Second Flowering

Sunday, June 17th, 2018

All but one of the rhododendrons have finished flowering now, and we’re waiting for the summer flowers to appear. But the azaleas have flowered again, less intensively than the first time, but pretty impressively nonetheless.

It’s sad when I can’t say a proper goodbye to guests who’ve been here a few days. Usually this is because I’m tied to the grill and the frying pan, making breakfast for a later-rising set of guests — and we all know how quickly bacon can burn if not whipped out at just the right moment. This morning a lady from Holland and her elderly father went back home after a four-day visit. They spent last night seated by the log fire in the little sitting room that’s available to guests. When I looked in to check the fire, they were playing a game of Scrabble and looked so peaceful and content that it was quite heart-warming to see. Although we are enjoying some fine, warm days, the evenings can be quite chilly out here in the country, and a fire is most welcome.

 

SaveSave

SaveSave

Leaky Teapots

Saturday, June 16th, 2018

I’m always relieved when people ask for coffee as their breakfast drink. If they ask for tea, I cheerfully ask “English Breakfast or Earl Grey?”. But what I’m inwardly thinking is: “Another tablecloth to wash tomorrow, then.” Teapots inevitably create stains like this one, and having to launder and iron a large tablecloth (108 cm x 70 cm) because of just one stain seems so wasteful. In this case, it was two large tablecloths because there were a lot of guests, and there was a similar stain on the companion cloth. The huge breakfast table is covered with two identical overlapping cloths rather than a single one, partly to facilitate ironing and partly because it’s rare that the whole extent of the table is used, so one side may remain pristine while the other side gets soiled. Guests are usually very careful to avoid spilling jam, egg yolk or tomato ketchup on the cloth. But unfortunately, my teapots-for-one are hopeless at pouring. No matter how careful one is, the spout generates drips that crawl down the underside of the spout and surround the base of the pot to produce unsightly rings. It’s definitely not the guests’ fault because this happens every day unless everyone is a coffee drinker. There is something about the design of most teapots’ spouts that makes them conducive to dripping. It’s odd, because I don’t have that trouble with the coffee jug, which also has a spout, albeit short and wide and more akin to a pouring lip. It behaves impeccably, so why can’t teapot manufacturers redesign their pots accordingly? Today I tried putting the pots on small white side plates to see if that helped. It stopped the rings but it did nothing to stop the dripping spout, so there are still small patches of tea stains dotted around. Saturating the stains with stain removers like Vanish alters the colour of the stain but doesn’t make it disappear. The only remedy is a hot wash immediately after the breakfast table has been cleared. When all my guests are coffee drinkers I can keep a cloth going for several days if I’m lucky.

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

Colour Wheel

Wednesday, May 30th, 2018

I was so pleased to find this basic glass turntable (or lazy Susan) for about £15 which neatly solves the problem of how to present breakfast jams in such a way that guests can pick and choose their favourites easily. I love jams not so much for their taste as for their beautiful jewel hues. My jam colour wheel goes from lemon curd yellow to chocolate brown. All that’s missing is green, so I guess I need to get some lime marmalade or greengage jam. The little pots are recycled jars of Tesco’s Hollandaise and Béarnaise sauce. They are a perfect size for two or three people and won’t sit around for weeks before their contents are used up. Their plain black lids, free from sell-by dates or other printed matter, are perfect. I thought about stick-on labels but decided that they wouldn’t be compatible with the dishwasher. Gift tags are the answer here. In due course I shall look for a traditional wooden lazy Susan for other breakfast items, so that guests won’t have to dance around the table to find what they want.

SaveSave

Tomorrow’s Layers

Saturday, May 19th, 2018

When you run an English B&B you need a constant supply of eggs. Many of them. If you have four rooms, all of them occupied, you can end up using 16 eggs every morning. And that’s just for breakfast. If you bake cakes and need eggs for yourself and your family, it really is worth investing in your own production line. In the three weeks since opening, we have been self-sufficient in eggs, with the hens producing more than enough for the moment, but hens don’t lay at the same rate all year round, and they don’t last forever. These little creatures are the latest additions to the household and will hopefully be next season’s layers.

Best Time of the Year

Friday, May 11th, 2018

This is the best time of year for this garden. It’s a short. intense season. This weekend’s guests are lucky.


 

SaveSave

Laundry Mountains

Tuesday, May 8th, 2018

One of the most time-consuming chores when running a B&B is dealing with the laundry. I knew there would be a lot of it, but I didn’t imagine the volume of stuff to wash and iron would be quite so huge. Here’s last weekend’s assortment of sheets, duvet covers, pillow cases, cloths and napkins, washed and folded and waiting to be pressed. It doesn’t include the towels, face cloths, bath mats and bath robes that also had to be washed. To iron that pile will keep me busy me for most of tomorrow. I am now thinking in terms of converting a redundant bathroom into a laundry room, and installing a couple of large washing machines and dryers. Otherwise, my domestic-sized washing machine will simply crack up under the strain.

Laundry

Pink Explosions

Sunday, May 6th, 2018

I couldn’t have wished for better weather to launch this B&B. Three sets of guests have stayed since Wednesday 2nd, and I’m expecting a couple and a family this evening. The garden is exploding in all directions, with flower buds opening before one’s very eyes.

SaveSave

SaveSave

Opening Day

Thursday, May 3rd, 2018

Bressenden opened its doors yesterday. An abominably wet and windy day ended with a few rays of evening sun just as the first two guests arrived from the Netherlands. Georgie, the ginger cat, seemed excited by the arrival of the guests and gave one of them a big hug!

The house was still full of workmen on the previous day, and I was busy painting the ceiling of the guests’ kitchen. Now everything is in place and this venture feels real for the first time after two years of house refurbishment and preparation.

B&B hosting will seem easy in comparison with what has led up to it. However, I could not function without the marvellous Ikiru checklist app. Things to do the day before guests arrive, things to do on the day, lists of stock and supplies, shopping lists for everyday items, inventories, breakfast checklists, and everything else besides. My card reader with its associated iPad app also processed its first transaction. This convenient facility worked without any trouble. The payment goes straight to my account and a receipt goes through to the guest’s email or phone. I suspect that most guests will choose cashless methods of payment.

Now to prepare for the busy bank holiday weekend coming up!

Signs of Life

Wednesday, April 25th, 2018

The wounded slow worm has recovered well and will be released today, along with another that was rescued before it had a chance to fall victim to cats’ teeth and claws, but which has lost the tip of its tail — a frequent occurrence with these creatures. Here they are, happy in each other’s company.

We were surprised to find very healthy signs of life in the pond too. We thought all the fish had either been frozen to death when the pond was a block of ice for ten days this past winter or been taken by herons that regularly come down to feed. They are very clever at hiding in the murky depths. There’s a good population of newts too.

Facelift

Saturday, April 21st, 2018

The east wall of the house has had a badly needed makeover. A previous decorator, for reasons known only to himself, had painted the decorative brickwork. I suspect it started off as mistake on one window and he then had to paint all the others to match. Thank goodness he didn’t do that to the front façade. I have long since wanted to restore that brickwork, but knew it would be a tough job. I had a go at the downstairs windows, but after treatment with several pots of paint stripper I’d only managed to peel off a few layers. It was a messy job, and I decided to leave it to the professionals. Here are the before and after images.