A couple of day with arrivals and departures.  Thursday woke up to a covering of snow so Chris went first thing and made sure the drive was safe enough.  Two cottages out of our peak cottages today with three back in, one has been before.  Two cleaners up to prepare a number of cottages and no problems encountered.  After lunch Chris went to Over Haddon for his digital photography.  The three cottages were all in by 5pm by which time the flurrying that had been on and off during the afternoon was starting to settle.  By the time we woke up on Friday there was about an inch. At least the sun was shining after the last couple of gloomy days.  Out again to clear the drive but the sun and salt helped.  One cottage out this morning with three back in.  One cleaner up this morning.  A quick trip down to Bakewell before lunch. Everything ready for first guests who arrived just after 3pm.  All arrivals today have been here before.  Second cottage arrived about 4.30 and final cottage about 6.30.  Have noticed that the days are getting longer.  Signs of spring such as birdsong in the morning and snowdrops peeping through.  All we need is the weather to go with it!

A bright day Tuesday and one cottage out.  Planned to go to Matlock but with no one due back in Chris suggested we went to Macclesfield, and in particular the furniture store, Arighi Bianchi.  There was still a lot of snow on the road sides on the Cat & Fiddle.  We went into Macclesfield and had lunch at the Cheshire Gap, a deli/cafe before I dragged him to T J Hughes.  One of the items due for replacement this year is our crockery, and although we hadn’t planned on buying any today as it happened we saw something we decided would be nice so we bought 15 sets (to include some spares) of crockery!  I now have to ind time to go round all the cottages and replace the crockery, bearing in mind I have just spent time checking and replacing existing crockery with spares.  We stopped at Arighi Bianchi and had a good look round and also had a coffee and shared a ginormous slab of cake before heading home.  We stopped at Chelmorton to say hello to Geoff and Margaret and although it was Pancake Day the effects of the cake meant we were not hungry! Wednesday was misty with possibility of snow later in the day.  One cottage out and none back into our peak cottages and after coffee went to Sainsbury’s at Matlock and stopped at Bakewell on the way back by which time it was already flurrying.  Back home we had a chimney sweep in to look at the problem with the log burning stove in Shippon, and having finally got to the root of the problem, hopefully we have now found the solution!

The forecast on the Internet had said sleety showers but we woke up to glorious sunshine.  No cottages in or out of our peak cottages today.  After getting the paper it was sill sunny.  The plan had been to catch up on bits around the house but with the sun still shining we felt the day could be better used on a walk.  With nothing planned and knowing the main spots would be busy, so we opted for a walk from Monyash along the top of Lathkill Dale.  Just before we ascended to the ridge we met the Finneys from nearby Mandale House who were making the most of the good weather to check some of their land.  Mrs Finney has now given up B&B so another one bites the dust.  The sun disappeared but it stayed dry and we found a spot for lunch.  It did not take long to reach the drovers path so we carried on along the path beside the river until we reached the lane back up to Over Haddon which we took and then the usual path back home.  A nice walk and a quiet evening in.  Will post some pictures in the next few days.

A bright start to the day and for the first time since they arrived the sheep were settled in our drive field so I made sure the dogs did not disturb them when we went for our walk.  No cottages out of our peak cottages today but one due in.  At midday the farmer came who owned the sheep and the next thing we knew they were gone!  We saw them being rounded up by quad bike and taken into the eight acre field and apparently (so Chris found out from Andrew) they were walked out onto the Sheldon road and a few fields along for new pasture.  Spent some time in the cottage checking the inventory before they arrived just before 3pm.  Thought we would go out for a couple of hours so went to the Craft Centre and Coffee Shop at Longnor.  On the way back we stopped at Wheeldon Trees Farm and were amazed at the amount of snow still along the lane to their cottages.  Had a chat with Martin and Deborah, the owners, before coming home. 

They said if you woke up to mist it would stay misty, but if you woke up to sun it would be sunny. We woke up to mist but within a couple of hours the sun was shining. One cleaner up today to turn round a couple of our peak cottages round in case of need. I took our friend down to Bakewell to the auction room. It was the first auction of the year, postponed from a few weeks ago because of the weather, and was a general and collectors sale. Plenty of interesting bits but we left before we found ourselves bidding for anything! Back home Chris was trying to sort out the fire problem. It ended up taking quite a few hours but hopefully it is sorted. He also fixed the water pipe up at the stables. Since before Xmas I have had to take water up to the chicken from the kitchen, firstly because the cold froze the pipes then we had a burst pipe so had to switch the water off up there. Now it is fixed I can leave water for the chicken from the stable tap. Usually Saturdays are very quiet for phone calls and emails but today was an exception. Encouraging.

Here we are on a Friday and no guests arriving. It’s rare when it happens at our peak cottages. Still not a 100% so stayed in bed again for a little longer. One cottage departed and Chris helped them take their bits down to the car. The discovery is now completely dead until we can get someone to look at it. Ian brought the post up by tractor as the postman left our post with Andrew. First post in four days. Chris went down to Bakewell to get some more bits but couldn’t get any brussels. Things are starting not to get through. Been keeping in touch with friends in Yorkshire who have had more snow. The news reports showed Pickering which is just up the road from where they live. For the first time Chris could not get the car back up the drive. We also put the cottage christmas trees and decorations back in the loft. On Saturday another cottage departed leaving just one remaining. Up as usual and feeling a lot better. Spent most of the day catching up on personal paperwork but also did a check of all the cottages. In particular with some cottages having been empty since last Saturday I realised I hadn’t checked if anything had been left in the fridges. Luckily very little was but with some cottages still scheduled to be empty for another week or so it also seemed a good idea to switch them off and defrost the freezer compartments. Will do daily checks in all the empty cottages to make sure no leaks or burst pipes etc. Talking to guests booking you hear how other people are being affected in ways that often don’t get reported, eg not being able to get to funerals. Looks like the cold weather will be here a little longer. Let’s see what the farmers forecast tomorrow says. Andrew says the last bad winter here was 1990/91. In the last 24 hours the temperature hasn’t been above -2.6.