23rd December 2011.
We've had the pot holes in the car park filled in, so now able to accept bookings from people with Ferraris and Lamborghinis.
WiFi now seems to be working and reliable.
8th December 2011
WiFi seems to be more stable now (except that the broadband in the office has been acting up lately which has lead me to discover just how awful BT's customer support is.)
Spotted a cormorant by the lake the other day so I'll have to start my annual campaign of wandering around waving my arms about and making a lot of noise. May even try doing it by the lakes to scare the cormorants as well.
16th July 2011
Well to be honest the WiFi has been a bit of a disaster. Reception is OK when it works, but it doesn't work for most of the time. The trouble is that I cunningly installed the router in one of the cottages and it's a bit awkward getting access when people are living in the cottage - which is pretty much all the time. The old service still works so I can still hand on heart say that you can get a wireless broadband signal, but the new sytem looks like a project for the winter.
6th July 2011
Upgraded our WiFi today. A bit of an experiment, but the signal should now reach all the cottages except Willow (sorry Willow) - we're working on this but I want to see how reception is with the changes we've made before doing anything else.
9th May 2011
Major disappointment - looks like Lottie isn't going to have puppies.
New flock (?) of goslings on the lake.
16th April 2011
The chickens are a-laying nicely now that they've settled in. These are the friendliest chickens we've ever had, but the downside is that they peck at my legs when I let them out in the morning. Makes the decision when to switch to shorts a difficult one.
The pool's heating up well and most of the annual painting and patio cleaning is done. Bit of a problem with the floor of the pool - looks a bit stained - something to do with absorbing copper over the winter according to our pool expert. Seems to be slowly clearing though, but if it still looks odd when you go swimming it's not dirty and it's quite harmless. Hope to restore the pristine blue colour soon though. Note to anyone thinking of booking in April - the pool doesn't officially open until 1st May. If I can get it going any earlier I will, but I can't make any promises so please don't rely on an early opening without checking first.
18th March 2011
Left our electrician to fix the car park flood lights whilst I drove into Exeter to pick up the girls. Got a call to say he had left the stable gate open and the ponies were in the car park and the Alpacas were running up the drive, and what should he do? I resisted the urge to tell him. When we got home the Alpacas had migrated into the turnip field and the electrician was chasing them around with a bucket of pony nuts. He asked if we had some rope so that he could lasso them - I always thought he was a cowboy, but this was proof. Milly and I spent the next half hour trying to catch the beasts, and eventually managed to drive them back round into the drive, where they were successfully herded back into the paddock by a couple of our guests.
Sophie's birthday dinner held at Al Farid - a Moroccan restaurant in Exeter. Really good food and a great atmosphere. We had a brilliant time.
3rd March 2011
Had one of our retrievers (Lottie) mated over the weekend. If all goes well this time we might have puppies arounf the beginning of May.
Two swans on the lake today. Quite unusual. Also some Canada geese (more expected).
14th Feb 2011
Just acquired an aerial photo of Bussells taken in 1968. Amazing to see how it looked with the barns and outbuildings. The cottages are completely recognizable though - we always thought that the barns had been demolished and rebuilt but we were wrong - they were just modified. Picture shows cows coming out of Swan and all sorts of interesting stuff.
As of December 1st we will be using the Devon Farms on-line booking system, which you should be able to access either through this website or our entry on the Devon Farms website. The system has the usual availability plan, but you will also be able to make a provisional booking on-line provided it is for a full week or more. We still offer short breaks - but we have to sort those out manually. Don't forget we're still here on the end of a phone so you can always call or e-mail us to make a booking or check availability. There are bound to be some initial glitches so if you have a problem don't give up - call us and let us know what you're having trouble with.
On the same subject (on-line booking) we have had to include the electricity deposit into the overall price for a cottage - that's why the on-line booking price differs from that published on this website. The overall totals are the same though.
Did you know that Lucy is a qualified driving instructor? Why not book a course of lessons and combine them with a cottage holiday? The standard hourly rate is £22. Lucy has a dual-control Renault Clio.
Bussells Farm Cottages Ltd, Huxham, Devon, EX5 4EN England
Telephone : +44 (0)1392 841238 | Fax : +44 (0)1392 841345
Reg No 04700636. Registered in England
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