In all the years we have holidayed in the area and in all the years we have lived here we have never been to the Livestock Market on a Monday.  We always suggest guests go and have a look and today it was our turn!  I had planned to go down to the market anyhow but Chris came with me and luckily he brought his camera.  When we found our way into the first ring they were selling cows with calf and then some young bulls.  Here we couldn’t make out the amounts being bid but one of the strange customs is that one of the staff standing beside the auctioneer could often be seen holding a £5 note which is given by the seller to the buyer as a good luck token.  We then moved to one of the other rings where they were selling bulls for beef so as they came in they were being weighed.  642 kg of beef looks very intimidating when it runs into the ring! We also found where the sheep were being sold.  After that we had a wander around the street market and a spot of lunch before getting provisions for the next few days.  A quiet afternoon at our peak district cottages and dinner was al fresco.

Up very early to go car booting with one of the cleaners over at Hope Valley College.  She had a load of children’s toys and clothes to sell and I filled up her car with a few bits of mine.  Its been years since I’ve done a car boot, I used to help my sister a lot before we moved here.  Today though we must have been in one of the best car booting spots in the country, in the shadow of Win and Lose Hills!  Back home just after 1pm and it was nice enough to eat lunch on the patio.  Many farmers are still silaging so our vista is now more a patchwork of various shades of green.  One cottage arrived at our peak district cottages, they have been before. The hay field was cut today and after dinner Andrew was out in the field turning the grass for drying.  I’ve been taking the dogs out for an evening walk as well as their morning constitutional. I took my camera today as I noticed the setting sun on the last few evenings has been highlighting Froggatt and Curbar Edges but the sun was a bit hazier today so although the edges were visible they did not come out on the pictures.

As we had a dental appointment on Thursday we opted for a day out on Wednesday.  Today we decided to visit somewhere and as it was a nice day we went to Consall Hall Gardens http://www.consallgardens.co.uk/  I had sent some guests here a few years ago and they had enjoyed them.  They are just the other side of Leek so it did not take long to get there.  The gardens are spread over seventy acres and includes six lakes and various follies.  There are four miles of paths and I think we walked most of them and as dogs are allowed on leads they got a walk too. It has taken over fifty years to create the gardens as they stand and work is still ongoing.  The current owner has done a lot of the work and we saw him inspecting his creation from his buggy, he will be 91 this year!  It also has a tea room and we had a nice lunch there.  Took loads of pictures.  We came back a different way, via Ashbourne, although we didn’t stop there.  No sooner had we got home when we we went down and rounded up the cows for Ian.  It was warm enough to eat dinner al fresco at our peak district cottages.

Had planned to help one of the cleaners at a car boot sale but when woke up it was raining, so went back to bed after conferring and deciding to cancel.  After getting paper decided we would visit Monyash, a couple of miles away from our peak district cottages, later in the morning as it had an Open Gardens weekend.  Although there were about two dozen gardens open thought it would only take a couple of hours to walk round the village.  Got there about midday and didn’t leave until nearer 5pm!  Although none of the gardens were huge they were all different and a lot of the owners were on hand to chat about their garden.  During the course of conversations we met a couple who knew the owners who converted Bolehill Farm and also someone who remembered Bolehill as a working farm.  As usual the dogs were made a fuss off, we had brought them as dogs were allowed in most gardens if on their leads.  About half way round one family were commenting on how much Blue looked like one of their dogs and after a few more minutes we discovered they had our dog’s father as well as one of their sisters, as our two were born in Monyash.  We called into to see them later in the day and our two had a run around their field with their dad and sister.  Hence the pictures of our two with their dad and one of their dad with their sister.  Note the family resemblances!  There were a couple of light showers during the day but we got home before the rain set in.

A quiet Friday with one cottage out and none back in to our peak district cottages but one cleaner up. Spent some time planting out more plants and chatting to guests and popping down to Bakewell for the weekend’s provisions.  Saturday saw seven cottages out with eight back in and three cleaners up.  No problems and time for some odd jobs.  In the last couple of years I have been replacing fridges with easy to defrost freezer compartments and we have found this helps on a Saturday.  Everything completed by 3pm in time for the arrival of the first guests.  Four cottages arrived between 3&4pm, all of which have been before. Two more arrived between 4&5 pm with one more before 6pm and the final cottage arrived abut 9pm.  Had a take away for dinner!