David and Goliath in the B&B world
Most of the major online travel companies pay no tax in the UK. Or in the US for that matter. They are often based in very low tax countries like the Netherlands, regardless of where the bulk of their actual…
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Life with Hens
I got hens at the urging of my sister, a long-standing Black Rock devotee. They’d be useful for lovely eggs for breakfast I thought, and took up her offer of a delivery of 8 in the first few months of…
The Young
This is the time of year when the new fledglings are off and independent but constantly getting caught out by inexperience. I have had three young robins trapped in the house in the last week (or the same stupid one?),…
B&B Breakfast
A lot of people have commented on the granola I make here. In a nice way, I should add, not from choking or as they surreptitiously feed it to the hens. I had planned to keep it secret, as I…
Running a B&B – Hazards
Today I managed to knock over a cafetière FULL of newly made coffee. It’s hard to describe quite how far reaching coffee grounds in water can be when you haven’t squished down the top filter. And also how hard it…
Managing time in a B&B
This is what I meant to do today: Plant out the last of the seedlings Mow the lawn Water the polytunnel Wash, dry and iron the bedlinen Weed the front border Sow basil and biennials Make a cake Work out…
Spring in Somerset
Despite the fact the rain is lashing the window as I write, and the drip drip of the blocked gutter I should be at is sending me slowly mad, spring is in fact coming, and the bluebells will be out…
Gardening at the B&B
My job for the morning is shifting seedlings round to maximise light and warmth. This changes hourly, and I worry that the poor things will be freezing one moment and burning the next. For compensation I go and pretend to…
The perfect cup of tea
I am slightly ashamed of the disappointment I feel when I sit down to breakfast in a hotel and get a pot of tea with only one teabag and there is NOTHING to be done except accept the sadness of…
Creating a B&B garden
The polytunnel is going up in an effort to have it ready for the spring planting. It’s a distraction in some ways as it’s meant a LOT of digging and levelling and hefting of wheelbarrows and wheelbarrows and wheelbarrows of…