At least the weekend was drier at our peak district cottages and Sunday was quite spring like (even if it is summer).  On Saturday 9th June we saw four more departures with four cottages arriving later in the day.  Two cleaners up and no major problems encountered.  I know its a phrase I use regularly and what this often means is that the cleaners find little repair jobs for Chris, like a loose screw or a dab of paint somewhere rather than a major problem. Saturday was quite dull but at least it stayed dry, but I’m sure my regular hairdresser would have preferred a sunny day for her wedding.  Three of the cottages arrived by 3.30pm with final one about 5pm, two have been before.  With Andrew and Joanna off to Chesterfield to see Elton John in concert.  From Las Vegas to Chas Vegas (the alternative local name for Chesterfield) he plays in all the best places! Chris took Smudge down to help round up the cows for milking.  They were not very co-operative!  Sunday saw one departure with one arrival and one cleaner up.  A day of pottering and relaxing and Chris also cut the grass.  Guests arrived about 3pm.  Andrew advised they would start silaging on Monday as it looked  like the weather would be stable for a few days. 

Pity the rain gauge was blocked on Thursday.  I spotted it about lunchtime and then Joanna phoned to enquire if our gauge was working.  Later in the afternoon Chris went out and cleared it out so at least we got a reading for the rest of the day.  I reckoned we had about half inch rain  As Thursday was forecast to be wet I spent the day on jobs and cleaning in the house.  Kept awake by the wind and rain on Thursday night but at least we didn’t suffer like some parts of the country.  Friday was worse than Thursday.  I can’t remember the last time it rained so much at our peak district cottages.  Two cottages out with one back in and one cleaner up.  Two other cottages left a day early because of the weather.  Couldn’t blame them.  Went down to Bakewell in the afternoon to get provisions for the weekend.  Luckily picked a brief interlude in the rain.  Guests arrived about 7pm.  Still doesn’t seem to be a clearing in the weather for silaging.  The grass is ‘peaking’ but needs a few dry days before cutting.  Of course if he had been able to silage when we had the good weather I would have been blaming him for this bad weather as he always wants some rain after silaging to encourage the grass to start growing again. Even the rain this week would have been too much.  Cant win!

Jubilee Tuesday was a cooler day at our peak district cottages and a bit more overcast, but it stayed dry until later in the day.  One cottage out and one back in and one cleaner up.  Dipped into the day’s proceedings in London on TV every now and then too.  Main thing I wanted to see was the fly past with the Red Arrows which I did with guests arriving afterwards.  Wednesday was forecast to be heavy showers from the word go but it was actually very pleasant in the morning so I finished planting out plants.  After lunch I went down to Bakewell to get some provisions for the next few days.  I was surprised at just how busy it was was it was half term but the traffic was so bad I drove back via Ashford as the traffic in Bakewell had almost come to a standstill.  On the way home there was a terrific downpour and the temperature dropped by quite a few degrees.  Back home there was a telephone message from some friends we haven’t seen for a few years who were in the area and wanted to meet up.  They called in and we had a cup tea and later in the evening we went to the Lathkil Hotel for a meal.  So we had an unexpected nice evening out.  Should have gone to a WI Committee meeting but sent my apologies!

For once we more or less had a Bank Holiday Monday to ourselves.  It was strange not to have any departures but final cottage arrived for rest of week later in the afternoon having delayed their arrival for a street party.  At least one of our guests was in the Jubilee spirit.  It’s always hard on occasions like this to know what to do as for all I know guests may be coming here to get away from the festivities.  In the morning we went to Monyash to see their well dressings but also annually on this May Bank Holiday they have their own market day.  It’s the first time we’ve seen it so another thing crossed of the the list of things to do.  We wandered around the stalls and had a look inside the church and I even had an ice cream! Home for lunch and it was pleasant enough to sit outside, a complete contrast from Sunday.  Chris cut the grass and later in the afternoon after the guests had arrived we went down to Ashford in the Water.  It is also their well dressing week and also the Church Flower Festival so we spent a pleasant hour or so wandering round the village before going home for tea.  Like many we watched the Jubilee Concert which we enjoyed.  We could have gone down to Over Haddon and watched it there and seen the beacon lit but as one of us would have to drive back so we enjoyed it all from our peak district cottages.  Could see the glow of the beacon when it had been lit and could also see from our elevated position some of the firework displays so I was happy.  Anyway plenty of pictures today so enjoy.

Saturday was cool and dull.  Four cottages out and seven booked to arrive at our peak district cottages but only four arriving on Saturday.  Two cleaners up and with some early departures an early finish was achieved.  Two cottages arrived between 3 and 4pm with the final two between 4 and 5.30pm, one has been before.  Could have cooked dinner but decided to have a Chinese take away.  Chris went down to Bakewell and came back to say that there was bunting and flags up in Bakewell.  I thought I would take my camera down on Sunday morning when we went to get the paper by which time the wind and rain had resulted in most of the flags being wrapped round the poles.  Sunday could be described in two words, cold wet.  I could add a third, horrible.  Thought about all the local events that were affected by the weather, such as a fun for the family day in Bakewell, cream teas at Sheldon and a meeting of Rolls Royce’s and Bentley’s at Chatsworth.  Two cottages arrived just after lunch.  Spent most of the day catching up on paperwork but also tapped into the jubilee pageant on the computer.  First time was by accident but when I realised I could I did.  Saw when they opened Tower Bridge for the Queen’s barge.  Made me realise how telecommunications has changed since the Golden Jubilee.  Then you watched it on TV, ten years later I was watching it on a computer and could, if I had wanted to, joined in by email or tweeting!  Not the sort of day to do some gardening.  As a reminder of the weather th previous Sunday here is a picture of mad dogs and an Englishman out in the sun!

And as usual I didn’t have my camera with me!  At least Friday stayed dry although it was cool and dull. Two cottages out with one back in and one cleaner up.  Went down to Bakewell to get provisions for the weekend late morning.  Had a window of opportunity to plant up the trough at the bottom of the drive early afternoon.  This meant I had an attentive audience.   As I walked down the drive with a gaggle of cows following me I stopped to talk to Andrew who was fertilising the fields.  He had thought about silaging this weekend but with a damp forecast he will wait a little longer.  By the time I got to the bottom of the drive I had about two dozen cows from the drive field plus the youngsters from the next field all having a look to see what I was up to.  The cows in the drive field were quite inquisitive about the wheelbarrow and the tools – I kept the geraniums close to me so they wouldn’t disappear!  I dug the plants into the trough and all the time I could hear the cows breathing behind me.  Suddenly Andrew opened the gates to get from the drive field to the adjoining field and the cows in both fields rushed up to where the tractor was.  The cows in the drive field then turned round and ran back down to entrance to the drive.  Glad nobody was coming back at that stage.  In the meantime the cows in the next field were running after the tractor, don’t forget they are trained to do this, but as the tractor passed close to where I was they all came back to watch me!  When done I walked back up the drive and I could have sworn I was nudged by 944 who seems to have taken a liking to Chris.  Each time I stopped they did too. I’m sure it would have looked comical on a video!  Back in time for guests to arrive.  They are showing dogs at the dog show in Bakewell this weekend.  Next week we have lots of dogs at our peak district cottages so Smudge will be happy.

May’s weather statistics
23rd was warmest day with highest temp 24.5 deg C on 24th which had the warmest night. 5th was the coldest day and night with lowest temp -0.4.  Wettest day was 9th with .48 in rain with 2.1 inches for May compared to 3 inches May 2011
 

Monday was another pleasant day at our peak district cottages and warm enough to eat al fresco in the evening, as was Tuesday and Wednesday.  No cottage arrivals or departures for a few days so made the most of the good weather and carried on planting out plants when I could often having chats with guests as I did so.  On Tuesday I went and got my hair cut in the morning and as I couldn’t get an appointment with my usual hairdresser I went to where the Duke of Devonshire goes!  She did a good job too.  Last of the programmes on Chatsworth on Monday night.  On Tuesday afternoon I washed the car!! Wednesday was predicted to be showery but it was quite muggy.  In the afternoon I went to Morrisons at Buxton.  They have changed the store layout so it took longer to find everything  Thursday was quite a contrast.  Cool and damp so time to catch up on accounts and paper work and in the evening we went to the Church Inn in Chelmorton for a meal with a couple of our guests.

First thing Saturday morning I headed down to the Farmers Market.  7 cottages out with 5 back in.  One cleaner with relief cleaner and apprentice as my other regular cleaner had a previous engagement and my other relief cleaner was lucky enough to be at the Chelsea Flower Show!  To their credit the team worked well and with no problems encountered, and with an early start again cleaning was finished by 1.30.  Time for lunch and final checks.  2 cottages arrived between 3 and 4pm and 3 between 4 and 5pm.  When Chris took the dogs out for their final walk about 11pm he called me out as there was a glow on the far hillside towards Chatsworth.  We got out the binoculars and when I looked through I could make out that there was a large fire on the moors.  Could even make out blue flashing lights.  Chris went back inside and looked on the Internet and there it was, pictures of a fire on Beeley Moor.  It was on the local news on Sunday and although there was no loss of human life the scale of the fire had resulted in a loss of wildlife and habitats. See report   Sunday was not as breezy as Saturday so felt warmer at our peak district cottages.   After taking dogs for their walk called in to see Andrew and Joanna en route to get Sunday paper just as a calf had being born prematurely in the field.  After having loads of dogs last week we had none in this week so Andrew has let some into  the paddock area to chomp down the grass which means the guests in Derwent get to see the cows very close up! One cleaner up to clean a cottage that was required for arriving guests later in the day.  They have been before.  With  a number of returning guests the afternoon went in chatting to guests and some gardening.  Chris strimmed the verges at the bottom of the drive and even cut the grass again as it seems to have put a spurt on in the last few days.  Had thought about going for a picnic in the evening but in the end ate al fresco.  Good weather should hold for a few more days.

Monday turned into a pleasant spring like day and I finally cast off the long sleeve jumpers in favour of something spring like.  One cottage out and one back in and one cleaner up.  Guests arrived about 3pm, they have been before, after which I spent some time with my plants.  A busy evening for emails and phone calls and some bookings too.  Woke up to blue sky on Tuesday at our peak district cottages and decided to go for a walk.  We had heard that water was flowing over the Derwent dam so we set off for the reservoir with a walk in mind.  As it was during the week parking was not a problem.  We walked down to the dam but were disappointed that there was no water flowing over but one thing we did notice was that the reservoir levels were a lot higher than we have seen for a long time.  I got my camera out to take a picture of the dam and the next thing I knew a Hercules plane flew over.  Chris didn’t turn his camera on in time to get a good picture.  From here we walked along the lane to Wellhead where we took the track up to Lanehead  getting some nice views back to Ladybower reservoir on the way.  It felt really warm and it was strange to be walking in a t shirt when a few days ago I was still in layers!  The dogs were on their leads much to their dismay as it is nesting time for ground nesting birds and we came across some red grouse popping up out of the heather with their strange calls as well as a lapwing.  We picked up the path across Pike Low heading for Abbey Bank.  Found a nice spot for lunch with lovely views of the reservoirs.  From here the path meandered down past the ruined Bamford House to the top end of Derwent Reservoir.  We could see water coming over Howden dam.  Picked up the track back to the car park and let the dogs off their leads for a while and as we approached the Derwent dam we could see how near to the top the water was.  It had been a lovely walk hardly seeing many other walkers and cyclists and a quiet evening in.  Much warmer than expected with more warm weather to follow.  On the way back we stopped to see if water was flowing over the sink hole at Ladybower but it wasn’t.  We then called at Chatsworth House and having bought an ice cream we went and had a look at the crocheted lions. Fascinating.  Enjoy all the photos.

Friday was actually quiet with no arrivals or departures.  In the morning we went to Buxton and I had a browse around the shops.  In the afternoon I did some preparation for Saturday including tidying up and replenishing leaflets in the leisure area.  I also did some accounts.  Saturday was the busy day with seven cottages out and back in and one staying on for another week.  One cleaner together with a relief cleaner and an ‘apprentice’ to help too and with an early start all cleaning and checks were completed by 2pm.  Time for lunch before guests arrived with four cottages arriving between 3 and 4pm, one has been before, and the remaining three arriving between 5 and 6pm.  All have been before.  Weather wise Saturday was disappointing.  Although it remained dry it was dull and cold.  Sunday was a nice contrast with warm sunshine.  A bit of cow moving in the morning helping Andrew move the youngsters into another field.  The grass is not growing and there is not enough to bring the more cows over to this side just yet so that means eating into stored feed.  In the afternoon we both spent some time in the gardens tidying up and I also spent some time in the greenhouse.  Some nice weather is forecast for the week ahead at our peak district cottages. About time too!