Kept awake most of Tuesday night with the wind and rain-yes it rained.  And it was still raining when I took the dogs for their walk.  Having taken the cottage trees down I spent most of the morning boxing up trees, outside lights and baubles.  Every year when I get the trees etc down I say I will sort them out before I pack them away but never have so this year I did.  I also took our decorations and tree down.  Doesn’t everywhere look bare for a day or two!  After lunch went down to Bakewell to get some provisions for the next few days.  With a WI committee meeting here after dinner I also prepared for that too.  We had a lot to discuss especially with the Village Hall not ready and our local WI Group meeting looming which we are to host.  Thursday dawned bright and frosty at our peak district cottages.  After the arrival of the handyman and cleaner we headed off to Chesterfield as we still had some items to source for the work we are doing.  We had a coffee break at the Northern Tea Merchants (they do coffee too) and of course I had my Dunelm fix!  We then went onto Tideswell to get some bits from one of the builders merchants.  Tideswell has never done anything for me even though it is a very popular village but with the arrival of a number of new food shops I thought it would be nice to see what they were like.  I ended up disappointed as everywhere seemed to be closed.  There is a documentary to be shown soon on the BBC about Tideswell so watch this space.  We then went onto Buxton.  First call was an industrial clothing place for some outdoor clothes, with Chris doing a lot of outdoor work it is amazing how quickly they get ruined.  We had a late spot of lunch before getting some other bits and pieces.  We also had a look at couple of furniture stores for some more cottage items.  On the way back we called in at one of the electrical wholesalers as we need some more bulbs!  It was quite late by the time we got back and quite late before we sat down (no dinner – just a snack) as we dealt with a large number of emails and phone calls during our absence.  Time for another chocolate fix!

On Monday said goodbye to the last two cottages from the New Year but so we don’t feel too lonely one cottage came back into our peak district cottages.  One cleaner up to turn cottage round and make a start on others.  My time was spent in taking down four Xmas trees and other jobs around the cottages now that we have some empty ones again.  On Tuesday there was a light dusting of snow but that disappeared during the day.  Handyman back up today and he started taking down the outside lights.  Chris cut some more carpet and laid the bedroom carpet in Dove.  New sofas and coffee tables arrived for Sheepfold and some insulation boards arrived for Magpie where we are going to add some extra insulation to the upstairs bedroom.  One cleaner up to continue with cleaning.  Took down remaining trees in cottages as well as dealing with some enquiries and bookings.  Phew!  Needed a chocolate fix when I finally sat down for Silent Witness!

Saturday and Sunday were mainly ‘me’ days and I finished off a jigsaw that had been started when our friends were here amongst other things.  Finished off the accounts too.  One cottage out on Saturday and five on Sunday so it was strange to have just a couple of cottages in.  A couple of dreary days at our peak district cottages with the temperature heading southwards again but at least the visibility had improved.

December:  despite the snow there was only .71 in rain (2.3 in 2009) with 16th being the wettest day with .23 in rain.  Highest temp was 6.1 on 29th with lowest temp -7.2 on the 20th.  Coldest day was 20th with that night being the coldest.  Warmest day was the 11th with that night being the warmest.

Stats for 2010:  hottest day 23rd May with temp of 25.8 and warmest night was 10th July.  20th December has the honour of being coldest day, night and lowest temp of -7.2.  Highest UV was 9.3 on 1/7 with highest barometer reading of 1043 on 26/1 and lowest was 967 on 8/11. Total rain for 2010 was 26.48 with wettest day 1.08 on 8/11.  (total rain for 2009 was 37.16 and 2008 was 44.16 so you can see how dry 2010 was).

I know it is the New Year but here are some pictures of our walks from our Peak District cottages over Xmas.

Thursday saw two more cottages arrive at our peak district cottages with one cleaner up to turn the round.  Otherwise a quiet day with the chance to do some housework. On Friday went down to Bakewell in the morning to get some provisions for the weekend.  Spent most of the afternoon finishing of the accounts and in the evening saw the New Year in with some friends.

So no snow on Tuesday but the rain had turn to ice so Chris had to go out and salt anyway.  Luckily the temperature rose during the day and most of it had gone by the evening.  Just as well as we had two more cottages to arrive at our peak district cottages.  One cottage departed and two cleaners up and no problems encountered.  Both in by 4pm, one has been before.  Time for some more accounts before dinner.  On Wednesday we had one cottage depart but with no cottages back in Chris & I went to Chesterfield to get some bits for the cottages.  We came back with a dishwasher and rug in the back of the car (and some other bits) with a two piece suite to be delivered next week!  Next week Chris and the handyman will start work again in the cottages and the cleaners and I will be doing some deep cleaning.

Thursday was another fine day at our peak disrict cottages and with another cottage in and friends arriving we had a blitz on the house after finishing final cottages.  One cottage postponed arrival until Xmas Eve but they have been before as had Thursday arrivals who arrived about 4pm with our friends shortly afterwards. On Xmas Eve we headed to Hassop Station for coffee and a walk along the Monsal Trail.  Unfortunately it was closed so we had coffee at the Chatsworth Farm Shop then a walk from Calton Lees car park.  We walked from the car park to the bridge at Chatsworth House then across to Edensor and back to the car park.  We then went to Bakewell for any last minute shopping and lunch.  Arriving home said hello to our arrivals.  Xmas Day we walked down to the Lathkil Hotel in Over Haddon for a drink and then back for lunch.  This has become a Xmas Day tradition!  On Boxing Day we managed a five mile walk starting from Over Haddon to Youlgreave via Meadow Grange Farm then back along Bradford Dale and Lathkill Dale.  In the morning we had gone down to Bakewell for the paper and recycling.  We were expecting to see people gather for the hunt but didn’t realise that it wasn’t taking place because Boxing Day fell on a Sunday.  Still after a nice few days back to reality! Will add some pictures in the next couple of days.