A Day in the Life of Eriska

This month we were joined by a new member of the team. Elizabeth has come straight from University and brings with her some fresh new ideas about marketing and sales and whilst we do not understand or comprehend much of what she is trying to get us to do having a fresh look at many of our assets and attributes has allowed us the chance to take a fresh look at the future. From the outset we told her that nothing was set in stone and to that extent we did not provide her much background but asked he r to do her own research rather than use data and information we had already studied.

it was certainly an interesting way to move forward but it has thrown up many new ideas, such as increasing our social networking- still not sure what that means- and emphasising on our strengths whilst working on the weaknesses. One of the initial suggestions was that given our new moorings at the pier and the wonderful pier, although used by some it is mostly a venue for our staff to fish and a platform for me to launch my boat It should really be seen as an alternative entrance to Eriska with the large number of boats that enter loch creran.

...

It is now nearly 6 months since we started a new strategy with the wine list here at Eriska. It all came about last year when I sat in on a staff training session being given by one of our suppliers and realised, probably rather naively, that the tutor was giving a fairly biased view of wine- concentrating on his own brands, and that whilst the team were learning how to sell his products they were neither really increasing their knowledge nor were they gaining the kind of information that we were wanting to offer our clients.

At the same time we were lucky to be contacted by an old friend who had just set up his own wine company offering support and training and I realised that if we  were really serious about developing our list and knowledge then we needed some outside help so we engaged Nick adams to work with us with a simple direct set of instruction to help us. It was a three pronged attack , firstly to develop the list offering a breadth of choice and selection for all who stay with us allowing them...

When the Clyde Cruising Club announced their plan to break the world record Sunflower Yacht Rafting record last week we should have anticipated that the summer weather would break and it really did but at least we have returned to normality with sunshine and warm days. Anyway given that this is the last week before West Highland Yachting Week and the build up to the summer bank holiday I suppose we should and will expect a bit of variable weather.

So what does our weather expert predict:

Today:Mostly it will be dry and rather cloudy although it may have some showers at the start dying out later.

Monday: A cloudy start with some drizzle and mist. Gradually brightening up with some sunny intervals developing by the afternoon.

Tuesday: A dull start with drizzle and hill fog, then brightening with some sunny intervals breaking through. Mostly light winds.

Wednesday: Rather cloudy in the morning with a little rain and coastal mist.

...

When the Clyde Cruising Club announced their plan to break the world record Sunflower Yacht Rafting record last week we should have anticipated that the summer weather would break and it really did but at least we have returned to normality with sunshine and warm days. Anyway given that this is the last week before West Highland Yachting Week and the build up to the summer bank holiday I suppose we should and will expect a bit of variable weather.

So what does our weather expert predict:

Today:Mostly it will be dry and rather cloudy although it may have some showers at the start dying out later.

Monday: A cloudy start with some drizzle and mist. Gradually brightening up with some sunny intervals developing by the afternoon.

Tuesday: A dull start with drizzle and hill fog, then brightening with some sunny intervals breaking through. Mostly light winds.

Wednesday: Rather cloudy in the morning with a little rain and coastal mist.

...

When we first came to Eriska we were confronted with the quandary of creating enough escape stairs in the main house. Whilst there were two staircases to the first floor there was only one to the second. So having agonised over the location of a new fire stair and having discounted many options as they lost too many rooms eventually we settled with the creation of a new staircase by the front door . However this came with several compromises, firstly it was always going to be quire steep, secondly it was going to be right by the front door potentially before the reception desk and thirdly and most drastically to make it all work we had to change the main entrance to the house so although you entered through the gran porch the entrance to the hall would have to be diverted through the Piano room and hence we sacrificed the fireplace in the piano room and formed a double entrance door....

when we first started down the Green tourism line it was to be carried out for two reasons, firstly I wanted to see a real improvement in the actions we took and secondly I wanted the whole process to be economic. On the first discussion I made these restrictions clear and was assured that not only would the process be economic but it would also save me money. In truth I did not believe this but in order to humour the advisor went along with the plan.  Anyway dare I say it by they were right many of the changes we have made have helped the environment directly and with quick results and other actions have saved us money even in the short term. For example we were filling out the Green Business Tourism Application and it was suggested that e look at a number of other links one of which was the walker and cyclist scheme operated by Visit scotland. so we duly investigated the links and to our surprise we were already...

A couple of weeks ago I opted for a walk late at night and accompanied by my sister headed for a tour of the island. Whilst it seemed a nice night for a wander my two leggeds were not so positive, I am sure I left them a note or mentioned it but they seemed beside themselves about my absence. However this was not the end of the matter as during the walk I seemed to stab myself on a piece of wood and although it looked Ok to me they insisted on a trip to Oban. So the next day I was hurtled off to Oban and was told I was very brave although after they stuck a needle in me I was unaware of how brave I had been and when I returned home I felt as though I had been asleep for years and had four threads hanging off me. Anyway the wound seems to have heeled and today in my two leggeds office armed with a pair of scissors and tweezers his mother removed the offending items. the good news is that I am now off lead walking and can roam free and better still i also have a war wound to remind me off my adventure- best not...

In most new building work the companies make a great play of breaking ground or starting digging in the foundations. We however are always doing things a bit differently and therefore we have today begun our long trek to create an indoor facility and this all starts with the clearing- not of the site but of the area the new road will have to be led in order to avoid the new building. The trees were all cleared when we first started talking about a covered tennis court but in the intervening period (just shows how long it has taken to get this far) they have grown and established themselves.

Right in the middle of the trees also lies an old Bore hole where we used to pump water when we first arrived at Eriska. So today the first of the trees came down and already the site looks much improved. Over the next week all the trees will be felled in the new road line and then it will be time for the diggers to move in and build a new road and then hopefully we will be in the right place to start construction. A...

Weather w/c 18th july

Having now run out of wood pellets at the hotel and been forced to rush a load from the stables and avoid blushes at making such an error I have now taken a personal interest in monitoring the consumption and estimating the usage. This has now been further supported by the need to give 10 days notice to the delivery company in order to schedule the pellet deliveries and make sure that we get the one vehicle which can deliver the exact amount of pellets to full both stores to the maximum.

So this week having religiously checked and measured  was amazed when the stable levels dropped drastically over night, first I thought it could have been the hopped reducing the amount of visible pellets and hence the quicker fall and then I started to panic that we might not make the next planned delivery date if the consumption continued. However duaine soon brought me good and bad news. first the good- we not started using more pellets than expected and would easily reach the planned delivery date but the bad news was...