Thursday May 2nd and we have just heard a cuckoo from the balcony - a real treat as we havn't heard one for several years.

Welcome to the Spring update from Dippers. Our chickens have survived the arctic Winter and so have the bees. This is good news as elsewhere, many honey bee colonies have been lost.

Weather-wise though, it still is not that brilliant. A cold, wet March has been followed by a cold, dry April which, not surprisingly, has held up Spring colour in the gardens and the countryside. However, we remain quietly and cautiosly optimistic about the Summer. By the law of averages we should see some sunshine (shouldn't we?).

Disregarding all that, there is an amazing array of events organised for this Summer on our lovely Jurassic Coast, in our local towns and in the countryside . Please vist the websites for

• Diary and Events in West Bay, Bridport and West Dorset
• Weymouth Events 2013
• What's on in Dorchester - Events in the Town and Surrounding Area

Our local pub - The Crown Inn is under new management - Phil is front of house and partner Gemma is the chef and is producing some excellent food made where possible from local produce.

On the subject of food, this years Large Black pigs are living just up the road in a designer paddock and being cosseted ready to make sausages and bacon for you to enjoy at Dippers.

We look forward to seeing you

The Olympics are over, but the Paralympics are just on the horizon. Lots of other things going on in and around Bridport though including the lovely Hat Festival on 14th, 15th and 16th of September. Here at Dippers, we have taken delivery of our locally reared pork for bacon and sausages again. The 'Large Black' pigs (rare breed), were reared just along the road in a very beautiful location. We branched out this year and learnt a new skill! Our good friends who reared the pigs taught us sausage making, so you may need to forgive us for a few odd shapes and sizes! This does not detract from the wonderful flavour. On the subject of breakfast, following our recent inspection for our star rating with Visit England, we are delighted to have received their prestigious Breakfast Award. All has not been without incident here at Dippers - on July 7th, the benign little river at the bottom of the garden became a raging torrent and the chickens had to be rescued. The bees, despite their elevated position. missed being washed away by about three inches. All is well now though. Those of you who have been to Dippers before may remember a rather boring, dull carpet in the hall and dining room. This has now been replaced by a very lovely oak floor.