Mid August Blog

We have gone from swimming every day to being chilly at night, the storms passed us by as we stood outside and watched the black clouds travel up the Blackmore Vale and then swing round and hit the Purbecks. The thunder was impressive but no lightning that we saw. We eventually had about ten minutes of rain but the garden was grateful for anything after hitting 33° on the thermometer by the pergola.

John and I have decided to open up two bedrooms, the green king size and the blue twin. The influx of people into Dorset has not caused a major outbreak, 11 cases were recorded last week, so we will open slowly. It is our home, not a hotel, so we do not have anyone to go around continually wiping every surface, social distancing is easy to maintain. Breakfast will all be served at the table, the buffet of cereals and fruit will have to go, but we will do everything we can to ensure that you have an enjoyable and relaxing stay. We will also provide dinner en famille as usual. The indoor and outdoor space allows us to do this socially distanced.

The garden is in production overdrive and every day we are processing plums, figs, raspberries, apples and pears along with blackberries. John has been making lots of delicious ice cream, the black plum one is the most amazing colour and quite divine. The bolus, which are wild plums have started to fall and they are the next batch of ice cream.

It feels as if some sort of normality is returning, even if differently, we have always enjoyed meeting people, which is why we decided to share our home and we look forward to welcoming guests again.