Well that’s our busy season nearly over for another year although October is proving to be a very busy still. Life away from the inn continues to be the usual hectic family life. But work hard, play hard is the name of the game for us. Good fun and a lot of laughs were had with a few of our locals when we enjoyed a day trip to Ladies Day in Kelso. This summer saw us enjoy a week in the Spanish sun in July with the boys and a weekend camping in Perthshire. William and I entered the Great North Run in September so have been training a fair bit over the summer months. We were delighted with our joint result (not planned) of 2 hours 6 minutes.
The Team
Lee is continuing to do sterling work in the kitchen as Head Chef, growing with confidence by the day aided by Sous Chef William and Ally. Tomek has been off sick for a while but we are hoping to see in back on his feet and at work very soon. Denise has been joined in housekeeping by Jayne. And our front of house team (still Tanya, Katie, Amy, Charlotte, Gemma) have been joined by Amie and Kirsten. This summer we were delighted to have cuddles with two new-borns from past/present team members. Fiona had a baby girl, Coryn Ann and (Terry & Gemma who met here!) had a baby boy, Joshua Alfie. We also had a fabulous time at the wedding of Kyle & Joanna back in April (who met working here too – just call me Cilla!!). Ben, our eldest son has also started his working life in the kitchen too and is doing well.
What’s been happening?
In June we had our 3rd Garden Party & Beer Festival. My goodness what a weekend, with the heatwave came the crowds. Both days there were queues out the bar for drinks which even made the chiller in the cellar give up! A fantastic week end we couldn’t ever imagine it to be so busy or successful. Now how to build on that for next year…?? In May, William and I really enjoyed a trip to the BAFTA auditorium in London to collect an award for best bar in the Scottish Borders by the Pub & Bar Magazine Award. Also, this year, we have collected our second silver award by Police Scotland in the Best Bar None Awards. We are delighted and proud to be listed for the third year in the Michelin Guide too.
What next…
our annual fireworks display this year is on November 5th! Hopefully the weather will be better than last year! We will be giving all donations from the evening to Clive & Holly Millar who are running Marathon Des Sables next year for Dementia Uk & Cancer Research. We have our Christmas & Hogmanay’s Menus completed and bookings coming in fast and furiously! Plans for another Burns Supper on 25th January are also underway.
What’s on the menu?
Sister Kerry & Jim’s Greenhouse at Standhill was officially opened by Princess Anne at the end of September, so the copious amounts of tomatoes we use on our menus have been given the royal seal of approval!! We attended the event too and provided gallons of tomato soup for everyone to enjoy!
Keep in touch
We are posting regularly on Facebook and you can follow us on Twitter. We also have great reviews on TripAdvisor too, take a look sometime.
