Another Winter Opening Over

 Why does it feel like we're always saying good-bye? (sniff)

Another winter opening has come and gone. First, we want to thank everyone who helped us spread the word here online. Our decision was kind of last minute and so we greatly appreciate you helping spread it around for us!

Thank you very much everyone who came by these past two days. It's so nice to see familiar faces and, we're always so happy to say, some new ones as well!

Nothing about this year has been typical. Bill and I wanted to do something that felt familiar and you all gave us that. Thank you so much for helping us keep this tradition of ours alive!

Whatever it is you celebrate at this time of year, we hope it's joyful; full  of fun and laughter. We wish you peace and love and happy ever after. 

Please stay safe, stay healthy and come back to see is in 2021.

Winter Holiday Opening!

 

If it's on the board, it's official!

So let me tell you about the holiday opening that almost wasn't...

Bill and I have gone full circle a few times since closing after Thanksgiving and just yesterday had settled on a definite "no". We even changed our voicemail. (We aplogize to anyone who called.)There has been so much to consider this year (we won't bore you with the details... we all know what's going on).

Bill and I have been isolating. We're still isolating which, for us, means no family gathering, no get-togethers with friends, no joyful holiday celebrations. 

No opening.

We were having our morning coffee this morning and watched a car pull up to the house. They read the sign in the window "See you in May" and we both felt our hearts drop as they pulled away. 

That did it. May is a long way off. The Little Tart's Holiday opening is our tradition and for our own sense of normalcy (that's a word right?) more than ever, we have to keep this tradition alive. We're going to make some baking!

'kayso, if you happen to be in or around Haliburton this holiday season we sure hope you'll drop by. (Our covid protocols will still be in place.)

Have a wonderful week!

The Season That Almost Wasn't

From the season that almost ended before it began to the end of our season. What an emotional rollercoaster this year has been. Bill and I have always said we bake for our lives because our lives depend on it. Never has this been more true than this year.

Call it adaptability, tenacity or just plain old stubbornness but, against the odds, we’re still here and looking forward to next year whatever it may look like. Not a single day has gone by since we opened our doors in July that one of us hasn’t said “we’re so fortunate”.

We have always known that what we do doesn’t matter if no one comes. We can fill the store with tarts and treats but it’s just a store full of tarts and treats until you come through the door. Nothing we do matters without you and when we reflect back on this summer, as we often do until the next season begins, it won’t be covid-19 or masks or restrictions that we remember but rather how fabulous, cooperative, generous, kind, patient and overwhelmingly supportive everyone has been.

We will be here next year because of you and that is what Bill and I are most thankful. It has been an absolute pleasure and privilege to bake for you this year and we are looking forward to baking for you again next year.

We love you and we’ll miss you so please be safe, stay healthy and come back to see us again. ❤

Thanksgiving Weekend Hours

The frost is on the pumpkin. Brrr!

A Summer We Won't Forget

I usually start thinking about this post about two weeks before the season ends. Bill and I discuss what we want to express and I try to put it in words. Nothing about this summer has been “usual” and we’re taking a break to let the words flow.

From the time we decided to open until now and going forward, all our attention has been hyper focused on “Can we keep ourselves safe? Can we keep the people who come through our door safe?” and “How do we make sure the people who come here feel comfortable that we’re doing both of those things?”

We knew this would be a huge responsibility but until we opened the doors we didn’t comprehend the weight of that responsibility. Every summer we have our usual stresses; Will people come? Will it be busy enough? Is the baking our very best? Will the oven and fridges hold out? Can we stay healthy enough to keep up? And so one and so on… 

This summer add in covid-19, social distancing, masks, disinfecting, signage… so much disinfecting, so much signage We entered our season and carried on with one thought in mind… we have to get through to next year.

From opening day through today has been absolutely phenomenal. The summer of 2020 will be a summer Bill and I will never forget. The kindness, generosity and full cooperation of everyone who came through our door has overwhelmed us. We lost spring, our summer season was shortened and we don’t know what fall will bring. We decided this year’s success would not be based on revenue but rather on whether or not we would survive the summer, have a fall season and be able to open next year.

Bill and I agree that 2020 is already our most successful year! We have made it through the summer season, are ready to begin our fall season and are already looking forward to our 13th year beginning in May of 2021!

Thank you to everyone who visited us this summer. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding. Thank you for lining up in the sweltering heat and the driving rain. Thank you for your patience and your tolerance. (I almost made it through without the waterworks.) Thank you for your overwhelming support, for helping The Little Tart survive our most trying year. Most of all… thank you for your trust.

We love you dearly.

Please stay safe and healthy so we can all come out the other side of this together.

Summer Hours

Finally... We're Opening

Welcome to the new world!

Please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times. Buckle up and hold on tight as we navigate the twists and turns of this uncertain terrain. It’s going to be a bumpy ride!

Over the past few months we have received an outpouring of support and so many suggestions to keep our little shop alive. We appreciate all of you and you and yes… even you (you know who you are).

There has been so much to consider. If you thought of it, so did we and even when we thought we had taken everything into consideration… something else would present itself.

We are opening on July 3rd.

To keep our operating costs down we will open Fridays through Sundays straight through to Thanksgiving. Now please bear with me as I explain how we came to our decision and what the plan is…

We want to open as close to normal as possible (which truly isn’t normal at all, but we’ll work with what we’ve got) so let me preface this by saying; we have never been all about the bottom line. Sure, keeping the doors closed and taking orders would be easier with no loss incurred. We have always said that whether you purchase a dozen tarts or just a tart or two, you matter to us. That’s not lip service. Orders would require a minimum amount which would mean those customers, and there are a lot of you, who arrive for a tart or two (some once, some regularly) would be left out. There would be no need for our sign on the road which would mean losing potential new customers exploring the area. It would mean missing out on the social interaction we look forward to every year. 

No chit chat, no banter, no music, no laughter, no smiles.

Uh… no.

(Also, on that note, our prices remain the same as last year).

‘kayso… on Friday July 3rd at 10am we will open with social distancing safety measures in place. We will be allowing one person (or two from the same household) into the store at a time. There will be signage and everything will be marked. A face mask or covering will be required inside the store.

Bill and I will be wearing a mask for your protection. We have heard both sides of the mask argument and we ask that our little business not become a battle ground for mask vs. no mask. When you enter our store, you are also entering our home. We wear a mask out of respect for you and to keep you and those you care about safe. We ask the same of you. We are simply doing what we need to do to keep our business running. Hand sanitizer will be available for use inside the store.

Are we going to make mistakes? Probably. Are people going to be annoyed with us? Definitely. Are we going to offer the same quality and care we always have. Absolutely!

Please be patient with us. I say this again… unprecedented. We have stressed our way through the past few months thinking only of how to stay safe, keep you safe, and keep The Little Tart from becoming a casualty of covid 19.

Thank you so much! We can’t wait to see you again!

Summer Season

"Unprecedented"

That's the word that keeps coming to our minds as we continue to cautiously navigate through this pandemic. In unprecedented times it's difficult to know the right thing to do. On a personal level, Bill and I have been doing everything we've been asked. We have isolated, we only go out for essentials and only when we can't make do with what we have and when we do go anywhere, we wear a mask a gloves and practice social distancing.

On a business level, we recognize that we are not essential. We feel that postponing our opening has been a show of respect and support to those who are. We don't want to encourage others to do what we won't and in that way we don't contribute to overburdoning the already over stressed and exhausted workers who keep essential services operating.

In my last post I explained the financial reasoning behind our postponing; we have to protect the business by not incurring costs we're not sure we can recover. Having said that, the Victoria Day long weekend approaches. We have struggled, stressed, and lost sleep (lots of stressing, lots of sleep) in making a decision about when to open again.

Now we've come full circle... unprecedented... so no matter what decision we make, it's going to feel like the wrong one. But we have to make one.

More than anyone, we want to get our business operating again. Bill and I are The Little Tart and this business means everthing to us. The only thing that means more is each other. The indecision of when to open again was driving us both insane. In the immortal words of the Fonz, "It was driving us nutso". Considering all factors (health, safety, financial, logistics) for peace of mind we had to pick a date and decide to stick with it.

We have decided to focus all our efforts and resources toward a summer season beginning the first weekend in July. As I've said many times before, we don't make any decisions lightly and with this decision we hope to turn our negative stress into the excitment of anticipating our opening.

In the meantime, the store is ready and we have taken on some necessary projects that we never manage to find time for before our season begins.

We're so sorry if this decision dissapoints but it is made with love for The Little Tart, for each other and, of course, for you.

Please stay safe and healthy. ❤

2020 Season Postponed

I had a long-winded intro planned for this post, but we all know what's been happening lately. It has infiltrated all our lives.

As you can see, we've been getting ready to open. The kitchen is ready and we're working on the store. We're going to keep getting ready but we're going to postpone our opening.

I could say this decision is all about keeping you safe, protecting you, but we had that covered. You are always our first thought and we have a "no contact" plan. But we've always been up front and honest with you so here's the no b*** sh** reason for our decision.

First weddings were cancelled which means no spring wedding income. Then came a succession of restrictions that saw our customer base dwindle day-by-day. Opening means incurring initial costs and operating at a loss which is fine when you know you'll recoup as the season goes on. We can't say that this year. We have to protect the business; back down so we can live to fight another day.

This has been the hardest decision we have ever made for this business. Stress and sleepless nights have us feeling like we've gone nine rounds with a prize fighter, pushed off a cliff into traffic. This is one of those decisions where no matter what we choose to do, it feels like we're wrong. It feels like we're letting you down. It feels like we have somehow failed. As emotional as we're feeling right now, this has to be a decision we make with our minds not our hearts.

Bill and I will finish getting the store ready because as soon as we see restrictions being lifted, we'll be ready to start baking. We are so sorry if we are disappointing anyone. That's the last thing we ever want.

The Little Tart doesn't exist without you. We're not too proud to beg. I'll repeat the end of my last post. Please, stay safe and healthy. We're not giving up, please don't give up on us. When the time comes, please, please, please come back. ❤

Getting Ready

Hello again from the inside!

As you can see in the pictures below, the kitchen is bare. We have been doing our pre-opening scrub down. While the kitchen itself is finished, it's time to scrub everything that goes in it!

'kayso... our opening date is four weeks away and we're getting ready. Now, as you can imagine, it will not be a typical opening. Bill and I have been following the updates and adhering to what we're all being told is necessary to keep ourselves and others safe and healthy. 

With the exception of Bill going to the grocery store and dump (wearing mask and gloves) we have been nowhere. And I mean nowhere. Like (twitch) when I say nowhere, I mean (twitch) it's been three weeks (ahaha) and we haven't ventured (twitch) beyond the end of Koshlong lake road! Seriously... this morning I told a squirrel to have a nice day because it was so nice to see another face (ahahaha). I'm not even sure it was a squirrel (twitch). It might have just been a lump of dirt!!!

Anyhoo... we will continue to do our part. And so, with that in mind, we are working on a plan for opening. The Little Tart is a tiny space, therefore, we need to work out how to operate and adhere to medical guidelines for social distancing. 

What does this mean?

Unfortunately we will not be able to throw open our doors and invite everyone in the way we have every other year. What's important to us is that we open, that you feel comfortable coming to The Little Tart and that we all stay healthy.

We're still working out a few details and I will post our plan within the next week or so.

In the meantime we'll continue to monitor what's happening. A lot can happen in four weeks and we're hoping our little "take-out" business will still be permitted to operate.

And now we ask this of you, our most valued customers, our dear friends; first and foremost, please stay healthy. We have missed you over the winter and look forward to seeing all of you again. We recognize that this is very a stressful time for everyone. Our heart goes out to everyone whose lives and livelihood are being impacted by this pandemic. We're freaking out a little bit of a lot ourselves about the future of The Little Tart. We have always known that without you, The Little Tart doesn't exist.

Bill and I are not going to give up so please stick with us and please please please, when you can, come back! ❤

Spring 2020 Opening!!!

Hello again and welcome to spring!

'kayso, I know I haven't posted since our winter opening and quite frankly we were just trying to get through it. To sum it up... wood lugging, snow, shovel, melt, rain, flood, snow, shovel, deep freeze, wood lugging, repeat. Much of our focus this winter has been Mojo our four legged mooch. We learned at the end of last season he has severe arthritis in his knees and arthritis in his lower back. He was barely mobile at the beginning of winter, his recovery has been slow but I'm so happy to say he's doing much better now.

We hope everyone had a wonderful winter.

So now, let's address the elephant in the room. When Bill and I first began discussing this post (I do occassionally allow him some input) we went back and forth about whether not to say anything. We feel we have to.

First of all, we fully understand the seriousness of what's happening and, of course, we want to see everyone come through this safe and healthy. We have been paying close attention to the news but more importantly we have been watching and reading what health professionals are saying. "Wash your hands. Don't touch your face."

Will do.

What we won't do is let fear drive us to panic. Yesterday we had a delivery. Bill stepped outside the door and the driver, still in the truck, became frantic and yelled at him to get back inside the house. That, in our humble opinion, is an overreaction, but an example of how fear turns into panic. Bill didn't get angry.  We both feel bad for him. We completely understand the stress and anxiety, believe me, we're feeling it, but please, let's not turn on each other.

Right now we are being bombarded with negativity. We have always strived to make The Little Tart a happy place. We're going to continue to do that. As always we will have our customers best interest at the forefront, we will, as always, be diligent in sanitizing all surfaces, and, as always, we will wash our hands often.

As for the current social etiquette... if you don't want a hug, we won't give you one. Feel free to wear gloves, a mask, a hazmat suit. (Like THAT's the strangest thing we've ever seen!) We won't take offense.

We're getting ready to open and on Saturday May 2, 2020 we're going to bake up some happiness and at 10am our twelfth season will begin! (It's on the chalkboard which makes it official!) So please, please, please stay safe and healthy and please visit.

We miss you!