Delay to opening cottage this season

We have had to delay opening the cottage by one week as work on the new bathroom was behind schedule due to various hiccups! Yesterday Parks Furnishing of Minehead came to lay the new stairs and landing carpet which we bought a year ago. It now matches the carpet in the lounge. It took two chaps all morning due to the winding stairs and several levels of steps, but it looks amazing and I hope my returning guests notice the difference. Cottage now on target to open for our first guests on 4th April.

Extension to the Coleridge Way

For those of you who know the Coleridge Way and love walking on Exmoor you will be pleased to hear that an extra 14 miles is going to be added from Porlock to Lynmouth, as reported in the West Somerset Freepress 21st February.
Way marked with the distinctive quill signature produced by Exmoor National Park's field services team, the extension will head through Worthy Woods and pass Ash Farm where Coleridge once stayed, before dropping down into the Doone Valley and on to Watersmeet and Lynmouth. The route is due to be ready summer 2014.
Originally opened in 2005, the Coleridge Way walking route links sites and locations associated with the romantic poet Samual Taylor Coleridge during his time in Somerset.
From Lynmouth an additional spur follows the South West Coast Path into the Valley of the Rocks and Poets Corner. The total route will be 50 miles long and more information will be found at www.coleridgeway.co.uk

New Bathroom Suite

Our winter project in the cottage this year is to update the main bathroom. We will be installing a new bath with shower and a basin. We have chosen a 'P' shaped bath which will have a shower at one end and the basin is going to be within a corner cabinet. Then it will all be retiled and painted. There will also be a new floor covering in the bathroom and then we will be having a new landing and staircarpet laid which will match the lounge carpet.

Goodbye to the Old Apple Tree

This winter we have decided to remove the old apple tree at the top of the orchard. It was blown down many years ago, but still managed to survive and keep growing although its trunk was lying on the ground. It has started to rot and we have decided now is the time to take it down along with an old holly bush which has grown up through it. Rob and Derek spent an afternoon cutting it down and we now have a good supply of logs. I am amazed how much more space there is in the orchard.

Burrow Garden

After last years dreadful weather I seem to lose control of the weeds in the flower beds and in particular one long bed which ended up covered in bind weed and couch grass. So I have given up with it and this autumn I have enlarged two other flower beds and I have started moving the plants that I want to keep and throwing away the rest. Once complete which I think will be next spring I will then enlarge the lawn and turf over this flower bed. I am oping for a mild autumn to try and finish moving the plants. I can't believe how many daffodil bulbs I keep digging up, I am sure I never had this many flowering in the spring, so I am hoping for a good display in 2014!

Summer Project

The main project for this summer has been the building of the horse walker which is adjacent to the stables. For those of you who are not horsey, this is a an enclosed circle where each horse is put in its own bay (4 in all) and then turns round by electricity and they walk round for exercise. Very boring I know but it really helps to keep them fit especially when the weather is not good and we can't ride on the roads or light is against us in the winter months. We are nearly complete with just the fencing to be added and the control box to be installed.

Restoration of the Old Stables

Work has started on repairing the outside walls of the old stable block. We had to take off all the ivy which was growing on the walls and starting to go over the roof, and inside. This then exposed the cob on the top half of the building. Andy our builder is now working on rendering the walls with a lime and horse hair mixture. He has to put on a base coat first which will take about two weeks to dry. We will be obtaining listed building consent from Exmoor National Park to replace the tin roof with old slates, the same as the roof on the old dog kennels and instal some windows. The roof space is very spacious and the plan is to turn it into Rob's office and keep two stables downstairs.