Donned the rain coat again to take the dogs for their early morning constitution. Have a broody hen so could not get the eggs! Thought a humid day was forecast but was actually quite cool. Still the forecast for the weekend was promising so after Bakewell I went to the Chatsworth Farm shop to get some salad bits. In Bakewell I bought a few more bits for my holiday. In the afternoon I welcomed some New Zealanders for a few nights B&B. Also I did some tidying up and preparations for tomorrow. Discovered the weather forecast had changed for the weekend.

In theory another day off but didn’t finish until midday. As the weather was not promising we decided to go to one of the caves in Castleton. First we stooped in Hathersage. I wanted to find an art gallery where they were displaying some winning photos of an annual competition held by the Friends of the Peak District. We could not find the street on the map but driving around we found where it was. After that we walked into Hathersage and browsed around the outdoor shops. I was after a pair of walking shorts but bought a pair of sandals! we also needed to replace some maps and bits. Had lunch in the garden of one of the cafes but by the time we left it was just staring to rain. Next stop was an agricultural merchants at Brough. These are fascinating places, I have learnt so much about animal welfare from these places. Anyway we bought some chicken food and weed killer amongst other bits. It was a short drive to Castleton and up the Winnats Pass to the Blue John mine. We were on one of the last tours so we were a small select group to tackle the 244 steps! Down and up! When we came out the sun was shining. Typical. We came home and had a slice of toast before being collected by Joanna, Ian and Fay. We went to the Buxton suite adjacent to the Opera House in Buxton to see a play performed by the Buxton Young Farmers. This play recently won a national Young Farmer competition. On the way back we stopped for a quick drink. All this in 10 hours! Phew!

Four breakfasts on my own at 9pm. Think I managed OK! The rest of the morning went in tidying up etc. Chris arrived back at lunchtime. I spent the afternoon doing some things on my never ending list of things to do! This also resulted in a trip to the recycling center and dropping into the Co-op.

After breakfast Chris went down to London to see a client of his business so I was left on my own again. Had the monthly tea/coffee delivery and a cleaner came up and did a B&B room in readiness for my next guests arriving later today and the cottage vacated yesterday. As it was nice I did some extra washing and finally finished planting out all my geraniums! After my guests arrived i spent more time finishing of paper work from the last quarter and doing the evening chores. Had a long walk with the dogs in the fields as it was a lovely evening.

With no one coming in or out I decided to go to the market after lunch although as usual things always conspire to stop me. As did the weather for by the time I got to the market it started to rain so everyone started to pack up. Never mind it saved me money. Other than that Monday went the same way as other Mondays although one cottage that had been here already for a week but was booked for two left today as one of the occupants was unwell. Also I cant remember if it was today that we had a beautiful early morning, a beautiful clear blue sky with early morning mists swirling around. Just makes you feel good.

Woke up to another nice morning although it soon started to cloud over. After breakfast Andrew indulged in a bit of herd movement so the youngsters found themselves being moved across two fields into the 8 acre field. As usual there is always one or two who go their own way and need to be bought back to the herd. We now have a reduced maternity wing roaming the front field and four acre field.

As the weather forecast had been good (well the last one I saw on Friday said it would be) we planned a walk, packed the rucksacks and were just doing the sandwiches when the heavens opened. Not sure what to do we watched the weather on Countryfile then decided a walk might not be the best thing. So we went down to Bakewell and got the Sunday paper and just got on with things.

Later in the afternoon our last guests of the week arrived. We also had some unexpected arrivals when a couple who came here last year, and are coming back later in the year, called in with some friends to show them where they stayed. I also managed to find some time to start thinking about my holiday – yes in case I haven’t mentioned it I go on holiday next week for the first time in five years! No blog from 16 to 24 July.

Finally a nice day! Today was one of those busy Saturday changeovers when everything goes to plan! I even managed to squeeze in two defrosts and putting up a voile. Chris had a cot to put up and cut the grass – the first time it has been cut for two weeks. Then, on a roll, he even cleans the car and Discovery – well on the outside any how! It is the first time the car has been cleaned since we got it last October!

No returning guests but I have a small party of Australians in two cottages. The first cottage guests arrived at 3 pm and the last at 7.30 pm. We also had B&B guests arrive. The ones who arrived yesterday were here to do a 26mile walk starting from Monyash. The White Peak Challenge is held every year (except foot & mouth year) and I noted from their website that they had had a lot of enquiries as to whether the weather would force it to be cancelled – which it was not. Our guests completed 19 miles probably about 12 miles more than I would have done!

I was really tired by early evening so we got pizza and opened the wine we bought the other day and ate outside. Can’t remember the last time we did that!

Another day off (after breakfast etc) but with the forecast not brilliant it w as a question of what to do. By the time we were ready to leave (gone 11 am) we had decided to visit Renishaw Gardens near Sheffield. I had suggested it to someone else who went and were impressed and as dogs aer welcome we thought we would give it a go. We went via Chesterfield where we were able to see the worst of the flood damage at one of the retail parks where they had huge skips (with security guards) where they were disposing of TV’s PC’s etc. We stopped at at a DIY store to pick up some bits before going onto Sheffield.

When we arrived we had lunch first with the sky looking quite threatening. We had a nice walk around the gardens but the lake area was low lying and the path still not usable after all the rain last week. After a few enjoyable hours we were ready to leave and as it had still not started raining we went to Bolsover Castle which luckily did not close until late. There was a civil wedding going on which meant we could not visit a couple of rooms. As we were wandering around we came across two volunteers who were preparing another room for a wedding the next day. We stopped and had a chat with them and then finished our internal tour. By now it was raining so we did not get a good look out side

When we got back there was 16 messages on the answer phone including one cancellation for B&B this weekend due to a bereavement and another possible cottage cancellation due to illness. I spent most of the evening returning calls and answering emails!

With a number of guests leaving there was plenty to do this morning. With an unexpected vacancy we made sure this was highlighted on the website, but when Sundays guests phoned to advise their arrival time I offered them the Saturday night at a discount. Better that than nothing. Luckily they accepted.

As the other B&B guests were not arriving until late in the evening I had the day to get on with things like preparations for tomorrow. I went to Bakewell after lunch. The B&B guests arrived at 11.15 pm.

Another day spent catching up with bits and pieces. Had a trip to Focus at Buxton with Chris. Highlight of the day was a trip with the WI to a ‘behind the scenes evening’ at Chatsworth Farm Shop. Farm Shop is a bit of a misnomer these days. From a farm shop beginning it has now become more like the ‘Harrods of Derbyshire‘. A lot of the produce is still home produced or sourced but it is a great place for food gifts. There were about 60 ladies including our WI and we were split into four groups. First we had a talk about the delicatessen – my favourite place and we had a sample of cheese. We then moved on to the bakery where we found out that they made and sold 26,000 mince pies at Christmas! Not surprisingly they did not eat them themselves! Next at the cooked meat area we saw how the large pies such as game pies were made and we had a sample. We then went to the Cafe for tea and cake before our final stop at the butchers. Here we saw the different types of meat and ‘ready made’ meat products such as stuffed chicken breasts. After this we had a chance to shop so I bought some salads and cooked meats in the hope of better weather at the weekend!