A popular honesty box bakery is to go under lock and key – due to dishonest customers.
The Crazy Goose Lady has been selling delicious home-baking from her roadside Crianlarich house since summertime.
It has proved to be a popular pitstop for motorists on the A82 – the long, busy road from Inverness to Glasgow.
Mary Hood has three pet geese and loves to bake. As goose eggs make excellent cakes, this has provided the perfect recipe for a successful hobby.
But sadly, too many people have been pinching the cakes without paying.
The situation came to a head on Sunday night when Mary collected her takings and realised that they fell short. And not for the first time.
‘It wasn’t tallying up’
Mary said: “It was just a fun thing. Suddenly, it was getting worse and worse. I had a wee stock sheet. We put ‘x’ amount out every day and at 7pm when I was bringing it in, it wasn’t tallying up.
“People were just helping themselves. Obviously, the honesty box side wasn’t working too well.
“The plan is to get a wireless doorbell. Visitors will press the doorbell and I will go out.
“I quite understand. It’s just a human thing. People will always be tempted to take something for nothing. I totally get that. We will try it this way. That’s life.”
The “honesty box” will reopen next week under the new format.
And it’s not all doom and gloom. Mary said: “I have got a lot of lovely folks. There are people who go on holiday and go in search of these honesty boxes.
“I have had lots of nice notes and comments. One lady even left me a gift at Christmas.
“There are quite a lot of honesty boxes around. A lady messaged me and said she used to go round them like a treasure hunt when she was a kid. She is writing a book about it called Honestly Scotland and put me in her book.”
How to find her
Mary’s honesty box can be found at the end of a lane on the left-hand side of the first Crianlarich roundabout, if you are coming from Tyndrum.
She opens seven days a week, from 9am until 7pm in winter, 9pm in summer.
Sweet treats on offer include millionaire shortbread, mint Aero slice, Malteser slice, gingerbread, golden syrup sponge cakes and chocolate cakes.
The three geese are George the Gander, with “his ladies” Gertrude and Glenda. Obviously, only two of them are responsible for the egg output.
Mary added: “There was a distillery in Dumbarton renowned for its guard geese. They didn’t need security guards. They were there for years, it must have worked pretty well.
“Goose eggs are three times the size of hen eggs. There is fat in goose eggs that is very good for you. They make fabulous Yorkshire Puddings and cakes.
“I have had them since they were a day old, so that they got used to me and think I’m their mum. If you don’t do that they can be a bit feisty.
“The big gander follows me around like a big puppy. I keep my gate locked so that nobody comes in, otherwise, he would throw a hoolie.
“They are very good for keeping the grass short.”
The honesty box closed on Sunday night when Crazy Goose Lady announced it on her Facebook page.
She wrote: “I’m sorry to say the honesty box is closed, sadly there are too many non-paying visitors. The losses are unsustainable.
“Thank you to all the visitors who have supported Crazy goose lady’s honesty box.”
Mary added: “I was just a bit scunnered. But then I thought, what am I going to do? That’s when I decided to get a wireless doorbell.”
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