“When you buy from a small business, an actual person does a little happy dance.”
Anonymous
Whilst on the island of Skye we stayed in an excellent Airbnb near the remote hamlet of Glendale. This diminutive gathering of (primarily) old crofter’s cottages at the north-west tip of the island also includes (naturally) a small church, a rather stylish cafe… and the Glendale General Stores and Post Office.
Knowing that our residence was well equipped in the kitchen department we had shopped on our way to Skye and thus arrived bearing venison steaks and all the appropriate accoutrements to provide ourselves with a splendid dinner…
…with one exception. Being out of the habit these days we had omitted the purchase of a suitable bottle of wine.
Coming upon the Glendale General Stores and Post Office we pondered the odds of taking an extremely long shot and seeing if they might have a bottle wine of any variety. This seemed extremely unlikely, given that the store is – as you will see from the photo above – tiny!
Tiny – but mighty! Not only is the shop a great deal larger than it looks (Tardis-like it goes on and on) but it also incorporates such unlikely features as this compact bulk foods section:
Not only did they have a bottle of wine, they had a floor to ceiling unit of bottles. There – at the front of the red wine shelves – was a very passable Chateauneuf du Pape! The proprietor apologised that this was his last bottle thereof, but we happily grabbed it, eulogised the man’s forethought and planning and scampered off to cook up a feast.
Well! Books… covers… impetuosity of judgement…
Life is – as always – full of surprises.
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