What goes 'book, book, book' - but is not a chicken?

Ok - so I am living proof that there is no such a thing as 'too many coffee mornings' - but I am getting used to it! Great to touch base with old friends through the Blog too - some via FB and some via Blog.

The answer to the question posed in the title of this Blog is quite simple . . . .

Simon Herring goes 'book, book, book!'

You see - I have now written 3 books - well, not so much books, as 1 book and 2 planners. Those folk still on my Christmas card list will know that I have written one full-length book titled Sorry for that! which is available on Amazon. I have re-packaged it and it now has a new photo on the front, but the content is the same. What do you think of the new look. . . . ?

The other 2 publications I have completed are not books, but planners. Here is the cover of The Zimbo Planner for Gentlemen - 2016 which carries as the cover photo a picture used in the blog posted on 12th September 2013 in which I advocated throwing your children off a high mountain as a sensible way of reducing school fees!

Remember?

Then there is the Zimbo Planner for Ladies - 2016 which uses as the title photo a picture of Fred featured in the blog posted on 22nd January 2013, which regular readers may recall.

So what is a 'Planner' then?

Well - simple really - what I have done is take selected blogs, shorten them and then print them on the left page, and then on the opposite page there is a small weekly planner. What a great Christmas present - no? And a fantastic book to leave in your toilet, because it takes about as long to read a page as it does to make a deposit!

For example - this is the page for August 10 to 16 of 2016. Regular Blog readers will remember as being the longest Blog ever posted. It was posted on the 6th December 2013 - and the question in that blog was: 'Who had the busiest week-end?". (The title of the blog was 'Spot the mistake')

So the prize for this week - which involves a Grande Cappuccino and a Bacon & Chive Muffin from the best Coffee House in Zimbabwe as first prize - goes to the first person who can correctly tell me what date this following Blog was posted? Or simply the title of the blog?

As you all know - every single blog ever written and posted can be found at the top of this page on the right hand side. And no cheating . . . . I have removed all the obvious search words like puncture, flat, tyre and girls from the search listings. Either you remember the title - or you you have to search for it!

Here is the blog in shortened format as it appears in my new Planner . . .

And if anyone knows a good Publisher who would publish and also distribute these Planners, I would love to hear from them. But I think we may be too late for 2015 - and may have to put them out in 2016.

So the regular readers and commentators such as Noreen C and Sally dB may well get one for Christmas this year. The rest of you will have to wait for 2016. And those folk who feature in the planners - like my kids and some of you who don't even know I have silly photographs of you, will also get one.

Whatever the case . . . have a great day!

Wanna get fresh with me?

I'm back - again!

Hopefully this time to stay. My life has been somewhat chaotic, hence lack of postings, but everything is settling down into a more ordered rhythm, and all is well. I hope to post at least once a week from here onward.

Having spent several months doing not very much, I have now taken up a 3-month contract running a small, but quality, Coffee Bar in Borrowdale Village. This is the sign above my new work-place (photo taken at 07.00 as we opened):

This is a different view of the shop taken an hour and a half later - showing our outside seating area.

Most days the covered veranda outside is full of folk having coffee, and seating is at a premium. We offer free internet access, and so the inside of the shop is normally full too, with customers on their laptops. I can assure you that there are a lot worse ways that you can spend an hour that sitting outside at Freshly Ground having a fine coffee with either a bacon & chive muffin or a pecan cinnabon, and an aimless chat!

In order to get to work, my trusty steed carries me in and out. As most of you know, it is winter in Zimbabwe, and more often than not I get to work with tears in my eyes from the cold!

This is our product board - many of the cold drinks will not be sold until our winter is gone for good, but it is the coffees made here which are the cornerstone of the business. We only grind the beans when a cup is ordered, and the size of the grind determines how long the water runs through. The grind-size is set according to the age since roasting (in days) of the beans, and . . . the weather. It takes 21 days to fully train a Barista, and I am completely clueless at coffee-making compared to the ladies working here.

Here is our range of drinks . . .

And the wizards who prepare the coffee? Here are 3 of the girls ready to weave their magic and make the best coffees in Harare. No kidding. They are GOOD!

We also sell our coffee - both beans or ground - and the packaging is something a little special! What would you call beans from Freshly Ground?

So - here is my new office - operation control, you might say.

And the interesting thing about the above picture is the file containing all documentation relating to the business prior to my arrival. The business administration was not so good - hence the name on the file.

Third from the left.

Have a nice day!!!!