This is a very busy month for me. I've realised that I only have one day off! It's always a challenge balancing being busy with the business, and keeping on top of other things, like the garden. Small bits of the garden are nearly complete - the fruit cage is cleared but I need to level it out before I can put the weed membrane down. Then the scaffold boards can go around the edge to help keep the weeds and grass out a bit. Hopefully the foxes and badgers will be deterred from getting in there, at least until the fruit arrives next summer! Every bit of the garden is in need of attention, and it covers nearly half an acre. It takes two hours to mow the lawns. I have many projects planned, when I have the time and money!
I've been able to watch quite a lot of Wimbledon tennis whilst cooking the guest meals (I have a couple in for 2 weeks, having dinner every night!) and I watched the end of the football this evening, as my guests have been watching it. On Thursday I found time to vote. Let's hope the change does us good. Charlie and I have been seeking out the shade in this hot weather. Our favourite place to be is Highwoods, where there is still water flowing, albeit not as much as during the winter/spring! The third photo shows my very neglected and overgrown pond area, where the beautiful red water lily has miraculously managed to flower in spite of the pond weed (which I am supposed to remove regularly.) I have had a few days off and done a lot of cutting back in the garden, but there is still loads to do. Hopefully tomorrow or over the weekend I can tackle a bit more. I cleared a path today - the one next to the hedge, which gets inundated by the hedge brambles on one side and the comfrey on the other. That's when I spotted the water lily as I haven't been able to get near the pond because the bees were all over the comfrey. Charlie wasn't too happy that I was cutting back the long grass he likes to eat. He looks emaciated in this photo but I can confirm that he got weighed at the vets the other day and he is 32 kilos, mostly muscle!
The programme for Battle Festival in July is out now and looks really varied. I'd love to be going to some of these events but I'm busy all month, with only one day off! I'm grateful to be making up for some of the quieter months this year, and hoping for the stamina to get through July. Battle is easily reachable by car or train, and the 95 bus (from the Buxton Drive stop.) It is a pleasant town with all the shops and cafes grouped along one main street, leading to Battle Abbey which allegedly is where the Battle of Hastings took place in 1066. There are audio tours of the battlefield and ruined abbey buildings.
Running a B&B is not for the faint-hearted, or for the disorganised. In fact, however organised you are, your guests can still surprise you! They sometimes turn up with unannounced dogs and/or children, or arrive two hours before the check in time and are annoyed that you are not there! Also, things break, heating systems fail, the gas board decides to dig up the road outside your house... There are things you can never plan for.
I had no illusions that this would be an easy job. It is physically and mentally draining, which often leads to it becoming emotionally draining as well. The house and garden need maintaining, and the dog needs walking, on top of all the cooking, cleaning and laundry required for the business. My time is meticulously planned to accommodate all these things... well, most of them. The garden gets neglected, and often I have to ask someone to walk the dog, just so that I can keep on top of everything else. Menus must be planned and food ordered online (in order to get the range of organic products I need.) Bed linen gets ironed so that it looks smart and crisp (and drying it outside whenever possible gives it a lovely freshness that artificial scents can never replicate.) Every day the guest beverage trays need clearing and re-stocking, and I have to keep an eye on the dispensers of soap, shampoo and shower gel to see when they need topping up. Admin takes up a considerable amount of time too, dealing with bookings and enquiries about bookings, checking what time people want dinner and if they have any food intolerances or allergies, accommodating special requests for birthdays and other celebrations. It is a juggling act to fit my appointments and the dog's appointments (ha ha - we're having training sessions!) around the bookings, whilst also carving out a bit of space for me to relax! On the plus side, I enjoy providing a welcoming and cosy environment for guests, and cooking them lovely, organic, vegan meals. Reading the reviews they write brings me joy too. I have met many interesting people, and so many guests have stayed here multiple times. It is great to have the flexibility to take days off sometimes to do things I enjoy, like walking in different places with Charlie the dog, doing some writing, or just flopping into a chair in the garden and reading a book, popping to the cinema or visiting a jazz club. If anyone wants advice on running a B&B I'll always try to help! A lot of my success here is due to the B&B being vegan, as I attract guests from all around the world, many of whom had never previously heard of Bexhill! So find your niche, your USP, and give it a go! This is the 'sheep field' at Broad Oak Park, just off the large car park. There hasn't been any livestock in the field for many years, and it was just gorgeous the other day with all the meadow flowers out. Charlie loves it. I haven't been posting much to the blog as the garden here at Nab Cottage is in need of so much attention, and I've been busy with guests too. I shall post a 'day in the life of the B&B' soon so you can see what's involved in running a business like this single-handedly. I'm off to prep dinner now as the first dinner booking is at 6pm. Check out my instagram and facebook to see the menu.
We had lovely weather here over most of the holiday weekend. A friend came to stay and we popped up to the Spring Fair at St Stephen's church, where I picked up this lovely enamelled brass bowl from India for 2 pounds! I was hoping to do a boot sale on Sunday morning but it got cancelled due to the heavy rain overnight. My guests enjoyed the garden and the cosy summerhouse.
It's the last few days of the Charleston Festival! I went to this talk today, on African history and how it is being reclaimed by people of colour who live on the continent of Africa or whose ancestors did. The panel did a great job in going behind the stereotypes (i.e. poverty and deserts.)This is what the Charleston website said: Zeinab Badawi, award-winning TV presenter and documentarian, will discuss her book ‘An African History of Africa’ which seeks to redress this imbalance. She is joined by Nigerian novelist Ayòbámi Adébáyó, whose first two prize-nominated novels have been praised for shining a light on Nigerian life, and Dipo Faloyin, senior editor at VICE and author of ‘Africa is not a Country’. I recently read a book about the Windrush legacy, not realising that it was written in 1998 twenty years before the scandal (when our government started repatriating people who couldn't find proof of their right to stay here, after they had been living here legally for over 40 years.)
I am incredibly lucky to have a very prolific grape vine here, growing over the dining room window. I say lucky because it was going to be removed by the vendors, but the estate agent persuaded them to leave it there, when I bought the house back in 2016. The vine produces an abundance of sweet green grapes, but they contain a lot of pips so they have never been very popular with my B&B guests. Last year I looked up recipes for grape jelly or jam, and came across one which combined grapes and lemon juice. I made a few jars and the guests had it for their breakfast toast, or to drizzle across some coconut yoghurt or on the mini pancakes. It went down very well so I shall make more this year. When I moved into Nab Cottage I noticed a plant in a pot near the grape vine, and as it grew I realised that it was Wisteria. I planted it in the ground, and had some trellis put up to support it, and 6-7 years later it has its first flower. Hopefully a few more will appear, but maybe not this year.
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Cathy Larkin
Owner and manager of Nab Cottage B&B. Archives
July 2024
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