To my readers:
I had planned to have this story completed by this weekend, but obviously that did not happen. Since I will be gone for the next month, consider this an intermission in the story.
I assure you that I will come back full of background information and locations to add in to the story. If you would like to follow my travel blog/journal, you can find it on the side bar of this page, or at Traveling Ireland - http://emeraldpoet1.blogspot.com/
See you in a month for more of this story.
Slan!
Saturday, June 18, 2011
All Roads Lead to Swatragh - Chapter 34
It was getting late, and while Grace trusted Peter, she was a little concerned that she and Sue had not heard from them at all. It was only a few minutes later that they heard Peter's truck in the drive.
Chloe and Peter walked into the cottage in smiles with Peter's arm around Chloe's shoulder. Both were a little flushed, and it appeared that they had been doing a little drinking.
“So it seems you two have been having a fun time,” Sue retorted.
“We had a wonderful day. We found the most amazing pub. Just couldn't resist staying for some music,” Chloe answered not really caring how Sue felt. “Peter is the perfect sightseeing guide.” Chloe looked at Peter with a big grin and Peter seemed to blush with her compliment.
“Peter, are you driving home, or are you going to be staying with us again tonight?” Grace was curious to see where this would lead.
“Oh, I'm fine, and I'll be leaving you all now. It was a long day and you lassies need a good night's sleep,” Peter looked at Chloe and winked as he finished.
Peter said his good nights and headed home. Grace and Sue stood looking at Chloe. All Chloe did was wink back at them and head upstairs to go to bed.
“I think your job helping Chloe getting over her broken heart is done!” Sue turned to Grace and laughed. The two of them left any other work on the cottage for the morning and headed to bed themselves.
The next morning as Grace prepared breakfast Peter arrived with some flowers for Chloe. Grace and Sue glanced at each other as a fresh-faced blushing Chloe came down the stairs just as Peter arrived.
“I thought since you would be going back to Dublin today you might want to have these to remind you of this weekend,” Peter stumbled with the words as he handed the flowers to Chloe.
“Oh, Peter, that is so thoughtful of you. I'd love to have them in my flat in Dublin. This has been an amazing weekend,” Chloe gushed.
“Okay you two. What is going on here?” Grace could not wait any longer for some answers.
“Grace,” Chloe answered, “I think I'm going to be spending quite a few weekends up here visiting Peter so we can get to know each other better. Do you think I could stay here at the cottage? It's just a thought.”
Sue and Grace looked at each other and Sue turned to Chloe and asked, “Can you cook?”
“Sue, what kind of question is that? Of course I can cook. My mother made me take cooking lessons at a cooking school one summer. So why are you asking?” Chloe seemed offended about the cooking question in front of Peter.
“Grace, I think we have found a solution for part of the plan,” Sue was smiling at Grace.
All during breakfast the conversation swirled around how the cottage could run as a B&B on the weekends, but needed someone to take care of the guests. If Chloe wanted to come up and visit Peter on weekends she could stay at the cottage for free if she handled the B&B needs for the guests. Grace could handle the bookings from Dublin, Peter could still help out with the grounds and see Chloe. One weekend a month Grace would relieve Chloe so she could have the entire weekend with Peter.
Everyone seemed in agreement for this, so they planned to put this into effect the next weekend, if they could get some bookings. Sue and Grace would work on that. Chloe would have to learn some of the standard recipes that Aine used and could add her own as time went on. They would try this for one month and meet at the end of the month at the cottage to discuss how things went before going ahead with the plan.
Chloe and Peter walked into the cottage in smiles with Peter's arm around Chloe's shoulder. Both were a little flushed, and it appeared that they had been doing a little drinking.
“So it seems you two have been having a fun time,” Sue retorted.
“We had a wonderful day. We found the most amazing pub. Just couldn't resist staying for some music,” Chloe answered not really caring how Sue felt. “Peter is the perfect sightseeing guide.” Chloe looked at Peter with a big grin and Peter seemed to blush with her compliment.
“Peter, are you driving home, or are you going to be staying with us again tonight?” Grace was curious to see where this would lead.
“Oh, I'm fine, and I'll be leaving you all now. It was a long day and you lassies need a good night's sleep,” Peter looked at Chloe and winked as he finished.
Peter said his good nights and headed home. Grace and Sue stood looking at Chloe. All Chloe did was wink back at them and head upstairs to go to bed.
“I think your job helping Chloe getting over her broken heart is done!” Sue turned to Grace and laughed. The two of them left any other work on the cottage for the morning and headed to bed themselves.
The next morning as Grace prepared breakfast Peter arrived with some flowers for Chloe. Grace and Sue glanced at each other as a fresh-faced blushing Chloe came down the stairs just as Peter arrived.
“I thought since you would be going back to Dublin today you might want to have these to remind you of this weekend,” Peter stumbled with the words as he handed the flowers to Chloe.
“Oh, Peter, that is so thoughtful of you. I'd love to have them in my flat in Dublin. This has been an amazing weekend,” Chloe gushed.
“Okay you two. What is going on here?” Grace could not wait any longer for some answers.
“Grace,” Chloe answered, “I think I'm going to be spending quite a few weekends up here visiting Peter so we can get to know each other better. Do you think I could stay here at the cottage? It's just a thought.”
Sue and Grace looked at each other and Sue turned to Chloe and asked, “Can you cook?”
“Sue, what kind of question is that? Of course I can cook. My mother made me take cooking lessons at a cooking school one summer. So why are you asking?” Chloe seemed offended about the cooking question in front of Peter.
“Grace, I think we have found a solution for part of the plan,” Sue was smiling at Grace.
All during breakfast the conversation swirled around how the cottage could run as a B&B on the weekends, but needed someone to take care of the guests. If Chloe wanted to come up and visit Peter on weekends she could stay at the cottage for free if she handled the B&B needs for the guests. Grace could handle the bookings from Dublin, Peter could still help out with the grounds and see Chloe. One weekend a month Grace would relieve Chloe so she could have the entire weekend with Peter.
Everyone seemed in agreement for this, so they planned to put this into effect the next weekend, if they could get some bookings. Sue and Grace would work on that. Chloe would have to learn some of the standard recipes that Aine used and could add her own as time went on. They would try this for one month and meet at the end of the month at the cottage to discuss how things went before going ahead with the plan.
Monday, June 6, 2011
All Roads Lead to Swatragh - Chapter 33
Sue broke the silence of their ride with the first question, “Did you ever think of having someone run the B&B for you, Grace?”
“How do you see that happening, Sue? I can't afford to pay someone if the B&B is not making money, and I'd still want to make some money off it, right?” Grace responded.
“Well, if you gave someone room and board and a small stipend that might work. If it was a couple, one of them could work and the other handle the B&B. They'd have no overhead, and one salary would be just for their own spending,” Sue was trying to think out of the box.
“You may have something there Sue. So now I would need to find someone to do this. And what about seeing to the bookings. I need some kind of marketing plan,” Grace was thinking out loud.
They arrived at a little cafe still discussing this when they noticed a pamphlet in a news stand. It was a listing of available B&B's. Here Grace would have a starting point for advertising. She had also been looking at various traveling websites that listed B&B's in Northern Ireland. If she could get Aine's Cottage listed on those also, she might have a chance to make a go at this. Now the question of who to run the B&B for her. She couldn't expect Peter to do this. He'd never be able to handle the cooking. And they needed a way to facilitate bookings. The conversation continued as Sue and Grace at their lunches and walked around the small town.
As they walked Grace thumbed through the pamphlet. More and more she noticed that the B&B's listed had websites. After picking up some snacks and a few supplies for dinner the girls headed back to the cottage and started checking out the websites.
“Sue, you know these are not that complicated. Most of the reservations are made though a booking agency link, but some are direct through emails to the owners. I don't even have to be in Swatragh to keep track of reservations. I could do all that from Dublin.” Grace was surprised at how simple this seemed.
“But I need a website first.”
“Grace, it's still early, we can get some great pictures of the front of the cottage with the sign and all the roses. And then we can take some of the rooms. Will that work?” Sue was thinking right along the same lines as Grace.
“I was just thinking that my Internet provider allows me a small website space for a few euro's a month. I could use that. Let's get those pictures and plan the pages. We can use this site as a guide,” Grace pointed out one online that she liked.
The girls spent on into early evening working on the plan for the website. They had not even noticed that Peter and Chloe had not returned as it was about dinner time. They took a break to make a simple dinner together that they could add to later when Peter and Chloe returned.
As the girls ate they continued their conversation about the website. Should the price be listed? What information did they need to include? And how did Grace go about getting listed in some other pamphlets, or other websites?
Grace paused, and said, “I guess I'm going to reopen Aine's Cottage. Now I just need someone to run the place for me.”
“Grace, you should hold off just until you get everything in place and have some kind of grand re-opening type of celebration,” Sue suggested.
“What if we did some kind of community thing? Something where local people could come by and know that we are here. Like an afternoon event,” Grace's marketing skills were spinning faster than she could keep up.
The two girls continued to work on ideas and when they decided to take a break, they realized it was already dark out and past ten. Where were Peter and Chloe?
“How do you see that happening, Sue? I can't afford to pay someone if the B&B is not making money, and I'd still want to make some money off it, right?” Grace responded.
“Well, if you gave someone room and board and a small stipend that might work. If it was a couple, one of them could work and the other handle the B&B. They'd have no overhead, and one salary would be just for their own spending,” Sue was trying to think out of the box.
“You may have something there Sue. So now I would need to find someone to do this. And what about seeing to the bookings. I need some kind of marketing plan,” Grace was thinking out loud.
They arrived at a little cafe still discussing this when they noticed a pamphlet in a news stand. It was a listing of available B&B's. Here Grace would have a starting point for advertising. She had also been looking at various traveling websites that listed B&B's in Northern Ireland. If she could get Aine's Cottage listed on those also, she might have a chance to make a go at this. Now the question of who to run the B&B for her. She couldn't expect Peter to do this. He'd never be able to handle the cooking. And they needed a way to facilitate bookings. The conversation continued as Sue and Grace at their lunches and walked around the small town.
As they walked Grace thumbed through the pamphlet. More and more she noticed that the B&B's listed had websites. After picking up some snacks and a few supplies for dinner the girls headed back to the cottage and started checking out the websites.
“Sue, you know these are not that complicated. Most of the reservations are made though a booking agency link, but some are direct through emails to the owners. I don't even have to be in Swatragh to keep track of reservations. I could do all that from Dublin.” Grace was surprised at how simple this seemed.
“But I need a website first.”
“Grace, it's still early, we can get some great pictures of the front of the cottage with the sign and all the roses. And then we can take some of the rooms. Will that work?” Sue was thinking right along the same lines as Grace.
“I was just thinking that my Internet provider allows me a small website space for a few euro's a month. I could use that. Let's get those pictures and plan the pages. We can use this site as a guide,” Grace pointed out one online that she liked.
The girls spent on into early evening working on the plan for the website. They had not even noticed that Peter and Chloe had not returned as it was about dinner time. They took a break to make a simple dinner together that they could add to later when Peter and Chloe returned.
As the girls ate they continued their conversation about the website. Should the price be listed? What information did they need to include? And how did Grace go about getting listed in some other pamphlets, or other websites?
Grace paused, and said, “I guess I'm going to reopen Aine's Cottage. Now I just need someone to run the place for me.”
“Grace, you should hold off just until you get everything in place and have some kind of grand re-opening type of celebration,” Sue suggested.
“What if we did some kind of community thing? Something where local people could come by and know that we are here. Like an afternoon event,” Grace's marketing skills were spinning faster than she could keep up.
The two girls continued to work on ideas and when they decided to take a break, they realized it was already dark out and past ten. Where were Peter and Chloe?
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