JaretHouse

Why Bob Marley wrote a song about making Jam I can’t say but Jaret House has been the centre of Jam production recently. First came the strawberry… which was so good we went out and picked some more and jammed that too.  Then we awaited our local fruit farm to announce the arrival of the goosegogs ..  but we missed them and were faced with a year without the Empress of all Jams  (that’s what I think anyway!).

However we were saved .. a rare night away in the North Yorks village of Killerby (where else could we stay?), and we found a wee PYO farm offering gooseberries, raspberries and blackcurrents.  The GG jam is made, and the three minute boil BC jam is due for making this morning.

Trouble is are running out of storage space …  we bought new sideboards to accommodate the strawberry jam …  where to put the new stuff is the question.

Jaret House seems to be making a splash across the world.  Our opening day saw a resident of Moscow check in and just the other day we had a couple of Australian residents (bemoanong the cold snap we were having) staying with us before their long flight home.

And this week, well he lived in this country but cycled 135 miles to get here (and presumably a similar distance to get home again.  A few long distance walkers (on the Limestone Way and the Inn  Way)
have dropped by on Shank’s pony and a couple of guests have arrived by public transport and explored the peak District during their stay using it too.

Perhaps we ought to have a competition to see who can travel the furthest by the most unusal form of transport.  Now where is that Space Hopper?

Ever since giving up my illustrious career as a 100 & 200 metre sprinter (yes I know it’s hard to imagine - it was when I was at school), you’ve won hasn’t been a regularly used phrase.  Yes the odd raffle prize (a tube of tennis balls was the last thing) and a Christmas hamper a couple of years ago.

So imagine the surprise as I looked through my email to see this phrase adorning the subject line of an email
… spam was the first thought ….  but on opening I discovered I’d won a Blackberry phone through the good folk at Enterprise Nation, a website for those of us who work from home.  Being a bit of techie-geek I can’t wait to get my hands on it and play - not quite as tasty as a piece of Christmas shortbread but hey Blackberry’s are tasty too.

I don’t know, one minute it’s the end of March and I’m sitting back waiting the influx of birthday presents, then next April has been and gone and it’s now May.  Another busy month and more happy guests.  Comment of the month ….  ”This is the best B&B I’ve ever stayed in” by someone who stays up and down the country with his business.  Wow .

One of the joys of having a B&B to run is the continual search for culinary perfection. Of course one person’s idea of perfection is going to differ from the next but over the past few months the onerous tasks of trying bacon and sausages from a variety of local butchers has been joy.

As has the search for the perfect flapjack. Regular baking and sampling is doing nothing for the waistline but someone’s got to do it! Today’s is wonderful.

As the snow falls gently over the Peak District and the spring lambs are wondering just why they popped out of their mums when they did, a Happy Easter to all our readers ……..

Just a quick note but after the fantastic news of achieving our four star rating, we’ve just heard that we have been recommended for the much coveted Environmental Quality Mark (EQM) awarded by the Peak District National Park. More later but now off to celebrate for the weekend!

After years of planning, months of hard work and days of fretting, we’ve just had our four-star rating confirmed by the inspector. A nerve-wracking time once we’d sussed it was she, but we came through the other side and we’re official. Tideswell’s first 4 star bed and Breakfast.

Throughout the conversion of Jaret House, we have been mindful of our commitment to the environment. Now that we are open, we hope we are doing our bit too! We have therefore submitted our application for the Environmental Quality Mark, a Peak District National park run scheme to promote positive environmental action.

We are now at the fingers-crossed stage and hope that what we have done and are doing will satisfy the external and independent assessment panel. Time will tell and we’ll let you know the outcome.

Despite a turn for the cool, the sun is still gracing us with it’s presence … and it’s half term in Derbyshire too!

Bookings are looking good for the rest of the month, next month and April … but there are still gaps so feel free to book.