Early morning Autumn scene

Thought our regular readers would like to see the view here at 8am, as the sun was burning off the mist in the valley. Beautiful sight, especially after yesterday's rain!

The final picture shows the hens and geese getting up for their breakfast - the geese are huge now! Still no eggs from them, although the hens are keeping us well supplied and the cakes continue to be well received!

Most of December is now booked but we have a few days free mid-month if you're considering a pre-Christmas break.

We still have a special offer for all 7 night stays in November - save £200 on mention of this blog! Please call for up to date availability. See you next month as the Christmas preparations begin in earnest!

Garden planning: the final piece of the jigsaw

We're very excited to be finally getting to grips with the gardens at Luggs!

Undertaking two huge renovation projects back to back (just 10 days off between them last Christmas!) has meant we've had no funds, time or imagination for the gardens until now. There's a lot of scope for improvement in the planting as many beautiful plants were lost in bringing both buildings to their potential - unavoidable in a project of this scale, but nonetheless a terrible shame and something we look forward to rectifying!

With autumn upon us and the first frost promised for this week, we're looking ahead to next season. We've had a visit from an experienced plantsman and designer whose depth of knowledge is incredible - he's going to help us bring all our ideas together. As ever, we'll be doing a lot of the work ourselves but we're really excited to have some expert guidance - the last 15 years have largely been about buildings rather than gardens so we have a lot to learn!

Keep an eye out for progress reports this season and over the winter, as we'll be preparing soil, agreeing planting plans and raising seedlings (a polytunnel is much coveted but there's no obvious home for one at the moment so we may have to improvise!). By the time next holiday season is upon us, the gardens at Luggs should be better than ever.

Bonfire Night
We're also making plans for our now-annual bonfire party! Lots of local friends arrive every year armed with piles of homemade brownies, slow roast Kittow Cattle beef and pumpkin soup. Everyone brings a bottle and a few fireworks and it's become a greatly anticipated evening, usually rounded off with an impromptu live music session as all the musicians among us take turns to entertain! If you'd like to join us, Luggs Barn is currently free for Bonfire Night - call now for special last minute rates and ensure an extra special stay!

Don't forget to join us on Facebook or Twitter, where we post regular updates on life at Luggs as well as special offers and late availability deals. See you next month!

Sausage and Crackling have arrived!

We collected our long-awaited piglets last night! Named Sausage and Crackling by the girls, they'll be with us till early spring and are going to clear the wildly overgrown veg patch for us. They have a new home made entirely of pallets and wood already on site and a deep bed of straw - they've already dug themselves a nice muddy hole and are sunbathing! They'll be well fed with plenty of windfall apples from the orchard, as well as pig nuts and of course all the non-meat scraps from the kitchen.

Our pig gurus have given us a crash course and the gist seems to be: feed them plenty (but throw it on the ground, as they can't distinguish between a carrot and the hand that's offering it!); let no tiny gap in the fence go unnoticed as they'll wriggle through and be off across the fields in seconds; otherwise, leave them to it and they should be happy and contented animals.

They're extremely characterful, have already had a good look round their patch and had a good scratch on a handy wall! The girls are delighted with them and were most upset to have to go to school rather than spend all day watching (and feeding!) them. The dogs are fascinated and can't keep away at the moment. Hopefully our autumn and winter visitors will enjoy meeting these new arrivals, as well as the dogs, sheep, hens and geese already in residence!

We're offering £200 off 7 night stays at Luggs Barn in October and November (excluding half term) - come and enjoy Devon's autumn colours at a great price! Please call for availability.

New Year cancellation

Our New Year guests have sadly had to cancel their booking. We have turned away dozens of enquiries this year as this booking had been made almost a year in advance. I'll be contacting as many people as I can but if you're interested, the New Year period is reavailable at the time of writing! Contact us asap please, it will be allocated on a first come, first served basis...

Last minute Autumn deals on a slice of Devon Life!

Autumn seems to have suddenly arrived along with the school bus this year! There's a definite yellow glow to quite a few trees around Luggs Barn, and our thoughts are already turning to our annual firework party!

We've got some great deals on last minute breaks this autumn - 9-16 September is currently free and now available for just £650 - for 8 or 9 people, that's a superb deal and a great opportunity to explore the Devon countryside before the weather turns chilly.

We were delighted to see the excellent coverage in September's issue of Devon Life. They've devoted a whole Holiday Lettings page to the virtues of Luggs Barn! Hopefully this informative piece and the beautiful photos they've used will help reach even more prospective guests - Devon Life has a large and loyal readership all over the UK as well as at home.

Fame at last - and day tripping in Devon!

We're delighted to report a small mention in the current (Sept '11) issue of Country Homes & Interiors Magazine - check out page 123! Perhaps helped by this small fame, enquiry levels continue to grow and we're delighted with bookings for autumn/winter already. If you're thinking of visiting in 2012, especially in peak season, please get in touch soon to avoid disappointment.

Out of the office, we've managed to dodge the drizzle and have had several wonderful days out lately, making the most of our beautiful location. Earlier this week, we joined a large group of friends for a day at Beer; some hardy souls enjoyed boat trips for mackerel fishing and regaled us all with tales of the one that got away!

The rest of the day passed in swimming in the sea, eating chips on the shingle beach, and watching the other sailors come and go with their catches. The Devon ice cream was another important mainstay that no afternoon should be without, and we even saw some sunshine to give us our excuse! The children had great fun exploring the rockpools and managed to find plenty of crabs, winkles and other curiosities.

We brought our mackerel catch home for a barbeque in the evening and augmented it with some fresh sardines from the renowned fish shop on the seafront at Beer. Everyone from 3 to 73 pronounced the day, and the meal, a great success!

We're planning another beach day with visiting friends from Hampshire next week, this time at Saunton Sands in north Devon. Slightly further afield, this 5 mile stretch of glorious sand is renowned for its surf. Daisy, newly 7 and with a brand new body board to try out, has already packed her wetsuit and is crossing off the days on the calendar!

Another firm favourite is Escot near Honiton, and we have season tickets which we'll definitely use several times this summer. Willow adores seeing the peacocks and watching the otter feeding times, and Daisy enjoys getting us all lost in the maze and trying to persuade the adults to brave the vertical drop-slide in the woods...

Back home, we've now fenced our garden so that Monty and Ted are less likely to explore too far afield. Our beach day this week was the first test of the fencing. When we returned to find them on the drive, wagging delightedly, our hearts sank - but it turns out the fencing is fine. They'd just discovered the old mounting block in the front yard which enabled them to scale the stone wall and make a bid for freedom! The trouble is, they couldn't then get back into the garden, so our next project is to somehow increase the height of the wall by the mounting block to ensure that they stay put!

We have lots more plans for the second half of the summer holidays and continue to welcome a steady stream of guests to Luggs Barn, all of whom are enjoying their family breaks and most of whom have had great weather too. Check back soon to read more about the holiday season and if you're planning an autumn or winter break, or looking ahead to next summer, please book early!

Egg production up!

Two eggs already from the new ex battery hens! Fast work.