Ten glorious years

The first of May 1997. Who can forget it? Well, the Scotsman recently had a feature on the top 20 Scottish classical music events of all time. Ah, you thought I was going to talk about something else did you? Stay tuned…

Now then. Take a look at the picture above. Just sneaking in at number 20 is our very own Beeb Symphony Orchestra at Glasgow City Hall playing Sibelius with Osmo Vanska conducting. I’m not sure why they chose that concert - it was the fourth in a series of five concerts where the BBCSSO discovered they actually could be world class. All they needed was… er Osmo Vanska.

I’d like to say that this concert sticks in the memory due to the superb musicianship and suchlike, but it’s more to do with the blonde curly haired lass that I found myself sitting next to. We got talking (not during the show - that’s not approved of) and after the fifth Sibelius concert we decided to go down to a couple of concerts in Manchester and then the BBC proms in London.

By this stage of course everyone who knew either of us had paired us off. We hadn’t noticed - “nonono we’re just good friends” we said “Aye right” they replied.

The rest is history. Married June 19th 1999 in Glasgow Uni Chapel and still going strong despite the strains of running a hotel.

Oh, and I think there was an election that day. Tony something or other…..

Coffee woes

OK so before we disconnected the coffee machine and heaved it upstairs to the new dining room I should have checked that the plumber had fitted the water supply and drain and that the electrician had fitted the power outlet.

None of these things had been done and, before you ask we’re not carrying the machine downstairs again. It weighs a TON!.
This meant that we had a serious problem. NO COFFEE = very cranky hotelier.

However, we have a backup device. Meet the chrome monster…

…otherwise known as an Elektra Microcasa a leva. This was my own machine when we lived in Glasgow. A friend recently suggested that the main reason I bought a hotel was so that I could get an even bigger coffee machine and, well, he may have a point. Apologies for the unconvincing lighting effect - I was having a momentary lapse of taste.

With a coffee catastrophe narrowly averted, our first breakfast cooked in the new kitchen and served in the new dining room went reasonably well. We had six guests all of whom seemed favourably impressed with the new surroundings. There was, as predicted a certain amount of scurrying up and down stairs to fetch things that I’d forgotten, but all things considered it went OK. We’re hoping to get the electrician in on Monday to fit a suitable socket for the dishwasher.

Ooooo Shiny!

Well here it is, only four months later than intended.

Everything fitted. Most things connected up fine. The only snafu was that no-one noticed the power rating on the dishwasher. So we’ll have to wash things by hand until the electricians can fit a 30A  outlet next week. We’re gradually moving stuff upstairs and we’re going to leave the big freezer and fridge down in the old kitchen for the time being.

So that’s the main fly fished out of the ointment. The tables and chairs have been set up in the dining room and the curtains arrive on Thursday. Food starts on Friday:-o

Tune for maximum smoke

We were test cooking last night. We should also have been testing the new kitchen but that…doesn’t exist yet. On the menu were steaks (fillet and sirloin), salmon with a pesto topping and assorted veg and potatoes. We didn’t make chips, though if we’re going to be serving steaks we’ll pretty well have to. I had the benefit of our new barperson who is also a chef to provide assistance (and if I’m being truthful to do most of the work).

The griddle we use to cook breakfast has a flat side (for eggs and bacon) and a ribbed side (for steaks). We used the ribbed side to give the characteristic stripes on the meat. We also made the griddle hot. Very hot. Even with our elderly extraction system making a noise like a large aircraft in trouble, the kitchen was still fairly smoky. I don’t cook steaks often, so the length of time it takes to produce even a rare steak came as a surprise. In practice, because steaks vary in thickness, you go by texture rather than time. A medium rare sirloin took almost 15 minutes.

The salmon in a pesto crust used some pesto I had made that morning. Cooked in the oven for about 10-12 mins. We also practiced cooking and refreshing vegetables - you part cook them, then plunge them in iced water which stops the cooking while preserving the colour and texture.

Golf

We’ve been quite rude about visitscotland over the years, usually with some justification, but their golfing breaks guide seems to work. We’ve got a party of 4 staying with us this week, and other bookings have come in for as far ahead as September. Whether it’s worth the squillions of pounds we pay them each year is another matter.

Aarlene, thanks for your comments. Yes, I know I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I thought that just this time one part of the renovation work would actually happen on time. The stainless steel tables which should have been fitted on Monday are being manufactured and will be ready on Thursday. It’ll be fitted on Friday (allegedly).

Me and my big mouth

So what did I write in the last post? “My nice new kitchen is going to be fitted out today” or something similar. Will I never learn? Of course there’s been a delay so they’re going to phone tomorrow to tell me when it’s going to happen.

Meanwhile here are some pictures…

Here’s a view through the (now clean) windows in the kitchen corridor. Some of the old glass has a distinct blue colour.

and here’s a view through the big window outside the new dining room. Yes, the hotel was designed by someone with a very warped sense of humour.

and here’s Audrey II our mysterious alien plant. She hasn’t devoured too many of the hotel guests yet.

Lucid interval

Breakfast at the Spread Eagle is between 8.30 and 9.30. That means that some mug (usually me) has to get up at 7.30 to get ready. If I’m running late then the guests are all waiting to be served at 8.30 precisely. If I’m in plenty of time, as today…

Well, it’s 9am and it’s dead quiet. It’s just warm enough to leave the back door open and the sounds of birdsong are mingling with the whirr of the cellar cooler and the rumble of the kitchen fan.

Ed and Ingrid from Lithuania have just joined us. They will be helping with food service once it starts. My shiny new kitchen is being fitted out today and we’ll be doing some test cooking this week. Food starts a week on Friday - eek!

World news

It’s been difficult to find anything to say about the events in Virginia except to add our sympathies to anyone affected (this blog seems to have quite a few readers in the US). BBC N24  has gone into its usual “we don’t have any news but we’ll devote hours of airtime to it anyway” mode. Speculating on motives or what might have been going through the mind of someone who was quite clearly mentally disturbed seems to be an exercise in extreme futility.

Stewing gently

This global warming has got to be a good thing. It felt more like July than April today. We had lots of people sitting at our wee tables outside the bar today and the beer garden was busy too. We’re off to Gala tomorrow to get some window boxes and plants which will brighten up the front of the building and hide the fact that we couldn’t get it painted this year.

Completion (almost)

Here’s a sneak preview of the new residents’ lounge.

Things will almost certainly be moved around a bit but this gives you the general idea. The grandfather clock was my great grandmother’s and the mechanism, which has just been rebuilt by Craiglea Clocks in Edinburgh, is sitting in the back of the car waiting for me to fit it into the case.

A pretty good weekend so far, busy bar, almost full hotel.
But we have no staff again, so it’s just me and her today.
I’d better go and get the bar opened:-(