Link to Bakewell Show pictures: www.bolehillfarm.co.uk/photo/bakewell-show/index.html
The pictures above are of the spread Over Haddon WI laid on and the view from the hall.
A wonderful day for a changeover, so much so that there was no rush of departing guests this morning! Six cottages out with five back in (one arriving tomorrow) and two cottages staying for a second week in our Bakewell cottages. One couple plan to book a week again next year as soon as he knows when he can have his main holiday. They said they enjoyed their week more than they did a recent cruise – obviously not a Saga cruise! No problems encountered but cleaning took a little longer today even with three cleaners and included defrosting two freezer boxes. A couple of bits left behind and a throw that needed cleaning added to the list of things to be dealt with. Just finishing the last cottage when first guest arrived just after 3pm but it was nearly an hour before the next one arrived with two more in quick succession. Final guests didn’t arrive until about 8pm. Had invited friends over for an impromptu BBQ. They planned to cycle over but had to drive over first with the pud. At the end of a lovely evening they felt too full to cycle back so Chris (who had not been drinking) drove them home. They had had good intentions to be carbon negative but in the end were carbon positive!
Had said I would help out at Over Haddon village hall where our Womens Institute (WI) was hosting a lunch. After usual morning chores at our Bakewell cottages chopped up some cucumber, shredded some lettuce and packed some cherry tomatoes and headed off to the village hall. All preparations done on time but with a few pairs of hands less than usual we didn’t finish until about 3.30pm. At least the food went down well. Our spreads always look good but don’t know if the pics do it justice. Came home via New Close Farm where I picked up some provisions for the weekend. Planted out last of my geraniums and did some preparations for tomorrow. Noticed some local farms are starting their second cut for silage so will have to see when Andrew will be doing his. The weather looks as if it will hold for a few more days. Sat down about 9.30pm.
After a quiet few days today broke sunny and warm for the second day of the Bakewell Show. Yesterday’s show had been blighted by damp weather. Chris went to York to see his mum. The morning went quickly at our peak district cottages and I went down to Bakewell early in the afternoon. It was very busy. As I know some shops close on the show Thursday I thought the place would be quiet with everyone at the show. Got to the showground in time for the main parade but as there was no space at the main arena I positioned myself to catch the cattle as they were led out for the parade. Missed the sheep though. Took lots of photos of the different parts of the show but I have decided it will be easier to set up a link to a web page so I will get Chris to do that. I was there for a few hours by which time it had started to cloud over. I went and looked at the dog competitions, horse scurrys, the horticultural and craft tents and the WI tent. No prizes for Over Haddon WI this year. My favourite tents were the food ones. Ambled down the shopping malls and bought some bits for Chris but nothing for me! Back home and took dogs for a walk before dealing with emails and phone calls.
A quiet day at home with better weather for our peak cottage guests. A lot of farm machinery seemed to be going by so I guess the farmers are getting ready for a second cut. Final cottage arrived just before midday.
Weather stats for July: Coldest day was 30th with lowest temperature 8.1 deg C early on 31/7, with 30/31 being the coldest night. Warmest day 1/7 with a high of 26.6 deg C with the night of 1/2 July being the warmest. Wettest day was 7/7 with .69 in and a total of 6.29 in for the month which was more than Feb/March/April combined. In July 208 we had 2.87 in.
Hello August! Hello another wet day. Hope this isn’t a sign of things to come. Six cottages out with seven due back in although one will arrive tomorrow and one here for a second week. Most cottages out on schedule and three cleaners up today. No problems encountered which was helpful as trying to clean cottages when it is raining is hard. It means I get wet shoes as I leave them outside to save walking the wet in. First two cottage arrived early and as we hadn’t quite finished they waited for a few minutes before I showed them in. This week we don’t have any returning guests but we do have a number of dogs in our dog friendly cottages and one German family here for two weeks, in fact two cottages arriving today are staying for two weeks. Rain ceased by late afternoon so took dogs for a walk in the fields which are quite soggy. Weather stats to follow in the next day or so. All cottages in by 5.30 pm so unlike last week able to relax in the evening despite guests ringing the doorbell at 10pm.
Decided it was time for a day off! One cottage out today from our Bakewell cottages. Haven’t had a good walk for a while so I opted for Lose Hill. Drove over to Castleton and chose a circular route that involved the climb up to Hollins Cross (phew!), then along the ridge to Back Tor and on to the summit of Lose Hill. Obviously some lovely views of both the Hope and Edale Valleys and we stopped for lunch in the lee of Lose Hill enjoying the view. Back to Castleton through fields and passed the back of Losehill Hall. We took the opportunity to wander around Castleton and explore some of the quieter streets we normally don’t get time for. We also called in at one of the B&B’s who we communicate with on one of the accommodation providers forums. Nice to put a face to a name. We stopped at Hope on the way back and called into the butchers and picked up some provisions, including their scrumptious black pudding. Once back had dinner and caught up with emails and phone calls as well as preparations for tomorrow. Will post some pictures in the next day or so.
Had our first night away (excluding the funerals) together from Bolehill since we arrived here! Our friends who usually stay with us for a few days over Christmas or New Year were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary but didn’t know we were going to join them. As they don’t live far from York we combined this with a trip to see Chris’s mum. Originally we had planned to visit Chris’s parents then join our friends for a surprise meal organised by another couple and drive home later that night but we decided to stay over and spend some extra time with Chris’s mum. We also dropped the probate forms into Sheffield as we go through Sheffield on the way there. We came back Wednesday afternoon, the weather was horrible which impacted on the traffic. We stopped at Makro to break up the journey on the way back arriving home late evening. Oh and the Met Office have finally confirmed that we won’t be havving a BBQ summer after all. I’ll put my sundress away for another year then. Not good news for the cottage guests in our peak district self catering cottages either.