Slow Coast Coffee on Pender Island

12/26/2025

12/24/2025

Good Christmas Eve morning to you Pender!

Well, the final gingerbread Chaps and Lasses have scooted into the cafe.
Rob, of Rob's taxi service, a dedicated service just for the transportation of Gingers, said things were quiet on the way down this morning.

They were practising their Mongolian Throat Singing and as they are learning, not a lot of sound was coming out yet.
They want to impress the cousins they so admire for their variety of musical skills, with their own efforts today.
They kept me up all night with small bips, burbles and sounds I'm not sure came from an organic life form.

I admire their zeal.
I admire so much about them.
The friendly and inclusive way they have about them, their volcanic joy, their energy (!), their fearlessness and the unrestrained love they have for all they meet.
They're pretty tasty too.

The Mountain Gingers have been transformed through meeting them as well. While still more introverted, they also love deeply, A Ginger trait and have embraced their cafe cousins with the same zeal.

What a wonderful place to live.
I have been honoured that they've let me breathe a little life into them and their world and to tell their stories.

We hope the folks who receive them this holiday season get a piece of what they've been laying down.

Happy and Merry All the Things you guys,

Your friends, Rob, Ally, Carlo, Kaia, Noah, Roland and the Gingers

12/23/2025

New arrivals!

The Gingers have been coming thick and fast (as fast as breathing life into an inanimate object can go really...) and eager to be in the cafe. The second round today! Dear god they are impatient to present themselves to you and see their cousins.

Everybody wants to be n**e all of a sudden! Turns out the Mountain Gingers are shy and live in the mountains because they ONLY go commando! Our guys are so smitten with their cool cousins that many have chosen to throw off their shackles and go sky clad only now.

You may notice Emelia Erhardt has a very well tended garden.
Aherm,

Their friend with a cramped drawing hand, Ally.

12/23/2025

Good morning to you Pender,

The latest crowd of Gingerbread Chaps and Lasses have hit the cafe. Rob said the were particularly excited on the drive down to the cafe this morning. Something about getting singing lessons from the Mountain Gingers?

Everybody cheered when they saw all the Chaps and Lasses had been adopted by the good people of Pender yesterday.

The Mountain Gingers have come out of themselves and have gained in confidence socially. I hear they are even inviting the Cafe Gingers up to Ginger Land. They have never invited anyone from the "outside world" to Ginger Land but are deeply smitten with our Cafe Gingers.
They love to swim in ice cold water together and promises of toboganing and skating on lakes frozen even in the summer have been made.

I look forward to making as many Gingers to go as want to.

Tomorrow will be the last day to adopt your Gingers and the draw for Gingerland will be happening today at closing. Tomorrow at closing it can be picked up.

_Ally and Rob, Ginger friends and allies.

12/22/2025

Good morning Pender!

I apologize that more nudie Gingers weren't in the cafe yesterday.
They were off streaking through the mountains with their Mountain Ginger cousins, loving the freedom.

Rob coaxed them back down by reminding them that folks might want to eat them and that started the charge back toward the cafe.
The nudie skaters were particularly thrilled to feel the freedom of the wind in their hair.
Aherm.

They are (not so) patiently waiting for you to come and adopt them and are eager for you to know that being eaten is the pinnacle of their existence.

-Ally and Rob, (the guy who rounds them up in the morning).

12/21/2025

Well good morning Pender,

The newest, friendly little gaggle of Gingerbread Chaps and Lasses have made it safely to the cafe via their friend, Rob's, taxi service.
I gather they talk his ear off on the way down. But he's used to that already. Aherm.

They were preening in their new clothes, as excited to share them with the others as they were to be wearing them themselves. Lots of twirling is part of it and even some shimmying and running and sliding across the floor. The lasses in heels lead the charge!
They are not prim about their zeal to be alive for a short time.
I'm taking notes...

Rob tells me that the meeting with their cousins, the Mountain Gingers went very well, though everybody was a bit shy and quiet upon first contact. Then...explosions of joy from the cafe Gingers and the poor Mountain Gingers frankly got drilled with questions.
The main curiosity from each other is if their greatest desire is to be eaten and yes, they are all on the same page about this.

The Mountain Gingers have brought their music to the Cafe Gingers. A peculiar mix of Bluegrass and Mongolian Throat Singing.
The Cafe Gingers are agog.
Worshipful even.
Quiet even.

More on their unfolding adventures tomorrow.
FYI: The Ginger Santas are especially eager to be adopted qu**ky because they don't find their beards being tugged quite so amusing as everyone else who falls about laughing.

-Their faithful friends, Ally and Rob

12/20/2025

Good afternoon Pender!

The gingerbread Chaps and Lasses are now trundling into the cafe, eager to meet you.

They have been rumbling around the place, anxious for me to obey their directions for how they would like to be dressed.
They have been merciful, understanding that I needed a little breather after bringing the Mountain Gingers and their homes, to come and meet them.

JOY!
They cannot WAIT to meet their cousins from the mountains!!!! Lots of twirling and spinning has been happening in anticipation and lots of appreciation for me in bringing them.
They have good manners despite their electric exuberance.
They are utterly adorable but I don't tell them that.

They may need to practise a little more patience, not their forte, as their shy cousins may need to peek out of their windows at them first before sallying forth to meet them.

We'll see how the meeting goes....

-Ally and Rob (their taxi)

12/18/2025

Well, good morning Pender!

I have finished making Gingerbread Land this year and it's in the cafe now. Safe from rains and wind. We don't need to find out how waterproof the gingerbread houses are...aherm.

The Mountain Gingers live in these houses and are very reclusive sorts. Extremely shy, infact, but they have agreed to share with you their beautiful mountain home.
They also want to meet their boisterous and well dressed cousins who will be coming to the cafe soon.

I expect they will do their visiting and get up to their shenanigans at night when they have more privacy.
I just hope we don't see gingerbread knickers and pearls and suspenders draped over the trees because they went for a freezing Alpine swim in the wee hours.
You never know.

This piece will be raffled off in support of our wonderful Food Bank. Tickets available for $2 each in the cafe.
The draw will be December 23 so the winner can pick it up on Christmas Eve .

10/01/2025

With deep sadness we'd like to mark the passing of Bill Twaites, one of our cafe family.

We've known Bill for years. He met "the boys" most mornings at the cafe.
I would verbally abuse and tease him and he would pretend to give it back (the guys was so adorable I don't think he had it in him but he did try! Ha).
We loved and trusted each other to play this way.

We will miss his note in the Great Symphony. A note only Bill had. It will reverberate around the walls of our little cafe for years to come, for us and those who love him.

He will be interred at 10:30 am this Tuesday, Oct 7, at the Pender Cemetary. From the cemetary folks are invited by Sandy, to head over to the cafe for "coffees on Bill" afterward.
Our place was his place.

Ally and Rob

Look at this face!

06/27/2025

Today at Slow Coast Coffee…

05/11/2025

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers!

To Those That Benefit from having a mother, we will have take our Cream Tea fixings for a treat at home (may I recommend busting out the bone china and special dishes for this).
You know her favourite tea which goes beautifully with this offering.

Included in the package is:

2 cream scones
Homemade clotted cream
Homemade lemon curd
Strawberry jam.

Ready by 11 at the cafe.
Do stop by to treat the mum in your life.
Celebrate or atone, either way, real clotted cream is not to be missed!

A note about clotted cream for Those That Don't Know:

Clotted cream was originally accidentally made by the gods when they left heavy cream near a stove for too long and it reduced in volume until a very thick substance was formed.
They dipped their godly fingers in it and declared it delicious enough to be fit for a...well, you can guess. They are so self indulgent.
The taste has a slight sweetness to it and you spread it like butter but it is sublime cream.

Mothers tend to love the stuff.
It has been noticed.

-Ally and Rob

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