And then the week-end was over, leaving us all in a state of fatigue, and poor Tony in a state of fatigue and shock! A lot of people think that owning or running a small hotel was child's play, and when the realities of the amount of work in such a small hotel kicks in, they are completely overwhelmed. We seat about sixty people, and it can be quite difficult to manage even with staff, and poor old Tony, without any experience, had to do the waitering all by himself. I hoped that after this eye opening night he would advertize for help, as I had an idea that I talk a lot of rubbish when I told him what it could be like on a busy night. According to me he did not show enough enthusiasm in looking for help.
I was off on Monday, so I asked Hanna if she wanted to take a trip with me to see Loch Rannoch, near to Oban. So we set off early, a packed lunch of such nice things as different special cheeses, cold meats and olives, and sundried tomatoes, and lovely rolls, and much more. And of course the flask with coffee.
It was a lovely sunshiny day, with only a few far-off clouds drifting lazily high up in the sky, so their was no immediate threat of rain to spoil our day. As soon as we left the village, and the green trees and fields along the road invited me to enjoy their beauty, the tiredness just kind of evaporated from my battered body. It was all worth the hard work and long hours, and to be in such a place was indeed a privilege.
We had our lunch on the banks of Loch Rannoch, and it was so delightful to see Hanna in her nice clothes sitting on the grass. She was quite fussy, and did not like to dirty her clothes or her hands when out on a picnic. However, after having gone out with me a few times, she had calmed down a lot, and nowadays she could even land on her backside when going down a steep slope, and laughed her head off when I had to put in all my strength to get her upright again. And she wouldn't even complain about a few spots on her pants!
Oh, we had a lovely day, and all thoughts of the difficulties at the hotel was banished from my head.
The next day I went away on my own, as I wanted to climb Ben Lawers, and my two best friends, the only two available was not capable to do it with me. I packed both breakfast and lunch, as I usually set out very early, as that is when you encounter  unexpected and delightful things, like a spiderweb glinting in the early sunshine, or some rabbits playing on a piece of green grass, and once or twice I had been lucky enough to see some Roe deer grazing away peacefully. The best is to sit quietly, and wait to see what kind of wild life came one's way!
To me it was always amazing how I got my strength and my whole serenity back when sitting or lying under an umbrella of green leaves, while the wind lightly stirs the branches, making the leaves rustle softly, and the sun peep through here and there from between the leaves. I would usually have my lunch, then  lie down in a cozy spot, and read myself to sleep.
After a day like that I usually have built up enough strength and spirit to go back to work.

kitchen

It was a terrible time for me, but as the boys were still there to help out, I managed to cope with all the absurdities of the situation. The second week-end after they took over, it was extremely busy, as we had a full house, and the A83 leading to Perth and Oban, and also the beautiful road to Glencoe and on to fort William was one line of cars and motorbikes. The result of all this was that we had lot after lot of passers by pulling into our parking space for lunch or tea, with the result that I was running around like a mad chicken.
It was too late in the season of course to get help, as the hotels hire in march, so every available person in the village already had jobs, either in the village, or in Callander or Stirling.
usually I had at least an assistant, and some youngsters doing the dishes for me, but as the boys did the bar, and Tony the tables, I was all on my own in the kitchen with the orders piling up monstrously. I was already on my feet since seven in the morning, with two hours rest after lunch, and by seven that evening I was completely exhausted! There was no sign of Jo, and as Tony could hardly cope with taking orders, I had to take a lot of the food in also, and my temper was rising, as Jo would have been a great help, and I just couldn't understand why Tony did not get her down, so I cornered him, and asked him.
He just gave a strange kind of laugh, then told me that after six at night there was going to be no help from Jo, ever, as that was the time she started on the Gin. Oh Lord, I was aghast, as I had a table of twelve booked for half past eight, and the crockery and cutlery were piling up, and I had almost no clean plates anymore. And of course there was still a lot of orders to work through, so I went to the boys, and asked if one of them had a few minutes to just load the dishwasher.
The bar was crazy, but Brendon came into the kitchen and did the dishwasher, and then helped me for a while by doing the salads and some puds, as I just could not cope. Two people can work wonders, and while he did all the salads and puds, I could kind of catch up with doing the orders, and when half past eight came, I was all ready.
To do such a big table on your own requires a very together brain, as our menu was big, and this night I first had starters for the twelve people, and then I had to do five steaks, two of them rare, two medium rare, and one well done. On top of that there were two lambshanks, luckily pre-cooked, two chicken and leek pies, one steak and ale pie, and two haggis neeps and tatties. And of course, all this needed veggies, and chips, mash or new potatoes, whatever people wanted.
to keep one's head together under these circumstances is no easy job, as all this food had to of course go out together. Bally hair raising! But my brain was conditioned to cope with all of this, and it is wonderful how things are automatically put into sequence by that overworked and tired head.
Poor old Tony looked absolutely haggard, running around with plates of food, having forgotten which table it had to go to by the time he got to the dining room or conservatory. So my task was not made any easier with me having to help him, as his brain was not conditioned to remember all this stuff.
Just as I was doing the last two orders, the kitchen only taking orders up to nine, Tony came in with the news that a table of eight people had just walked in, and I felt the patience I pride myself on fly out by the window, and I told him that as it was now almost ten, I just could not do it. Well, I flatly refused, as I still had to do puds for the big table, and for the two orders I was busy with. And only then could I start cleaning the kitchen that was looking like a bally war zone!
As the bar was quieter now, John said he would help me, as there was no other kitchen in the village still open. My soft bally heart of course could not have people go hungry, and between John and self, we did it in record time. It was after twelve that I at last fell into bed, knowing that I had to be up at six thirty again to prepare for breakfast! But out in the parking lot my wee panda was waiting patiently for our next day out!

After breakfast I had to first bake scones, as we had none ready, and scones were a very popular order during the morning. We had a group of older villagers that came in every morning to have a coffee or two, and a scone or cake, and then sat talking and reading the papers, on which a very lively discussion would then ensue.
I had just taken a pot of lentil soup that I had put on in-between serving up breakfasts off the stove, when Tony came in, lifted the lid, then took a spoon to have a taste, and my eyes nearly popped when he just threw the rest of the soup on the spoon that he had tasted, back in the pot! I  was so disgusted, and when he left I poured the soup out into the sink, and started another pot. No ways will I serve that soup, not with his bad teeth! Anyway, I would not serve the soup after something like that, no matter whether the person who tasted it had the cleanest teeth on earth!
All this kept me back a lot, as I had a lot of baking and cooking to do, and I needed to peel veggies afresh for the soup.
The scones looked beautiful, not always the case with the antiquated ovens I had to work with, and they were on the cooling rack waiting for me to pack away when cold, when in sailed Tony again, and without washing his hands, started pawing each and every scone. He didn't get far, as I moved like bally lightning, grabbed the cooling rack that he hadn't touched yet, and dumped it in the holder, and closed the lid securely! The rest I put in a holder that I marked with a red X, then froze, ready to serve only to Tony and his family!
When the boys came down to help Tony get a grip on the pub, and help Jo with all the other things that had to be done, I begged them to tell Tony about Health and Safety rules, and about hygiene in the kitchen, and they promised to see to it.
They told me later that they had recommended to Tony and Jo both to attend a health and Safety lecture, as there the importance of cleanliness in the kitchen would be made very clear to them. But they had told them that on entering the kitchen, they had to wash their hands before touching anything.
They were not Scottish, but from what kind of background they were I did not know. In the meantime I kept a close eye on everything in the kitchen, and never did I leave anything outside where Tony could paw or taste it when I was not there to grab it away. I was never before in such a hurry to clear away any food, and had now started to freeze a lot of stuff, too scared that he would have a taste of it in my absence. The boys were doing the kitchen when I was off, and I was sure that they would keep my new boss in check!

As I was used to do breakfast on my own, and did the serving as well as the cooking, I was a wee bit unnerved, as to me that was the nicest part of my day. I loved to talk to the guests, and when we had Dutch or Belgian people, I spoke to them in Afrikaans, as that was derived from the their languages. They were usually much surprised to hear a language close to their own, and I always had a good laugh when they first looked at me kind of vaguely, not believing their ears, and then the understanding, and the laughs afterwards. Of course from now on all that would be in the past, that is if Jo kept on coming down.
Then Tony came down! He was dressed in a pair of jeans that would have fitted a child of ten, maybe it was his son's, gave me a ravishing black toothed smile, and went to check on the guests. I could see into the conservatory from my door, and what I saw made my hair stood straight up on my head. He had picked the table where a youngish couple were sitting, and he was leaning with his hands on their table, and almost his whole torso hanging over their food, talking mainly to the girl, and I could almost imagine the spit flying all over the table. The poor girl sat with knife and fork raised, looking like she was going to explode at any minute, but Tony was absolutely oblivious of the fact that he was not wanted.
I think he believed that as he was the owner, he had to entertain the guests. But the poor guests were all in a state of horror, and when the couple got up and left, Jo brought back their plates that were only slightly touched, I suppose before Tony joined them.
As the boys were still there for a few days to show the new owners the ropes, I decided to ask them to tell Tony not to harass people at their tables.
I was having great misgivings about staying with the hotel, but I also knew that the Inn, to whom I said no,  had in the meantime appointed another chef. So as Irene, who used to be at this hotel, was working at the Ben Shaen hotel, and there was no other one in the village, I knew that if I wanted to stay in Scotland, I had to weather this two people. The hotels hire during the month of March for the season, so it would be difficult to leave.
After breakfast Tony came into the kitchen, stood about a foot from me, put his hands in his pockets, then stuck out his scrawny little pelvis towards me, and smiled! Gross! I looked straight into his row of blackened teeth, and when he started talking and I got the full strength of his breathe, I was very near to collapsing, but excused myself sedately, walked to the door, and when out, ran like heck for the toilet. I now felt really sorry for the people who tried to eat their breakfasts with Tony looming over them.
I spoke to the boys, and they took it upon themselves to get Tony to stay as far as possible away from any guests's tables, and they promised to drill some good behaviour and the need to be hygienically clean at all times into the little guy.
But I was a worried woman! But was absolutely adamant to influence Jo to make him see the way, and just do my job, and enjoy my days off!

Breakfast

I was ready and downstairs at seven the next morning as usual, and immediately started to put out everything in the conservatory where breakfast was served. I had thought that my new bosses would be down with me, but it was about twenty passed seven, and I had finished just laying the breakfast tables, when Jo came in, all regal superiority! She walked around like some very high bred fighting cock, her eyes darting from one thing to the other. Then Harry, the young boy ambled in, all sleepy eyed, but dressed for school.
'Christine!', this in a drawling, high pitched voice! I looked at the woman, sensing that I had a problem coming, but as everything was perfect, I couldn't see what she would carry on about. She walked over to the table where the stuff for breakfast was laid out. The woman demeaned herself enough to bring her nose down a wee bit, looked from me to the glasses on the table, then drawled: 'I prefer to use wine glasses for the juices' I almost swooned, as it is just not the done thing to use wine glasses for breakfast orange, so I told her very nicely that all the better hotels use whiskey glasses.
Of course with me not meekly agreeing to use the wine glasses, she immediately took it as a slight on her ownership. I like to do things like all the other inns and hotels do, and of course she became as rigid as a bally telephone pole, and told me in a very autocratic and drawling voice to please change the glasses!
As it was now past seven thirty, and I still had to prepare breakfast, I told her in a sweet but coldish voice that if she wanted the glasses changed, she and Harry will have to do it, as I really had to start on the breakfast immediately, or I wouldn't be ready for the guests.
She opened her mouth to say something, but I swept out of the room, and when I later returned to put out the juices and yogarts, she was very haughty, and the whiskey glasses were changed to big redwine goblets! I actually hated wine glasses for my juice, but as she is now the owner, I let it go. She would eventually learn that using small whiskey glasses are not only nicer, but much less expensive, seeing that she used the big wine glasses!
I was busy cutting up the small white button mushrooms, when in the "lady" swept, and after having inspected all I have prepared, her eyes fell on me and the mushrooms. She rolled her eyes a few times in utter disgust, then told me in an extra drawling voice: 'Christine, I prefer the mushrooms peeled!' Cor blimey, I nearly pitched over stone bally cold from pure shock!
When I recovered from my shock she was still looking at me with that kind of challenging look, and I got MAD, gave her the bluntest knife, and told her that if she wanted the mushrooms peeled, she had better do it herself, and fast, as the people were already coming down, and I definitily did not have the time.
She kind of floated out of the kitchen without another word, and that was the last I ever heard of peeling the mushrooms.
She watched me like a hawk preparing every plate of food instead of giving her time to the guests, and I was beginning to be very uncomfortable, and decided to talk to Tony, and if we could not work things out, I would go to the other hotel, who had already asked me.

All too soon it was time to go back, but it was a lovely few days. if I didn't have to work at Jacquee's, I would have stayed  a couple more days.
Back at the hotel I was given the news that the hotel was sold, and everything was signed and paid, and the new owners would be there in a week's time. I have never met them, but the Boys assured me that they were okay, and that they definitely wanted me to go on working at the hotel.
So the three of us jumped in and we scrubbed and cleaned out the whole place, as it was dusty from standing closed for so long.
During this time, just before the new people arrived, my eldest sister died suddenly, but I could not go to the funeral, as there was not a spare seat on the Emerates flight for me to be there in time. I was devastated, as we were very close, and I usually visited them before I fly to Scotland, and again on coming back. So the morning of her funeral I walked up the mountain behind the hotel, into the forest, and as Sarina, her daughter told me the time of the service, I sat amongst the big old pines where I am happiest, and lived through the ceremony. The next morning I drove to my beloved glen Lyon, where I cried my heart out, then decided to build her a small cairn, and put a little message inside.
I gathered a lot of flat stones, and after some struggling to balance the rocks on top of each other, I got behind the secret, and the cairn looked wonderful, and I cried some more. Then I felt a calmness came over me, and I relived some of our naughtiest childhood pranks, and I laughed and looked up to heaven, hoping that she could see me. On a stone I had painted a message that went like this: Lida, if you are an angel, and ever fly over this place I love so much, stop for a minute, and remember me.
I drove back to the hotel feeling a lot better.
In a few days time, the new owners arrived! Tony, a little scrap of a man, so thin he looked like a pencil stripe, gave me a smile that made me reel back a bit, as the whole set of teeth on the one side was rotten, and black. I looked at the boys for help, but the two of them didn't seem to see anything amiss!
The wife Jo, who was tall and strongly built, looked a lot more the thing than her husband. She eyed me with a kind of superior smile on her lips, and I sommer knew that she was trouble.
Then there was Harry, their only child, and from the cheeky look he gave me, I could sense that he was one thoroughly spoiled brat!
Tony then asked me to promise that as they have no experience in the hotel industry, that I would stay at least for the rest of the season. I wanted to run!
But I am one resolute woman, and can work with anybody, and if this woman thought that I wanted to run the whole hotel, she was mistaken, as I was happy in my kitchen!
The pictures are of Lida's cairn in the wilds of glen Lyon.

I was GLAD when the boys finally came back, as staying alone in that big hotel with the stairs that were forever creaking and the whole place except where I was in total darkness, I was feeling just a wee bitty scared! I had the dogs with me, and would have been a wreck if they were not there to keep me company.
So most of the night I sat in the pub, drinking coffee, and looking at the cars and people passing by.
As Jacquee had a few days without guests, Liz and self decided to go to Craig Tara, a sort of pleasure park for a few days.
So of course it was again me with poor Benny standing pawing the back of my seat, panting and blowing that killer breath straight up my nose. But luckily it was mid summer, and I was quite okay with the window open. Usually in October when we went on holiday, it was cold and rainy, and I had to don just about all the clothes I possessed, with my raincoat on top, to keep from freezing.
We had a lovely caravan home with two bedrooms, and for that I was glad, as when we had a twin room, Benny insisted to come and sleep with me under my blanket, his head next to mine! With that breath of him it was like sleeping in a sewerage pipe!
There was a huge warm swimming pool, and as it was not school holidays yet, we had only a few fellow bathers, and could really go bonkers. And we did! We were quite out of our skins, as this was a small bonus for this time of the year.
But to me the swans was just the hilite of this holiday.
It was not far to walk down to the beach, and as Liz of course never arose from her bed before at the earliest ten, I walked down to see what it was like at the seaside, and had the thrill of a lifetime!
I saw this small dots quite far out on the water, and squinted into the rising sun to see what it was, as it looked as if the dots were coming closer to the beach. As it came closer, I realized that it was either ducks or swans, and because the dots looked to big for ducks, I decided that it must be swans. And it was! As they neared the beach I was so thrilled that I just danced around like someone gone completely crazy, as I never in my life dreamed that I would be alone on a beach in Scotland, and around fifty swans would come gliding across the water towards me! As they started getting out of the water I could just stare, as they were really huge. A big male came out first, and he came straight at me, I suppose to inspect if it was safe for his flock to come ashore. The one photo that I so wanted to put on this block, one of the swan standing close to me and looking me up and down, hissing and rolling its neck from side to side, I had apparently lost. Pity!
After the big male had inspected me for quite some time, he turned and made some noises, and the others followed him out of the water! It was the most amazing experience I ever had!