And into the New Year we go

A busy October and then a quiet November and December at Potters Farm allowed us to get on with overdue projects, enjoy some dog walks and 'trip' into the New Year feeling like we had caught up a little bit. 

Two dogs became three as I had my son's dog to stay in November and she is very photogenic. 

I love a walk in the woods, moss, trees, funghi .... what's not to like? But we have a community meadow close by and an investigative walk revealed some interesting sculptures.

Christmas was a family affair here. A Suffolk family affair as the clan gathered at ours for the first time. It was lovely to be able to host Christmas Day nosh and tomfoolery and fairly stress free as everyone contributed, sharing the catering and bringing roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings, 2 turkeys and scrumptious puddings with us just doing veg and some gluten free bits and scavenging enough cutlery, crockery and chairs to go around the combined tables. Super fun ..... but for the chest infection that laid me personally a little low and got me out of all the washing-up!

I had a little R&R in Austria with some great gals for a few days and now we are back trying to ensure The Piggery is warm enough for our guests. 

Our Airbnb space is open plan which has advantages - you get a light, airy space and you can watch TV in bed - but as the winter months have enveloped us and we are not as full as the summer months with regard to guest numbers, managing and particularly heating the studio for guests has become a new challenge.  

In the summer, the sunshine kept The Piggery at a comfortable temperature, windows and doors could always be opened to cool the space and the thermostatically controlled radiator only ever needed to turn on in the evenings. Keeping The Piggery comfortable in winter has been more difficult. With fewer guests we don't want to leave the heating on full blast all the time, clearly that is not environmentally friendly and does not make economic sense. We have tried to compromise by having the heater on very low when no guests, giving ourselves a 48 hour booking lag, rather than same day, so the heater can be turned up prior to guests arriving and adding a portable gas stove to the space, which can boost the ambient warmth instantly, plus providing a snuggle blanket for sofa and/or bed. 

These things help but still do not always make every guest as comfortable as they would like to be. Part of our problem is that we are not a super heated Premier Inn. We are much prettier than a Premier Inn inside, and out with an eclectic collection of aesthetically pleasing furnishings, kitchen area for producing your own scrummy food, as many tea or coffee sachets as you want, complimentary milk and a small colourful shower room, big bath sheet towels and mature trees and a green space visible from every Piggery window but in the winter you do need to bring some extra clothing layers when you stay, whether that be cardigans, jumpers, bed socks and/or a hot water bottle - if you don't have anyone to snuggle with. 

I consider The Piggery to be a heathy temperature - very similar to our farmhouse - but it is weather dependent and if the temperature outside is "freezing" or below, then The Piggery will only manage a background heat of 14-17 degrees C with the radiator.  The gas stove will improve that, as does the winter sunshine on the building but you may still not be able to barefoot it around in shorts and a T- shirt!

The truth of the matter is that we appeal to some people and most people come prepared, pack appropriate clothing according to the weather and enjoy their sojourn with us. There are information pages to read in The Piggery, as guidance on how to use facilities but we are here to ask or phone if the instructions don't make sense. And simple things like shutting the doors to ensure warmth stays in the shower room - and doesn't get lost into the open plan area - and when unpacking and packing the car, remembering to push the outside door shut, to keep what warmth is inside, inside. These are strategies that make a guests' stay as comfortable as we would like it to be for them. I also work on the premise that super heated homes are not that healthy for us! And we like to encourage good health, mental and physical and an ethic of recycling whilst you are with us.

Inevitably, for some we are 'not quite what they were expecting' which is why the blog is here and I try to make our Airbnb advert as accurate as I can (although sometimes I get caught out with small print Airbnb have auto filled and I have not read), to make us as transparent as possible and ensure when you overnight with us you can fully enjoy all that is nice about our bright and airy space, with its classy wall mirrors and giant carved wooden bed, hot towel rail and comfy mattress, its privacy and peace, gorgeous green space surrounding and amazing lack of light pollution on a starry night.

Warbleswick Walk in November

I have yet to discover much of Suffolk but I have discovered Warbleswick and I love to walk there. The dogs love it too, we park off Lodge Road near East Sheep Walk and wander down through the trees onto Oldtown Marshes, across the footbridges and Corporation Marshes and down to the pebble beach.

The sea might not be the same colour as in Cornwall but the waves echo the same sounds on the shingle and  elicit the same feeling of space and freedom. Lovely.

And the flotsam and jetsam is similar, with the sea sculpting tree trunks into strange shapes and mouldings.

Along the coast path we wander, towards the beach huts and the ferry.

Past the pubs and the shops with lovely cards and selections of jewellery and clothing, books and curios. There's a couple of cafes too but I prefer to walk on up through the village to the Black Dog Deli for coffee and Polenta Cake, if they have it. The quiches and lunch snacks are also delicious, as are the takeaway salads. There is even a bench just outside the deli, under the awning and a small garden area to the side if you want to sit and enjoy your purchases and to ensure your comfort there are blankets kept in a blanket box by the door to provide some extra warmth whilst you sit, should you need it. 

Then on up through the village, branching back onto Lodge Road and taking the bridleway alongside Hoist Covert and back to the car through the woodland and pathways.

4.3 miles and it took us 2.5 hours but I am sure you could do it quicker without so many dog photos and coffee stops!

 

Suffolk has been kind

Well harvest has long since been and gone and every last bit of green grass has turned yellow. The fields have cavernous cracks in them and the lawns are sandy and arid, resembling a landscape more like Spain or Cyprus than Suffolk. But the world it seems is suffering from extremes and I am grateful for the relative normality that I have and Suffolk still seems able to deliver on sunshine hours and the consistency of sunshine hours and the trees are somehow surviving, turning the landscape into a lavish gold and green.

Never before have I had a summer where I have got used to waking every morning to sunshine. The dichotomy is such a treat. 

Not even in Cornwall, with our unpolluted artist azure skies did waking to sunshine become habitual. And to be truthful august is the 'rainy season' in Cornwall. Popular to book because it is in the middle of the school holidays and expected to be warm, August 'monsoon season' in my eyes. If I had to recommend I would always suggest Feb/March - when Cornwall often has beautiful sunny days and tucked up against the cliff or sea wall .......gorgeous .....

and then June or early July and October when the earth and the sea has had the whole of the summer to warm-up and the days are not yet too short and the leaves are changing and the sun still warm. It is often when the grass has a regrowth  .... perhaps not this year.

In Suffolk, I am still willing the rainy season to start and desperately hoping for some sort of regrowth of grass in October or preferably before. The trees seem to be surviving and we have lots of them. Where they get their moisture from I have no idea and where do all the animals get their water from this year. We see the roe deer and the muntjacs walking across the stubble fields but as I walk the dogs around the plentiful footpaths and ride the horse on the byways, the ditches might be deep and shady but there is no water in them and even the moats have dried up around the Suffolk houses and the ponds that dot the  fields have all but a dribble still left in the bottom of them. 

I have seen pigeons drinking out of the dog bowl, so I have several dog bowls about the garden and Jeffrey my horse has two big water butts to 'share' and there is the birdbath too, which is on the floor, which might help hedgehogs and field voles. However I do worry how the wee small animals are managing. 

The dry ground is turning into quite a challenge for the farmers this year. The land is too dry to plough and get the next crop in, the soil won't break up enough and fine enough to sow the seed and there is no moisture in the ground to feed the seed! That in turn will have an effect on animal feed prices and human food prices, so there are definitely going to be challenges ahead for us all. 

On a more positive note our Piggery which we have been booking-out through Airbnb has been delightfully popular. Suffolk has been kind to me in my new venture of providing overnight accommodation and a token breakfast on your first morning. 

The cabin does look lovely if I say so myself. 

It is light, bright, airy and clean and offers enough kitchen space and utilities to easily provide a meal and a huge TV and two comfortable sofas to collapse on with a good movie in the evening! And the sunshine has meant people can either enjoy cooking outside on the bbq or just sit at the patio table and sip a glass of something in relative tranquility with the paddock and the trees surrounding you.

Most of our guests seem to be people 'escaping' (their words not mine) London for a night or a couple of nights. And we are just perfect for that. Several guests have used us whilst working in the area near Stowmarket or Bury and again we are perfect for them for although set in a rural area we are midway if you are travelling to Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds or Diss. Its a bit further to Norwich and Felixstowe but still do-able from us and if you are holidaying, the coast for a day trip to Aldeburgh or Southwold is only 45 mins away.

And we are a nice place for a romantic evening too, with some good pubs a short drive away and a great vegetarian restaurant nearby, if you don't fancy cooking. The Piggery has a choice of two sofas to cuddle on for a good movie after your meal and a huge bed to snuggle up in after the movie!

All in all, Suffolk has been kind to me and in turn, kind to our guests .......

A bit of work and a bit of play - all in Cornwall

Always a pleasure to spend some time in Cornwall. Especially if the weather is fine. 

My little cabin in Cornwall is off-grid and very tiny but it has a useful bit of decking that when the weather is fine like it has been, the decking creates an extension to the living space. And someone seems to have been watering the plants because they have survived really quite well. So I was able to weed and water and encourage them to grow even more.

Despite off grid living I have a hot shower, gas powered, a compost loo and a generator which just about gives me a fridge (with a little bit of help from a bag of ice cubes every other day) which make life very comfortable. Again it's a little more complicated when it rains, but in sunshine it is an absolute pleasure to live "with the land" and enjoy living so close to nature and wonder at the stars at night and the vastness of the sky.

Mixed a little bit of work with a little bit of play this trip. Visiting some old haunts - lunch at Tremenhere Kitchen in the Sculpture Gardens - and a browse through the art gallery. Very much liked this artist's work. Mafia Tabak.

And a walk at Looe Bar at Helston with friends and Mistythespottycollie - you can find her on Instagram!

Always a magical pleasure to be able to combine sea, sand and a secret castle ..... not so secret I know but it is one of England's little gems, it just creates a fairytale scene. And I love looking in rock pools at the colours and reflections and flora and fauna. To combine the two is a special treat.

But St Michael's Mount is not the only piece of magic in West Cornwall.

There are wonderful walks, meandering streams, secret pools and mythical quoits.

Plus, it is always good to see family again

to reintroduce yourself to the ever increasing sheep flock

and to enjoy the surrounding fields of agapanthus all out in bloom

before returning to Suffolk, where harvest is in full swing.