Happy New Year to all our present and future guests and a very warm welcome to the “Twenty’s”! I wonder if it will be as “Roaring” as it was 100 years ago?
Our stunning news of the year so far is the birth of our first Grandchild, Jack James Walker, who bounced into the world on the 6th December at 11.00pm (7lbs) arriving on his due date (just) much to the relief of Ben and Dani his proud parents. At three weeks old he is now already the owner of a Hornby train set, although it is questionable whether the true recipient is his Grandfather, in fact the garden shed has now been re-named Jack & Grandad’s Shed!
Autumn this year has been a busy time in the garden; we have completed restoration work on the front “listed” wall and in the process discovered another dated stone plaque “1760”, pre-dating the house by some 36 years. It is quite clear from the above left hand picture the wall was built in two stages, with the left hand side of the wall additionally built, possibly coinciding with the building of Holly Lodge. We are indebted to Alistair our stonemason who painstakingly removed the Ivy by hand and repaired the damage created over the past 30 years of growth. Quite a few hoops were jumped through in this process including gaining permission from Listed Buildings, Historic England, with many thanks to Lyn who handled it all brilliantly.
We had a most delightful display of Dahlias in the garden this year, right up until the end of October and also a very unexpected visitor!
Early one morning in September there was a tap at the kitchen window. Investigating this further, I came face to face with this little chap (who we now call “Squirrel Nutkin”) who looked so surprised at the apparition of a human first thing in the morning! It has to be said this really is one of the joys of living in a rural Norfolk town! Apologies for the blurred photograph the picture was taken through the glass of the patio door as he scampered up the apple tree!
The garden was also extremely fruitful this autumn and allowed us to make an array of chutneys, including a stunning Piccalilli (with thanks to Tony Leck of Guernsey for the recipe with the addition of Samphire) and “a rather special” homemade Tomato Ketchup, (with thanks to Jamie Oliver for the recipe) that received the praise of two of the toughest Tomato Ketchup aficionados Dan & Ben the Sons! All our garden produce/creations are available for you to try at breakfast.
Improving our breakfast offering for 2020, we have now added an additional range of coffees; introducing the house blends of Costa & Starbucks Americano as well as still providing the popular Dolce Gusto Grande.
Work has now started on the rear “kitchen” garden wall, firstly with the removal of three years growth of Ivy and the laying of a railway line in Jack & Grandad’s shed! I will update you all later in the year when we post our Spring Blog.
As ever we look forward to welcoming new and old guests, here in bustling Swaffham at Holly Lodge. Oh… look out for our new external signage too, with many thanks to our brilliant Web Designer.