Friday started bright and sunny and stayed below zero all day at our peak district cottages.  Two cottages due to arrive so plenty to do and one cleaner up.  Spent some time in the afternoon on accounts, no sooner finish one months then it starts all over again, and also ordered some more oil to see us through the next couple of months.  Both cottages due in late, one has been before.  First arrived 7pm and second one about 45 minutes later when I had popped down to Over Haddon for a specially convened Hall committee meeting but I wasn’t late back.  It looks like we will get snow on Saturday so we have primed all the guests about what to expect.  Saturday also started bright but soon clouded over.  One cottage out but no arrivals so spent most of day doing jobs around the house, I have sorted out some boxes for a jumble sale and some bits to take to the charity shops.  Chris salted the drive and it started to flurry just after 1pm.  For a few hours it continued to snow lightly with the wind drifting what was around but by about 7pm it was snowing more heavily and by 9pm it had stopped.  Pictures to follow.

Tuesday was another very cold and dreary day at our peak district cottages.  I carried on doing bits in the cottages as did Chris and I also went down town to get some provisions for the next few days.  More curtains washed, more curtains ironed. At least Wednesday was sunny although still bitterly cold.  The ground is getting really hard.  One cottage out and one back in later in the day with one cleaner up.  Apart from getting the cottage ready I also did some more work on inventories and curtains.  Amazing how much time this takes.  There is also talk about snow this weekend depending on the outcome of the clash between two weather systems so we will have to keep an eye on the forecasts.  Cottage arrived about 3pm.  On Wednesday evening I collected Joanna and we went over to Bakewell for our monthly WI committee meeting. Thursday was again a sunny but cold day.  More jobs around the cottages.  No departures but one arrival about 4pm after which I did a quick trip down to Bakewell to do the banking and get the last bits for the weekend.   They are still not sure about the snow over the weekend so it is a matter of waiting.

going…going…gone!

Friday started cold and sunny at our peak district cottages and after usual chores I headed off to the Over Haddon Village Hall where as a Trustee and User Rep I took part in a meeting to see if the Village Hall could qualify for a Hallmark Award (confirms the Hall is complying to the requirements of its charitable status and looks at the management and administration of the hall ).  The assessors seemed happy with the way it is being run but we will have to wait for confirmation.  Back home before lunch to do final checks on cottages due to arrive in the afternoon.  Three arrivals, two have been before.  Two arrived around 3pm and with final cottage not due until late in the evening time to catch up on paper work.  Well that was the plan but a number of phone calls and emails saw the afternoon disappear but that’s how it goes.  There had been talk of wintry showers but nothing materialised until late evening when a very heavy snow storm left a good covering. One of the cleaners phoned to say there was a whiteout in Baslow and one of our cottages cancelled their meal out.  Luckily one of the Bakewell takeaways delivered a meal for them. Most of it had gone by the rime the final cottage arrived at 11pm saving Chris the duty of getting up early to salt the drive.  We went down to Bakewell for the Farmers Market on Saturday morning and stopped for coffee and a wander round the shops too.  Again thought would catch up with accounts but one of our cleaners was having trouble with her car, she is usually very self reliant, so we went over but Chris dropped me off at the the Peak Outlet while he helped.  Back home for a cup of tea then off to Buxton for an early meal at the Thai and a Eric Clapton tribute show at the the Opera House.  There was still a covering of snow in the fields on the way to Buxton but little in town itself but listening to chatter it sounds like we would not have made it to the Opera House on Friday evening.   Had a little panic when got back to the car as the lock had frozen but after a couple of minutes we were able to open the car up. Phew!

Most of Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday continued in the same vein at our peak district cottages with cleaning, jobs around the cottages and new curtains starting to go up.  Forgot to mention that Sally Mosley who organises local walks (I did the chocolate walk with her) came up on Monday to see Chris.  She is going to provide some more information for our website.  Wednesday provided a little break from the cottages with me popping down to Bakewell to get my hair cut and get some provisions for the next few days. Also found time to start researching prices for linen as I will replace my linen again this year.  Will probably keep with existing supplier but always look around. Also my bedding plant brochure has arrived so something else to plan.   In the evening I went with Joanna to the Lathkil Hotel for the Over Haddon WI annual dinner.  We enjoyed the meal and the chatting afterwards.  Unfortunately we haven’t had any sightings of the Aurora Borealis yet but who knows.

Sunday was mainly bright and breezy with some showers at our peak district cottages.  First thing down to Bakewell to get the paper and called into the farm on the way back to see the latest arrivals.  Twins are more unusual in cows but this week a healthy pair of heifers were born, although one is missing a full tail!  (There is just a small fuzz where the tail should be).  The vet thought they might be identical twins, which would have been very rare, but they weren’t. They did look cute, as did the other recent arrivals.  We had to remind ourselves that next year, in spring 2013, these could be the troublesome hooligans!  Back home Chris got round to laying the lino in a cottage without mishap and I caught up on jobs around the house as well as topping up the log stock.  I also scheduled work for the week ahead although it will probably change by Monday.  Monday was pleasant weather wise with more of a chilly feel in the air. One cottage out.  One cleaner up and work continued on spring cleaning the cottages with some carpets being cleaned.  More of my curtains arrived so I will be busy over the next few days.  Chris and the handyman were working their way through their outstanding list of jobs.  As we have a number of arrivals next weekend they want to get as much done as they can before the end of the week.  Despite all this I went down to the Village Hall for a little relaxation and another enjoyable evening of indoor bowls.

Friday was a bit wetter than the previous days.  During the day we had a number of deliveries including the first lot of curtains, a microwave oven, and towel rails.  Sounds more like the Generation Game conveyor belt.  Spent some time on housework as had a friend arrive to stay the night. The dogs had a temporary new best friend as she bought them some dog biscuits so they kept following her around just in case she had some more!  After our guests arrived at 3pm I took her down to Bakewell as I needed to get provisions for the weekend.  In the evening we went to the Bulls Head in Ashford in the Water for a nice meal.  Saturday was a bright and breezy day and a number of things I had freecycled over the last few weeks were collected so Chris has an empty garage.  Friend left after lunch and as it was dry Chris wanted to cut the lino for a cottage.  The only problem was the wind had picked up and as we had to cut it outside the lino was difficult to hold down.  I must have looked very elegant sprawled out on the lino to stop it flapping about!  Have started to notice that the daylight is lasting longer at our peak district cottages which is a nice sign although winter is not over yet and you never know, there may be a sting in the tail.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday followed a similar pattern at our peak district cottages.  Washing and ironing of soft furnishings and other jobs around the cottages.  We are getting there with the list of jobs to do.  Found some curtains on the Internet so bought those and with buying ceramic hobs have discovered you need a special scraper for burnt on bits so bought that too.  Chris has been doing some on line shopping too so there will be a few deliveries arriving over the next couple of days.  Thursday also saw work start on some trees but the wind was too strong to work on one particular tree as the branches needed to be lowered by rope rather than dropped.  Chris’s presentation last Thursday went well and as the usual presenter could not make it this Thursday Chris took the session even though he was a bit croaky.  Although it has stayed cold the hard ground has gone from crunchy to squelchy and its back to paw washing for the dogs.

Sunday was another cold day, a little cloudier than Saturday so glad did walk on Saturday.  Ground still very solid at our peak district cottages so at least not having to continually wash dogs paws.  A quiet day at home but found time to plan the week ahead.  In the evening you could still see the frost on the hillsides where the sun hadn’t reached.  Monday was a busy day for emails, phone calls and bookings which was good although I didn’t get as much done round the cottages as planned.  Another cold day finished off by a trip to Over Haddon Village Hall in the evening for me as it was a taster evening for Indoor Bowls and I thought it would be enjoyable, which it was.  Chris went to Bakewell to the Photographic Society so the dogs had a quiet evening in!