All is still very well at Yellingham and I must admit that the now somewhat “established” rules and cleaning schedules introduced into the household at the beginning of lockdown many months ago are still in place and operating quite well…..although Edward still needs the odd reminder that his responsibility to clean one out of a total of 18 rooms is really not too much to ask !
As far as the B and B is concerned, there is still no confirmed date or concrete guidance on when we will open and in what form. How the devil breakfast will work, I don’t know. We are renowned for our wonderful, creative breakfasts where everyone sits around a large table laid up – fresh flowers, linen napkins, fresh fruit from the garden, homemade preserves and more. I don’t think we can achieve that with social distancing likely to remain in place, but I have been proactive
and have thought of a few options:
• Perhaps it will have to be room service – surely not. For a start Edward would have to fit a bell in each room, like upstairs, downstairs – unlikely to be successful as electrics are not on his cv. Secondly, the thought of running up and down the stairs hundreds of times in full PPE would put me in a state of sheer exhaustion after one service and finally – possibly the worst scenario – would be the risk of seeing my guests in silky negligées, boxer shorts, or even 
worse….nothing at all! Perish the thought.
• Maybe we could set up a conveyor belt from the kitchen to the dining room, so no contact is necessary just like the chain of restaurants Yo! Sushi. The only problem I can see is that guests would be chatting and forget to pick up their food, or they will choose someone else’s, and I can see the conveyor belt just whirring around for hours with cold food, full plates, empty plates and goodness knows what else. Actually, the whole idea is rubbish because the gradient from the kitchen to the dining room is about 1 in 10 and every plate would slide back to Edward and the swear box would be full within minutes.
• Final idea……No longer call ourselves a Farmhouse Bed and Breakfast and remove the word breakfast from all our advertising……. Bed only! Perfect solution!
What will be will be and I am looking forward to opening the gates once more to our wonderful guests when we feel ready to do so safely and, in a way which means breakfast can still be the perfect start to the day. The polytunnel is overflowing with fruit and vegetables, the garden has never looked better, the lambs are growing on wonderfully, so we’ve got a lot to look forward to and share when the time is right.
Janet East
