So much has changed in those 20 years and so have our guests. Die hard self catering guests seem few and far between now. I would like to make our new guests aware that by booking direct with an owner you can save loads on the cost of a relaxing break in Cornwall with your family and dog. It is very simple, the owners do not charge you a booking fee. Nor do they have to cover the massive commission paid to the big boys, the agents that come up on google left, right and center. So easy to click on. I suggest you find your ideal cottage on an free standing owner run web site to slash the cost of your holiday. We might be on page 5 but is it that difficult to look a little harder. Many owners, including us, are happy to do a deal and as long as you respect their cottage they will look after you and your pennies. Most guests have their own holiday insurance so no need to be overcharged for that on a main letting agent either. Quite often, it means the owners are around which means if something goes wrong in your cottage they are there to fix it and sort it out.

We could tick all your boxes on the Cornwall holiday that you deserve. Walking distance to the local village Pub. 5 miles from lovely Falmouth. 15 mins from the sea but on the edge of a peaceful village that’s not overrun by noisey tourists! Less than an hour from The Eden Project or Land’s End. The coast 5 miles away.

We live in the old farm house in front of the cottages, on hand if need be.

You are hidden away in peace to relax, explore and re-charge.

Ruby Farmhouse used to be a Dairy farm many years ago before then there was all the tin mining and of course we had Porkellis mine. So much history to explore.

Please do feel free to contact me from our contact page or give me a call and ask about the cottages and if I can do you a decent deal on a short Spring break. Out of season, is always just perfect.

Contact me for a short break deal for the Spring.

This has turned out to be a very busy out of season, season. Short breaks coming out of our ears. This is down to our main booking agents doing deals with Airbnb and booking.com. I’m not complaining, although the amount of cottage cleaning, washing, ironing scones were pretty massive, guests are guests no matter how long they choose to stay and how much of Cornwall they wish to explore, it’s lovely that they choose to stay at Ruby Farmhouse Holiday Cottages. What I, and every other cottage owner I speak to are finding though, is that the summer holidays are yet to fill up fully. This has never been the case in 15 years. Nor have we had many visitors from Germany, USA, France, New Zealand, Australia etc than in other years. What is going on? I have a view and it appears to be the same for most people that have been in the business for 10 years and over. We think the market is flooded. We think there are so many options on offer now. Yurts, Belle Tents, log cabins, tree houses, mega luxury cottages & second homes, to name but a few, and then there is us. From day one, I decided that middle of the range, not over priced, but value for money, comfortable, including a TV, DVD player, Dishwasher, Washing Machine, Dryer, free wifi, towels, hot water & heating, a pretty outdoor seating area, a play area for the kids, walking distance to a very good village Pub etc etc would all be supplied, but, as for granite work tops, underfloor heating, an Aga, log fires, a Hot Tub & places you might get wet & cold staying in, was a great big no. You see the maintenance and what I would have to charge guests would narrow down the likely hood of a decent number of bookings for starters, I want guests who don’t expect the World of luxury in their holiday cottage, nor do I want the guests who pay an absolute fortune only to moan their way through their holiday! I think what comes around, goes around. I think it’s a phase and I think there will always be those who like to stay in a place they can come back to that is warm, dry, comfortable and reliable in that everything works & they haven’t paid an arm and two legs for. I think, the fact that we live here means if something breaks we can get it fixed, which is also a plus. Not possible in some places. I think things will change, some people who have recently entered the field will find owning a holiday cottage and letting it out is very hard work and too time consuming, that the running costs are too high and the amount you then charge your guests becomes bad value. I also think there are too many big agents online and that will change too. I have lots of guests who may find us on another site but then they look for our website and approach us to book. Best way, you save yourself a booking fee and all the other costs the agents add. But we have to put our cottages with them, otherwise you would never find us! Oh it is a dilema. It will be interesting to see if our smallest Cottage books up in July and August, I’ll be amazed if it doesn’t but, everything happens for a reason.

But lets talk about the weather, there can be no complaints about the weather whatsoever……the easiest winter ever. Looking after our zoo has been a total breeze. Walking the dogs, riding, trimming the dry goat feet, it was so incredibly easy. But wait a minute, I do have a moan. We put our own water system in last year, we now get our lovely, healthy water out of our well! Well, we will until we run out, which it did last October for a whole month. And seeing as we have hardly seen any rain since, I’m amazed we still have our water running now, but thanks to the weather I have only had to hose the dogs down about 5 times. I have not let my husband wash his boat or the cars and showers have to be shorter than usual! Don’t worry though, all our guests have had no problems with our water and if the worse happens we turn the mains back on. So, if you stay in one of our cottages we won’t leave you without!

I do wonder why it took 15 years for us to do this, but I guess there were other priorities higher up the very long list. I also wonder, had we done it sooner, would we have had lovely calm, dry winters and hot summer for the last 15 years…….but we will never know.

If you are yet to book a break away, pop over to take a look, the links I have put in are for another site we advertise on as our own is having an update. 

We have room in our smallest, Dingley Cottage in July and August and a couple of weeks still to go in Kernyk Cottage

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Well, It’s that time of year again. Our decorators have been and given lots of TLC to Ruby Cottage. Next week they will turn their attention to Kernyk Cottage and finally our smallest, Dingley Cottage. In the meantime, I turn my thoughts to our guests. Will the retired guests, who visit, be as relaxed as they have been for the last 12 years and will the young families arriving be as harassed as has been known in the past.

I put myself in their shoes. It is the first time since their last holiday that they have spent 6 hours odd in a car together. Dad is frustrated with the traffic, idiot drivers & screaming kids, Mum is trying to keep the peace, is wondering if she has chosen the right cottage, will they all love it, what will the weather do, did I turn off the cooker….and the kids, say no more. I just pray when they arrive, set eyes on their holiday home for the week, that they can switch off and relax…….

I bound up the drive. What will I find, relaxed, relieved, happy faces that say to me, we like what we see, the kettle getting filled, scones being eyed up. Ah, excellent all is good. Cheery hello’s all round, and breath. Or, do I get, “I can’t turn the car round, how am I supposed to park up here?” or perish the thought, “where is the WiFi code, we can’t find it , we need it now”. No sign of a greeting of any sort! Do I sigh, give the information and drop the cheery hello, do I remember I have something else I must do right at that moment and come back later when they have chilled or turned the place upside down looking for “the Code” to life as they know it. I can’t say, every time is different, it’ll have to be a surprise.

We couldn’t offer WiFi for the first 7 years after we started letting the holiday cottages. Speeds never got past .256mb. I do not jest. After a year of bugging the big wig, Gavin Patterson, a petition signed by most of the village, fibre optic finally entered the village. And stopped at the Pub. I’ll admit though, even with copper still running from the pub to us, speeds were now greatly improved. I was still reticent at offering the WiFi though. Guests loved knowing that their kids couldn’t be nose to device, wives loved the fact they had more chance of getting their husbands’ attention, as work, answering e mails, social media, were all out of the question. But all the other cottages were offering it, guests wanted it. So, there you have it, WiFi. The guests now have what they think they need and want, I think it’s not so ideal. Do the board games ever get played, does our play area get used so often as in the early years, do the kids want to say hello to the goats and horses, do the families talk and listen to each other, does it really make for a proper holiday? Yes, it means the guests can look at everything there is to do in Cornwall, but could that not have got done before they got here or over coffee and cake in a cafe or in our local pub, before dinner, not during! I think there has to be a strict holiday rule, device use during holidays are cut to the very minimum.

Go on, give it a go.

P.S. WIFI code is in the ………

Since I visited here over 10 years ago and knew if I didn’t live in Wales I could live in Cornwall because I just knew, in my gut, that Cornwall was not England. Keep following and I’ll try and explain further.

Now before any of you get on your high horses, I’m not being rude about England or the English, honestly, and don’t tell anyone this, but I was born there. But you see I haven’t got an English bone in my body . My family have French, Irish and above all else Scottish blood and having lived in Wales since the age of 10, I just knew I could never feel totally at home in England. So when we visited Cornwall it was the least feeling English, English place I’d ever been to and now it’s confirmed! So all is at peace and all is as it very much should be. You see there is something about the Celts. We are not the same as the English. Call me mad but all you Celts out there know exactly what I mean . Maybe, just maybe that is why Cornwall is such a popular holiday destination for so very many? Cornwall just has that certain something, that little bit of something nowhere else has.

So despite the very long, very wet winter we have all been experiencing is it not time to get your wellies and wet weather gear out and pop down for a short break? You never know, bring the wet weather gear and the sun will come out. The Magnolia’s are out so it must be time to come out of the woodwork and explore.

Just click here for all the information for Mevagissey Feast Week which runs from 29 June to 4^th July with lots of delicious food and drink and fun.

Another favourite is the Polo on the Beach at Watergate Bay. Held this year on 5^th and 6^th of July it’s a rare chance to see polo played in a spectacular and unique location. You don’t have to be a polo fan to enjoy this, the champagne bar makes it a great day out for parents; the fun atmosphere makes it a great day out for everyone. To be clear, the tide is out; the horses aren’t swimming!

Slightly later in the month and a lot closer to the cottages (about 3 miles away) is the Stithians Agricultural Show  held on the 14^th July. Billed as Cornwall’s biggest one day show, it’s a must see day out. There is a huge range of animal show classes, both livestock and pets. Also dog agility which I must encourage Arran to enter our wire haired pointer Bingers in to. The thought of him veering off course going over the ring fence and helping himself to whatever free food was around in the crowd would be too funny to miss. Arran has refused to enter the dog show since, in our first year of residence in Cornwall, a judge said that Mr Darcy our weimaraner was too fat. He’s a lot thinner now but Arran has never forgiven them! There are also classic cars, steam engines and a funfair to enjoy. Finally on the 19^th July the Camborne Show is on. Camborne is about 15 minutes to the north of the holiday cottages it’s another fantastic local show with show jumping, heavy horse demonstrations, dog show and agility, livestock classes and lots more.

If none of the above get you excited there is always the sailing, the surfing the eating the coast path the out door theatre, the many gardens…………….the list goes on…….and you could just pop over to our Make it Special page. Long may the sun shine.

We had to say good bye to one of our Boer goats on the 30th of December. She had been ill for over 8 months. I injected her twice a day for 7 of those months in the hope of killing off the nasty bacteria that wracked her body but to no avail. Very sad, but her little friend ( scrap that) large friend, seems fine and is too busy growing to notice.  I think she is glad not to be in competition for food.

So, what I actually came on here to do is share a little idea with you in case you intend to be a guest of ours this Spring or Summer. I figured even if you think you know Cornwall, going on a Treasure Trail is a really good way of getting to know it even better or maybe learning something totally new about Cornwall. 

Treasure Trail have 61 trails to choose from. You can take one in order to learn about a quaint fishing village, out on the rugged moors or along the coastline.  You can choose from walking trails, car trails and even cycling trails .  It really is an excellent way to find more out about this beautiful county, so pop on over and see what takes your fancy.  Then if you haven’t already, you had better book that week away at Ruby Farmhouse Holiday Cottages. Short breaks are available too out of season.

It is most definitely a funny season though, of course we are still in a recession and then this blasted weather.  I won’t recount to you all that I have heard, mini ice age, erratic weather to continue and so on. I’m trying very hard to forget all the doom and gloom. After all, aren’t we Brits a nation of people who just “get on with it” and are “always prepared” and “life must go on” Apart from when it comes to snow fall that is. So why on earth would we want to book ourselves on a plane that could get delayed to a country where it’s soooo hot we can’t actually do anything other than sit in the shade and get food poisoning, oh and not understand a word being said, although get into a conversation with a Cornishman and you may have the same problem! Thing is, Cornwall needs you, so why not give us the time of day, so many businesses down here are run by individuals and have been handed down through families who re-invent themselves to keep up with the times and demands of todays holiday makers. Cornwall lives for it’s visitors through the summer and comes alive when it has plenty of people to look after. We don’t have a tin or copper industry to rely on any longer so our countryside and coast must do all the work.

Britain, and Cornwall in particular has so very much to give and if you are open to it, you will find and experience some wonderful things on holiday here, just open your mind, book a cottage, bring summer and wet weather gear and have an adventure! I even have a page called “Make it special” where you can choose to do something, well , a bit special, like food foraging, bass fishing, jewellery making, basket making, Nordic walking or have a go at Gig rowing like our Olympic Champions did at St Mawes in the picture above.  If there is something you would like to try and it’s not listed just let me know and I’ll sort it out for you.

Here’s me selling the virtues of a holiday in Cornwall staying in one of our cottages of course, and we only have a few available weeks left! 

On that note I’m off to enjoy the sun, and, yes it is out.

About to hit falmouth, not only traditional one day yacht racing in The Falmouth Classics but The famous Falmouth Sea Shanty too. There will be racing everyday and to add to the fun there will be The Falmouth Shout Shanty Singers singing their hearts out with Shanties and Cornish songs, visit their site to find out the difference !

Falmouth is about 7 miles from Ruby Farmhouse Holiday Cottages and we have room in Ruby Cottage, (the other two are full) so why not get sorted and arrange that break?

Photo courtesy of The Falmouth Classics web page.

This is what just some of the beautiful yachts look like, they really are worth coming to see. This traditional yacht racing event gets bigger and better every year, so go on, treat yourselves.