…and the Christmas decorations are going up!  This may seem a little early for a seaside hotel like us but we have our first Christmassy functions towards the end of this week so we just had to bite the bullet and get on with it.  In keeping with the last couple of years we are going for a “less is more” approach so you won’t be bombarded with tinsel and the glittery strands that have been known to litter Christmas trees.

We always seem to struggle to remember which bit is which, despite getting better at putting the right labels on the bags and boxes.  Jill and Joyce have done the tree in reception and started the Met Lounge as well as some of the smaller decorations in the main lounge, I did the new big green garlands with the lights over the archways through to the cafe bar and we have the tree up in the restaurant too.  I’m now just trying to sort out which new bits went over the arch in the restaurant!  We’ll get this all finished off over the next couple of days so by the week end it will look great.

I hadn’t seen our wild rabbits much recently and thought they may have moved on somewhere more sheltered as winter is approaching but while showing a client around the hotel earlier this week we stopped to look out of the window over the pool and saw one of them out in the corner near the shed - good to know they are still around and keeping the grass trimmed for us!

I was going to wait until the sweep had been to light the fire in the hall but was actually told by them that it was better to light the fire first so everything dries out properly before the chimney is swept.  Tony tested the draw first just to make sure there were no blockages and then we lit it late this morning.

It does make a lovely feel to the entrance and to see the coals glowing in the grate makes you feel warmer straight away.  My next task is to order some more coal so we have enough to see us through the next few weeks.  I will arrange with the sweep when he comes to book next year’s visit earlier so we can have the fire going from the beginning of November.  It would be better if we could find somewhere to put up a coal bunker and buy loose coal in the summer so that is all here ready to go too.

Now comes the fun of lighting the fire every morning!

For those of you who know the hotel you may be aware of some odd panelling over the door into the lounge opposite the stairs.  This looks like somebody has put some plasterboard up and painted it white.  The other side has been similarly boxed.  I have been curious as to what was behind here for some time and decided that we would have a look when we redecorated the lounge.

Peter the painter is back in now and once he and Tony had stripped the paper off Tony cut out a section of baord and we could have a look.  The original Georgian wired glass is still there and all the old frame is too so it is all off already!  Peter will be painting it up on both sides while he is doing the lounge and this, combined with our new, lighter paper in there will make it seem so much brighter.  One step at a time and we will soon be able to look back and see what progress we have made!

I was back to work yesterday after a couple of weeks off and today I came in on my bike.  This was quite hard work as it was the first time I had been on it for almost three weeks!

Thankfully it was a lovely, crisp morning so that side was quite pleasant but it will take a few days to get the fitness back to where it was before.  I think I will ache a bit when i get home but it is all worth it.