Nicest times of the day

One of the nicest times of day is early in the morning, when, for the last month or so, I have been wandering up the garden to pick the autumn raspberries.   The raspberries grow like weeds and are threatening to take over one of the vegetable beds.   It's very satisfying being able to pick fruit and then, within half an hour, the fruit salad is complete and guests are starting to tuck in.  We are getting towards the end of the raspberries for another year.  Roll on next August!

The other particularly nice time of the day is when I take Betsy for a walk.  Today we walked through a field with sheep grazing, and decided to sit for a while.   Betsy sat quietly, and I suddenly noticed that a group of sheep quite close to us were giving Betsy their fullest attention.

And Betsy was watching them with interest.

All very amicable, and probably quite educational on both sides.

Walkers are Welcome

I provide a selection of walk leaflets and suggestions for guests interested in walking holidays.  I tried out the Laurie Lee walk today - a wonderful walk around Slad - beautiful views and a nice mixture of footpaths through open countryside, woodland paths, and a few country lanes.

I picked up a the walk leaflet a few weeks ago, and thought I would see if I could follow the route (I am notoriously bad at map reading - so if I can follow it, there is a good chance that guests will be OK).  I had one moment of slight uncertainty, and I only got lost once, because I missed the turning into a small lane (I thought it was a driveway rather than a lane).

The walk has a number of wooden 'Laurie Lee' markers, and also some Laurie Lee poems printed on acrylic set within wooden posts, which 'frame' the views rather nicely.

Clearly the walk could be very muddy, so be warned, and there was a fiendishly steep slope to ascend near the beginning of the walk.  Walking boots essential.  Enjoyable but quite tiring (clearly I'm not as fit as I thought I was).

Natural Traffic Calming

Minchinhampton has a very natural form of traffic calming in the summer months, in the form of cows.  Cows (and a few horses and one donkey) graze the common from May until November, and the cows are free to roam through many of the streets, taking light refreshment in the form of flowers in hanging baskets and window boxes.  The highland cattle (my favourites, as they are so fluffy) often wander through the town, and yesterday, a whole herd of them strolled past my driveway.  Then, when I thought all of them had gone, there was one straggler, who put on a little burst of speed, trotting down the road to catch up with the rest of them.

Cars and cyclists have to wait for the cows gradually to move on, at their own pace.  Perfect traffic calming.  Every town should have them.

Alastair Sawdays - Special Places to Stay

I had a visit from the Alastair Sawday inspector early last week, and was delighted to hear that The Close had been accepted as a 'Special Place to Stay'.   They did a lovely write-up, I added a few photos, and it went live on the Sawday's web site earlier this evening.

The Green Bedroom

At long last, the Green Bedroom is up and running (since the beginning of July).

I've had a couple of families with young-ish children (aged about 8 - 14) stay in the Green Bedroom, with their parents staying in the Red Bedroom, and it has worked very well as the bedrooms are just along the corridor from each other.

Both the Red Bedroom and the Green Bedroom have working shutters (rather than curtains) which gives a crisp look to the rooms, and the Green Bedroom has window seats which are a nice place to sit and read a book (or the electronic equivalent).

 

The best things in life are Orange

I'm very fond of this nasturtium, which appeared a few years ago, and is looking particularly nice this year.  It clashes with everything around it, but somehow I rather like that.

Another nice orange thing around the place, is sometimes to be found having a quick look at guests as they walk through the garden upon arrival.  She just quietly looks through the cat flap - her window onto the world - then goes back to sleep in the snug (guests use a different door, so don't worry - you won't need to step over the dog on your way in!)

Summer Evenings

It is so nice to potter around the garden in the evening, with the sunlight adding a soft glow to the proceedings.

One of my favourite plants at the moment is a total freebie - a self-seeded snapdragon, with lovely 2-tone orange/yellow flowers.

Another of my favourites is a rambling rose which we bought about 5 years ago, and it has just settled in and grown year by year.  This year, it needed serious support, as it is nearly as high as the wall.  It is gradually taking over the back of the border, in a quite delightful way.

The evening ends with a little light watering of the tomato and chilli plants in the greenhouse, and recently planted seedlings in the garden (with lots of slug pellets required, unfortunately, as slugs and snails seem to be rampant this year, possibly the result of the mild winter).