Another grey day with frequent squally showers, it has gone a lot colder and there was a bit of sleet in the wind.

We have four guests in tonight and they are all regular visitors to Buckle Yeat.
The incoming guests had told us they would not be arriving till after 4pm so we took the chance for a walk between the showers, we walked towards the church then across the fields and then picked up the footpath through Castle Woods and then back into the village, just a short one today, the wind was biting and we just about got home without getting soaked.

Matthew got back from Sarah's this afternoon and has now gone out again to the gym and for a swim. He tells me that both he and Sarah have been correcting some of my spelling and grammar mistakes on the blog, I will have to be more careful.



This first picture is one from Sunday up at Moss Eccles.






These two are in Castle Wood with second one being a shot across towards Claife Heights.



This last picture is one of the beautiful signs that sprung up in the hour we were having our walk, I am not sure who is responsible but I think they are hideous,what happened to the unobtrusive brown signs, I counted 4 in Near Sawrey alone and a couple of our guests said they were also similar signs in Hawkshead.I dread to think how many there will be along the roads that lead to the village.
If you need planning permission I ask how did they get it? and if you do not need permission, why not? Comments welcome.

Off to Morecambe this morning and what a day to go to the coast, it looks a vastly different place when the sun shines.
They have spent and are still spending money on Morecambe, on the coastal side of the main road it is looking good with promenades and gardens but the shops along the front are a different matter.
We used the sat nav which is fitted in our car and a thing we have never used before. It worked to find the accountant's new house in the depths of a Morecambe housing estate but we had to overrule it with its crazy directions to Morecambe, no wonder people get lost using them.









These pictures are all taken on the coast road back towards the Lake District.


When we got back to Near Sawrey even more trees had disappeared from the garden at the Tower Bank House, the National Trust have had some professional people in and felled some really massive fir trees.

Matthew got back in good time last night from Gloucester, He will now just have to wait for the next stage.
A lovely day in Sawrey today, and we managed to get a walk up to Moss Eccles. Not many walkers about today and the village was not as busy as it has been.





We noticed that the seat donated by the Dixon family is in place on Tarn Hill playground, it’s just a shame that it has to be bolted down, I suppose it’s a sign of the times.
We have nobody in tonight and so we will have the morning off and try to get to the accountants with our books.
Denis has just rung from sunny Spain and that is exactly what the weather is like, sunny and hot. They are both fit and well and enjoying their time away.

The TV news is full of the rail crash at Grayrigg, it,s a miracle there was no more than one fatality.

Matthew was lucky he had got away down to his appointment before the line was closed, he is having more trouble getting back though, the trains are terminating at Preston and he will have to get on a bus.He should be home around 8 ish

Richard Branson visited the crash site and endeared himself to Cumbria by saying the crash happened "out in the sticks",it was only a mile or two north of Kendal! They seem to think we are in the back of beyond.

A bit busier tonight with just the one room free, but no callers. I am just waiting for the last room to arrive, a man and his 4 month old baby. The last people to arrive last night were later than planned because when they got to Thirlmere the main A591 was closed overnight and they had to go all the way back and come by Ullswater. United Utilities are clearing all the fir trees from the shores of Thirlmere and are closing the road overnight for the next few weeks.

Another grey old day, we are only 50% full this weekend or 50% empty whichever way you choose, still it is only February.

A couple of things in the news this week which I am sure have gone national, a family decided to tackle Scafell and did not set of till lunchtime and took a babe in arms and a toddler, suffice to say they hit problems and the mountain resuce teams had to come to their aid.

The next bit of news is the so called sighting of the monster from the deep in Windermere aka "Bownessie" a photographer has some shots of the beast, apparently!!

Matthew has gone down to Gloucester tonight for a set of aptitude tests tomorrow in relation to a job application he has put in,I will not jinx it by going into too much detail.

I am at Buckle Yeat at the moment just waiting for a couple to check in, they have said they would be late so it is not a problem.
I nipped into the pub early doors for a swift pint or three, we have not been out for ages.

We had to nip out for a bit of shopping this morning, but we got back by lunchtime.
The Irish girl and her two daughters were joined by her husband today for a couple of days, he flies for Aer Lingus and arrived early this morning in his uniform.





The weather has been spring like in the Lakes, far from what the weathermen have promised us. There are so many tourists looking for Hill Top this February it is untrue, what it will be like when the season starts.

A dreary Monday with rain arriving in the afternoon.
Just the one family in tonight from Dublin, they are in all week.
We have been back a week and have only this morning noticed the massive fir trees have gone from the Tower Bank House, not to be confused with the Tower Bank Arms, the powers of observation.

I had to go down to Hawkshead this afternoon for some free range eggs, our normal supply from Amy at Hill Top farm has dried up, she tells me she has got rid of her hens. She works part time in the Honeypot and told me they had plenty, we have had them before from there.



Denis rang from Spain yesterday and told me about a close encounter with a Brazilian dancer who was on a float during the annual Carnival, all I could make out where the words "tassels and feather boas"!!!

Another frosty start but it turned into fantastic sunny day, 3 rooms left this morning with 3 staying. We hung the vacancies board out but no takers today.
I watched a bit of the Preston Man City game and have to say North End were unlucky.
As it went dark a frost started to form but then it has gone a bit milder and I think rain is forecast.

It has been a stunning Saturday with blue skies and warm temperatures, we had 8 in for breakfast, nice and easy to get us back in the swing.

Two rooms due to arrive today and one of them got here at lunchtime, the others are coming over from Dublin so it will depend on the boat times.

The grocery delivery man let us down with mushroom order so I had a walk on to Sawrey Stores and bought Annie's stock from her, it took me a while to get there I kept bumping into different locals who wanted to talk. Sheila from Whinfell called in to say hi and had a coffee with Helen while I was went to the shop.

No football for the mighty Reds(we are out of the cup), I will keep and eye on Preston against Man City tomorrow, Denis will not be straying far while thats on.

We are open again tonight and not quite a full house at the moment, a couple of vacant rooms but we are full tomorrow.A couple of the New Year gang are here Ted and Margaret its Ted's birthday tomorrow.

Helen got the curtains finished and hung 20 minutes before the first guests arrived.
It has been a bit of a grey day but it seems everywhere else is having rain so we had better not complain.

Anthony from the pub gave us some liquid polish to try on the flag floor and it works a treat so he is going to order us a gallon or should that be 5 litres. In return I took the ladders round and replaced a light bulb for him on the corner of the pub.

A busy day getting ready for the incoming guests tomorrow, no matter how much time you allow it always goes down to the wire.

We had the fire alarm people in today installing a new control box and they had a few problems and they did not finish till 7 O,clock.
Helen has been busy making new curtains for the landing and I have been painting the the last of the woodwork on the stairs.

We had a couple of parcels recently, one from a guest who lives in Canada, his name is Michael and he sent us a page from the travel section of the Toronto Star and guess what a big feature on the area because of "Miss Potter".Apparently whilst they were filming the crew and cast often popped in to the Tower for lunch, hmmm I wonder who told the reporter that one

The other parcel we got came from Japan and it was guide book covering most of England and lo and behold a feature on Sawrey with a picture of me and Helen on the front door step of Buckle Yeat, fame.

Snowdrops in Sawrey



A stunning sunny day, just like Spain but not as warm.
We had to head off to Kendal this morning to stock up on provisions both for home and for Buckle Yeat, we re-open on Friday.
There seems to be quite a few people about in the village, some kids are on half term this week and some next,the local kids are next week.




This a shot pointing the way to Beatrix Potters house and in the background is Castle Cottage where she actually lived.



A misty morning





One last picture from last week, a cheery looking chef, he was actually proud of his work and was trying to look cool, he was cooking Dorada aka Sea Bream.

Well we are back to it, we have a great break in sunny Spain, plenty of long walks and relaxing away from the Sawrey winter. Helen enjoyed a very special birthday while we were there, we had a great day with lunch on the beach with her mum and dad.
The good thing was coming home to a fantastic part of the world.
Thanks to Matthew for keeping the blog going these last couple of weeks.
We spent all day today sorting out all the bookings we received whilst we where away and there was plenty, I think the Miss Potter factor is helping.


We never got out for a walk tody because of all the catching up so this is yours truly at the end of a long long walk last week.


We came across quite a few ponies tethered in the "campo" just close to where we took this shot we saw a fox crossing the river bed.

There was more snow in Sawrey than in Lancaster. I was quite surprised to come home and see a thin covering. It has gone really cold tonight, it is going to be icy tomorrow. I had a walk up the road and took some photos, there was a rabbit in the second photo but i think it ran behind the trees before I could take it.

I read something on the internet today saying that because of the Miss Potter film and the hype about the the South Lakes (one of the trendiest places in the world!), popular baby names in 2007 are going to be Rydal, Kendal, Lonsdale, Newby, Ambleside (poor child), Wray and Rothay. Not entirely sure if they will be boy or girl names or both. The funniest bit I read is that Sawrey is also going to be a popular girls name and Tom Cruise's new baby was mistakenly called Suri instead of Sawrey!

I've had 2 days working in Ambleside, the bright lights! A guy from work said today how he had to get out of Ulverston yesterday because it was so foggy - not a cloud where I was. A couple of clear, frosty days so plenty of walkers around. The photos are from my short commute into Ambleside. I'm off back to the warm fire now and to watch Match of the Day!

Stunning day again today, just like Spring. My boss was saying that we have "winter courses" running this weekend. Not much snow or ice i'd imagine. I had lunch in Hawkshead church yard. This is the view north. (Not sure of the names of the fells in shot)


This shot must have been taken thousands of times, but I guess rarely on a day as nice as today. The band the Streets shot a video up here last year in the snow. Here it is! (church is in the last 50 seconds, rest is Tarn Hows and Haverthwaite railway I think)


I think I've sat on the bench he sits on!



Here is the view south, you can see Esthwaite Water. There is a huge full moon tonight and a bit of frost I think.
I hope this post is enough of a read to make up for the lack of posts this week!

This is the view from Sarah's room in Lancaster - It's a grey, drizzly day today. Last night I watched the film, Munich. It was about the events following the hostage takings at the Munich Olympics. It was a good film, the only problem being it was 45 minutes too long! Not a lot planned on my day off today, just a few jobs to do.