I’ve just been asked if I would be happy to host a hustings evening on the 9th of April for the local Padstow residents to grill the candidates for the forthcoming election.  Naturally I jumped at the chance to host a prestigious event like this, it will be very exciting to be involved with such an important part of our democratic process.  Jill Hagley who is organising the event on behalf of Padstow Area Business and Tourism Forum (PATBF) has told me that Dan Rogerson the sitting MP and Sian Flynn the primary challenger have already confirmed they would be happy to attend so it promises to be a lively evening!

There will be more information here, on our Facebook page and on Twitter as we have it.

I’ve just heard that my friends at The Fowey Hotel have raised over £1000 for Shelterbox.  They held a fundraising day selling coffee and cup cakes as well as an auction and raffle - with the most eye watering event being some of the chefs undertaking a sponsored leg wax!

I am doing my bit by trying to blackmail Andrea (The Fowey’s manager) for some extra cash for her appeal!  Can’t tell you what the hold I have over her is but it’s worth a couple of pounds I’m sure!

If you feel like making a donation do please do so on the Shelterbox web site and it would be good if you could let the team at Fowey know too.

I think the phrase is “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”, that may be a little extreme for what happened at breakfast this morning but it will do to start me off now!

When we serve our good healthy porridge we always give a separate plate with a bowl of brown sugar and a little jug of cream - what else are holidays for if not a little indulgence - but this does create a logistical issue for carrying to the table as most people are not eating alone.  Carrying three plates is an easy skill we pick up pretty quickly but when one of them has two loose items of china on them it does add to the excitement.  Danni was about to take out table eight’s breakfast, a grill and a porridge main course.  As she was starting to struggle a bit I offered to bring the porridge.  I soon wished I hadn’t!  As it was a main course one there was a good chance the lady could have already used her cereal spoon so I picked up an extra one to take out with me.  I don’t like to carry the spoon in my hands and then pop it onto the table, it is much more professional to carry it on something else so I was trying to get Danni’s attention to put the spoon on the same plate as the cream and suger.  As I was concentrating on getting the spoon to Danni while walking through the door into the restaurant the door swung back ond caught me on the arm.  Yes it was the hand I was holding the porridge with and yes it is a big heavy door!  I just couldn’t help it, the impact of the door was enough to dislodge the bowl and off it flew.  I covered a good square metre of the matting on the way into the restaurant, right in the middle of service.  It’s not the easiest of things to clear up with a dustpan and brush but thankfully I got most of it up and the rest has been hoovered now it’s dried.

In case you are wondering Goldilocks did get her porridge after a little delay cooking a fresh one and I guess this does prove the other old adage about men and multitasking!

Over the winter we always try and make some significant inroads into the decoration of the hotel and this year has been no exception.  Before Christmas Peter carried on with our schedule in the bedrooms and now all have been redecorated, ready to start again next winter!

Our main achievement this year since Christmas has been to re-decorate the restaurant.  This is very nearly finished with just the small bay to be completed now.  All the staff are really pleased with how fresh and clean it looks with a much quieter paper.  We are also reviewing the art on the walls again and the key thing will be for us to have much less - just a few stunning pictures will, I think, have much more impact in the room.

My attention is now turning to the Cafe Bar, this was painted recently so that does not need doing but the windows need a tidy up.  I am trying to see if we can get some sleeves to cover the pillars as these are quite old looking and not well put together.  The cills are similarly awkward and in need of a tidy up.  I have had a quote for replacing the blinds too - the existing ones are dummies and only drop about 2 feet - not at all helpful when the sun is shinng brightly.  Once the blinds are in place we’ll take the curtains down and see if we can re-use them elsewhere in the hotel, I am sure this will make the Cafe Bar feel much more spacious.

Now we need to start planning for what we are going to do next winter - and we need to do as much as we can because Peter will be retiring the following summer!