September 2008

Ready to go

We hope this has whetted your appetite. If you want to e-mail us with any questions we’ll do our best to answer them.

The house is finished and we’re now taking bookings. Until some time in 2011 this is on a self-catering basis. Once we move there it will be B&B, plus evening meals for anyone who wants them.
We’re really proud of the house – both the overall design and workmanship and the quality of the furnishings and fittings. But we’re the first to admit that there are plenty of things yet to do – the walls are devoid of pictures, we want to install some more furniture including dressing tables in the bedrooms and more verandah chairs and tables, and the immediate surroundings are waiting to be turned into a lawn and flower beds and the drive surfaced. At the moment all of this is bare earth though by the time we next visit (April?) much of it will be done. Until then, the prices reflect
the slightly incomplete nature of the place. But having lived there for three weeks over the summer we can vouch for the fact that it’s very comfortable, everything works and it’s just a delightful place to be. The pictures below may whet your appetite…

Sally & Jerry

We’ve engaged a caretaker – Kingsley – who lives in the house and speaks very good English. He will certainly help guests out with advice and information. The house has four bedrooms for guests, though between December and around June 2009 one will probably be occupied by Sally’s nephew Sam who is going to manage the place for us on a short-term basis. He, too, will be an invaluable resource for\ guests.

Website
Our website isn’t yet up and running but will be shortly. We’ll send round an e-mail with a link once it is.

The security and political situation
A quick update on this. The Sri Lankan army is steadily winning the war against the Tamil Tigers and everyone we know out there says that military victory will be achieved by Christmas or early next year. Of course peace is more than the absence of war and ultimately a political solution will need to be agreed – that will be some years off and in the meantime there is a continued though slight risk of terrorist incidents.

You would have to be very unlucky indeed to be caught up in one, especially as tourists are not targets – indeed they are carefully avoided where possible. The Kandy area, where our house is, is completely safe. The erosion of territory controlled by the Tigers means that more and more places are becoming possible to visit, though in some places there isn’t much tourist infrastructure left at present. The east coast in particular is opening up slowly. Our daughter Angela, who’s still out in Sri Lanka as we write, has e-mailed us from Arugam Bay which she’s fallen in love with. It’s noted for surfing and beaches but we’ve not been there ourselves (though of course Sally has when she was little).

What we did on our holidays

We spent six weeks in Sri Lanka from late July to early September. Much of it consisted of sorting out the house and various business matters but we did manage a week or so travelling around. The highlight was a safari in Yala National Park where we saw a pair of leopards at close quarters as well as wild elephants (even closer), a very rare stork, lots of crocodiles, wild boar, jackals and much other assorted wildlife. The bird life around our house is pretty cool, too – especially the day-glo orange coloured minivets which come out to play right by the house on sunny afternoons.
Not only the aforementioned Angela but much of the rest of our family was out there for part of the time with us: Merigen and Lucy, Jemima and her friend Morgan, and Jerry’s granddaughter Megan, as well as our good friend Melissa and her daughter Eloise. We also spent a lot of time with various Sri Lankan friends. It was all rather like being in one of those alternative reality games rather than being on holiday and coming back was a big wrench.
Oh well, only another three years to go.

Sally & Jerry