Still Opening May 1st

 

Hello again!

As the saying goes... "The more things change, the more they stay the same." We're experiencing déjà vu. We were here at this time last year posting that we wouldn't be opening until July.

Not this time, my friends. (Please forgive that Fordian slip.)

Bill and I have been paying close attention to what's happening. We have sought advice from those "in the know" and we are more prepared this year than at this time last year. The store is ready and we are opening on May 1st.

We will, of course, have strict covid protocols in place. Spoiler alert... no mask, no tarts. We will be operating pretty much like last year with a couple of tweaks which we will share closer to opening.

Bill and I recognize the seriousness of this pandemic and our responsibilies to our customers (as a business) and to our fellow human beings also trying to navigate through and survive this trepidatious (That's right, drink that word in. I did a lot of reading this past winter.) time. What won't change, however, is the quality of our baking and the importance of making The Little Tart experience a pleasurable one.

We have missed you and are looking forward to getting back into the kitchen and bringing a little normality into life and hopefully a little sweet comfort.

Please stay safe. ❤

2021 Spring Opening!

Well that was an uneventful winter; snow shovelling, wood lugging and isolating, oh my!

'kayso here we are again. This time last year Bill and I struggled with the decision to have a spring opening or to not have a spring opening. This year the decision is clear...

We are having a spring opening and hope this comes as good news.

It feels wrong to be posting this given the current circumstances and it is not lost on Bill and I that there are so many businesses struggling and sufferiing right now. Nobody, including us, wants their business to be a casualty of covid.

We need to open.

Bill and I have followed the details of this pandemic very closely during the off season and, like everyone else, have felt the cumbersome weight of stress and depression that comes from wanting to get our lives back and get back to living. We have been diligent in our efforts to stay safe and healthy and to keep others safe when we have had to venture out for necessities. 

Once again, we promise to be as diligent in our efforts to keep you safe as we operate our business. Just like last year, we will have covid protocols in place.

Having said all that, we are happy and excited to announce that our thirteenth season will begin on - drum roll please!

Saturday, May 1st!

I will keep you updated throughout the month and provide more details as our opening approaches. 

We have missed you and hope you are safe and healthy. We hope you will visit us this season and look forward to baking for you again this year!

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.