2 + 2 = 753 I am not about to sack anyone. Since I wrote a piece last week when I said this....."My advice to one or two staff members who don't seem to be picking up many shifts at the moment is you'd better take the work I'm offering now, because it certainly won't be on offer during after September", all the staff have been coming in with a rumour that I'm about to sack one or two of them. This isn't what I meant, there is no hidden message in the above statement, it means just what it says. Our work here at IGC is highly seasonal, we have lots of customers in Summer, and very few in Winter, and the amount of work / shifts on offer follows exactly how many customers we have. So, no-one is about to be fired, but do pick up as much work as I can offer you for the rest of the Summer before our trade dies away after the Summer ends.

Must. Have. Sleep. The summer season is at it's zenith, we did an all day buffet for 160 customers yesterday courtesy of Bradford Blaize. Many thanks to the team, Rob and Chef Phil worked like troopers all day, then Amelia and Lucy took over in the evening. As always seems to happen on these big functions one of the girls phoned in to say she was ill, I did some frantic phoning around but everyone was busy at such short notice. We have a hugely busy weekend coming up, so I hope everyone is fit for work or I'll be a crabby old chef. We're now almost half way through the season, the longest day (with its Solstice golf comp teeing off at 6am) has passed, we've done about half of the major functions as well, but with Captain's Day and a big corporate golf day for Eddisons still to come. With half the season behind us Mrs YS is putting some serious planning into our holidays for this winter, we have decided to have two large holdiays, going to Canada to stay with some of Meg's relatives in November, then off to Florida and Disney with the Wossers in February, plus we're off to Pontins in December for two nights of serious heavy metal. I am also trying to plan a week's holiday on my own, well sort of on my own. I fancy doing a distance walk as I havn't done one since doing the West Highland Way way back when I was 18. I would like to do the Dales Way this winter if it can be fitted in around work and staff holidays. I thought that I might start out at the far end of the walk in Bowness where Meg could stay with me in a hotel for the night (Mrs YS does not do hiking), and then perhaps she could join me at a couple of hotels along the way as I get back towards Ilkley. I have no intention of camping, partly because it will be winter and winter camping would probably be horrible / wet / miserable, but mostly because a day's walking followed by a night in a decent hotel with beer / wine / good food sounds great. I'm not sure if I can fit it in yet, so it might have to be put back to winter 2010. It is strange having a very seasonal business, I spend the first half of winter going on holiday, dining out a lot, seeing friends, then the second half as winter really cuts trade down you start to wish for summer trade again and the influx of customers and some money coming in to replace your spendings. For the first three hectic months of summer you're grateful for all the business and working like mad, the last three summer months you're getting seriously overworked and you're looking forward to winter and getting a rest again. My advice to one or two staff members who don't seem to be picking up many shifts at the moment is you'd better take the work I'm offering now, because it certainly won't be on offer during after September. My friends say I'm going into 'summer hibernation' in May, I retreat into the kitchen and don't really come out again until about October.

The Joys Of Being Your Own Boss Some people think that being self employed gives you the freedom to work when you want, in reality, being self employed means you have to cover all the shifts that your staff drop out of at short notice, through copying down someone else's shifts for example. Our muppet of the week here at work is young Rob, whose misdemeanour at the weekend was so grim that I find it hard even to write about. Suffice to say that Rob wil be getting a serious ragging at work for some time to come. Thanks to the staff that did turn up over the weekend, we had a triangular match between Ilkley, Lytham and Birkdale to look after and one incident aside, they had a really good weekend. Later in the year we have another triangular match between Ilkley, The Island Club Dublin and Portstewart, let's repeat all the good work for them as well.

Yorkshire - The Ben Rhydding Hydro This enormous gothic looking pile is the Ben Rhydding Hydropathic Establishment which opened for business in the hamlet of Wheatley (the hamlet came to be known as Ben Rhydding after the hotel, not the other way around) in 1845 (the image is taken from a postcard). At the Hydro you could undertake a course of hydropathy in order (allegedly) to cure all manner of muscular, skeletal and other ailments. Nancy Wharton of the Wheatsheaf Inn suggested the name, Ben Rhydding means 'clearing for wheat' and had been an ancient name used for part of the moorland above the village. For a while the Hydro was very popular, and along with White Wells (see New Year's Day posts on this blog for pictures of YS and friends 'enjoying' modern hydropathy) Ilkley became renowned as a spa town, patients in their thousands came to stay in the town and employ its healing waters. The use of the Hydro gradually changed as the popularity of hydropathy waned, the Hydro became more of a hotel, even accepting golfers who came to play at Ilkley Golf Club. The building survived until the 1050's, but when the then current owners failed to find a buyer for the Hydro, it was demolished to provide land for housing, Hydro Close in Ben Rhydding is where the Hydropathic Hotel once stood.

For One Night Only - We're A Proper Restaurant On Saturday the Captain held a social mixed golf day followed by a meal, and I was allowed to choose a menu for the night, so...... Sweetcorn soup with roasted cherry tomatoes and chilli oil. Grilled goat's cheese on a garlic croute with balsamic dressed leaf salad and grilled peppers. Duck confit on mustard mash with smoked bacon and leek sauce. Chicken pot roasted with lemon, thyme, basil, white wine and olive oil. Lightly spiced grilled salmon on a tomato and herb sauce. Warm chocolate brownie with steeped fruits, vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. Fruit baskets with chantilly cream. Ably served by Rob... ...and Georgie.

The Waters Receded At 10 o'clock last night we could see that the level of the flood had fallen by almost two feet, the lights reflecting on the engorged river from Skipton Road above were now showing dark patches of grass here and there in the flow. At the height of the flood, in the dark, the river looked eerily beautiful, the streetlights shone shimmering bands of orange and white light across it and the soft rushing, liquid noises produced a comforting sound. 8 o'clock this morning and most of the flood has gone, here you can see trees around the 18th green reflected in a pool of water at the edge of the course. Obviously the course will remain closed for some days yet, but it is beautiful with the ice and water on it this morning.

No Golf Today For The Foreseable Future Of course, if any visitors do come, they would be well advised to bring a wetsuit and oxygen tank. This was the 1st fairway at Ilkley Golf Club at about 1.30pm this afternoon, the river has come up much further since then. The footbridge from the 4th tee over the Wharfe. The sign on the tree says 'Fire Assembly Point', so, basically your choice is burn or drown. The 13th green, 6th & 10th tees. Looking from the elevated ladies tee down the 16th fairway. A stream pouring down out of Owler Park Wood and filling up the 16th & 17th. Car trouble on Nesfield Road, what was this bloke thinking ? The water is now deep enough and fast flowing enough for this car to almost have been pushed in to the deepest part of the dip, as it was it took a big swerve and only just made it out to the carpark. Looking across the 18th & 1st fairways at Ilkley Golf Club at about 4.30 this afternoon. This 4WD owner was wise enough not to chance his luck in the dip. No golf today then, and Duncan will no doubt be happy to accept volunteers for the clean up when the Wharfe does recede again.

Water Hazard On The 1st, And The 2nd, And The....... Yesterday was a wet and windy day at Ilkley Golf Club. The morning view from the balcony looking over the 18th fairway to the treeline and the 1st fairway beyond. If you look just above the gate onto the course near the hedge at the left of the picture you can see the flag on the 18th green. The large building on the other side of the river is Ilkley Lawn Tennis Club. This car made it through the flooded dip in the road, the water continued to rise for a couple of hours and some drivers pushed their luck later on and were left in the flood with drowned engines, still, it keeps the bloke with the tow truck employed. The boating lake on the 18th fairway, no work today then.

Oh Captain My Captain A quick greeting to the current Captain of Ilkley Golf Club, and any other members that may have recently found out that their steward keeps a blog, hello folks, don't panic, I don't use the blog to slag off the members, I'm saving all that up for my book. ;-)

Heroes Of The Day That's April, Hollie, Claire, Mrs YS and myself. We did a huge day yesterday, 250+ diners and my staff worked like troopers all day long. Little April, fledgling chefling, even pulled a proper chef's shift, i.e., 12 hours without a break. Well done girls, you're all wonderful.

Ducks On the 1st fairway at Ilkley Golf Club, this mother duck had 7 chicks on the Friday afternoon, but only 4 were there when I took these pics on the following Monday. We have rather too many Mink on the Wharfe at the moment. The mother wasn't at all bothered by the passing golfers, even when this chap landed his ball in the short rough only a few feet from her.

Monday's Weather Forecast.... ....build an ark. 3 inches of rain coming, strange, but it wasn't so long ago that I was complaining about the lack of rain in these parts, me and my big mouth. We had a lot of rain through Tuesday night, on Wednesday my phone was ringing at 6.30 in the morning. It's never good news when folk ring that early is it ? It was Duncan, the head greenkeeper, we had 150 people due to play in the Rotary Club of Bradford Blaize Charity Golf Day with an all day running buffet to be supplied by us. The salmon, hams and beef had all been cooked the day before, we had spent hours and spent a lot of money on ingredients, we really couldn't afford to lose this. "Bad news," says Duncan. "We can't play." "Bugger," says I. Ten minutes later I am dressed and although rather bleary eyed I'm stood on the 5th tee with Duncan and Derek from Blaize. There followed a short argument / discission punctuated by wheedling, cajoling, pleading and outright threats, in the end our lovely greenkeeper relented and the competition went ahead. They played a 16 hole competition, the 16th & 17th holes under Owler Park were flooded right across the fairways. The day went well after that, last year Blaize palyed on a cold, wet and blustery summer's day, this year the weather stayed pretty good during most of the day. Thanks Duncan, come up and claim yourself some free coffees and butties. The forecast for tomorrow though is dreadful, if it rains all night tonight we might again be waking up to a flooded course and the loss of a busy day's takings.

Hello Summertime ...and goodbye social life. The clocks have been put forward, closing time here at IGC has gone back to around 7.30pm, new furniture has arrived for the patio, it's time to start welcoming some visitors back to the club and for us all to earn some money again after a poor start to the year. This last week of March is traditionally a good one as golfers make the most of the reduced green fees that are charged during the winter months, unlike some clubs though, we never play temporary winter tees or greens here at Ilkley Golf Club, the course is either fully open, or under water depending on the rain. It will be nice to the place full of customers again, here's hoping for lots of good weather to tempt the golfers out to play, and drink, and eat of course. Ilkley Golf Club

Work, At Last It's been an awfully quiet start to the year, this will be our 7th year at IGC, and this January and February have been rather devoid of bookings (and thus my 'books read' list for this year is quite long already). Last night though was the Annual Dinner, a four course dinner for 80, and as always happens at these things one of the girls phoned into say she wasn't coming in, thankfully chef Robyn stepped into the breach and worked a double shift. I would have had three new girls to introduce to you, but it rather looks like one of them won't be joining me after all, so alongside the regular crew of Robyn, Christine, Calum, Jessica, April, Sarah and Carol, we now have Ellie and Lucy joining the team. This leaves one waitress position open and Robyn leaves in eight weeks to pursue a career in mental nursing so I need to recruit a chef (or trainee chef) as well, anybody want a job ? The dining room stinks this morning, a nasty fug of stale cigar smoke, it will be nice when the smoking ban comes into force on July 1st. I've been up early this morning setting off three batches of dough to prove, and that's after finishing work very late and getting to bed at around 2am. Dinner at P&C's tonight, please excuse me if I fall asleep in the dessert.