Lunch, Lavender and Lambs!

A few days before the Easter weekend Mike and I took advantage of the lovely warm, sunny weather we were having (and the fact that Emily was happy to hold the fort for us here!) and set off towards Hartland and the Cheristow Lavender Tea Rooms.  Now admittedly, it's a bit of a run out in the car from Bude but it's definately worth the journey and we spent a happy hour or so soaking up the sunshine in the tea garden surrounded by lavender.

This friendly tea room is highly deserving of its many awards and serves locally sourced produce with home grown seasonal salads and chutneys, cakes and scones made on the premises.  Lunch was really very good .... we chose a delicious Cheddar and Brie Ploughmans served with three different relishes (the beetroot and mint chutney was so lovely we bought two jars away with us) and a large healthy salad topped with olives and pumpkin seeds and finished with a delicious balsamic dressing.
Mike sampled a pot Cheristow Blue Tea (their take on Lady Grey) delicately flavoured with yes, you guessed it .... Lavender! :) 
Sadly we'd no room left afterwards which was a shame as the cake selection looked amazing.

Cheristow have recently won awards for their Lavender Cordial, Strawberry & Lavender Conserve, and Cheristow Cornucopia Conserve. The Lemon and Lavender Marmalade is their most popular conserve and the Cranberry & Lavender Chutney is perfect with West Country Brie.  All can all be purchased from the shop to enjoy at home.  There's also a selection of handmade Aromatherapy gifts including hand and body lotion, liquid handwash, bathing toiletries and moisturising creams with the healing properties of lavender and other essential oils.

When we could literally eat no more (and with two carrier bags bulging with goodies) we left the tea garden and set off reluctantly on our journey back to Bude.  The hedgerows of the narrow country lanes were brimming with spring flowers, bluebells & wild garlic and a family of very lazy young lambs in one of the fields by a public footpath kindly posed for a photo or two. 

Finally we dropped in at St Nectan's Church in Stoke (the parish church of Hartland) for a wander round the old church yard ... the magnificent 128 foot tower is claimed to be the highest in Devon.

  

Cheristow Lavender, Award Winning Tea Rooms, Hartland, North Devon

Eric specialises in growing Lavender and has around 100 varieties in his collection

The lovely cakes on display

Mike enjoying his Cheristow Blue Tea



Lavender fabric-topped jars on the dresser in the shop





Hedgerows brimming with Bluebells and Wild Garlic on the way back to Bude



Lazy sheep pose for a photo .....



.... or two



St Nectan's Church, Stoke




Part of the large and very beautiful Churchyard



Tombstones surrounded by bluebells beneath the trees

You can find out more about Cheristow Lavender on their website http://www.cheristow.co.uk/
Cheristow Lavender, Hartland, Devon. EX39 6DA Telephone 01237 440101
Free Admission to the Farm Walk and Lavender & Rose Gardens
Open 1 March to 31 October 11am to 6pm   Closed on Fridays (Wheelchair Friendly)

You can visit the Wikipedia page for St Nectan's Church, Stoke here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Saint_Nectan

Please visit our Website too http://www.fairwayguesthouse.co.uk/

An Evening Beach Walk .........

 T'was such a lovely evening earlier that I set off with Harvey to get some pictures of the beach huts on Summerleaze for our website.  We thought you might like to come along with us .....


We set off down the road towards Crooklets Beach, through the CarPark ......

and turn left infront of the cafe past the sunken boat play area ......

then up past the Crooklets beach huts ( in need of a little TLC) .....

stop for a quick peek over the handrail at the ocean ......

and off along the coastpath ......

to the steps down onto Middle Beach ......

 a quick look back to where we came from .......

then off across to Barrel Rock .....

past the little fishing boat at the Breakwater ......

and the Canal Sea Lock Gates ....

at last .... the Beach Huts in the distance ......

across lots and lots of squigy sand ......

finally we get our picture for the website .....

and take another just incase the first one was rubbish (just look at that sky!!) ......

then back off across the golf course and home :)

A Busy Winter behind us and Spring Arrives in Bude!

How lovely to see Bude "springing" to life again after the long cold winter we have all endured.  The town's accommodation providers, seaside shops and lovely restaurants are all gearing up for what we hope will be a busy and fabulous season ahead. 

The lovely warm sunny weather and gentle sea breeze of the last few weeks has welcomed the arrival of the Easter holidays and (hopefully!!) signals a lovely summer to come.  Pretty spring flowers are popping up everywhere and without doubt when the sun shines there really is nowhere nicer to be than the English seaside. Even now in early April people are enjoying the sand and surf down at the lovely beaches of Bude.

At Fairway House we are happy to say we've survived a very busy winter. Although we closed from November to February we were still frantically making improvements that we hope our returning visitors in particular will love.  These include a complete refurbishment of the bedrooms on our top floor here and the provision of two new luxury shower rooms.  No longer do guests in our non ensuite rooms have to share a shower and toilet facility ... both these rooms now enjoy not only a golf course view but also newly refurbished large private shower and toilet facilities in close proximity to the bedroom itself.  The feedback from guests returning to "Wentworth" (Room 6) is incredible and really does make all Mike's hard work up there through the winter months so worthwhile. 

We've been fortunate enough to receive some superb reviews from our lovely visitors on the Trip Advisor website http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g190804-d521999-Reviews-Fairway_House_Guest_House-Bude_Cornwall_England.html ... a huge thank you to everyone who has taken the time to share the experience of their stay with us ... we so love reading your reviews .... please do keep them coming :)

Thank you so much for reading our first Blog ... we plan to keep this up to date with all the comings and goings here at Fairway House with lots of information about whats happening locally and doubtless the odd photo hillarous along the way :))

Here's to a wonderful summer ahead .... enjoy the sunshine and lots of good times .... hope to see some of your down here at some stage!

http://www.fairwayguesthouse.co.uk/