We asked everyone we know, and half of them said definitely, half said couldn’t care less. Half said we always eat off our knees, the other half said always at the table. So, space being at a premium, we got nice lap trays while we scoured the planet for the world’s most sensible folding but useful dining table.
It arrived today, and seems to be just the job. Folded up it is just a shelf, but opened out it seems pretty sturdy. Time will tell.
Tidying out the old summerhouse for use as a utility for the Lodge has produced some large spiders – all now relocated into the orchard. The freezer looks very well, humming away quietly to itself. Now that there is electricity we can expand into boot warmers and a fan heater to dry coats. One day we hope to have a washer/dryer in there, but finding where the water pipe runs is proving problematic. Then we have to dig another soakaway. I’m hoping that when the builders are up to their eyes in kitchen-related problems I can divert them with an interesting conundrum – find the missing water…
Two more bookings, so Friday 23rd August will be the day we find out if we’ve done enough. I’ve spoken to the doves and pheasants and asked them nicely to make themselves known. I’ve ordered some good weather and told the cats to stay out of sight. 
After the first guests it will all be plain sailing (it says here…) and the news will be about the rest of the Fieldfare project. (I still have to hem the curtains for the Lodge – but there’s two days left yet).
Further to my last post – which may have sounded like the builders were still toiling away in the Lodge – we are also in the process of making a kitchen in our house. The dividing wall is down and the floor has been remade, the Aga is installed and working. It feels like the big stuff is now done. All that remains (!) is to rip the old units out, build a new skin on the outer wall, paint and decorate, electrify everywhere and put the new units in. And other things. Simples. We do like the builders – they’re now like family. I make them cake – it seems to help.
Gosh – it’s all getting a bit real now. Our first booking is for the weekend of the World Cycling Championships. The bikes go right past our door, so we’re quite excited that we don’t have to choose a place to stand (as is usual for the Tour de Yorkshire). (Except it does also feel a bit like cheating…🤔). Anyway, we are now excited to welcome visitors to the Dales – and to (we hope) learn pretty quickly what we’re doing right (and maybe what we could be doing differently). Right – I’m off now to try and remember where I put the bunting and the flags – nothing is where it should be since the builders moved in!
I decided t
hat a small chest freezer in the little shed outside the Lodge would be useful, so AO are going to deliver one soon. Again there have been differing opinions, but I went with my own instinct. Perhaps not many guests will want to have a week’s supply of pizza and/or chips delivered, but for the one that does, we will be ready. ☺️
The more we talk to other people about the Lodge, the more confusion abounds. Don’t kit it out because everything will just walk; provide everything because that’s what holidaymakers want. (We’ve gone for the provide everything option – it’s what we like when we go away). There is, however, the quandary over what goes in the welcome basket. I gaily decided on all the things that I would like – milk, butter, cheese, bread and cake. And a bottle of something enlivening if at all possible. But what if the guests are vegetarian? Or vegan? Or gluten intolerant? Or if they don’t do butter, just spread? Or if they have blue-top, red-top, green-top milk? Or full-fat gold top (yum)?
But this time the sun shines all day. The website begins to look more informative, and to give a more rounded look at the Lodge than the agents can. It will be good to hear back from our 
guests (when we have some!) about what more we can say on the website or provide in the Lodge.
We decide that we need more photos of the Lodge, to give an idea of the countryside, the garden, the wildlife, the history… The weather is wonderful, the sun is shining, the camera is found and the battery is fully charged. We are taking this whole photo/composition/website optimisation thing very seriously, and make notes and lists. Finally we are ready. The sun disappears.
It was great to find our Quality Assessment Report in the inbox today – and to be told we have a Visit England 4 star self catering rating. All that shopping and sorting was worth it!
go right past our door and across Middleham Bridge. Safe storage for bikes available.
This is the rags to riches story of Fieldfare Lodge, from a “bedsit” (draughty, dirty) and car port to the holiday let annexe it is today. Our builders (Acton and Mudd) and Plumbers (Mike Percival) and Electrician (Gerald Scott) turned a junkyard into a little jewel, and we cannot thank them enough.
Click on any photo to start the show!
