knitting is the new yoga,but actually the inspirational topic for this blog post is—toilets.

Knitting is the new yoga, but actually, the inspirational topic for this blog post is an issue with toilet seats…

I doubt there is anyone out there who is not yet aware that I can now claim the title GRANDMOTHER. It is with the greatest of self-discipline that I do not insist that every guest looks at photos on my mobile phone before they are allowed to enjoy breakfast. I became a champion knitter overnight – shortly after Luella’s birth I woke up with tennis elbow pain and suddenly realised: I just finished my 6th jersey for 2-month-old Luella – no wonder!!

But back to toilets…

Continue reading “knitting is the new yoga,but actually the inspirational topic for this blog post is—toilets.”

When Winnie and Robert came to stay…

Certainly one of the joys of running a guesthouse is that you never know quite who will walk through the door…

 

imagesOne of my favorite stories is of when I had Robert Redford and Winnie Mandela staying over – well, maybe not quite: I received a call from a gentleman in San Francisco with a voice a smooth as Robert Redford’s (I looove Robert Redford…) He told me that he had just e-mailed me a request for accommodation, but that he was phoning to make sure that I would not have a problem with his partner being black. That’s where Winnie comes in.

 

Continue reading “When Winnie and Robert came to stay…”

When one is two and two is one and when things go wrong, they go wrong

Last Saturday evening we went to bed early as we only had one couple staying – only to be cruelly awoken at 11.45 by the gate bell being rung – repeatedly…  As I have a slight hearing impairment the bell is set to ring very loudly and to discourage people from ringing it repeatedly it is also set to ring loudly at the gate. Desmond went down to open the gate as we could see that these people were not taking ‘no’  for an answer.

To my surprise I could hear that he was actually booking them in – we normally, as a security measure, do not take off-street  bookings after hours. It transpired that they had made an online booking earlier and for some reason the text message notification never came through on my mobile phone, so I did not know about their arrival as I  never checked my computer between returning from a late afternoon movie, making dinner and retiring early. That they did not think it unacceptable to book in nearly midnight without prior arrangement just added to the chain of events of how things go very wrong when they start going wrong.

Continue reading “When one is two and two is one and when things go wrong, they go wrong”