Summer has arrived, well the sun has but it is far from hot. A busy day in the village and although we had 3 rooms free we managed to fill them by the end of the day.
We picked up 5 American visitors and a couple of Scots, these are 2 of the Americans sitting on the bench outside Buckle Yeat, they are talking to Faye from the Midlands who has been coming for about 12 years with her husband Ian and their two children.



Up through the farm to Moss Eccles after a quick chat to Paul and Jane and their kids who were flying up and down on bikes trying to avoid bath and bed time.



This is Tarn Hill playground which is back up and running after a concerted fund raising effort by a group of villagers who have worked hard to save the playground for future generations, well done to all I say

It was a sunny start and then the busiest day of the year so far, a full turn around in the guesthouse and then plenty of customers for tea and scones.



Peter (the Wolves fan) and his wife Linda arrived this afternoon they are regular customers and they have brought her Dad for the first time.
Football tonight and a comfortable win for England with a goal from Stevie G and then a late strike for the big man Crouch, they are not booing him now.

A busy breakfast but only the one change over this morning.
The tearoom was very busy this morning and a bit quieter in the afternoon.
Denis has spotted a robins nest in a nest box he put up last year, that's two out of three boxes used this year,one the robin and the other with a blue tit family in, the third had a lot of interest but is not in use, not a bad return.





Matthew was in touch from Buenos Aries this afternoon and was more up to speed on the talking point of the nation than I was, ie. the timing of the next scan on the broken metetarsal of the boy wonder Rooney, such is the global news media.
Really cold tonight with heavy showers, in fact one was hail. Better later in the week the weather girl has just said on the TV

After a dreary start to the day, just as the May Fayre procession started the clouds cleared and the sun shone.
The procession was lead by piper Mark followed by the retiring and present Queen and then the rest of the village children on a trailer pulled by Mike on his vintage "Fergie"







Just one room checked out this morning and the new guests were here by teatime, a couple of regulars and their daughter Helen, not to mention a host of soft toys.
We had a walk down the Dub and through Castle Wood and then back into the village,we never saw one person on the way, there will not be many walks in the Lakes you can say that.
This last picture is Castle Cottage, Beatrix Potter lived there after she married.

Another Bank Holiday and the weather gets no better, the village was quiet for a Saturday although there was a couple of coach loads of Japanese tourists visiting Hill Top.






This afternoon we had a visit from a the couple from Trawden in Lancashire who are going to fetch a full size Mr McGregor, they asked if we could give him a home last year but then he had to make a guest appearance at a number of venues during the year, anyway he will be with us in August.
We had a quick word with Matthew this evening, he and Sarah fly out of Santiago Chile tomorrow and into Buenos Aries Argentina.
It turned out a nice night so we managed to have a good walk up to Moss Eccles before tea.

We got back late from Kendal yesterday after shopping for supplies.
We also went round by Lucys garden centre in Grange to pick up some bedding plants for home.
It has been a wet miserable day, although it did ease for a short while allowing me to get home and get in the bedding plants. This afternoon when the weather set in again I caught up with Test match for an hour.
We have a couple of rooms free tonight but fill up tomorrow and we are in for a busy week.
Len and Sheila from Derby checked in yesterday, they brought six watercolours that Sheila has painted, we put them in the dining room with a price ticket on them and try to sell them on her behalf. She has done one of The Tower Bank Arms and one of Hill Top, they should sell quickly.

What is going on with our weather, on the way to work I was caught in a terrific hailstorm and there was snow on the the tops. Global warming???





We have a full house tonight a couple called on their way back up to Scotland.
Shopping in Kendal tomorrow and I am having a haircut later on in the afternoon

A sunny beginning to the day and the all the guests were quite happy with the bright start.
Tea trade was quite steady with people in all day.
These shots were taken in Buckle Yeat front garden this morning.




The rain arrived at about 5 o,clock and it poured down and went very cold, a walk was out of the question so we retired to the Tower for a swift half or two before heading home for chicken pasta bake for tea.

A grey cold day but dry, more than can be said for the rest of the UK, although I cheated a bit and took this pictures yesterday morning.





We had all rooms checkout this morning and new people in,a couple regular guests and a couple from America amongst the new arrivals.

A sunny start to the day but the rain was with us at lunchtime, a steady day with teas but we have a couple of rooms free tonight.
Pete and Lynn left this morning after a walk up to Latterbarrow.



Matthew was online this evening and he had a better microphone at last so we were able to talk rather than type, at the same time he was sending us pictures and we were sending him some, oh and at the same time he was typing messages to his cousin Rachel.
He sent this great shot of him Sarah and some fellow traveler's on the salt plains in Bolivia, they are in Chile at present and have a long bus trip booked to the coast tonight to the second biggest city in Chile called Valparaiso, a world heritage site, well that's the info I found out on google.

The weathermen got it wrong again, nowhere near as bad as they said today and in fact a nice evening, that was till we got 3/4 way round our walk and the heavens opened, I blame Simon and his son Alan in Far Sawrey for keeping us talking.







Not very busy in the village today, but we have a full house so that's the main thing.
Saturdays are just not the same when the football season is over, never mind the world cup is on the horizon.

Another dreary day with frequent showers.
We had a room free this weekend but picked up a couple for two nights.
Stuart sorted the puncture for me today,so we are back on the road.







We had an email from Jan & Jeff this afternoon, we look forward to seeing them soon.
Pete and Lynn two of our New year gang have arrived so we are going to the Tower Bank to join them for a beer later.
Matthew has been in touch today they are in Pucon in Chile.

Roger the builder arrived first thing this morning to lay the ground work for the impending tarmac men, they are going to tidy up the car park.
We had an appointment in Kendal so we headed off at about 12pm.



An eventful day, I lost my mobile phone but remembered I had left it in the bank so rang them and recovered it. Then we got back to the car and someone had left a note on the windscreen telling us they had spotted a nail in the front tyre. I saw our Stuart and he has agreed to take the car to work and repair the puncture tomorrow, the plus side of having a mechanic as a nephew, good lad Stuart.

PS
Blog hits top the 10,000 mark

We had a chance to go up to Whinlatter this afternoon to see the resident osprey, we were quite lucky because when we reached the viewing platform there was a bit of excitement as a third osprey had made an appearance and was perched on a fence post at the edge of the lake, the wardens had trained a telescope on it and it just stayed there for quite a time, giving us a great view.

A cosmopolitan breakfast time with 3 guests from Argentina 2 from Estonia and 4 Irish ladies, oh and an English lady.
We a had a visit at coffee time from Phillip and Dorothy, formerly from the Tower Bank,they both looked well and said they are very happy in their retirement,it was good to see them and we are looking forward to visiting them in the near future.







A much better day weather wise and we managed a walk up to Moss Eccles tonight, we have had both Matthew in Chile and Alan in Ulverston on MSN tonight.

A miserable day with rain all day, never got out for walk again.
Not so busy with teas although we did have a bit of a flurry mid afternoon, Helen put an extra batch of scones in the oven and as usual it went quiet.
We have two groups of 4 in tonight and a couple of people have called late this evening making it 10 for breakfast.

It has been an awful dreary damp and cool day. There was another hound trail meeting in post office meadow and despite the weather it was a good turnout.





The miserable weather put paid to any walks and therefore any new pictures, good job we had these from a couple of days ago.

The weather took a step back today, with drizzle and a lot cooler.
There was yet another vintage car rally through the village today, I think they like crossing the ferry.





It was the cup final this afternoon and the tea trade disappeared from about 10mins before kick off, which was perfect for me,but what a game the nerves are frazzled.
We have had a few emails from blog watchers who seem to have an idea I like watching the reds in action.
I am multitasking at the moment talking to Matthew and Sarah in Chile, when I say talking, we are talking they are typing no microphone at their end, very strange conversation but it's good to have the contact.

A boon day in the garden at home today, the sun has been out all day and it got really warm.
We have heard from Matthew and Sarah tonight from Chile, I think he is sorted for watching the FA cup final tomorrow






We had a walk through the bluebell woods before tea, on the way down to the woods we saw these cows in the Esthwaite Water keeping cool.
A full house tonight, the South African guys stayed on an extra night.

A shopping day in Kendal but because it was such a great day we wasted no time and got back home asap.
There was a hound trail meeting in the village tonight so it was quite busy.
We had a room free but around tea time a couple of South African lads called in on their way to Scotland.


This is the first trail just before the slip.


Off they go


Although the trail is under way the bookies are still doing business.
The favorite won the first trail, helped in part by half of the hounds losing their way not long after the start.

It was another fantastic sunny day, we only just got breakfast finished when the power went off, I rang the United Utilities help line and they said a hot air balloon had brought down a power line, I could not find any confirmation on any news channels.







We had our tea out in the sunshine tonight and we had a call from Tony & Lorna from Woking trying to book a room but we are full when they want to come.
After tea we had a walk up to Moss Eccles and on the way had a talk with Johnny and Richard who were putting the finishing touches to the playground.

What a fantastic sunny day, we are quiet on the B&B front but steady with teas,we did pick up a couple tonight.






Me and Helen had a walk down to Esthwaite Water before tea, it was very quiet except for a few anglers.
Matthew sent a text tonight, we have not heard from him and Sarah for a few days because they are in a remote area,he said they are now in Chile.

A strange day, the wind blew like it was the middle of winter and yet the sun shone like a summers day.
We had a coach of 34 pensioners who came in,they had warned us in advance that they were visiting Hill Top then into us for teas, none of them seemed to be in Hill Top very long in fact I think some spent longer in our loo than in Hill Top.


Some King Cups by Wilfin Beck






This is a new tulip Denis planted last year to flower this and it is causing some interest because of the number of flowers that come from each bulb.
When we got home the wind was not blowing at our house so we had an hour sat out in the evening sun, then we had a nice walk through the woods to Far Sawrey.