Long-time customer Wendy Jarvis and her quilting group, at the old Secret Garden shop
Wendy Jarvis has been coming to The Secret Garden for close to twenty years. She first stumbled upon our place when out for a walk in Kerrisdale with her mother-in-law who was visiting from Toronto and they stopped in for soup and she said she remembers the lovely lunch and connection they had that day.
Over the years, The Garden became her quiet place, where she sought solitude and a few moments away from the busy life of raising her five kids and all the “bungee drives” as she called them – driving the kids to and from school and all of their various extracurriculars.
“It was kind of like a little refuge I found. I considered Secret Garden kind of like my little away time,” she said. She would come and read the paper, write letters or just sit with a cup of tea.
During a home renovation, The Garden became her office and she was here every day for a week. Now, she comes in for a pot of tea and an omelette or scone to reward herself for getting a bunch of errands done.
It’s also a regular gathering spot for her quilting group and they just celebrated one of the members’ 80th birthday here at The Garden.
“For me tea is a ritual,” she says, “the tea cozy, the china, the sugar bowl.”
Wendy says she’s met some great friends through The Garden over the years, other “frequent flyers” as she calls them, and we know we look forward to seeing her every time she comes in as well!
Do you have a Secret Garden story you’d like to share? We’d love to hear from you!
