Apologies, apologies!! For those of you who are regular readers of our blog our apologies for this months late submission. My only excuse is that we have just been on holiday. Some months ago our elder daughter suggested that we join then on a Tuscan holiday. At the time, given that we were in the middle of a hectic summer season, the idea seemed seductive. So we booked a rural country retreat and the whole family (six in all) set off on the 23rd.
We finally arrived at 10.10 on Sunday night and rural it most certainly was, with the nearest "town" being Montaione, which was some 20 minutes drive.
Furthermore we had taken the "bookings book" so as to respond to possible accommodation enquiries and had to travel to San Gimignano (a 50 minute round trip) to access e-mails at an internet cafe.
Needless to say this was a bit on a bind. I say this for a few reasons. Firstly the road was narrow, scondly it seemed to have been designed with a view to causing as many accidents as possible and lastly the less said about the driving the better. It was like driving in South Africa with the added disadvantage of driving on the right hand side.
Of course the Tuscan hills are beautiful but not recommended is trying to view them while negotiating a hairpin bend with a ten ton truck bearing down on you.
Whilst we had the opportunity to taste some wonderful wines we found restaurant prices to be significantly higher than on our previous trip.
From Tuscany we moved on to Venice for three days and again found prices to over the top.
Our B and B cost us £75 per night and included a breakfast which comprised a small glass of juice, a tub of yoghurt, one sweet croissant and a cup of coffee. In fairness however the room, once one had climbed six flights of stairs was comfortable.
In fact in retrospect we felt we could have had as an enjoyable a break in the UK at a cheaper price. This is based on the fact that our self catering accommodation in Tuscany cost us £40 per person per night and that the average price for pretty ordinary meal was between £8.50 and £10.50. Even wine prices were much the same as those in the UK. This might sound like us touting for business and sure an overseas trip is fun, but next time you plan one do your sums and I am certain you will find that the UK offers great value for money.
During last month York was host to The Duke of York, Prince Andrew. He was here to attend a service at York Minster for the Duke of York's Regiment.
As fate would have it that same weekend we had Sarah Ferguson as a guest.
Breakfast on Sunday was a boisterous affair after I said to the other guests, "Who needs the Duke of York, when we have Sarah Ferguson staying at Feversham. In fact our Sarah mentioned that when she visits the doctor or dentist and the name Sarah Ferguson is announced there is an immediate reaction from the other patients as they turn to see where she is, followed by sheepish grins.
Finally this month sees the following happening in York.

1-12 October; York Minster Revealed. Over 100 paintings of the Minster dating from 17th century to present. York Minster
9-12 October; Opera; Hugh the Drover by Vaughan Williams at York Theatre Royal.
13-31 October; Halloween Festival; York Dungeon.
20-28 October; Triumphs and Tragedies; National Railway Museum. www.nrm.org.uk
26 Oct-3 Nov; The Keys to the Kingdom; Museum Gardens (Performances nightly at 7.00 and 8.00)
26-28 October; York Roman Festival. www.yorkromanfestival.com
26 Oct-3 Nov:Illuminating York, an innovative light display will open during which various York landmarks will be transformed at night. Further info can be gleaned from www.illuminatingyork.org.uk

Until next time look after yourselves.
David.
P.S. For those of your who have not been to YORK for a while or not previously visited our lovely city, you may be interested to know that YORK has just won the accolade EUROPEAN CITY OF THE YEAR 2007/08. In doing so it beat off strong competition from the other finalists Valencia and Gothenberg.

Well another month has passed and what a month it has been. The weather improved in York although temperatures were never above 20 degrees. You will notice from the title that three things of note happened this month and taking each in turn I'll deal with the winners one first.
No we were not lucky punters during the Ebor Race Festival (that's another story) but won something of far greater value to our Guests.
During the month we had our annual Quality in Tourism grading. The Assessor (it sounds much nicer than Inspector) booked in anonymously and after spending the night and sampling Elaine's breakfast let us know who she was as she paid. As you can imagine you run through all that you have said and done hope and pray that you haven't made any Basil or Manuel gaffs.
She, as is usual, asked to see all the rooms and then we settled down in the Lounge for her verdict.
Well we received Very Good on everything (bedrooms, bathrooms, linen, toiletries etc., that's a score of over 80%). However for our Dining Room, and the quality and range of choice of our Breakfasts we scored Excellent. We also scored Excellent for Hospitality. Both of these scores are over 90%.
More importantly we not only retained our 4 Stars but WON A SILVER AWARD.
This is achieved by less than 5% of Guest Houses in the UK.
For those of you who have stayed with us we wish to assure you we will not rest on our laurels and we intend to lift the bar ever higher during the next year.
I mentioned earlier the Races. August is always one of the busiest months in York and this year it has been manic. Not only did we have the Ebor Racing Festival but it was followed by a Bank Holiday Week end.
Consequently we were almost full every night of the month and last night climbed into bed at 21.00. An unusally early time for us but we felt we deserved some extra sleep. It's amazing how a good night's sleep regenerates one and this morning we rose bright and early and "rarin to go".
Finally "WET".
Some months ago we decided that the whole family would book for the Castle Howard proms. These were on the 18th and after much planning we had our pinic supper organised, the "bubbly on ice" and the chairs and table booked. All we needed was the weather to play ball. It didn't.
Tim, our son-in-law, and I went early to stake our claim to a prime spot and to set up everything. We then waited for the ladies to arrive - in what was a fine drizzle. Sadly it didn't let up all night - in fact it got progressively worse. One of the highlights, the Spitfire fly past was cancelled and we eventually sat huddled under our umbrellas.
The real surprise was that despite the weather we had a great evening listening to some super music. The finale was a fireworks display by the team that did the Millenium display in London. It can only be described as AWESOME.
We can really recommend the Proms (even if you are no clasical music lover) and for those of you looking for a truly unique evening, why not check the dates and come up to York next year.

As usual we conclude with "WHAT'S ON IN YORK" next month.

WED 5 Sept. York Races at the Knavemire.
FRI 7 Sept. Haunted Horror Maze. Grimston Bar
Sun 8 Sept. Canine Capers. York Maze, Grimston Bar
Sun 9 Sept. York Races at the Knavemire
9th 15th Sept. British Association Festival of Science. Programme on www.the-ba.net/festivalofscience
15/16th Sept. National Book Fair. Knavemire Suite, York Racecourse
20/31st Sept. York Festival of Food and Drink A GREAT EVENT. Programme on www.yorkfestivaloffoodanddrink.com

That's it for now. Take care.
David.
P.S. Just some information for those of you who have not visited YORK previously or have not been in YORK for a while.
YORK has been voted EUROPEAN CITY OF THE YEAR for 2007/8. In winning this accolade YORK beat off strong competition from the other finalists Valencia and Gothenburg.

What a sight. York bathed in sunshine. Yes you read it correctly. At last a summers day. Elaine and I had to go into town earlier and it was idyllic. Families walking in the sunshine down by the river, others having luncheon in the gardens of some of the restaurants - it really was balm for the soul. We are hoping that we have turned the corner and that we may still have a braai (barbecue for those unfamiliar with this South African term) before the onset on autumn.
During July York Racecourse hosted the John Smith racing festival. This is always popular and this year was no exception. As we had a full house for Saturday and Sunday nights we decided to take one night bookings for the Friday night. Not a wise move as we had five complete room changes on Saturday morning. Needless to say that by the end of the weekend we were pretty exhausted.
If any manifestation of how tired I was was necessary it occurred at Tesco when I pulled in to get petrol. Having filled up the car I went in to pay and after finally getting to the front of the queue the cashier greeted me by name. He happens to live two doors from us and I had not even recognised him. I explained rather sheepishly that I was shattered after our hectic weekend.
He then asked me what my number was and I replied 971. He looked decidedly bemused and asked again. I began this time by stating the car registration number which of course includes 971.
"Get a grip David, I want your pump number so I can charge you for your petrol" was his reply.
We had a good laugh and "get a grip David" has become the cry when things threaten to go pear shaped.
For those of you planning a trip to York during August, the following info might prove useful:

Late July - Early Sept - York Maze - York's amazing maize maze. New location to be confirmed, www.yorkmaze.com

Aug 4/5 Am I not your Brother? In commemmoration of the abolition of slavery. Authentic testimonies. 11.00 Clifford's Tower.

Aug 10 (Friday) Free admission Stonemasons Yard; York Minster 9.30-3.00

Aug 13 The Schbert Story featuring Vincent Billington (piano) and Philip Mindenhall (narrator). The life story of the Vienese master. 13.00 St Helens Church.

Aug 18/19 Hollywood comes to York. Public exhibition of authentic props and costumes. City Screen; Coney St. www.moviemaniaonline.co.uk

Aug 18 - Castle Howard Prom Spectacular - Open air picnic concert with fireworks, tel: 01653 648623

Aug 18 - Aug 19 - Yorkshire Air Show - Elvington, tel: 01759 305851

Aug 21 - Aug 23 - York Races - Ebor Festival - Tel: 01904 620911

Aug 24 Polish and Eastern European Market. Parliament Square.

Ciao for now.

After the madness of what has seemed like weeks of inclement weather to-day dawned bright and clear and Elaine and I walked into town. Yes walked with not a threat of rain. As many of you will know England and Wales and south Yorkshire in particular has suffered from quite unbelievable weather. Whilst we in York have got by relatively unscathed we still had our fair share and on the last Monday in June we had a months rainfall in 6 hours.

This led to some bookings being cancelled but the British folk are nothing if not resilient and a bit of rain was not going to stop them having a weekend away.

We have finally got the bathrooms completed and even if I say so myself, our plumber has done a great job so much so that a recent guest was moved to write in the Visitors Book:
" So good this place should be five star gold status."

We are currently in the throes of redoing our website photos and once complete I will advise you via the blog. That will give you all an opportunity to see not only the bathrooms but also the revamped Dining Room and Victorian Room.

Happenings of interest in York this month are as follows:
10/13 July York Early music festival
13/14 July York Races
15 July Great York Dragon Boat Challenge
20/21 July Stamp and Coin Fair at the Knavemire
27 July York Farmers Market
29 July Jazz in the afternoon at Castle Howard
28/29 July York Roman Festival

Also on at the York Art Gallery is and exhibition of works by Henri Fantin-Latour (until 23 September).

Until next time take care.

Well we survived the fitting of the new bathroom floors but it was close. The replacement fitters arrived at 8.50 on Fridat morning - right in the middle of serving breakfast - this after we had expressly asked that the arrive no earlier that 9.30.
As we had a full house for the weekend we had said that the job must be completed by 14.00. However with a sense of rising panic I realised that at the speed they were working at - they had two speeds dead slow and stationary - that we hadn't a cat in hells chance to be finished by the time our first guests arrived. What subsequently followed could not of been pretty. I was incandesent and when one threaten to pack his tools I said I'd do it for him. I stormed in and told Elaine in real Basil Fawlty style that the were going. She of course had a fit - if they had gone it might have been a nervous breakdown.
I think however they suddenly saw their payment disappearring and decided to pull finger and surprise, surprise they were finished by 14.45.
As fate would have it they had just left when one of our potential guests (who had booked three rooms) phoned to say that as the York races had been cancelled due to the rain, they were not coming.
Fortunately we did manage to re-let two of the rooms.
Talking of the rain, it was more like the biblical flood. In 24 hours we had the equivalent of the total average rainfall for the month of June. Great for the gardens and perhaps the ducks but not much fun if you were looking to spend a weekend away from home. Still there is much to do in York even if the weather isn't playing ball.
York happenings this weekend are:
The York Bike Fair - the largest cycle show in the country - at the Racecourse.
Classic Wings and Wheels Show at the Air Museum at Elvington
Flower and Garden Festival at Castle Howard.
Also on is the Falklands War Exhibition (until October) at the Air Museum at Elvington.
Must run as the doorbell is ringing - guests arriving - so until next time, take care.
David Geary.

At last after much anticipation we have got Feversham Fever,our
Feversham Lodge blog, online. For those not yet in the know Feversham Lodge is the Guest House Elaine and I have in York.
We hope our blog will be informative and humourous, we do have our Fawlty Towers moments, and most of all of use to those contemplating a visit to our historic city.
To set the scene think guest house not of our taste; think 6 bedrooms to redecorate; think dining room, stair well and hall to paint; think new kitchen and THINK ALL THIS TO BE JUGGLED WHILST KEEPING OUR GUESTS HAPPY.
The trauma of all this is not something you wish to impose upon your worst enemy and certainly not your spouse. However we survived and even managed to win the coveted York Tourism Bureau award "Guest House of the Year" for the past two years. The first guest house in York to have scooped the award for two consecutive years.
The past seven days have certainly had their ups and downs. Last Friday we celebrated Elaine's 60th birthday and our daughter Sarah, son in law Tim and new grandaughter came up from London. Sadly our younger daughter Carolynne, who is currently working in Bangkok, could not be with us. On Saturday Elaine's Yorkshire family joined us for a super birthday supper at an Italian Restaurant in York. On Sunday the youngsters returned to London. That was the end of the up's.
On Monday the plumbers moved in and we went into a down phase. We have been ungrading our bathrooms and the final push has now started.
Not a problem if the merchants deliver the goods as scheduled. I won't bore you with the details other than to suggest that I could almost understand why some see inebriation as a life alternative.
Amidst it all we have had a few ups. On Monday evening I was on the local BBC News articulating what I hoped was a Guest House owners consensus on "hen and stag parties" and the same day we had a call from the publishers on the GNER magazine. For the uninitated Great North Eastern Railways in the mainline train from London to York and Edinburgh and they have a quaterly "mag". This quarter they are featuring York and Feversham Lodge is one of three of their "where to stay" recommendations. The call came at just the right time as I was losing equilibrium fast - you don't need drink, just home repairs and maintenance.
Still on a positive note the bathrooms look stunning, the champers is on ice and we praying that the fitter doing the new flooring has no mishaps. Till next time, take care.
David Geary.
PS You won't believe it. We've just had a call to let us know that our fitter has cut his hand and the new fitter can only come on Friday and we have a house full from 3pm. Keep calm David, take a deep breath, oh to hell with it, let me go and grab a beer.