Lonely Planet...

Lonely Planet have put the Welsh Coastline as the best place on the planet to visit in their 2012 guide.

Here is the BBC link to the story. We couldn't disagree really could we!

We had a fabulous walk down by the estuary the other day with the dogs, when we saw herons, oyster catchers, cormorants and the more usual swans and various gulls.

The changeable weather over the last couple of weeks has lead to some memorable drives with alternating heavy showers and rainbows making the landscape truly magical. Wales 'out of season' is one of the best kept secrets! I truly believe that the wild beauty here is at it's best and most magnificent when the summer has past.

We can look forward to some more amazing mist over the River Teifi, such as the shot above, where I captured it one day at the Estuary, looking over towards Poppit Sands. Some late autumn, early winter days it goes up the river past Lampeter, 30 miles inland, clinging to the river as it winds its way down to the sea. I'm still waiting for another chance to photograph it as it was the first time I saw it, coming down from above on the road into Gwbert, and the mist sitting like a cloud over the water below me.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness...

And with that mellow fruitfulness comes heaps of fruit and veg in the kitchen.
I've now made three batches of red tomato and red onion chutney, using ripe tomatoes either from our garden or from my friend's poly-tunnel at the smallholding 'next door'.
The red onions I've used were from our garden too! This is one I've been making for a good few years, and it really is my favourite breakfast thing, I love it with eggs and bacon.
However much I make, we always, always get through it really quickly. Originally a Women's Institute 'Preserves & Pickles' book recipe, I've made a couple of changes - namely using red onions instead of ordinary ones, and using a fabulously smoky sweet paprika, the best I can find.

We were given a bag of pears, which have become pear and ginger chutney after I tried some someone else had made and thought it was really nice. It was fab with some farmhouse pate, and my first taste of my batch is pretty similar, so that was a success.

You know there is an old wives tale about an abundant harvest in the hedgerows being a portent of a hard winter? Well before the papers were predicting snow for three months - we'd already been saying if the tale was true we were due for a cold winter.I've never seen anything like the fruit down the back lane here this year. We saw sloes and crab apples in the hedge there for the first time, and I've also made a batch of hedgerow jelly, which has sloes, crab apples, elderberries, blackberries, rosehips, and haws in!

Also I've made some mango chutney this morning, the mangos were reduced in Tesco! They are not as yet growing wild in West Wales! (But the red chilli I used was from the greenhouse here)
I couldn't find the recipe I used last year, and I'm pretty sure I used the fruit/sugar/vinegar from one recipe with the spice blend from another, so this year I made sure I've written down what I used!

I've also tried a batch of preserved lemons for the first time, made some lemon and lime marmelade, a large batch of bramble Jelly, and some bramble cheese, made from the fruit that was drained for the jelly and I've also got a small batch of crab apple and sloe jelly on the go at the moment, I must say I do like making jelly type preserves it's very satisfying when it sets

We've got a bottle of sloe vodka on the go, and a bottle of blackberry whiskey, both will be ready for Xmas. I've also made a couple of bottles of elder rob, an elderberry cordial, which is recommended for seeing a cold off. The second batch has been given an extra kick with some star anise, which is also supposed to be good for colds and flu.

My last thing to make will be some lemon curd. I've never tried to make it before, but I've always enjoyed homemade curd when I've bought it, much nicer than the shop stuff. I've got a few lemons left, and a few eggs from our chickens so I want to make some. Then I really must stop. I have nearly run out of jars, and of course all these preserves need to be stored, my cupboard is totally full, so if we DO get snowed in - LOL - we will have plenty of jam and pickle to keep us going until someone digs us out!

Kate

August has been a really busy month!

We've had lots of lovely people staying here this month and it's been incredibly busy at times, but everyone seems to have enjoyed staying here, and has loved the Cardigan area. Several guests have visited the small beach at Ceibwr, which is so unspoilt, it's on the Pembrokshire coastal path, which has just ranked No.3 in the world's best walks the path runs right across the beach, and the geology and wildlife here is amazing. The picture above was taken on one of my trips down there this month, someone had been busy balancing rocks down there, and left a collection of very Andy Goldsworthy sculptures!

I also discovered a 'new' wild flower (below) which we identified on our return as Sheeps Bit, it's such a pretty colour. I've discovered a small patch near the house too, strange how each year seems to bring a flush of new wildflowers.

I had my Mum here for a bit and we got a chance to go exploring ourselves, and we went to visit the gardens at Aberglasney (about an hour away). The garden was really lovely, and I've made a mental note to go back in the spring next year when I'm sure it will be really fabulous. I loved the 'Ninfarium' a ferny humid garden in the middle of the old house...and there were lots of unusual plants growing there too, that I'd like to have
a go at getting growing in the garden here. I loved the Japapese toad lilies, and a plant mum somehow managed to ID from a photo she took which is called Willow Gentian, a fabulous shade of deep blue.

View of the house from the Aberglasney Gardens

Toad Lilies

Willow Gentian


Kate

The picture I've been chasing....The Bumps!

I've been trying to capture the peaks of North Wales on camera since I arrived here! It's proven to be a very elusive shot, as often when they are as clear as anything with the naked eye, the camera just doesn't pick them up. The furthest point that you can see is actually over 40 miles away as the crow flies across the Irish Sea.

Locally, they say that if the 'islands' are visible then it's going to rain within two days. They really do come and go though, sometimes you don't see them for weeks, and suddenly one evening they are amazingly clear, evenings and late afternoons are a good time to spot them, the light must be right then. Oddly they were all very clear all day when it snowed! Guess they were lighter than the sky?

Only one of the 'bumps' is actually an island. Bardsey - the furthest to the left when they are visible (not in this picture). Then we have the various hills in the Lleyn Peninsular, then the peaks of the Snowdonia Range, which are seen a lot less often. On a really clear day you can see the whole sweep of the bay right up from here, round past Aberaeron, Aberystwyth and all the way round to Bardsey. This picture shows some of the Lleyn, and Snowdonia, with Snowdon itself far right, with the sort of triple peak at the top.

This picture was taken from one of the farm camp sites near us, and they are at a slightly different angle to Cardigan Bay than the back lane where we usually see the 'bumps' as we call them. at about 8.30pm the sky was light just behind the peaks, so for once the camera has captured them!

Strawberry Jam!

For the first time ever, we've had enough strawberries to make strawberry jam with our own fruit! A few times last year we picked quite a few, but they all got eaten pretty much straight away. This year they've come through in small batches, and not been quite so 'perfect' probably because of the dry spell, so it didn't feel quite so sacrilegious to make jam. I've kind of given up with using small jars to pot up jams and chutney, so tend to use these bigger kilner jars now, I find them easier to wash up and store in the store cupboard and then in the fridge when they've been opened. I usually do a smaller spare jar too when I sterilise for any 'overflow' and if I fill both of those I stick the rest in a ramekin or another unsterilised jar and we use it straight away.

First batch (on the left) I made the 'traditional' way, and threw in the 15 gooseberries that had set the bushes this year - it's the first year they have fruited so wasn't expecting much of a crop, and I also put in the contents of a pink grapefruit, to help the set, you can't taste either in the finished product. It did set OK, strawberry jam can be tricky to get to reach setting point, but for the second batch, to make sure, I bought jam sugar, which has apple pectin added. I've never used it before, and was really surprised at the short processing time. Once the jam has come to the boil it gets just four minutes at a bubbling boil, and that's all. You must then pot it straight away.

It certainly keeps a fresh colour in the jam (jars on the right) but I thought the texture a little bit odd. It tastes very fresh and fruity though, but I am wondering if the short boiling will affect the keeping properties? Not that anything tasty lasts long in this house!

I only had blackberry and apple jam from last autumn to offer the guests as home-made, so it will be nice to have something else to offer, and as the growing season marches forward, I hope there will be some other fruit about to make jam with.

Kate

Can I canoe you up the river....

NEVER let it be said that I don't do my market research....Yesterday, I went out to play with cardiganbayactive .

I was asked by some people coming in August if there was any outdoor activities in the area, and after a quick look on the internet, I conacted CBA to ask if they had a daily programme running over the summer? Oh and by the way, as they outsourced accomodation, would they like some of my cards? They came straight back and invited me to an event (Monday) to try some of their activities myself. Object of the exercise was to build links with some of the local accomodation providers, and hopefully manage to exchange some business between us. After a cup of tea and chat, we decided that we would start the day with canoeing.

Canoeing up the Teifi from the wildlife centre was absolutely magical, we went across a small set of rapids, and continued upstream for a while to one of the deepest parts of the river, where the water was so still, the steep sides of the valley and trees were mirrored in the water. There are otters in the river, unfortunately we didn't see any yesterday, but we did see a magnificent pair of herons and four red kites circling overhead. Turning and coming down stream, was a lot faster ride and we shot through the rapids this time, before returning to Cardigan for lunch.

In the afternoon, the choice of activities were sea kayaking, or coasteering. I REALLY wasn't sure that I was up to coasteering, but was persuaded to give it a go, after being promised that they wouldn't make me jump off anything, or do anything I didn't feel comfortable with. We headed off to Ceibwr Bay, nr Moylgrove, which is just over the 'border' in Pembrokshire. I've never been there before and it is a fantasic place, with wonderful geology and wild flowers.

It was quite cool by then and the sea was a lot choppier than I would normally venture into, but suitably kitted out in a wetsuit, buoyancy aid and a helmet, and with bucket loads of bravado I set off into the waves after the very capable Fiona! It soon became apparent that I really HAD bitten off more than I could chew. To be honest after the mornings activities I was quite tired, and a couple of small attempted scrambles, and wave dunkings later I told her that I couldn't do any more. The sea kept knocking me off my feet, and I was slipping and sliding all over the place on the seaweed. I felt that if I'd gone on any further I would have been a complete liability to get safely back to dry land - as it was she ended up towing me to shore floating on my back, as I simply couldn't stand up! She took me back to the cars, and I sent her and the other novice coasteer back to carry on, while I dried off. I still LIKE the idea of pootling about the bottom of the cliffs in the sea, inspecting the normally inaccessible crevices and stuff...but unless it's a nice hot day and the sea is like a mill pond, I think I should leave it to the young and fit!

Anyway upshot of all this is that there WILL be a weekly program of events from cardiganbayactive all through the summer months, everything from family stuff to more challenging adult sessions, so if anyone comes to stay here, I should be able to advise them what is running, and give them a code to book on with that will give them a £5 per person discount. Simples.

Kate

Elderflower Cordial

The Elderflowers are a bit late this year...but not to worry! But I spotted the other day that the biggest Elder tree around here got there in the end, and I've started off the first batch of Elderflower Cordial. (That's it steeping in the a brewing bucket in the picture above)

It's so simple to make, and such a wonderful summer drink topped up with fizzy water. Being able to make stuff like this from foraged ingredients is one of the reasons we wanted to move out of London (Not that there is any shortage of Elder there!) I did go on some guided forage walks last year, which were most informative, but I've not had a lot of time to make use of some of the local 'wild harvest' yet.

One of the things I wanted to try making, was candied Alexanders, as I tried some last year and it was delicious. Having positively ID'd it with an expert, I now know there is a huge bank of it growing along the road out of Gwbert back into the village. Alexanders is the same family as Angelica, and Parsley...but is most commonly served as a vegetable. It was fantastic candied, like the most fragrant and aromatic Angelica ever.

A guided beach forage identified which of the seaweeds growing at Poppit Sands is Laver, and also that there is no poisionous seaweed in the UK, which is useful to know! However to make a pot of Laverbread, the traditional Welsh delicacy you'd need a huge amount, and it has to be boiled for hours to make it turn into the dark green goo that you can buy in Tesco off fresh the fish counter...So I guess mostly I'll be doing that. Penclwydd is in Gower, which is where the Laver is harvested, so it's a genuine Welsh product, even if it does come from Tesco. We tried several seaweeds on the forage, and someone had made some 'sushi' sheets from Laver (it's the same family as Nori) and cooked some winkles on the beach in several ways...tempura winkles were the best!

I'm offering guests that stay here for a few days a choice of breakfast, and the opportunity to try Laverbread if they want to. I make mine with oatmeal, mixing with the prepared seaweed into small cakes, which are then traditionally fried in bacon fat. I really like it, and of course it's packed with vitamins and trace elements, so incredibly good for you! (Apart from the being fried in bacon fat bit)

Other 'wild' foods we've used since we've been here are nettles, which made a fantastic bright green pesto (that was a James Wong Recipe) and Wild Garlic in a quiche. I'm trying to get some Wild Garlic growing in the garden here, so I have it to hand, and it's a pretty plant too. We've also made some salads with various wild additions, we have Wall Pennywort growing locally, and Jack-in-the-hedge or Garlic Mustard.



Recipe for Elderflower Cordial.

Makes a little over 2L of cordial to be diluted.

20 heads of Elderflowers, newly opened are best, and try to choose ones without insects.
3 Sliced lemons (used unwaxed or organic ones)
3lb granulated white sugar
2 1/2 oz citric acid (can be bought from homebrew suppliers)
2 1/2 pints of boiling water
1/2 campden tablet (Also from homebrew shops)


Place elderflowers in a large container (I usually make a triple batch of this in a brewing bucket) Add the sliced lemons, and sugar, and citric acid and pour over the boiling water and stir to dissolve the sugar. Cover and leave for five days, stirring morning and evening each day.

Strain into another large container, through a sieve lined with muslin and add another crushed campden tablet (this helps to preserve it and stop it fermenting) Bottle in clean bottles which have been sterilised with a brewing sterilising powder like VWP.

Wine bottles look nicest and can have arty handmade labels added, which makes them a nice gift, but plastic 2l fizzy drinks bottles are fine!

We have pictures!

I've got the pictures back from the framer and they are now hanging on the wall in the guest room, and I must say I'm very pleased with them.

There was lots of debate here about what was going on the wall in the guest room! Originally I wanted work by local artists...but at the ridiculous prices some 'originals' were going for that wasn't going to happen. Then there was the 'having your cake and eating it' rant from OH about limited edition 'prints' that were actually photographs of originals, and not 'prints' at all! (Ex art student *eye roll*)

Next we considered local photographs, and my mother, a keen wildlife photographer, had actually taken a fabulous picture of some seaweed on a rock down at Gwbert which would have made a stunning picture... I thought it would look fantastic on a texured 'canvas effect' box frame - OH vetoed 'canvas effect' and in the end I admitted defeat, as I wanted more than one picture, and frankly there wasn't another as good as Mum's seaweed in the amongst the other photo's we had!

Shortly before we opened, minus pictures, I put some stuff away in a cupboard and discovered a number of pictures we already HAD, that we'd brought with us when we moved and ran out of wall space for. With the addition of another I'd picked up recently in the Antiques Centre in Newcastle Emlyn, I though there were actually the makings of some nice pictures already in the house. Two of them WERE original etchings that Mum had bought us when our kids were small, One of some ducks in a farmyard, and another small picture of a hedgehog. There were two 'antique' book plates that had been hand coloured, of wallflowers and of a Buzzard, both things that we have here locally... So I kind of thought we had a bit of a theme going. Only problem was a couple of the frames were a bit dated, and all the mounting mats were different colours.

I mentioned that I was thinking of using the Ducks picture to Mum, and she send me a link to ANOTHER by the same artist up for sale on E-bay, of Badgers this time, VERY much a 'local' wildlife theme and close to my heart! Of course I put in a bid, which I 'won' at the original asking price, so that kind of settled the decision. Etchings are by Laura Boyd

I finally decided to have the whole lot framed to match, to be a bit more coherent, and I think they work really well with the colour scheme in the room, and we still have a British wildlife/rural 'theme' going on! The whole lot ended up costing me less than half what some of the 'limited edition' prints going locally were selling for (and I got more space in the cupboard!)

Kate

Starting to get a few bookings coming in now...

Starting to get a few bookings coming in now...which is very exciting!

Despite the fact that you know the area is a popular holiday destination, and that everyone says you are in a great spot for B&B, there was a moment then when everything was finished when I thought 'OH! Supposing no one ever comes?'

The advert on Walestouristsonline has generated three bookings in as many weeks - so was a good choice for the ad it seems.

Today the 2011 Marine Conservation Society (MCS) Good Beach Guide is out and all the local beaches have great scores on water quality...some marks down for some for not having lifeguards, but some of us just like to enjoy beaches by sitting and watching, and soaking up the scenery. In any case our two most local beaches, Mwnt which is walking distance, and Poppit Sands(a 15 min drive) both pick up a 'recommended' award!

It's been really windy here for the last few days...but as always it's amazing to watch the sky change, the light over the hills alters as patches of sun come through, and the cloud formations are constantly shifting. Becase we have such huge vistas from the house, we are able to see the pockets of rain coming (and going) so we can judge a good time to take the dogs for a walk! My dogs do NOT walk in rain, they say it's not in the contract! (Never heard of a Staffie yet who will walk in rain!)

It must be nearly time to plant out the courgette plants, that are currently in the conservatory. Surely we must be past the last frost? My neighbour who has a market garden just up the road, gave me a few fat courgettes yesterday! (But hers are in polytunnels!!! They have a head start!) We've caught up with the gardening after the big push to get the B&B finished, so later in the year we will have some veg of our own - thank goodness. Plenty of our own eggs now though! Time to look out some inventive egg recipes.

Kate

Everything is coming out....

Amazing down the back lanes this weekend. Everything is out! The Campion, and bluebells, with a back-drop of gorse and the sea is amazing. We've noticed that there are bluebells in new places this year, and are wondering if some years are just 'better' than others for certain plants. We don't remember seeing them on the cliffs before, but there are big patches, so they must have been there for a while. The swallows are back too. They nest in the loo's down at Mwnt Beach!

The butterflies have started to appear... We've seen orange tips for the first time this week, quite a few of them, and a couple of other kinds of butterflies about but it's hard to catch them still enough to make a positive ID, let alone get a photograph!

We had our first B&B guests this weekend too, which was lovely. They were very complimentary about the room and opted to try the Welsh delicacy laverbread with their breakfast. Laver is the same seaweed family as Nori the sushi seaweed. We buy it here, ready prepared on the fresh fish counter. 'Prepared' means boiled for hours. It comes as a green goo in a little tub and there are various ways of serving it. Sometimes it's just served as 'hot goo' which doesn't appeal to me, and some who have tried it like that have vowed 'never again!' I mix it with oatmeal until it can be formed into little patties...traditionally they are then fried in bacon fat, but I usually opt for olive oil.

I also have eggs coming out of my ears at the moment...the chookies are all in full egg laying swing, need more guests!!! We've fought our way through two massive quiches I made this weekend, AND had scrambled eggs for dinner tonight! Need to think of new and inventive things to do with eggs!

Royal Weddings and Antiques....

I have a bit of a weakness for Commemorative china, I must confess. The vast majority of it is first half of the 20th century, and it's all knocked about a bit, cracks, chips etc. I never pay very much for it, and the last piece came out of the rubble skip at the local tip! But it's very evocative, I think of an age gone past. I particularly like the ending of WW1 and WW2 beakers. It's mainly on the mantlepiece in the B&B dining room.

I've been given (by people who don't understand the 'look' LOL) over the years a few more recent pieces, a particularly hideous 80's mug with the mug of Prince Andrew on springs to mind, which are well tucked away in a cupboard, awaiting a future point in time when it becomes 'retro' enough to appreciate (Hmmm not sure that will happen).

So of course the question arose, will I buy my own Wills and Kate Wedding Piece? Well of course I looked, but nothing really caught my eye...until Denby sent me an e-mail (The china we use is Denby White and I've bought some stuff direct online) Within moments of it arriving, I'd had an 'add to basket moment' And the 'loving bunnies' were mine. This piece fullfilled all the Antiques Road show antique of the future criteria for me, so it's my gift to a future grandchild! It's reasonably small limited edition and it's breakable which should escalate the rarity, affordable (£20) and by a 'good maker' (Denby) and a nod to their aquisition of the company Carlton, who were known for their rabbit figurines in the 1930's, but most of all I LOVE IT!!! It's really really cute!

SO I'll add my congratulations to Wills and Katie, I hope they have a wonderful happy day, and a long and happy marriage(unlike his poor mother!) and I shall be watching while doing something constructive - tidying up my craft cupboard!


Kate

Playing interior designers....

So here are some photographs of the inside of the B&B taken on opening day! Above is a picture of the bed...what you can't see, under the bedspread is my crisp, white freshly ironed, 1000 count Egyptian cotton bedlinens! The bedside rugs are curly viking sheep's fleeces from a local farm. The light fittings are from Jim Lawrence. OH made the T&G headboard. The flooring is oak...and we chose to do the ceiling in T&G to match the interior of the rest of the house, as all the upstairs ceilings are made from it too.




This picture shows the Antique French armoire that the OH has lovingly restored, the table with the tray for making tea in the room, and out of the window, if you are a bit taller than me...there IS a sea view! On the window ledge are a vintage Poole Pottery otter and a dolphin - some of our local wildlife.



The bathroom has a corner shower, there is non slip ceramic tiled floor, and heated towel rail. The white shower tiles have been inset with a band of marble tiles to add interest. OH made the mirror over the sink, which we brought with us from our old house. It's a copy of the oldest Georgian doorway in Sydenham (where we used to live) made in wood and painted.

Happy Easter....

Well we have officially 'opened' The B&B Room is finally finished,the dining room is finished and so are the additions to the kitchen, really am now 'cooking with gas' and oh boy does it make an improvement to one's fried eggs! Fridge is stocked with local sausages and bacon from the Llwynheleg Farm Shop and we have plenty of our own fresh eggs. I've invested in a breadmaking machine, so we can hopefully have freshly baked bread for breakfast instead of toast if wanted. All we need now is some guests!






We had a bit of a 'launch party' at Saturday tea-time, and I asked my friend Mary-Jane to cut a ribbon on the B&B door, wearing her Welsh Ladies Fly Fishing Team Jacket (Yes she really IS a member of the WLFFT) which she did admirably, speech and all. I was going to ask some more people along, but then had a 'duh' moment, when I realised if we HAD picked up a booking on Saturday, we couldn't very well have a trail of people inspecting our handywork around our first guests, so cut the guest list very short!


I hoped that buy getting all my signs out for the bank hoiday weekend at least, we may have attracted some passing trade for the future, as the road down to Mwnt has been really busy with traffic, and maybe some of them will remember us for a future trip to West Wales. I've got some more rack cards from Vista Print coming this week, and will hit town in earnest, handing them out to those who've already said they will put some in their shops, and take some into the tourist info centre. I'm hoping that advertising very locally will be sufficient for us, this year at least, but there are one or two online options I am exploring. I found out I can get a 'pin' on Google maps for nothing! Which seemed like a great idea (especially for free!) so hopefully in the next day or two a search for B&B near Cardigan will come up with us!

Websites, Environmental Statements and missing pictures!

At least I hope so!

Have been incredibly busy this last month, trying to get lots of things finished at the same time. There are still two thing to be done...one the wardrobe that is going in the guest room is in the process of being renovated and secondly I am waiting for the phonecall that the new stainless steel worktop for the kitchen is done, so that I can get my new gas hob *Heart* installed.

We keep making lists of things that need to be done, my lists consist of the things I want other people to do, and more and more shopping lists! I've actually lost count of the shopping lists!

At the same time, I've been trying to get my website sorted out finally, which seems to have taken me an eternity! I've trawled through all the competition's websites looking for local pricing structures, and totally fried my brains in the turgid worlds of 'Access Statements' and 'Environmental Statements'

Actually the environmental statement was easier, as it fits very comfortably with my general ethics, as I can't abide waste, and I'm always looking at food miles on stuff in the supermarket, and not buying as a result! It was also partly responsible for me taking the decision NOT to provide chi-chi little packs of complimentary toiletries for the guests, and not to buy in individually packed sachets of tea and coffee. I spoke to one of my friends who has a B&B about 30 miles away about this, and she'd already told me that the 'shelf life' on the little cartons of milk was quite short, and that as I am only letting one room, I might find they went out of date before I used them all. She said some of the people she knows who also do B&B put a jug of milk in the room for guests. This got me thinking 'out of the box' about the whole provision, and having mulled it over, I've bought (to be honest equally chi-chi) little containers for teabags, coffee and sugar lumps and the smallest size of stainless steel flasks for milk. And they have a small biscuit tin...could you ask for anymore?

I mention on the website, that I am only providing towels and handwash for guests, and ask them to bring their own toiletries. In the information pack I am putting in the room, I've expanded on why I've chosen to do this, with a full environment statement, and "How you can help" section, and I've also said that if anyone needs anything when they arrive, I'll be happy to provide from the domestic suppies.

I took all the various bits and pieces that I was struggling with to my friend and neighbour Lisa yesterday, she has a smallholding selling naturally produced vegetables just up the road, She made a few very helpful suggestions (and rather embarassingly noticed far too many ", and" that had slipped through the spell check!) She pointed out that as I'd said the Guest room has it's own entrance, she'd kind of want to see where that was in relation to the rest of the house, I thought it was a valid suggestion, so I took another photograph (the one above) and sent it to they guy doing the website with all the corrections, poor Derek, he's probably dreading my e-mails by now.

Anyway the website should be finished pretty soon, but you can check it out anyway at www.mwntbandb.co.uk

Kate

Cath Kidston Curtains

Well it really feels like there is forward movement...I got the curtains made and hung in the dining room Thursday. I've had this fabric sitting in it's packaging for over a year since I spotted it in the Sale at Cath Kidston. It's a discontinued design called "Breakfast time" which seemed most appropriate for the B&B!

I've still got the sewing machine out, as I've a couple of other projects to do, including making a cushion for the back of the big chair out of a pair of vintage linen tea-towels, celebrating the investiture of Charles as the Prince of Wales in 1969! I picked the first one up in London some time ago, and found the second, here in Cardigan, not long after we arrived. It's a very stylised dragon design, bearing the very stern legend on the selvedge 'Accepted by the Council for Industrial Design'...well there we are then (as they say around here!)

This is a close up of the finished Dragon cushion - seen on the chair at the right o the picture above....



Kate

Happy St David's Day

A beautiful day here in Wales, crisp but sunny, and there are snowdrops everywhere...I don't remember there being so many last year!

The daffodils have been budding for some weeks, but they have put in an appearance for St Davids day and some of mine at the front are out today. There are clumps of daffs everywhere round here. I'm sure there is a guerilla gardener about who leaps out of his car with a trowel and a handful of bulbs whenever the urge strikes!

I've been busy today painting, and moving things around for the B&B, I've ordered a rug for the dining room, which my daugter says looks like the sort of rug that people who live in a pink house would buy! I do hope that our guests will enjoy our taste in decor...

The chickens are starting to lay again, and it's been very exciting to collect eggs of all three colours. The Cuckoo Marans which were the latest addition to the flock lay incredible dark brown eggs, to complement the creamy pink of the Legbar/Aracana crosses, and the our original four Lavender Aracana, who's eggs are beautiful shades of blue.

Kate

Well really quite exciting to finally get the rack cards and business cards for the Bed and Breakfast, and after we had to stop work for a while last year. Work has carried on at a cracking pace since Xmas and we are looking good to open for Easter 2011!

I'm working on some text and sorting through the collection of photographs for the web site (www.mwntbandb.co.uk) which I'm hoping will be a good way to attract guests, along with the notice board outside.