My dad used to always say, “yesterday is history and tomorrow is a mystery.”
This month I want to share with you some of the mystery of Stonehouse: what tomorrow and the future looks like. I have been spending a lot of time talking about the renovations and the past eight years that I owned Stonehouse, but I realized that I haven’t yet shared my vision for the future.
Stonehouse will always be committed to being a small community-minded business and it will continue to grow using our knowledge and experience from the past and creative abilities for the future.
Over the years, I have often focused on how to offer more than just tea. Since buying Stonehouse, I have focused on looking at tea beyond the cup and finding new and exciting ways for people to enjoy tea. My goal has always been to expand the shop and with the extra seating that we’ve created, we have been able to start opening the doors for more new opportunities.
One of the new things is a new oven. I’ve been sourcing a new oven for months. It was more expensive than my car and I’ve discovered now that it happens to be much smarter than me! I have been secretly using trial and error to get things perfected and ready to launch.
I’m so delighted that starting Monday, November 4, we will begin something I’ve been working towards: Stonehouse Savouries!
The new oven will allow us to include delicious breakfast and lunch grab & go items. I personally enjoy something savoury for breakfast and soon we can start to offer that! We’re starting the Stonehouse Savouries with fresh pretzels, spanakopita (one of my personal favourites!) and breakfast quiche, but soon we’ll be expanding on the hot food options to include more items.
Beyond the new Stonehouse Savouries line, this Christmas will include our popular Friends & Family Event and our 12 Days of Christmas promotion of course. I have acquired so many cool items for Christmas Time that I can’t wait to share with you.
We have lots of plans in place for the New Year as well! I’m working on two events that will be part of the community and a way to showcase, not only our fabulous tea, but also our amazing desserts. I’ve always wanted to find a way to offer afternoon tea at Stonehouse and now we have space and capacity to do that. It is still "top secret" but watch for the official launch in early 2025.
With all of our new seating, there are boundless opportunities to host events, meetings, workshops, etcetera. We are currently focused on Christmas, but January will be here soon enough with those new opportunities coming to fruition!
For eight years I’ve been busy building the Stonehouse foundation and now it is the time for us to decorate. The decorations are so exciting, and we thankfully have a strong team, beautiful space and functional capacity to be able to build and grow. I look forward to sharing all my ideas with you, and this is the place to hear about it first.
So as a tribute to my dad, I would like to put my own spin on his saying:
“Yesterday is out of sight but tomorrow looks super bright!”
Cheers!
Christine