Visitors Since Easter we have really began welcoming guests from around the world: Germany, Belgium, Australia, Italy, USA, France, South Africa, Canada , New Zealand , Hungary and China!  And that was just in May, June and July!. Hey, and they write some nice things: "We will dream of your veggie patch and look forward to seeing it again." Michael and Nina Gloucs. "Thanks for the special and personal approach. We felt at home in a splendid surrounding, had a good meal.  We were treated as lords in this manor." Erik, Collette and Bert Belgium "Lovely place and lovely people to rest and refuel before we go back to the "glamour" of the theatre. Thank you for sharing a special place with us.  We'll be back to check the progress of the garden." Kevin and Trish, Texas. "Fantastic location, hospitality and food! Will definitely be back to tackle another part of the coastal path." Kathryn and Seb, London. Harry Thompson, creator of "Have I got news for you?" and "Monkey Dust" has just published a cracking novel about the Beagle called "This thing of darkness".  (Just placed on the Man Booker short-list for 2005).  It opens with the suicide of Captain Pringle Stokes (no relation except to our scarecrow) and tells the story of Captain Robert Fitzroy's life, especially as Captain for the Darwin voyages.  John Lort Stokes figures throughout as assistant surveyor.  In a novel that closely follows historical fact mistakenly he claims Lort Stokes for Yorkshire not Pembrokeshire.

NSPCC Cream Tea in June The Roch branch held a very pleasant tea here.  They prepared all the teas and brought their own tables and chairs.  The Little Landsker singers were terrific and they raised over £500.  The weather was perfect as the photos show. Wendy's Walk We played host to Wendy Jones in June.  Wendy lost a large amount of her sight to retinitis pigmentosa in 1999.  With her sighted guide, Elly Morgan, she walked the whole 186 miles of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path in four weeks in June and July.  She is raising money for the British Retinitis Pigmentosa Society www.fightingblindness.org.uk or www. brps.org.uk.  These are two women with remarkable stories to tell, Elly's time with the horsemen of Mongolia and walking with partially sighted people around the world, among them.

Progress in the Garden

Here is a list of what has been grown and eaten from the garden so far this summer:
Onions, potatoes, lettuce (Susan, Rocket, Lambs Tale, Lola Rossa), cabbage, cauliflower, yellow and red tomatoes, yellow and green courgettes, cucumber, runner beans, potatoes, french beans, raspberries, strawberries, and blackcurrants.

Richard has nearly completed the construction of the polytunnel.  The garden walls have been thoroughly cleared now.  The flower beds and pots around the front and rear of the house are looking wonderful at the moment.

Two bird surveys by Dyfed Wildlife Trust have been completed recently around the house and 41 separate species have been identified, either by their song or a sighting.  The housemartins have been very entertaining in the last few months.

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