Countdown to Christmas

The Christmas countdown is well under way here at Luggs - the Barn has long been booked for the festive season but we're already taking bookings for 2014.

The weather's been lovely lately, fairly mild most days but sunny and I've been taking advantage of this with lots of long walks with Monty and Ted up to Culmstock Beacon to enjoy the panoramic views.


The mild weather means that our gorgeous Devon countryside still looks very autumnal rather than wintry. The girls are hoping to be snowed in soon, but I'm keeping everything crossed that the snow can wait until the New Year so that all our guests can get here safely! We've traded in our trusty Land Rover for a more economical (and still 4x4) Skoda Octavia estate which we're delighted with, so fingers crossed it lives up to expectations when the weather turns.

It's been lovely to see some of this year's peak season guests taking advantage of our last minute deals and coming back for short breaks this season. We love seeing people return time after time, and enjoy the fact that Luggs provides a haven for so many people as well as ourselves.

I'm proud (and perhaps slightly smug!) to say that I've bought and wrapped all but one present already this year, and have also done my food shopping online for delivery just before Christmas. All the main supermarkets deliver regularly to Luggs Barn; many of our guests love the convenience of arriving to a well-stocked kitchen, especially this time of year. We're looking forward to welcoming the party from Christmas 2011 for their second festive season at Luggs Barn - they booked on Boxing Day last year, saying 'It just wasn't the same this year - can we come back next Christmas?!'

We're hoping to get up into the attic this week to find all the decorations, and will enjoy making Luggs Barn and our own farmhouse look even more beautiful for the festive season. We'll be collecting holly and ivy from the surrounding woods and are looking forward to choosing some gorgeous trees from our friends at Dunkeswell - we go every year and it's always a very special occasion. I like to wait until the week before to put all the decorations up, so that they still look their best for Christmas - and so that we're not all sick of them before twelfth night! Needless to say, chocolate advent calendars and a great deal of seasonal craft projects are ensuring that our kitchen looks appropriately festive already!

If you're thinking of planning a visit to Luggs Barn in 2014, now's the time to ensure your preferred dates don't get snapped up by someone else! Call now on 01823 681605 or email luggsbarn@gmail.com.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our guests past, current and future. We look forward to welcoming as many of you as possible during 2014 and beyond.

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!