You can have whatever you want, as long as the universe approves

[davidgillon]

 We took a ride up the dale yesterday as my mother hadn't been anywhere since before Christmas. Lots of bits of snow still lying in sheltered spots up around Tow Law, a good week after it had melted at lower altitudes - some of the really protected spots out on the moors may well retain pockets of snow into summer.

Our putative destination was a garden centre, though at this point of the year everyone seemed much more interested in having something to eat at its attached restaurant than in buying plants - in fact the restaurant was popular enough we had to park in the overflow carpark and  they were handing out pagers to summon you when a table became available.

"I had the all day breakfast, it was beautiful" someone told us coming out as we were going in.
"Order something nice" my sister ordered as we were seated, "We haven't had the chance to take you anywhere since you got here."
"I'll have the all-day breakfast, then."
"Mam and I are having scones, order something that won't mean we're sitting around waiting for yours to be cooked!"

That's me told, then.

Waitress appears, "I'll have the tiramisu"
"Sorry, that's sold out."

*headdesk*

"Uhh, <rapid flick through menu> I'll have the cheesecake."
 

Service wasn't especially fast, but the cheesecake was pretty as a picture when it appeared - a round serving, topped with some thin stripes of chocolate, half a strawberry, a raspberry and a blueberry.

My initial thought was it was a bit on the small size, but it was so rich it was actually the perfect serving. The cake melted in the mouth and if the blueberry was a bit blah, the raspberry was superbly tart and the strawberry so sweet it was like biting into crystallized sugar.

I'd ordered a mocha with it, which was also really nice, but possibly not the ideal companion - black coffee might have made a better match to counterpoint the richness of the cheesecake.

So the moral of the story is sometimes you have to forget what you think you want and let the universe order the nice things for you.