Our very first Christmas tree!

It's up! Luggs Barn's very first Christmas tree is looking beautiful, we've also hung mistletoe and fairy lights in the kitchen and the whole building feels wonderfully festive. Today's arrivals were delighted and we're thrilled to be ready for our first Christmas as a holiday let.

Bookings for 2012 are already healthy but as Christmas and New Year booked up back in January this year (prior to the NY cancellation during autumn which we quickly filled), now's the time to secure Christmas or New Year 2012/3. It may feel a long way off but we've disappointed literally dozens of interested parties during 2011 who've missed out on their Christmas dream so to make sure it's you here next year, call us soon!

We hope you enjoy these photos of our handiwork and wish all our guests the very best for a Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year!

Christmas is coming...

...and our geese are certainly getting fat, but we've decided to spare them and have ordered a turkey this year (as well as all our other Christmas meat) from our friends at Kittow Cattle!

As you can see, we've made a small start on decorating Luggs Barn for its first festive season! We've tried to balance the restrained preferences of the winter wedding party currently in residence with the more glitzy requests of young visitors! The kitchen will hopefully have fairy lights on the main beam next week, but for now a sparkly mini tree is a tasteful counterpoint to the overload of (pink) tinsel planned by our girls for the farmhouse!

The double height hall in Luggs Barn is particularly beautiful; the oak banisters are now adorned with frosted garlands and a wreath welcomes guests in from the cold. (The latter is hung inside the door to avoid Monty's attentions - last year's glorious berry heart met a sorry end five minutes after its debut!)

Plans are afoot to buy both trees this weekend - this year's Christmas guests have requested a real tree and nothing else will do for the main house either. Photos will follow shortly once they're suitably splendid!

Outside, the ducks are settling in well and have laid two eggs so far. The long awaited cake making with these began and ended this afternoon when we discovered the yolks were a nasty brown colour! Despite advice from expert duck keepers that they've probably just been eating too many acorns, we were rather put off by this, so have made the latest offering (Victoria sponge with chocolate orange buttercream filling) using the reliably fabulous hens' eggs! Hopefully it won't be long before the ducks start earning their keep...

The pigs are growing well and permanently hungry, so fit in well here! They're doing a great job of turning over the veg patch, so we're hoping for a productive spring and summer next year.

In the main house, the final push is underway and we're clinging to the hope that all the really messy internal work will be done by Christmas. Flagstones are finally laid in the last 3 small rooms and these are now being (lime) plastered. We've also found an interesting cubbyhole in one very thick wall which we're going to leave open - more photos will follow in due course but for now the whirl of changeovers and nativity plays is keeping us busy!

When we finally sit down in a couple of weeks' time we'll be looking forward to our second holiday season - bookings for 2012 are already encouraging. We wish all our guests past, present and future a very Happy Christmas!

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.