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26th November 2011 - Whippets!!
Last week we had 4 whippets staying in the Piggery and what should arrive today but a lovely big deerhound and a deerhound cross!  Oh my.  I make no secret of the fact that I am a sighthound fan so I am enjoying the fact that some pointy noses are lying in the front of the woodburner.

Echoed in my own home with Sonny lurcher competing for space in front of the wood burner with the wet washing!

26th October 2011 - Eating Out in Norfolk
This website is just what I have been looking for.  Up to date information and reviews about places to eat in Norfolk.  www.eatoutnorfolk.co.uk/

We have some really good places round here.... take a look at The Waterside at Rollesby, King's Head at Coltishall, Olive Branch at Tunsted, The Cockerel in North Walsham and Recruiting Sargeant in Coltishall.  Just to name a delicious few!

16th October 2011 - Red Roofs is famous!
Well it's on the cover of this gorgeous book so it's at least a bit famous!

East Anglia Landscapes by John Potter
 

3rd October 2011 - What a view!

    This fabulous photo of the sky and field at the
    back of the Old Piggery was taken by one of our 
    guests.  Many thanks to Rod Giles.

21st September 2011
Jeremy Vine follows us on Twitter!  Is that cool?  @EastRustonCotts

13th September 2011
After the holidays
Now most of the schools have gone back the beaches have emptied (not that they ever really filled up to be honest!) and we have them and the woods to ourselves for walking the dogs.  Plenty of people book their hols here in the autumn and this year is no exception.  All of the properties are booked through almost to November as people know they can still have some good weather in this dry part of the country.

We are just back from a walk with the Piggery guests (and their 6 dogs) in the nearby Bacton (Witton) Woods which has miles of easy walking paths in acres of mature, managed woodland.  With a couple of friends along too we had 13 dogs between us but there were no problems and we only met 4 other dogs, all equally happy at walking in the woods.  Just lovely.

9th September 2011
More dog friendly accommodation coming up!
We now have the funding to do up our big barn (New Barn) as more dog friendly accommodation.  It's going to be a big job and we can't start until next year but it April the scaffolding will go up, the roof will come off, a gable end will be rebuilt and then thatch will go on!  Should look absolutely stunning.  Can't wait.  Watch this space! 

14th August 2011
Who is messier on holiday - children or dogs?  Children and dogs?
I asked this question on Twitter and on the cottages Facebook page (admittedly I didn't get many responses - I'm new to this Tweeting lark!) and did a straw poll amongst friends too and the answer was....drum roll....children!  What a suprise! Now this definitely ISN'T an anti child issue.  Love them.  Just couldn't eat a whole one (boom, boom!) but it is a good point. I really do like to see children enjoying themselves in the cottages - we live in such a nice relaxed area with plenty of things for children to do - just look at the Attractions page. 

However, the point I do want to make is that the canine visitors to the cottages very often make far less work for the cleaners than children do.  Obviously that is down to their owners but children have 'owners' too!  So why aren't more holiday home owners happy to allow dogs into their properties?  I don't think you'd find many holiday homes limiting guests to bringing 'one well behaved small child' and yet that is what so many 'dog friendly' holiday properties stipulate.  They are missing out on more business and dog owners are still having to work hard to find somewhere nice to go on holiday.  (Unless they come to us of course!)

23rd July 2011 
Chocolate brownie recipe
Due to popular demand I am going to put the chocolate brownie recipe on this blog.  The Piggery and Forge guests always have these and the Red Roofs guests will be too.  They often get mentioned in the guest book!

Ok, so.......

Oven on to 180^oC and line a shallow baking tin - 20cm x 30cm is a good size.

Melt 200g of dark chocolate with 175g unsalted butter.  I do this in a microwave, starting with the chocolate and adding the butter for the last minute as it takes less time to melt.  DO keep a close eye and stir regularly.  You can also do it in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.

In a bowl measure out

300g sugar, preferably caster
100g plain flour
75g chocolate powder (drinking chocolate or cocoa)
1tspn baking powder

Beat 4 eggs together and mix all ingredients together well and pour into the tray.  Cook for about 20 mins.  Take out and leave to cool completely before cutting. 

You could eat them warm with cream or icecream, maybe some raspberries.  When cold they keep for a surprisingly long time.....in theory!

Enjoy!!

16th July   Dog friendly holiday cottages
Why aren't there more of them?  We often have this conversation with our guests and can't really get to the bottom of it.  Every year we like to go on holiday with friends and between us we have 5 dogs.  We are a fussy lot and want a certain number of bedrooms and bathrooms, a wood burning stove or open fire, we like an Aga, we must have a good pub nearby etc etc  But the very hardest thing to find in a property is the acceptance of 5 dogs - 2 small, 3 large, all house trained. And when we do find them we often have to pay an arm and leg for the privilege of taking them on holiday.  We have in the past resorted to subterfuge and lies!  Not nice and quite stressful but sometimes the only way we could get into a property.

So, when we started the conversion on the Piggery it was a no brainer to decide that it was going to be properly dog friendly.  I was already running The Old Forge and the owners have always had dogs so they were supportive of making it properly dog friendly too.  I know there are plenty of properties out there allowing one or two "well behaved dogs" but if you are allowing one or two, why not three or four?  If you had four as an upper limit it would be far more flexible.  And what extra work do dogs produce that warrant a charge of £25/dog for example?  That's £100 for 4 dogs!  However hairy the dogs and how ever well paid the cleaner that is a lot of extra dosh! 

Since the Piggery opened in May 2009 we have been pretty much fully booked and in that time just about everybody has come with a dog, the most we have had in at one time was 8.  In that time the majority of damage has been caused by humans (often the smaller variety!) and even then only amounts to a few broken cups and glasses.  We have found that dog owners are nearly always a clean and tidy bunch, they have to live with their dogs in their own houses so they do know how to clean up after them.  We have also found that the larger the number of dogs the more likely the owner is to be involved in dog training, behaviour, psychology etc and understand and train their dogs.

And another suprise - prick up your ears if you are a holiday home owner wondering why your bookings aren't good - in the 55 bookings we had last year in the Piggery (most of whom had dogs) 45 of them had 4 dogs or less and 26 of those had 2 or less. The figures for the Forge are broadly similar. So they could have gone to many of the other places allowing "2 well behaved dogs"  and the holiday homes allowing "2 well behaved dogs" could have streched themselves a little and allowed 4 and got some more business which in this economic climate is hard won. 

But I think the reason so many of the 2 dog families came here is because we really welcome dogs.  They are not tolerated, they are encouraged.  We don't charge for them because we understand they are family members and no holiday home owner would dream of charging for an Aunt or a daughter would they? We have met some lovely people who have become friends and some lovely dogs too and we have been rewarded by a repeat business figure of well over 50%. 

So as far as I am concerned the message to other holiday home owners is embrace dogs with open arms, don't charge for them, make your holiday home welcoming and easy for dog owners and you won't regret it!  (and we will all have more choice of where to go with more than "two well behaved dogs!)

14th July  Succulent Samphire. 
Tis the season to enjoy a North Norfolk coastal speciality - samphire! 

It's harvested from the marshy areas on the coast and is a succulent green vegetable best cooked for a very short time (steam or boil) and served with lashings of butter and black pepper like asparagus; in fact it tastes quite like asparagus.  Lovely, messy food - you have to strip the fleshy bit from the stems with your teeth.  If you're here in July or August do try it.  A lot of the coastal villages have stalls selling it and it can be found in good fish shops, some farm/veg shops too.  Samphire and how to cook it.

11th July
Finally they are starting work on improving the beach and facilities at Happisburgh.  Should make it easier for locals and holiday makers alike.  BBC news Happisburgh

3rd July  
The Garden Room has just been booked by a couple who are bringing their horses too and there are some guests bringing their cat to the Old Piggery.  We really are very pet friendly and not just for dogs!

3rd July 
Just been sorting out the leaflets in the folders in the Old Forge before the next lot of guests arrive (SO many fabulous places to visit and we haven't been to most of them!)  I found a handwritten note that one guest had kindly left about the pubs they had been to:

"There are 2 pubs next to each other and by the river in Coltishall.  The Kings Head (which a previous visitor has recommended) and we visited the Rising Sun which offers an excellent value meal at £10.95 for 3 courses with a good choice of menu.  Best value around here!  Worst value is the Wayford Bridge Inn near to here on the main road.  If you have time, keep driving past it!

At Hickling Broad is the Pleasure Boat Inn.  Great food and on Thursday nights can be combined with a river your by Norfolk Wildlife Trust, really enjoyable.  Also at the Pleasure Boat on Fridays they hold a 'sing-a-long' with local band.  Good fun too.

The Rising Sun and Pleasureboat are both dog friendly and have outdoor eating areas too. 
Happy Travels!"

Thank you to whoever left that. So now you know where to go (and where not to go) when you come and stay!

2nd July  
Still more fabulous weather.  Bring it on!

2nd July 
OOH now.  Here's a thing.  By eating Norfolk crisps you can enter a competition for a holiday in Suffolk (which is a bit like Norfolk in places but it has Stephen Fry in it!). Click here.

25th June 
Phew!  It's going to be a scorcher here in the next few days! Click here.

24th June. 
Back from a lovely relaxing holiday in Spain.  Took a few more bookings while we were out there.  People seem to be having their summer holiday and then coming straight back and booking the next one.  Lots of enquiries about 2013 bookings in the Piggery (!!) and plenty of enquiries for 2012 for the other properties.  Apparently some of the lambs were very naughty while we were away and kept escaping.  They even had to be rescued from the pond one day!!