I have a dream, a fantasy

To run a smallholding with B&B

I think I will stop my ode to ABBA right there before it starts to get too tenuous!

It strikes me that most people live life at a very fast pace in this age of consumerism and I am working towards setting up a place to offer the opportunity to escape, just for a little while.

Auntie Allie’s Bed and Breakfast is where every guest will be assured of a warm reception, home cooked food and an experience they will want to come back for over and over again.

I can picture it so clearly - the large house at the end of a hedgerow-lined driveway; the bedrooms full of comfort not clutter; the farmhouse kitchen where guests will be welcome to drop by for a chat whilst I am making my jams, chutneys, cakes and other produce for the B&B, my neighbours and Auntie Allie stall; the large fruit and vegetable area; happy chickens strutting around the place and a rack load of elderflower champagne and homemade wines!

So that is the ‘Good Life’ dream, but this is more the story of how I am trying to make it a reality.

So who do you think you are, Tom and Barbara Good?

Clearly not, there’s just one of me, it’s not the seventies, I want to do more than dig over my suburban back garden, oh and I am going to need more than a few pence in the kitty!

Do you have a million pounds in the bank to buy this dream enterprise?

Err no, unfortunately, although I could get it off the ground for less than a million, if that helps at all?

And I do have:

• the financial plans demonstrating that it can be successful and that I'm not completely off my rocker
• the experience gained from having my own allotment, working on a farm, having my own jams and chutney making business and going on various relevant courses.
• the skills in animal care, growing produce, making produce, promotional activities, events and perhaps most importantly in hospitality.

I certainly have the will, but unfortunately I don’t have access to a large stash of money, which is why, over the last couple of years, I have come up with some rather interesting ways to bankroll my dream.

Such as?

Well, some of them are a little embarrassing, but you will need to wait for the next instalment...