Can you help identify these yellow flowers?

We have been asked to help identify the yellow flower in this photo. These were seen on Wolfscotedale by Graham and Margaret but are to be seen in profusion at the moment, nearly always it seems in the midst of harebells. The yellow and blue looks so pretty together.

John and I couldn’t help, being more admirers than experts on wild flowers (in other words, pretty hopeless!) and there seemed to be so many similar looking speciments in our wild flower books so thought we would throw the question open and hope someone will put us out of our misery!

Tom’s Barn Blog – Spare Our Blushes!

Tom's & Douglas's Barns and our guests - the heart of it all

There I was early this morning at Derby’s Pride Park stadium overlooking the football pitch, all ears, concentrating intently. No, I wasn’t watching a football match although one day I perhaps should; rather, I was hoping fervently to pick up some tips from Liam Lally, today’s E-Business club trainer at their Breakfast Briefing for today, ‘Blogging for Business’.

The briefing was as predictably helpful and stimulating as these seminars always are and I did indeed pick up many tips (and many ‘don’t dos’) which I won’t list here but would happily share with any colleagues or friends interested. One warning though was to avoid wriitng a blog if one didn’t like writing and didn’t feel a ‘passion’ for the subject. I came away realising how lucky I am: I have always enjoyed writing so that is no problem and I can take no credit for it, and John and I absolutely love our ‘job’ running Tom’s and Douglas’s Barns, and all the happy links and memories with our guests and friends that we have been privileged to enjoy over the years. You seem to love coming here, and we love having you. So writing as it were to all of you on the blog has always felt very natural and right, rather like an extended correspondence with a really good friend, about simply anything that comes to mind that might just conceivably interest them but loosely at the heart of it all, is the shared link with Tom’s and Douglas’s Barns.

At that rate, we are doing extremely well, but we would appreciate more responses, so please start commenting even more!

There is a problem though. One hopes the friend would reply, occasionally, and occasionally and rewardingly the friend does but as I confided to Liam afterwards when I went up to reveal my identity (the blushes had started subsiding by then, keep reading…) that not as often as we had hoped. I did feel reassured when he told me that if one wrote one blog post a day for 365 days one could expect one comment a year! So there’s a challenge…

But before we get bogged down with challenges – why the blush? And if Jeremy Brough our wonderful web guru/friend had been there he should have taken nearly all the credit when what should appear on the screen as the last slide of the morning but the front page of our Tom’s Barn Blog!!! Liam presented it as a good example of a local blog. It came so totally out of the blue I felt very startled and really did find myself going a deep purple to the consternation of some of the people on my table who had absolutely no idea why. I was so overcome I don’t even remember all that he said, except that it did seem to be quite complimentary.

Did You Have a Good Time?

Here are some of the latest excerpts from comments left in the Douglas’s Barn Visitor’s Book. Occasionally (but we haven’t here) we might add a comment made in an email. We put the date but not the name but all comments are quite genuine and can be seen here. We do not sit it here making them up!

‘What a super, relaxing week. Lovely walks, stunning countryside – and a smashing place to stay with a warm welcome…The best Premier Cottage we’ve stayed in!! Thank you.’ Aug 2011

‘As ever, a lovely stay, with all the little extras. Weather was glorious so what more could we ask… Thanks again!’ H&G

‘Thank you for all the comforts provided in this lovely cottage and especially thank you…for your welcome and all the little extras provided, and fresh flowers, marmalade, good reading and the photo opportunity! We have thoroughly enjoyed this week in Parwich.’ July 2011

‘We have had an excellent stay. Even though we were well informed about what we would find at Douglas’s Barn, it still manages to exceed all of our expectations. We will be back (hopefully to also enjoy some more sunshine). Thank you very much.’ July 2011

‘Idyllic third visit. 10 walks from the barn, plus one at Ilam. Such a perfect place to relax.’ July 2011

‘Absolutely brilliant! From the moment we walked in, we loved it! So well equipped and tastefully decorated. An absolute delight. Thank you so much. Can’t wait to come back soon!’ July 2011

‘We booked our first stay in Douglas’s Barn a year ago – a long time to wait but it has far exceeded all our expectations. From the moment we were greeted by Marion and John everything has been more than perfect (including the weather!). So many extra touches – we both really loved our Bakewell tart – we will return for that alone! The week has gone far too quickly and it will be sad to leave this gorgeous cottage in the most idyllic surroundings, but we will return.’ June 2011

‘Our second stay at Douglas’s Barn and it’s still as wonderful as ever. It has been a thoroughly relaxing and welcome break.’ June 2011

The Holiday of a Lifetime

…but the amazing treat of a  luxury cruise ‘exploring’ off the northern coast of Borneo for our daughter Ruth! When she rang us only a few days ago to say that she was off, thanks to the kindness of one of her very great friends who had invited her to accompany her on this exciting trip, we were overcome with excitement for them both.

With very little time for lengthy shopping expeditions for suitable kit for the luxury side of things or indeed the marine and wildlife exploring, snorkelling and scuba diving side of things either, off they flew on Tuesday, as everyone in this country was reeling with shock and horror at the dreadful news of the the riots and destruction of the previous few days.

Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu… it sounds more poetic than their two changes of aircraft undoubtedly proved to be, before they reached Kota Kinabalu where hopefully the Orion 11 lay waiting in the harbour, having only hours previously disgorged the previous cruise passengers. Apparently the air-conditioning had gone wrong on this previous trip but one hopes they managed to get this fixed before setting off again.

We have heard nothing since they left. Ruthie had warned us that communications from her would be minimal as apparently even text messages are extremely expensive to send, so we are left in the tantalising silence just trying to imagine what amazing experiences she and her friend might be having.

Their home for ten days is the Orion11, recently purchased and refitted by the Orion Expedition Cruises who arrange expeditions to a ‘wide range of rarely visited destinations; all enjoyed in a casual ambience, with 5 star facilities and attentive service on board‘. No doubt there will be suitable translations for some of the items on the dinner menus – I spotted ‘steamed yabbies’ amongst other intriguing delicacies, and grilled ‘mahi mah’.

Their destination, Borneo, is the third largest Island in the world, home to the world’s oldest tropical rainforests and described as a ‘zoological paradise’; I am told the snorkelling and scuba diving in the Coral Triangle off the north Borneo coast is pretty amazing, too.

Booking Some Pleasure for 2012

This rather beautiful water lily on our pond is the nearest we could get to a lotus –  a wonderful gleam of light in the dark…

With all the current gloom and financial doom it feels – it is –  all the more important to have some  some easily afforded self-indulgent treats to look forward to in the what well may be excessively dreary months ahead. And now at last you can again, on a whim, in the middle of the night, without having to make any contact with anyone…book a holiday here, the thought of which may help keep you plodding on towards 2012 with your chin up and a gleam in your eye.

We all love to go abroad (and just wait till we tell you where our daughter Ruthie is going next week). Sadly we can’t all do wonderful cruises to exotic places as somebody else’s guest, and anyway there’s not too much chance of a cruise in the land-locked Peak District but we can do our best to provide the opportunity for a wonderfully relaxing and peaceful holiday with beautiful scenery, wonderful walks, excellent pubs and restaurants – and Chatsworth and Haddon on the doorstep.

Holidaying in this country need hardly be a penance: no ghastly injections or anti-malarial pills, you are unlikely to need to use an airport, you won’t waste half your week getting over jet-lag, you are equally unlikely to get some ghastly foreign tummy-bug or have (total) difficulty making yourself understood and you may even find some of the scenery as beautiful as any (even Lord Byron said of Dovedale that one needn’t bother going to Swtzerland when such beauty was to be found here.)

Anyway, what I am building up to say is that – and not before time – I have put next year’s prices onto our 2012 booking calendar, so at long last if you are booking for next year you won’t meet with a blank wall implying we have gone out of business or are fully booked but actually only meaning that we had been extremely slow to get oursleves organised. So, all those that have already booked must be complimented for their persistence and from now on it should be easier.

Also, I should have added, that although all the 2012 prices have had to go up qiuite considerably, all holidays booked this year go at the current 2011 rate (and of course, if you have stayed here before, you get another (roughly) 5% off so it gets cheaper and cheaper.

Keeping Up With Technology

We have been so lucky in the Peak District in Derbyshire to be able to take advantage of some wonderful and completely free training that is provided for small to medium businesses many of whom operate in very rural areas, bringing employment and money into what are often deprived – if very beautiful – parts of the county.

Having taught for a lot of my adult life, I am an absolute glutton now for being on the other side of the fence, for learning rather than imparting; since John retired he has started coming to many of the sessions as well, all of which are to do with running a small business as well as possible and using all the technology available to help.  On Wednesday I went hotfoot to Buxton – on my own this time – to a workshop on ‘Social Media for Business’. As we are struggling to make something of our new Facebook Business presence this couldn’t have come at a better time. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube… we have been dabbling half-heartedly on the edges of all these for a while, Facebook for nearly 4 years now, but all rather – actually very – half-heartedly.

But now we are assured, and actually are well aware ourselves,  that this is the way things are going so there is no point in being half-hearted. We are trying to be more grownup and positive, and have decided to try seriously to develop our Social Media presence as well as we can. It is all fun and actually I am finding it very exciting but of course there are only a few hours in every day, and one thing we have discovered, you are never ever finished. In the old days one could tackle a task, identify when it was achieved and settle back with a sigh of satisfaction. Twitter and Facebook etc are never finished. They are alive! One has to be very disciplined to hold back – new messages and comments keep pinging in…

In an obscure way, it is almost like having a second website but one based on communication rather than explanation. Because of the instant communication, it is a constantly changing scene, with the ‘owner’ having much less control. To my surprise, I find I am beginning almost hooked. Our Facebook page is becoming more interesting to us and hopefully it will soon be  a bit more interesting to others. We are hoping to be able to cheer things up a bit; at the moment everything all looks a bit dull and unexciting, but we have hopes….

Dullness notwithstanding, , please have a look at – and if you would care to like – the Tom’s Barn and Douglas’s Barn page, we would still be pathetically grateful! And if you have any suggestions about what might be useful, essential or just entertaining and fun, please let us know… We are on new ground here and eager or any tips we can get!

What Shall We Do This Week?

We know that you come to Tom’s and Douglas’s Barns to rest and recuperate, to enjoy the peace, calm, comfort and quiet and possibly do very litle but luxuriate. At least that’s often the plan, but after a few days some of those enticing walks can start beckoning, and perhaps a bit of sightseeing, and then you start wondering – what about treating yourselves to a delicious meal – or perhaps even two, or three…?

Firstly, if you would feel happier starting off with a guided walk with a snack thrown in, it is worth looking up what Sally Moseley has planned. On Tuesday 2nd she has something called the ‘Trit Trot Trail’ which is not exactly a vigorous walk but sounds a lot of fun. Don’t worry, she does do plenty of vigorous walks as well.

For something significantly more energetic, also on Tuesday but in the  evening, in Parwich, is the Parwich Panoramic Run. This a 5-mile cross country fell race which cretaes a lot of interest locally, and which all the participants claim is a terrific experience; we have to believe them – neither John nor I in our youngest, fittest, most sporting days could ever cope with – or even pretend to enjoy – running.

Throughout the week and for the next couple of weeks the Gilbert & Sullivan Festival is on in Buxton, at the Opera House. This is a great treat, if you are a G&S fan, which I am; John thinks he isn’t but invariably enjoys them when enticed to one by wife with ticket. All the favourites are being performed, by a variety of companies and we have never yet been to a poor performance.

Finally, we are also going to the Last Night of the Proms at Haddon Hall on Saturday (6th August) at 7.30 hoping that the fine weather will continue so we can enjoy the music in the wonderful mediaeval setting that is Haddon Hall.

No doubt there is masses more going on nearby but this is all the activity we propose for the moment from here.

A Fresh Slant on Tom’s and Douglas’s Barns

It is hard from the outside to make our two lovely holiday cottages in the Peak District look anything other than what they once were – cattle barns on a working farm!

Orchard Farm is not a listed building – in spite of its age and general loveliness (beauty they say is in the eye of the beholder) it is not deemed of any great architectural merit by the powers-that-be. However, we are in the Peak National Park and we are in a Conservation Area so there were many restrictions imposed when we converted the barns, many but not all of which we understood and accepted. After some ‘discussions’ the planners did accept that our guests would need some daylight upstairs and they agreed to our choce of colour for the woodwork instead of their originally stipulated ‘black or drak brown’.

Crucially, our romantic cottages for two had to stay looking like barns from the outside, however romantic/contemporary the internal modernisation…

Other than that, all we could do to suggest that they are no longer cattle sheds is to put pots of flowers outside! So, when it comes to producing enticing external photos for websites and the Premier Cottages brochure we are a bit stumped to make them look in the slightest bit inviting, or suggestive that inside might be quite exciting and fun!

John and Jeremy Brough our webman/friend have nearly fallen out of upstairs windows with me clinging to their legs as they try to get a moderately enticing shot (see the first photo, taken by John). A couple of years ago Jeremy also happily allowed himself to be strapped to a pallet on our neighbour Mick’s ‘cherry picker’, gamely aiming his camera above his head as he swayed and wavered in the breeze up high (see his photo of Orchard Farm on the left).

Last Sunday Mark Nunnerley took several excellent shots with his camera on top of a pole; he meanwhile had both feet safely on the ground as he directed his camera via his laptop. Both sets of guests were game enough to allow themselves to be included in the shots, as they sat outside in the sunshine studying maps and drinking cups of tea (it was too early for the wine that came later). So our barns still look like barns in his photos but one can also see signs of life and also one can see our rural village setting, with open countryside immediately behind.

Mark Nunnerley sent six photos which you can see in our blog photo gallery; there are also two that John took of Mark taking them. See what you think. We are very pleased with them; so a big thank you to Mark and also a big thank you to our involuntary ‘extras’ who were staying last week! By the way, all the photos look better if you click on each one to enlarge it.

More Tom News

Just a quickie to let you know the latest news we have about Tom – apart from the fact he and Clare have just had their first baby, which is very exciting.

On the acting front he has had another big break with Top Hat, a musical version of the movie starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. You can read about it at more length on our Parwich Blog. You will remember that Tom won the Strictly Come Dancing a couple of years ago and is a fantastic dancer so it should be a real treat dance-wise and of course he and his co-star Summer Strallen will be singing the old favourites such as ‘Dancing Cheek to Cheek’, ‘Let’s Face The Music and Dance’ and ‘Top Hat, White Tie & Tails’;  we are told also to expect beautiful sets and lavish costumes.

Practically, the important thing to note for those that will be wanting to see it while it is in these parts, is that it will be showing at the Lowry (Salford Quays) from the 27th September to the 8th October.

Tom’s Gift

We seem to be full of Toms at the moment – our grandson Tom in Sydney, Tom Chambers – there’s more news about him shortly,  my cousin Tom Jackson who has just successfully completed his cycle ride from John O’Groats to Lands’ End in 9 days, our nephew Tom Hall who is up in Derbyshire for a wedding at the weekend and of course  Tom’s Barn – all very special Toms in their different ways. But this is about yet another special Tom, a particularly special one that we do want to tell you about.

Last weekend we went down to Wales to stay with friends. Corisande and Angus Grahame lost their Tom, their very dearly loved son of six, just before Christmas after a long and brave struggle with cancer. Their lives have been torn apart but they have two other children and they are all doing their best to carry on; one of the ways they have managed to do this is to set up the Tom Grahame Trust in his memory (Do have a look at their site.)

Their first big challenge is to raise enough money to build a playground for the children in Clyro where they live. I am not sure how much they’ve made yet but I gather they are not far short of the £75,000 they need to start the project. Last weekend there was a wonderful musical workshop and entertainment for children followed by a concert for their parents, with tea and cakes in the sunshine on the lawn, in between.The concert was laid on by the Aquila Trust Mid Wales Music Fund with the Cambria String Quartet and I gather the Trust extremely generously donated the entire proceeds to the Tom Grahame Trust playground appeal.

The whole event went like clockwork and was a delight from beginning to end. John and I sneaked in to the back of the children’s musical workshop and were entranced as the children, many of them tiny, watched and listened and concentrated so intently, both making music and listening to the musicians who conducted the workshop and played so inspiringly (cello, two violins and a viola). The adults also had a guest oboist who was quite superb (we just listened, no music-making for us!). John has loaded several photos of the event in our gallery which you may like to look at.

We had a lovely weekend. We would love to help Corisande and Angus spread the word about their playground appeal and the work of the Tom Grahame Trust. Do have  a look at the website where you can donate if you are moved to do so, and have a look at – and hopefully ‘like’ –  their Facebook page too. We feel they deserve all the help and support we can possibly give them.