Last few clients for 2010

So that's that, pretty much, for another year. We hosted our last client dinner on Sunday evening and I hosted our last market tour and cooking day for four clients on Saturday. Well, they were the last ones that we have booked until just before New Year so it feels very much like the end of the season. We have a couple of more bookings to come but they are self-catering so there is very little to do for them.

It sort of feels not before time too. As Debrah so beautifully summed it up "When are the people going to stop coming"? I know exactly what she means and I feel ready for a rest from the seven days a week schedule. We will have a bit of time to ourselves, a bit of lazy time and a trip to England to see family and friends.

It's been another good year at 42rvh with pretty solid bookings from May until now and very few free nights in either suite during that whole period. On top of that we started outside catering for other holiday rentals which was interesting. We will take stock of what worked well and what didn't and which areas of the business we need to change and which areas we want to develop. We coped with the volcanic ash cloud, the double dip recession, the falling euro and the strikes - or rather our guests did - so thank you all for persevering.

After three years the suites are beginning to show a bit of wear and tear so there will be some maintenance needed during January and February - a bit of paint here and there, a few repairs and a few furniture changes - I think it's known as a refresh.

It's also five years since our own apartment was first decorated by us so we are going to make some changes to the kitchen, to accommodate the cooking days more easily, and some changes to our own bedroom where we need more storage space for Debrah's clothes and shoes! We certainly won't be sitting down for the winter.

And it does feel like winter is nearly upon us - the clocks have gone back, the gel fires have been lit, the winter duvets are back on the beds and we had our first power cut during the week.

Debrah has enjoyed her first Summer here - let's see if I can get her through the winter months without too much melancholy!