Lightning stops play

I'm writing this update camped out in a friend's office while awaiting our new router...last Friday afternoon during a spectacular thunderstorm, lightning struck a telegraph pole in Culm Davy, knocking out all our land lines and blowing up everyone's routers! Luckily no-one was on the phone at the time and the telephones were fixed fairly quickly - just as well in an area with limited mobile signal! - but we're still awaiting our new router. Our neighbours at http://kittowcattle.co.uk/ had a spare router so are back online and have become the IT hub of the hamlet while the rest of us are struggling! Many thanks to Dave and Sarah for lending us some office space to stay in touch with our guests this week.

I've been to another superb workshop this morning via the Blackdown Hills Business Association with Cosmic IT. Entitled The Future of Business, it gave us an eye-opening introduction to technologies which will soon be available, and made us all realise that we need to keep abreast of all these developments to ensure our businesses remain competitive in today's world. From image (as opposed to text or voice) searching to Augmented Reality apps enabling us all to see beyond our own eyes, it was fascinating but also slightly daunting! The cornerstone of all this wizardry, of course, is good broadband connection and speed - which we in rural Devon tend to struggle to obtain. One option is satellite broadband which is something that we're hoping to explore with the help of Cosmic IT at some point in future.

No-one could have predicted last week's lightning strike, but hopefully it won't strike twice here in Culm Davy and normal service will be resumed very soon. Please telephone with any urgent queries on 01823 681605 or send an email, which generally comes through to my mobile as long as it's on the windowsill! The leaves are finally coming out now and the whole area is looking lush and green - with the bluebells at their best, it's a welcome sight after the storms of the past week!

We still have some availability in June and September, although the summer holidays are fully booked I'm afraid. If you're considering a break, please get in touch and ask about last minute deals, or see our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Luggs-Barn-Devon/143513745697324

A beautiful rainbow after a less damaging storm the other week!

Blackdown Hills pork roast and Countryfile fame

Early February has seen a few changes outdoors! Firstly, our much loved pigs (Sausage and Crackling) have now gone. Despite more guilt than any of us anticipated, tonight the first of our very own home reared pork roasts beat even our high expectations. The builders repairing the drive were concreting until after 8pm, so were particularly appreciative of such a superb dinner. Homemade apple sauce and stuffing made perfect accompaniments and the crackling - dare we admit it - lived up to its namesake!

Sausage and Crackling were lovely happy pigs and great characters, we all enjoyed rearing them. They spent their last days enjoying the winter sunshine, knee deep in top quality mud and happily munching extra rations including the odd doughnut! We've got a week or two to wait for the bacon and hams, but if tonight's roast is anything to go by, the sausages and other cuts will be superb. Our Spring guests can look forward to a pack of our own sausages when they arrive and we'll be interested to hear your feedback. We have a selection of Luggs lamb and pork in the new freezer (bought recently to accommodate the pigs!) and guests are welcome to buy their favourite cuts direct. Don't forget that in conjunction with our friends at Kittow Cattle, we can also arrange for boxes of top quality beef and/or pork to be waiting for you on arrival, or sent direct to anywhere in the UK, arriving fresh and ready to freeze.

As soon as the pigs vacated the vegetable garden, the diggers got to work and within a couple of days have transformed the area with gravel paths, neat beds and space for Bill's dream greenhouse. He's doodling ever more optimistic designs, but for now is just looking forward to growing veg to keep both the farmhouse and Luggs Barn supplied over the summer months.

Elsewhere in the garden, the ducks are laying well now so the cakes are even better than usual! We lost one good laying hen in mysterious circumstances - she just disappeared one day but there's no sign of any struggle so we're not sure what happened. We were all a bit sad that a young and very pretty hen was chosen over a much older one that's stopped laying, but presumably she made a tastier dinner. The other hens are laying well and enjoying pecking all the newly turned earth. Diggers and dumper trucks are frequently seen swerving wildly to avoid a troupe of hungry hens! The geese are thriving at about 9 months old - they still follow the little white hen around and squeeze themselves into the hen house with her every night.

Snowdrops are coming out all over the garden and the weather's been more seasonal, with several frosty days and plenty of walkers passing through enjoying the scenery. There are even a few brave primroses in sheltered corners, giving us hope that spring's on its way.

Sunday's Countryfile on BBC1 was enjoyed by us all as it featured many of our friends here in the Blackdown Hills. We're lucky to have numerous producers of fine food in the area and the programme showcased several of these, as well as the ancient art of hedgelaying and the many wildlife habitats this AONB supports.

More photos will follow next time - now that the hard landscaping's within a day or so of being finished, we're looking forward to the planting stage so that all of the grounds are at their best. Check back next month when hopefully spring will have sprung!

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!