South Coombe News
Now that we have said goodbye to January our thoughts start to turn to spring and onwards to summer. Although this is a quiet time in the cottages, in the office (Jonquil’s domain) it is very busy. The phone has been ringing constantly with old and new friends booking their summer holidays or short breaks for the spring and early summer. Already we are pretty full for the main holiday weeks, but we still have plenty of availability at most other times. A particular delight for us all is the number of friends who are returning for their second or third visit.
Having said it’s a quiet time in the cottages, this has allowed us to completely refurbish Jonquil cottage – the only one that had not been redecorated in the last eighteen months. Bill and Chris have spent most of the last four weeks replacing everything – new bathroom (complete with over bath shower), new fitted kitchen, new central heating, new carpets and a complete new paint job! We have even re-stained all of the beams in the bedrooms and – even though we say so ourselves – they look absolutely stunning. The cottage will be ready to welcome its first guests in mid-February.
Now that our building work (new swimming pool, games room, gym and sauna) has come to an end, our minds are focussed on re-establishing the natural beauty of South Coombe. Marcia in particular is very keen to ensure that all areas of the grounds are once again stunning.
Marcia is also planning a poly-tunnel to be sited at the top of the orchard, beyond the childrens activity play area. This will enable us to grow lots more fresh food, which will appear on the menu at our barbecues and themed evenings
During the winter our free range hens (Mavis and the girls) moved house again to the new purpose built paddock area above the duck ponds. They are now well protected from Mr Fox but still allowed to free range when we are around to supervise – which means virtually every day. A few weeks ago they were joined by three new girls – Madge, Martha and Mabel - refugees from a nearby farm. We are glad to say they have settled in and are providing us with lovely eggs with dark brown shiny shells.
Draco, our male muscovy duck, has spent the winter looking after Lilac and Lavendar, his female companions who joined him last summer. Bill has constructed a nesting box which sits on an island in the middle of the top duck pond and we fully expect (as does Draco!) to see some ducklings later on in the year.
Following the success of our summer barbecues last year we intend to have as many as possible again this year. Held on Sunday evenings adjacent to the duck ponds, they are an ideal opportunity for everyone (including all the children) to get to know each other. We also intend to hold various themed nights in the farmhouse – giving our guests a chance to go out for dinner without having far to stagger home! Also, now that Chris has perfected his home-made pizza dough, we will offer take away pizzas delivered fresh and piping hot to the cottages.
Of course all the old favourites – breakfast deliveries of organic bread and pastries, together with cooked breakfasts in the farmhouse – will still be available.
To fix contact with Trancek
jonquil @ 17:05 | comments(2124) | Permanent link
It’s hard to believe that summer is drawing to a close. We have been very busy all year and made lots of new friends, as well as welcoming back several old ones. Our weekly summer barbecues have been a big success and we have enjoyed some wonderful summer evenings getting to know new guests. Held each Sunday on the lawn adjacent to the duck ponds, the barbecues have enabled new visitors to mingle and break the ice. The children in particular have all mixed together and made regular sortees to the swings, slides and climbing frames at the top of the orchard throughout the evening.
Another new feature this summer has been breakfasts in the farmhouse, which have been enjoyed by many of our guests – keeping Mavis and her girls very busy supplying the free range eggs. We have also continued with our daily deliveries of freshly baked organic bread and pastries.
Many guests have also taken advantage of baby sitting services offered by Esther and Hannah, Bill and Marcia’s daughters. Several couples have taken the opportunity to have a romantic, relaxed meal at one of the top class local restaurants, without the children but safe in the knowledge that they were being well looked after.
Our thoughts now turn to autumn, and to Christmas, when again we can expect to welcome many guests to South Coombe. Although the long summer evenings are wonderful, South Coombe is also magical as the leaves start to fall and we begin to get ready for Christmas. We will be lighting up the area around the farmhouse and all cottages will have their own individual christmas trees – with Marcia having artistic responsibility! The Christmas and New Year period is an ideal time for a bracing walk in the locality, on Exmoor, or along the beach at Porlock, followed by a long luxuriant evening snuggling around the roaring log fire in one of our cottages.
This year we will be offering Christmas breakfast in the farmhouse, complete with Bucks Fizz or champagne and smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, as well as the traditional farmhouse cooked breakfast. We look forward to many of our guests joining us to start Christmas day in a relaxed way. If the weather is good, we may organise a treasure hunt in the orchard for the children – a chance for them to let off some steam!
Over the summer we have been joined by two new ducks – Lilac and Lavender – both lavender muscovies. Their arrival certainly inspired Draco, our resident muscovy drake, to smarten his appearance. The poor lad had let himself go since his previous companions disappeared earlier in the summer.
The swimming pool complex is now in full swing and being enjoyed by everyone. We are certainly very pleased with the way it has turned out and feedback from all our guests has been very positive. As an aside, both Bill and Chris have also improved their table football and pool skills following the opening of the games room in June and are ready for a challenge! Only the external landscaping is still to be completed and that is planned for the winter.
The cart house, which those people who have visited South Coombe will know was semi-derelict, has now metamorphosed into a beautiful three-bedroom cottage. It is due to be fully completed by October, when we will finally wave goodbye to Richard, Vernon, Shaun, Dave, young Richard and Rocket, our builders who have been on site since July 2005. We wish them all the best of luck for the future and thank them for the fantastic work they have done for us.
Mavis and her girls had to move from their existing home early in the summer to make way for the renovation of the cart house and are currently residing at the bottom of the orchard. They seem to have had a good summer there as the nearby Devon banks have afforded excellent opportunities for daily dust baths. Soon they will be on the move again, to a purpose built run in the paddock above the duck ponds. This paddock was re-profiled earlier in the summer following the discovery of a magnificent well that used to serve the farmhouse before mains water was installed.
jonquil @ 15:51 | comments(1817) | Permanent link
Bookings for the summer are doing well but we still have some availability. Drake’s Cottage in particular has several weeks available throughout May, June and July. Please contact us if you wish to book any of the cottages. We are offering a special discount for holidays taken within 14 days of booking. For price details give us a call.
We look forward to seeing you again very soon.
admin @ 16:28 | comments(3314) | Permanent link
Last week we took in another 6 rescued battery hens to add to our collection of animals. They are in very poor condition at the moment but with the freedom of the grounds and a variety of good food they will thrive. We have four rescued hens from last year and they are in wonderful condition and are unrecognisable from the poor state in which they arrived.
admin @ 16:28 | comments(0) | Permanent link
Work has also continued inside the cottages and we have re-decorated Tilly’s and Drake’s Cottages. Drake’s cottage has also had a bathroom makeover complete with large walk-in shower and bath. This involved taking down a wall into the bedroom wardrobe which gave us the extra space to fit the shower. The white suite and white wooden panelling around the bath has made this into a luxury bathroom.
admin @ 16:27 | comments(2080) | Permanent link
In February we were joined by our very good friends Bill and Marcia Warnett, who have become joint business partners. They have been our friends for over 10 years and it seemed a sensible idea to work together to make South Coombe an outstanding holiday destination. Already we can see the benefit of the extra help in the gardens and around the pond.
admin @ 16:26 | comments(1689) | Permanent link