Uncle Alan.. this blog is for you!!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year. We were busy with a double sitting for Xmas day, a slightly less busy Boxing Day and then a good for days in between followed by a busy, fun filled New year’s eve celebration where the hotel gets bedecked with streamers, balloons and gold and silver sparkles and looks very twinkling, pretty and festive.

We had great guests and were so proud of our team, who as always worked so hard for us and overall as is always the case when we de-brief after Xmas and NY, despite the fact we all worked hard, we had a fun filled time with lovely people.

2012 ended up an interesting year where as always many events happened. Gerard travelled around the world, clocking up 90,000 plus miles and his mission for 2013 is to travel even more miles and taste even more wines! We enter 2013 with a burst of energy, exciting plans for the hotel, what with the January opening of “The Dining Room at TerraVina’, our regular, monthly wine events, new, demonstration cookery events and if we can raise the funds the extension to build extra bedrooms and the cookery school- unfortunately the long running recession has bitten us hard and we have had to postpone the building plans but we are hopeful that 2013 could well be the year that the building grows.

We are off to London for a few days of post Xmas rest and relaxation with theatre shows, restaurants and cocktails beckoning and then it is back to puppy training in earnest, the school run and the usual juggling of all the different hats we wear as busy hoteliers, restaurateurs, MD, parents and all the other multi tasking roles we hold.

Thus happy New Year to all of you and we look forward to keeping in touch through the year and hope to see you during 2013 at TerraVina.

Till next week

Nx

I was very surprised and deeply touched by a friend of mine last week- her act of kindness rendered me speechless (not very usual!). She completely surprised me with her gift and even now as I recount the story I am still reeling from the shock and surprise…

Sheila West, of SR WebMedia is the lady responsible for ensuring that once I have written my blog and sometimes she gently nudges me along the way on the occasions that I run out of hours in a day and don’t deliver it on time…. basically I write the blog and then Sheila ensures that it gets posted to the web and is there for all to see. She does all the techy bits as I am such a techno phobe and all I do is the nicest part and the best bit of simply writing it.

Quietly and secretly, Sheila has been gathering the best offerings of the blog which I have now been writing weekly (almost) for 2 years and has collated them together into a book of a whole year’s worth of blog posts, which she has actually had published for me, complete with an ISBN number (some technical detail apparently that ensures the book is authentic and properly registered).  The next step is to have more copies printed (everyone who knows me will have one in their Xmas stocking!) and hopefully Amazon will have me too, so watch this space. But as of now, I am a published author of a book I never realized I was writing.

However, no matter which shelf it ends up on, (if any), the bit that stunned me was the act of kindness and the amazing gift that Sheila offered me- what a lovely, lovely surprise and one that touched me hugely. I love writing the blog… I only write if because I enjoy the routine of sitting, thinking and writing all sorts; the fact that anyone reads it always surprises me and now to think that someone has considered having some of the posts published into a book on my behalf is fantastic.

Huge thanks Sheila- you are so kind and really I cannot tell you how pleased I am and touched at such a lovely, thoughtful gift.

Thank you, thank you, thank you

Till next week

Nx

We often have children to stay at the hotel. Whilst we do not have many facilities for them to enjoy, other than the outdoor pool and garden in dry, sunny weather, there are of course the wonders of the forest and Paultons Park and Peppa Pig on  our doorstep! They all seem to enjoy the relaxed and friendly atmosphere and we have fun hearing all about their days out and about exploring the area.

Many of the children are so well behaved that we remark on their good manners, their behaviour and what a pleasure it is to look after them. They are all lovely, but recently one little boy struck us all as being even more special than the rest.. His name is George and whilst he was with us he was the most positive, sunny natured, smiling little boy. All of the team have unanimously said that he is super special and he was an absolute pleasure to have to stay at TerraVina.

Thank you George for being such a star guest and HUGE thanks for our thank you card which has pride of place in our office

We hope to welcome you back again and again and do bring Mummy and Daddy as they were lovely too!

Love,

Nina, Gerard, Suzi and all the Team

The saying “Never work with children or dogs” is so true. I love children, especially my own, adorable son and equally I love animals and most especially dogs, particularly our own puppy, Malmsey. However, at eight months old, Malmsey (yes, she does have a wine name too- she is named after a style of Madeira wine) is becoming a troublesome “teenager” and no more so than when we go to our weekly puppy training sessions. Now, I must admit to the fact that whilst I am organized and well able to multi-task and manage a business with all sorts of staff and personalities, of which, now we are merged with 10in8, numbers a considerable few, BUT when it comes to managing a willful, mischievious puppy I am lost, no less because I have dreadful hand and eye co-ordination; in these trendy times they label it dyspraxia; when I was little and at school, I was just labelled clumsy and everyone was aware that certain tasks took me longer than my peers to master and some tasks I just never got to grips with… bats and balls are especially trying!

Back to the puppy training- I am hopeless. I cannot master having to hold a dog lead, a clicker (training aid), nibbles to lure her to listen to me and walk and talk and concentrate all at once and the ensuing carnage both frustrates, annoys and provides entertainment all at once to various other members and trainers within the group….. the other puppies and dogs are all so much better behaved and listen and act upon commands effectively, whilst Malmsey and I are all over the place and cause chaos in our wake! It doesn’t help that Malmsely too has been diagnosed with slow hand and eye co-ordination and she has the attention span of a gnat. It has got to the stage when next week, after a 6 week beginners course we will all be assessed fro progress… the only positive that they will be able to note is that Malmsey is very pretty and has an adorable nature as her progress is fairly haphazard on the focused tasks. Thus I have been taken to one side and it has been very kindly suggested that rather then re-enrolling on the next course, I should instead have some further 1-1 session with the dog trainer, we do already have some of those and they are easier for us both to manage, so we have readily and gratefully accepted and are putting a positive spin on the whole saga- it could have been worse, we could have been expelled for bad behaviour and really if I’m honest things can only get better.

Meanwhile, at home the puppy is turning into a delinquent as she is chewing everything she can get her teeth into whilst she is teething…. Her particular favourite are door mats and we are on our 4^th and counting. She takes no prisoners with whicker baskets and dog beds too and is quite partial to the edges of tables and sofas too….. a friend has suggested a tiny smear of chilli powder may surprise her enough to stop her but if any of you have a top tips then do share.

Whilst at home there is puppy chaos, at TerraVina we are calm and ordered and it is a very welcome respite as a puppy free zone! We have some lovely Mellow Autumn breaks, offers and events planned for the forthcoming months and as always we love to keep seeing so many returning guests and familiar faces

Till next week

Nx