After eight years we have cooked our last breakfast, waved our last guests goodbye, made our last bed and cleaned our last bathroom. So how do we feel?
Well, initially, as is common at this time of year, we feel tired and ready for a holiday. We're looking forward to relaxing and chilling as we unwind and recover a bit after the main season.
But this year is different, this year we won't come back to it all after three weeks away.
So there is sadness. We have loved welcoming people to our house, sharing the beauty of Barmouth and Snowdonia, helping people have a good holiday and hopefully sending them away refreshed, renewed and recreated. Our job, our life, our ministry has been to you our guests and to help set you up to recover from the stresses of life. And it has been a privilege to do that.
Then there is relief. For some time now we have been aware of the fragility of the business and how dependent it is on our health and the health of those we love and care for (our parents are all reaching the stage in their life when we will wish to be free to respond to their changing needs). Running this business does not leave us free to react to situations. So relief that no "situations" have occurred in the last eight years that we couldn't handle.
Next is anxiety. Will it work? Have we done the right thing? Is it going to cost more than we expect (probably), or more than we can afford (we hope not!). There are many unknowns in the next six months of building, and then in the coming, (hopefully many) years as we adapt to a new business model.
And finally there is excitement in there somewhere too. We are looking forward to new opportunities, new things to do, time to explore, time to develop (ourselves and our hobbies), to renew friendships and make new ones. We look forward to being able to see beyond the immediate horizon and think further ahead than who is checking in today!