WOW what a year 2019 has been, It was my first season at the helm of Cape Clear B&B. In 2019 we were fortunate to be part of the TG4 documentary 'Bailte'. Cameras were with us for a day and what fun we had doing our best to look natural, however the crew were very kind and put us at our ease so when the programme aired on TG4 we were delighted with it and enjoyed it as did many people who got in touch with us afterwards. During July we featured on an RTE One radio spotlight on Cape Clear with Juliet Gash and we did a spot with the renowned Helen Ní Shé from Raidió na Gaeltachta, we also were fortunate to appear in the Cork Examiner in a feature on West Cork. We also took up a new challenge, to be more enviornmentally conscious in our actions. We started off by looking at ways to reduce our plastic and now we don't use little single use plastic bottles of toileteries anymore, nor do we use plastic mini portions ot butters, jams or spreads and we also provide drinking water from a dispenser rather than plastic bottled water. We try to avoid single use plastic and plastic generally in all our work from cleaning, to laundry to food, though our homemade beeswax covers need a bit of refinement still. We then signed up to the All-Ireland Pollinator plan and so we have been working hard to add sources of food and shelter for bees and other pollinators. We extended our coppice, added a new hedge replacing an wall that was knocked by a storm, the new hedge contains holly, hawthorn and roses, to offer interest all year and food and shelter to pollinators and birds and I am glad to say we don't use chemical sprays. 2019 was our first year to take part in A Taste of West Cork Festival with an afternoon tea showcasing the best of locally sourced and produced food and we hope to do the same again in 2020 featuring our local Three SQ.Miles gin. 2019 was a good year for our hive of native black bees, we now have two hives and this year also marked our first harvest of honey from our own bees which we are able to share with our guests at breakfast. We are closed now until March 5th and by then our programme of renovation works will be completed offering more comfort to our guests. We are very much looking forward to 2020 welcoming returning guests and new ones too. We are taking bookings now for season 2020 and we also have gift vouchers available to order as well.
All that remains is to say thank you to all our guests and friends, colleagues, suppliers, to Fields of Skibbereen and the ever patient ladies in the office, to Charlie and Mary Anne and Finín(without whom we would be lost!), and to all the crew on the ferry who go way above and beyond the call of duty every day and for which we are extremely grateful and also to Firdia and Mary on the bus who also go the extra mile to help our guests enjoy the best of Cape Clear. Thanks to all the family (Eileen, Seán, John, Emer, Helen and Fionn) who have pitched in and offered help and support from day one. Thank you for making the magic happen.
May 2020 bring you joy, happiness, good health and prosperity,
Happy New Year,
Tríona
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