Lockdown Life at Dimpsey

Well hello out there, we’ve been missing having you around!

I think like everyone when the lockdown first happened, we were in shock with a side order of disbelief, and because we do other things as well as Dimpsey we were spinning like tops.  We had breaks to cancel, our boys had GCSE’s and A levels this year, so that added a little extra sauce to the situation and my 90 year old Mum lives in our annex so we wanted to lock down completely and make sure she was safe.

Gradually, as the dust settled and a new, slightly weird, type of normal started to emerge we were able to take stock and get some things underway.  An enforced break across busy booking weeks is never good, but when life hands you lemons and all that!  So we took stock and decided to bring forward decorating plans for Hither, sorting out the website and some other new additions to what we offer.  We also wanted to take some time to put more balance back into our lives, at the same time as trying to keep our other work spinning.

So this blog is the first post on our new website, which we’re very excited about.  We’ve finally got the shop area sorted and have some gorgeous gifting products coming in.  Unlike last time we did the website, we now know exactly who we are and also who you are, what you’re looking for when you come here and how we can help.  That knowledge has helped us refine our offering and I hope, get better at communicating exactly what Dimpsey is all about – relax, recharge and rediscover.  Over the years, so many people have found that Dimpsey has made the space for them to find themselves again and the time to just be.  I’m guessing that some of you can experience that at home right now, but a visit to Dimpsey pours the relaxation in and tops it up with indulgent interiors and the fire magic of hottubs and pizza ovens outdoors. 

Mr W has been busy perfecting his pizza cooking skills in the wood-fired garden oven and we’ve also taken the chance to find some lovely new accessories at places like Smouk Interiors, so that there will be lots of new things for you to discover when you return.  We’re also keeping a close eye on the Covid guidance and ensuring that we can provide you with a Covid safe place to stay, so we’ve taken the decision to initially limit the breaks we make available to 3 night weekends (Fri-Sun) and 2 nights in the week (Tue-Thu) so that we can leave a day between stays .  We may change this when we know more about how and when we can open, but we would prefer to be cautious until that happens and until there is any announcement we are currently still in lockdown until at least the end of June.

We’ve done quite well on putting some balance back too, we’ve always run a larder but had drifted into just popping to the supermarket and doing “quick” meals so with the enforcement of weekly shopping again, we have started menu planning and exploring recipes again, with the veg patch holding promise bounty to come later in the summer.

We realise that we’re very fortunate to live in the country at this particular time and we’re also very grateful to everyone who is on the frontline of the Covid fight, there must be so much going on that we’re not even aware of.  So we have offered some of our weary medic friends a stay when the madness stops, as it is something we can do to help and we’re sure that they will need a space to quietly recover and rediscover the beauty of nature after some heart-wrenching months. 

So, all in all, very different to what we expected to be doing, but as always we’re focusing on what we have control of and putting our efforts into that.  We’re so grateful to everyone for all the support and understanding that they have shown as we have contacted them to move their long awaited breaks, you have made a difficult job so much easier, thank you.

We look forward to seeing you when we’re allowed to host breaks again and we’ll keep you posted on how we’ll be doing that once we have received the formal guidance.  Our calendar is open from July at the moment based on the best view we have, here’s hoping!