dog friendly peak district

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Accounts accounts accounts

Bolehill in its autumnal setting

Bolehill in its autumnal setting

Tuesday was a cooler overcast day with some showers at our Bolehill Cottages near Bakewell (see here). Aim of the day was to complete the WI accounts and get them signed off before posting them to the auditor.  This was achieved by 4.30 which included a trip into Bakewell to see the President.  During the day there was one departure and one arrival at about 4pm.  Cottage already cleaned.  The Bakewell Photographic Society used the games room in the afternoon to select photos for a competition so Chris spent some time with them.  Wednesday 15 October got off to a murky start but brightened up and felt a bit milder.  In the morning I went down to Bakewell to post the WI accounts and tax returns and get some provisions for the next few days.  The afternoon went on paperwork, mainly Bolehill accounts so I can finish last quarters accounts to complete the VAT return.  One arrival here just after 3pm.  Cottage already prepared.  Thursday was a lovely mild day.  One departure and one arrival and one cleaner up.  As we hadn’t been out for a while I suggested lunch out. We headed over to Hassop but it was busy so we drove round to Edensor where we were able to sit at a table outside in the sun. We had taken the dogs with us too. After lunch we walked up to the churchyard and went to find the Dowager Duchesses grave. Hard to believe it was two weeks ago that I was here for the funeral.  Home via the farm shop and back in time for guests arrival.  They have been before.  Reconciled the last of the accounts from the last quarter and checked figures so we can finalise the vat return over the weekend.  Some preparations for the weekend which looks as if it could be quite mild.

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Sunrises and sunsets

mist over Bakewell

mist over Bakewell

Saturday got off to a misty start at our Bolehill cottages near Bakewell (see link).  Took the dogs for an early walk so I could take some photos.  Three departures, one arrival, one cottage staying for a second week and two cleaners here.  Time of year when we have a mixture of weeks and short

mist in the Dale

mist in Lathkill Dale

breaks and over the next week we have a number of short breaks.  Chris was well enough to clear the courtyard and gardens of leaves and cut the grass for the first time in a couple of weeks, not that it will need much more cutting. Cottage here at 3pm giving me the afternoon to do other jobs so I stocked up on logs and caught up on paperwork.  Sunshine and showers produced some rainbows.  Sunday got off to a misty start again but unlike

mist rolling across the fields

mist rolling across the fields

Saturday the mist hung around the dales whilst we were in glorious sunshine.  More photo opportunities.  Despite the lovely day we had the tax returns to complete which we did.  Early tea for us and dogs and took them out whilst it was light and got some sunset shots.  Off to the village hall to help set it up for the film night. Captain Phillips is one of those edge of the seat films and worth seeing I thought. Monday 13th October was a rerun of the previous Monday. IMG_3016 Cool, wet and windy.  Kept having to pick up plant pots and the clear lawn was covered in leaves again.  Two departures and three arrivals and one cleaner here.  Usual Monday tasks but at least with Chris better we could share the work load.  With all work finished by lunch I could do some paperwork and balance the WI annual accounts in the

Sunday morning

Sunday morning

afternoon.  Could have gone to the Over Haddon Village Hall Committee meeting in the evening but felt as if I were coming down with a cold so didn’t!

Sunday sunset

Sunday sunset

Blue against sunset

Blue against sunset

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Wild weather

passing rain

passing rain

Wednesday 8th October started fine but soon deteriorated at our Bolehill Cottages near Bakewell (see here).  Chris felt better and got up and went out to clear the rain gauge as it had become blocked.  I went down to Bakewell late morning to get some provisions for the next few days.  Had hoped to complete the annual WI accounts in the afternoon but at least managed to do the preparations for the evening’s WI meeting.  A few flashes of lightening and thunder rattled the dogs but at least we didn’t experience the tornado that hit Alfreton.  Collected Joanna and Lynn on the way down to the village hall.

passing shower

passing shower

One of our members gave us an informative slide show on her recent trip to Nepal.  Thursday was a much better day with just a few showers.  Chris had a relapse so was back in bed.  Used the day to catch up with paper work including preparations to complete our tax returns.  Also spent time chatting with guests.  We were supposed to have a drink with a couple of our guests in the evening but didn’t because of Chris’s health. Friday was a better day but there was still a few heavy showers around in the afternoon.  Two departures and two arrivals and two cleaners here.  One was my new cleaner so she had a chance to work without pressure.   Chris better but still not well.   Both cottages, both have been before , arrived between 3and 3.30.  Had a chat with both before a quick trip down to Bakewell to get bits for the weekend.

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A chat with Michael Portillo

20141007_IMAG0017Monday was a horrible day weather wise at our Bolehill cottages near Bakewell (see here).  Two departures and four arrivals and one husband down with a heavy cold.  One cleaner here as a couple of cottages already prepared.  The wind in particular was strong in the morning and I seem to be continually picking up fallen plants.  With Chris not available I had to do a number of jobs he would normally do on a Monday.  At least by lunchtime the wind had died down and rain eased off and cottages were ready for guests arrival.  Two here by 3.30, one had been before, next arrival at 4pm and final cottage here by 5pm, they have been before.  Chris should have gone to the Photographic Club in the evening but as he was not well I took the projector to one of the other members.  Tuesday 7th October was the day of the Autumn Conference of the Derbyshire Federation of WI’s at Derby.  The meeting had been scheduled to take place at the Assembly Rooms in Derby but after the fire there earlier this year the conference was moved to the County Cricket Club in Derby.  I collected three other members and drove to Rowsley where we boarded a coach taking  other WI members to Derby.  The venue was perhaps not the best for the needs of a large group of women but the organising committee did well in the circumstances.  We were able to hear but not see the proceedings from our spot in the room.  After official business the morning’s speaker was one of the original Calendar Girls. She reminded us of the origins of the story and updated us of events since, at times it was quite emotional, but the result has been over £4million raised for Leukaemia Research.  Lunch time gave an opportunity to browse the stalls and get a book signed by our afternoon speaker, Michael Portillo and have a quick chat with him.  He gave us an amusing talk on his political life, the influence of his parents and more recently his TV series on railway journeys.  He fielded some very interesting questions too.  Back home Chris was still not well so we had to take a rain check on a meal we had arranged with some friends.  Never mind.

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A short autumnal walk

waiting for mistress

waiting for mistress

Friday was a pleasant day at our Bolehill cottages near Bakewell see (here).  Two departures and two arrivals and one cleaner here.  Down to Bakewell late morning to get provisions for the weekend.  First cottage here just after 3pm and second cottage just after 5.30. In the evening Chris sorted out some computer problems for one of the guests.  Nice having a technical expert around!  The milk cows are now in overnight.  Saturday saw the first real rain in a long time, in fact overnight there was almost as much rain as in the whole of September. Five departures with three arrivals and three cleaners here.  Despite the rain cleaning was finished before lunch so plenty time for odd jobs and final checks.  By lunchtime the sun had come out but it felt a lot cooler than of late.  First guests arrived just after 3pm, they have been before. Second cottage about 4pm and final one 4.30. Did some accounts and chatting to guests.  A cold night Saturday into Sunday with frost at Buxton where it went down to 2 degrees.  Sunday 5th October was a beautiful day, sunny but cool.  Decision.  Accounts or walk?   Well with the forecast for the week ahead it had to be a walk.  I had recently seen an aerial video of Magpie Mine and it reminded us that we hadn’t had a good look at it for a while.  We set off  with the aim of having lunch at Sheldon .  When we got to the pub we found a couple of our guests there so we joined them for lunch.  Then we walked back via the mine and took plenty of photos.  At the last field before the green lane the cows followed us up to the gate so Blue was not happy.  It had stayed sunny all afternoon which was nice.  In the evening we went to Buxton to see the Halle Orchestra  give a performance in aid of the Blythe House Hospice charity, first time we have seen an orchestra perform at Buxton. Enjoy the Magpie pictures.

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A memorable day

IMG_2877Thursday 2nd October saw the funeral of the dowager Duchess of Devonshire. I was collected from our Bolehill Cottages near Bakewell (see here) by one of my cleaners and her family so we could get to Edensor early.  We parked at Pilsley before walking into Edensor as the road through the estate was being closed from 10 until 2 for the funeral procession.  Got to Edensor just after 10am and there were  seats set out and three big TV screens as well as a book of condolence and tea and coffee.  The cleaners son is from Pilsley school and the school children were going to line a part of the route from the house to the church with other estate staff.  While we were waiting I saw one of our regular guests who had made the journey especially for the funeral.  He told me he had contacted the house and they had laid on first class transport from London to Chesterfield for him and others who had expressed a wish to attend the funeral and then bussed them from the station to the church.  The green by the church filled up quickly and I soon joined the those by the road side waiting for the cortège.  The church bell started tolling as the cortège left Chatsworth and it was half an hour before it came in sight.  Suddenly there was a pouring of people over the hill (they had watched the procession leave Chatsworth first) and soon there were plenty of people lining the route.  As the cortège passed I was surprised to see Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall behind the Duke.  There had been rumours he would attend.  After the cortège and family there were the estate workers in their respective uniforms and after all the staff had gone through the Edensor gates we followed on.  Standing room only for the short service and after the committal we all walked back to the house where refreshments were laid on.  I thought there was just going to be tea and cake but we were greeted with a glass of champagne and sandwiches and cakes and a jazz band.  The sun came out and there was a lovely atmosphere.  As we sat down in the shade by the terrace we realised that Charles and Camilla were near by chatting to the Duke and guests.  We thought they would go somewhere private but they were happy chatting to everyone and we managed to get Charles to shake hands with my cleaners son!  The bodyguards were always close by but were friendly  and we chatted to some of them and I also chatted to a reporter from the Daily Express.  He took my details but I never saw anything published.  Chris came and picked us up mid afternoon.  Didn’t need to worry about cooking tea as we had tickets for the Harvest Supper at the Village Hall.  We went with Andrew and Joanna and the hall was full with villagers and locals and we caught up with people we hadn’t seen for a while.  It was a lovely way to finish a memorable day.  Here are the photos.

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Ploughing Match

IMG_2760Wednesday 1st October was a fine day at Bolehill Cottages near Bakewell (see link).  We decided to visit the Brailsford and District Ploughing and Hedge Laying Match, an annual event, held on the first Wednesday of October at different venues around the area.  This year it was being held on the Kedleston Estate just outside Derby.  We drove over to Kedleston via Ashbourne with the dogs after coffee.  Joanna and Andrew had gone along earlier and despite the crowds we saw them a couple of times.  Have always wanted to go to a ploughing match but was not sure what to expect.  The event was like the Ashover Show minus animals but with a number of fields divided into strips and being ploughed with anything from a horse drawn plough to modern tractors with ploughs.  The whole event, which was much bigger than I thought, took a few hours to walk around and it is one of the premier matches in the Midlands Region.  Apart from the ploughing and hedge laying competitions there were various trade stands and craft and produce tents.  We left mid afternoon and by chance came across a garden centre with tea room as the navigator (me) had taken us down the wrong lane. The Meynall Langley Trial Gardens are open during the spring/summer months when the trial work they do is on display.   The attached garden centre and tea room are open most of the year.  By the time we reached Ashbourne the sky was looking very foreboding and by Monyash it was raining.  In the evening I collected Joanna for this months WI committee meeting. Enjoy the pictures.

 

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September’s weather stats

IMG_2906Monday was a bit cooler but dry until later in the day at our Bolehill cottages near Bakewell (see here). Down to the market first thing and surprised at how quiet the car park was.  It was quiet at the market but numbers were building up by the time I left.  A map in one of the shops showed that the traffic lights would be moved again from the Tuesday and in an effort to reduce queueing in Bakewell at the roundabout traffic around the one way system will have a greater priory than the traffic coming over the bridge. At least this is the last IMG_2992week of the road works in Bakewell.  One departure and one arrival and one cleaner here.  With arrival not here until 5pm was able to spend time in the afternoon catching up with accounts.  Tuesday was a much warmer and sunnier day, probably the last this year looking at the forecast.  Made the most of it with an al fresco lunch. One departure and one cleaner here.  Another potential cleaner came to see us so now I have a decision to make.  We had a lot of enquiries despite the fact there were a number of other cleaning jobs also advertised.   Also spent time during the day chatting to guests as they came and went and also more WI accounts work.

We have reached the end of the third quarter already and here are the weather stats for September:

Highest temperature was 19.3 on the 10th with 5th being warmest day and night.  Lowest temperature was 6.9 on 27th with 21st being coldest day and night.  A mere 0.34 inch rain with the wettest day the 6th with 0.06 inch of rain!  (September 2013 had 1.97 inches rain).

 

 

 

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Thornton’s chocolates!

cows in the front field

cows in the front field

I had been waiting for Thursday 25 September at our Bolehill Farm cottages near Bakewell (see link) for a long time.  It was the day of our WI trip to the Thornton’s Chocolate factory at Somercotes.  We collected Joanna and drove over to the factory which was built on the old Swanick colliery.  After a short video about the history of Thornton’s we had the health and safety check and locked up all our belongings (except purses) and were split into smaller groups to be kitted out.  We had already been informed in advance not to wear jewellery, including watches, only a plain wedding band could be worn, no make-up, perfumes or nail varnish.  Men, there were a few husbands, had to wear facial masks for beards and we all had to wear hair nets, overalls and safety shoes.  Sorry we couldn’t take photos of us kitted up.  We had also been advised that there was a lot a walking and up to 500 stairs to negotiate on the tour!  First stop was where they were doing the hollow chocolates and in this case snow dogs for Christmas.  From here we moved to toffees then centres then enrobing – or in other words covering the centres.  We were able to a lot of the processes in most cases and the scale of the machines involved is quite impressive.   Most processes are now automated but some processes like caramel making are still quite labour intensive.  A brief pause at a tasting station, where we were able to try some chocolates straight of the production line (yum), then we went up to packaging where we watched the boxes of mixed chocolates being made up as well as more time consuming smaller or individual chocolate boxes.  After the tour we dis robed and were taken to the staff shop where we could buy goodies at a discounted price.  We were also given a goody bag.  By now it was past lunchtime but we drove over to the MacArthur Glen outlet centre a couple of miles away where we had a light lunch at the Thornton’s shop.  No need to buy chocolates!  Time for a walk around some of the shops before getting Joanna back for milking.  Although still mild it had been a drizzly afternoon but the months rainfall is still very low.  Sorry no pictures of the day but here’s one anyway.

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Autumn arrives

Twilight cow

Twilight cow

Monday was a lovely day at our Bolehill cottages near Bakewell (see here), it almost felt like summer again. One departure and one arrival and one cleaner here.  Thought about going down to the market but might wait until road works finished.  At moment they are back on the Buxton Road but a lot of traders are complaining about the loss of trade since the works began.  Chris cleared leaves from the courtyard, some are already starting to fall, as well as cutting the grass and some other tidying up jobs around the premises.  Spent the afternoon on accounts and had an early tea as Chris was off to the Bakewell Photographic club.  Cottage arrived about 7pm and as it was not quite dark took the dogs for a walk in the grounds.  Tuesday 23rd September was another fine day, last official day of summer, so now daylight hours will be shorter. One departure and one arrival and one cleaner here.  A morning of odd jobs and some time in the garden before it started to cloud over.  Cottage arrived about 4pm.  Some more WI work as it is soon the end of the annual accounts (and quarter accounts for Bolehill) and later in the evening we saw some rain.  Wednesday was a lot fresher.  No arrivals or departures but time to spend chatting with guests and a number of odd jobs.  In the afternoon I went to Sainsbury’s via the recycling centre and on the way heard the breaking news that the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire had died.  Sad news.  When I got back Ian was there as he was dropping off some tickets for the Over Haddon Harvest supper.  We have a lot of social activities over the next couple weeks.