Once I stayed in a haunted house after a literary festival in Scotland. It was so haunted, in fact, that my friend and I crept out in the very very early morning to drive home through some very remote countryside. We cheered ourselves up imagining a perfect cafe suddenly appearing – warm, with delicious pastries and even more delicious coffee for breakfast.

And then suddenly one appeared. We talk about it often, still not sure whether it was real or not. And if it was, why was it open at 7 in the morning when we were the only people driving there.

Anyway, I don’t think that mirage was Manuela’s wee bakery in Dornie, near Kyle, Scotland, which I visited last week, but I bet people stumbling across it in the Highlands might have the same sense of disbelief.

Not just for the delicious baked goods, coffees and in the evening, pizzas, but because of the fairy tale garden created by Manuela, her husband Thomas and daughter Jolene.

I’ve been trying to create a small fairy wonderland in my garden for my little ones but Manuela has taken it to a whole new level. Look… click through to see some of the deliciousness. There’s even an award winning gin distillery!

Even though it was a miserable day – there’s a surprise this spring – I sat in the garden warming my hands on an amazing coffee and wrote this poem, smiling to myself the whole time at the unexpected fun of it all.

At the bottom of the garden, witches have opened a bakery

It starts with a claw, the throat
of a frog, a trout’s heart
still beating on a floury palm,

it joggles down paths,
past a wishing well, a window
tilted to catch the shade,

it follows a stream, the hug
of a hill, a shudder of mist,
the scent of juniper berries,

it ignores the signpost, jostles
the tourists, pauses at tables,
laps up the crumbs until

it wraps itself up in a white paper bag
climbs into your car, tells you
the wrong long way home,

past castles and lochs, forlorn 
cyclists and cheerful vans,
sheep in a heart shaped field.

It wants to be taken up paths
leading to somewhere, anywhere.
Were you there, where were you? 

If you are anywhere near, it’s so worth a visit. For the garden, as well as the cakes and bread. Be careful though…