an "s", and there are savory ones as well. Those have a squiggly line cut into the top crust, sort of "S" shaped, so you can tell them apart.

We've been having spam issues, so if you aren't a fan of it, be cautious with the pies, as some spam might have accidentally been added in. Jasper got rid of most of the spam for us a few days ago, but the stuff is pretty sticky.

We are also playing several games. Please join in! Don't worry much about the rules, no one else seems to. (smile)

Thanks for the spam warning - didn't realise you were Python fans as well.

My husband did use a fork. Very messy and distressing for those of us who had to witness it. My daughter and I stuck to the rules and used the wooden coffee stirring sticks provided. Again quite messy and very slow. A straw may have worked although I can see it would be trickier with jelly or crunchy yoghurt.

Do you serve alcohol in the Treehouse or do we bring our own? Have the kitchens passed a recent Health and Safety inspection and what is incidence of food poisoning?

There's still several bottles of Stumpy Scrumpy down in the cellar. Do be careful to unchain just one at a time, though.

Oooh cider - does it go well with a nice bit of triple Llanboidy?

Hi mrswildthing. I am glad that you found us. If you had come earlier you could have had a free pair of yukk boots, but fortunately Mr. Ff and his elves have moved them all.

Yukk boots? What fun. No NFL jerseys? They are frequently offered on another forum I'm attached to. Personally I see no attraction in them - I'd rather have one in the Swindon Mallets livery.

Stumpy Scrumpy is an aggressive little cider which doesn't get on well with any unpasteurized cheese, especially (unfortunately) the Welsh cheeses. It's best served at room temperature, preferably a room in a different city.

Sounds like scumble on Discworld--it's made from apples. Well, mostly apples.

OK - so it won't go with Macynlleth Wedi Marw. Never mind.

MuseSusan - mathematical puns may be the first sine of madness but I will continue with them cos I tan! So there!

I haven't got much time, but I really must warn you to stay away from the Stumpy Scrumpy at all costs. I never really got my memory back from "The Last Time" but I seem to remember that it's name derives from it's main ingredient which was somebody's three legged hedgehog.

With the Aussie contingent there is a risk of AFL jersey seeing as we are about to enter finals. But I doubt that there will be a Swindon Mallets strip in that gear either.

There's much less pet hedgehog in my Stumpy Scrumpy than there's rat in a Python Pie.

Paste the follow line into Google to find the ingredients.

"Fortunately, Stumpy Scrumpy is vegetarian"

Oo, I've been through Macynlleth! Sadly didn't get to go and explore though.

The spammer kept putting MBT in the thread title. I kept thinking it going to be about David M Cornish's MBT series, until I looked at the creator. Disappointed for sure.

Welcome!

If you are interested, you will find a fresh pot of cocoa in the nearby "er, hello" thread...

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Any Danish pastries to go with it?