Saturday June 28th 2008

Changeover day again ! Its amazing how quick they come around. Mr & Mrs McManus have arrived today all the way from St Ives in Cornwall. They're here for two weeks so I hope the weather is kind to them.

Still waiting for a few more hens to arrive so that we can offer our guests some lovely new laid eggs.

Wednesday June 25th 2008

The weathers not been too bad this week. Yesterday was warm & sunny so managed to get all the tubs planted up at last! Today its a bit cloudy but still quite warm. Hope it doesn't rain as I'm playing in the Ladies Open at Beacon Park GC.

7.30pm. Pleased to say that the weather did stay fine and the team I was in came 2nd...How about that ! We won a really nice hold-all each, I'll get plenty of use out of that.

Saturday June 14th 2008

John & Rosemary Horsnall arrived today. They first came to stay in 1990 to celebrate the first Christmas of their grand-daughter Jessica. They have been back many times over the intervening years and are back again today to join in the celebrations for Jessica's 18th birthday.

Friday June 20th 2008

This afternoon, Alan & I went to the official opening of 'The Farm' http://www.thefarmburscough.co.uk/ The ceremony was performed by Will Sargeant from 'Echo & the Bunnymen'. Our friends Freda & Bill Neale, their daughter Cathy and husband Dan have created this fabulous farm shop and tea rooms. It really is lovely. The produce on sale is all locally produced, much of it by the Neales themselves. Their award winning home made cakes, jams & chutneys are not to be missed.

Its a lovely walk from our cottages down to The Farm and apart from having afternoon tea you can also do their mile long farm walk and see the local flora & fauna at close hand.

Wednesday June 18th 2008

Absolutely pouring down today. Still, it will save having to water all the garden, baskets, tubs etc.
Last night we took the offending 'egg eater' out of the chicken run and have let her run around with the geese. Consequently, today, we have one lovely fresh egg !! Once we get a few more hens we will be adding new laid eggs to our welcome baskets.

One of our visitors this week is a great guitarist and sits practising outside the cottage. It really is lovely to listen to and I have my lounge windows open so I can hear while I am working.

Saturday June 14th

Changeover day today and the weather is lovely so I'll be able to get all the sheets etc dried outside. They're so much easier to iron after blowing in the wind and they smell so lovely and fresh as well.

Moved some of the overgrown pots from outside the Granary and the Shippon to make way for the new patio tables and chairs. They look so much better than the old ones and they're big enough to sit and eat outside.

Got 2 new hens last week but one of them is eating the eggs as fast as they are laid. Will have to try some of the old fashioned methods of deterring it otherwise its 'for the pot!'

The geese are waddling around contentedly but the cockerel (that has appeared out of the blue) is really annoying the hens!

Wednesday June 11th 2008

Tom Howard and his wife from USA left today to travel to the south of England, they've enjoyed their stay in the North West tremendously and hope to return one day. David and Jan plus their lovely daughter Jessica arrived today from Melbourne, Australia. They were very tired when they arrived but its so quiet and peaceful here that they were able to catch up on some much needed sleep.

Sunday June 8th 2008

Went to buy the hanging baskets today. They're so cheap to buy now that its not worth the trouble of planting them up yourself!


Went down to the Pier Head to take a look at the 'Ark Royal' which is berthed up until Tuesday at the new landing stage in Liverpool. It really is lovely now down there. There's still lots of work to be finished but it will be fantastic when it is complete, pity it wasn't all finished for this year which is of course European Capital of Culture 2008

Saturday 7th June 2008

Easy day today as theres only one changeover. Weather is glorious again. New guests, from the South of England, arrived for the Dairy. They are visiting an old friend locally who hasn't the room to put them up. A lovely couple from Northern Ireland are in the Granary. They have been here for two weeks and leave on Tuesday. This is their second visit, they've had glorious weather and have already told me that they will be back next year. The young couple who have been in the Shippon were here to visit old haunts from her childhood.

Wednesday May 28th 2008

Attended Merseyside Tourism awards ceremony as we were on a shortlist of three for 'Best Self Catering' on Merseyside. Unfortunately we were piped at the post by 'Premier Apartments' which is a new concept in accommodation for business men visiting the city......very smart but also very expensive!

Anyway, had a good evening as you can see from the photograph of our table. thats me third from the right.