So here we are almost half way though January and it has been very mild in comparison for the time of year and also when you think about what the past two January’s have been like.  On Wednesday I spotted the first snowdrops at our peak district cottages as well as noticing the hellebores are out.  Wednesday started off drizzly but brightened up in the afternoon when I went to Matlock to get some bits from Wilkinson and do a food shop at Sainsbury’s.  In the evening I went to the Over Haddon Village Hall with Joanna for the first WI meeting of the year.  A busy evening for me as I collected the annual subscriptions, refreshment money and the pennies used to decide the winner of our competition.  A full house this evening to listen to our speaker from Chatsworth House talk about Georgiana.  We all enjoyed it and as I have not yet seen the film I learnt a lot about the story of the early Devonshires.  Thursday was a repeat performance of Monday and Tuesday with Chris doing his presentation at Over Haddon Village Hall in the afternoon.  He will be doing  another one next week.  A lovely sunset so an excuse for a walk to the top of our fields to take some photos. Friday was a lot colder with an early frost.  Down to Bakewell first thing to get provisions for the weekend then the rest of the morning was spent in ironing and hanging curtains back up.  Chris and the handyman are replacing the lino in one of the cottages but felt it would be best to level the floor first.  The afternoon disappeared in a plethora of odd jobs and for the first time in ages we don’t have any cottages occupied for the weekend.

I have discovered just how many Internet sites there are on ready made curtains.  Too many.  I am sure there are many home owners out there that have the same problem as me as often older houses have lower ceilings so standard lengths sold by most retailers are either too short or two long.  I usually have to buy the longer lengths and shorten them myself.  I mention this now as I am looking to replace some curtains in some of our peak district cottages and have not found anything suitable at my favourite shop.  So I have resorted to the Internet and gone boggle eyed in the process.  Talking of curtains I have started to take them down in the cottages as a part of the annual spring clean and wash them.  This also means I will have to iron them before they go back up.  So a lot of time on Monday and Tuesday went on curtains and also checking inventories and making a list of items to replace.  More shopping!  Chris and the handyman are keeping busy too as we have decided to replace some of the electric hobs with ceramic hobs.  The cleaners are being kept busy as we pull out appliances and empty cupboards to spring clean. This is all possible as we only had one cottage occupied which arrived late Tuesday afternoon. For a break from all this cleaning I went to the Over Haddon Village Hall committee meeting on Monday Evening.

Friday was the least windy day of the week and mainly sunny and dry.  One cottage arriving later in the day so one cleaner up.  Chris and the handyman took down the Christmas lights and I took down the final cottage Christmas tree as well as some housework.  Cottage arrived about 5pm.  Saturday was another fine day although it clouded over a bit in the afternoon.  Handyman up for a few hours in the morning and he and Chris did a number of jobs in the cottages including starting some more insulation work.  I dealt with some bookings and paper work.  We took a few hours off and went to Hathersage stopping first at the Riverside Cafe for lunch where we were able to get a table seat and watch the birds at the feeding table.  We then went into Hathersage and had a walk round, I had thought of walking up to the church as we have never yet been to see the supposed grave of Little John but it was getting windier.  Never mind, another day.  Sunday was catch up day with jobs around the house and some planning for the week ahead.  Chris is doing an informal presentation at the digital workshop in Over Haddon next week so he spent a lot of the day preparing for that.  A quiet evening in with a busy week ahead at our peak district cottages.

At last, the day I have been planning since before Christmas, in fact I should have gone before Christmas, but never mind, the day had arrived when armed with a long shopping list I set forth for Chesterfield.  In the town centre I visited the regulars such as Instore and Wilkinson where I managed to get some Xmas decorations for next Xmas as well as some general items for the cottages, and in the Co-Op, usually a good source of bath goods, I managed to pick up a kitchen mat I have not been able to find at Dunelm.  I found a nice skirt for me at M&S in the sales before heading to the retail park where I had a look around Currys and purchased a kettle and toaster.  Then of course onto Dunelm where I had a lovely time wandering round before I made my purchases.  Back home I had time to pack away my purchases at our peak district cottages before tea then down to Joanna’s for our first WI committee meeting of the year.  Thursday was another bright and breezy day with one cottage out and one cleaner up.  We have started our annual deep cleaning programme as we are quiet for the next couple of weeks.  After lunch when Chris went down to Over Haddon for the digital workshop, I took down some more cottage trees and decorations an also the ones in the house.  Only one more cottage to go!

Woke up to a dusting of snow on Monday at our peak district cottages.  Not what was expected and not what was needed with all bar two cottages departing.  Luckily as soon as the sun got on it it started to melt.  A busy couple of hours dealing with departures and one cleaner up as two cottages back in later in the day.  Made a start with taking down a couple of Xmas trees at our peak district cottages and some of the decorations elsewhere.  After cottages cleaned did final checks and both cottages here by 3.30 pm, both have been here before.  Time to do more accounts before sitting down for a quiet evening.  The wind and rain kept me awake most of Monday night and the wind and rain continued during Tuesday although a brief respite meant I was able to take the dogs for their early morning walk in the dry.  My main job for the day was to take more cottage Christmas trees down and finalise accounts for 2011 which I achieved.  We also stocked up on logs and I phoned our friends from Yorkshire to catch up on the week.  Bookings are starting to come in for the year which is encouraging and January is usually one of the busiest months for bookings so lets hope it carries on.

The forecast for Thursday was for showers at our peak district cottages but it rained most of the day which wasn’t nice for the guests who had planned to go out walking.  Time to catch my breath from Wednesday and prepare for Friday.  With it approaching the end of the month, quarter and financial year I spent most of the afternoon on accounts.  First thing Friday I popped down town to get some provisions for the weekend.  At least Friday morning was quite dry although overcast but by the afternoon it was drizzling again.  One cleaner up and final cottages arrived between 3pm and 6pm.  Two have been before.  A quiet evening in and a quiet couple of days to look forward to.

Tuesday was another fine day at our peak district cottages with two departures and also our friends departed for home.  One cleaner up to turn round vacated cottages but with no arrivals rest of day went in preparations for Wednesday and getting back to normal after a few days break.  Rubbish and laundry was collected so it was like a Monday in some ways.  Wednesday was the changeover that I dread most during the year, the one between Christmas and New Year as I always worry about the amount of extra cleaning.  Remaining guests from Christmas departed with one booking for next Christmas.  Luckily apart from extra oven cleaning, which was expected, no problems encountered by the two cleaners.  Four cottages in arriving between three and six pm, three have been before.  One is a friend who I used to work with many years ago.  By the evening it had started to rain and after a few mild days the forecast was not promising.

A lovely sunrise on Boxing Day heralded a mild but cloudy and windy day at our peak district cottages.  First thing we went down to Bakewell to do some recycling before kitting ourselves out for a walk.  The lads had already taken one car down to Over Haddon as we planned a long walk from the door but didn’t fancy the last uphill stretch!  We felt Blue was fit enough to go so the dogs were happy.  We set off towards the Magpie Mine where we had a quick look around and from here aimed for Monyash.  Here we stopped for a mug of tea and a bacon butty at The Smithy (had checked in advance it would be open).  We walked on through Monyash then started down Lathkill Dale.  Its been a long time since we have walked the Dale itself and surprisingly I thought it was quiet for Boxing Day.  Once in the dale the first part was quite stony but as we approached Lathkill Head Cave, the source of the Lathkill in times of high rainfall, it became more easy going and wooded.  The river was gushing from the cave and was flowing over the footpath so we had to make a small detour.  A couple of times along thw we had to follow alternative routes as the water ewas covering the footpath but nevertheless it was a lovly walk back to Over Haddon.  One downside we discovered was that the public loos were closed for the winter so something to bear in mind on this walk.  Back home we saw the stragglers of the Boxing Day Hunt crossing Andrew’s fields then making there way along the road.  We had a relaxing evening and a buffet supper and finished our Christmas jigsaw.  Hope you enjoy the photos.

Christmas Day arrived bright and breezy at our peak district cottages.  We have a routine for Christmas Day when our friends are here.  After breakfast we prepare lunch and put the goose in the oven and usually allow enough time to walk down to the Lathkil Hotel in Over Haddon for a pint and a walk back but we soon realised we hadn’t left ourselves enough time for the walk so we cheated.  We drove down to Over Haddon then did our little’picnic’ walk, dropping down into the Dale then along to Conksbury Bridge and up to the Hotel.  Two other things were different, one, we didn’t take the dogs although it was a lovely day, mainly because Blue seemed to be limping so wasn’t sure if he had overdone it on Saturday and the other thing was the Lathkill was in full flow.  Bearing in mind a month go it was empty it was a remarkable turn around and in fact we haven’t seen it so full for years!  Was so astounded by the amount of water at the clapper bridge forgot to take a photo.  Anyway we enjoyed our walk and drink and lunch was cooked just right!

 Smudge hoping some bits might go his way.  Needless to say he was disappointed!