Hot off the press, but in a good cause

Once again, I am extremely late in putting pen to paper to give you the latest news, hot off the press from Harome.

Every time, I vow that next time I'll be more organised and start it sooner, in order to give myself plenty of time to create a witty and informative masterpiece. However, like most good intentions, it was not to be and I'm sitting here trying to think of something interesting or amusing, or just "something", to tell you.

Business has been good, much busier than this time last year. Yes, I know that's boring. I must try harder.

As we enter the shooting season, we will continue to be busy and will be doing extra Sunday and Monday nights for private shooting parties.

For the past couple of years, Andrew and I have catered for small parties on the two nights we don't usually cook, to build good relations for future ventures. As we are going to have our bedrooms ready by next season, this is more important than ever and has so far paid dividends, as we have had a lot of interest and are optimistically taking provisional bookings.

The shop is also on course for the grand opening on Thursday 22 November. Again, interest and support received have been quite overwhelming. Andrew and I have always wanted to run a really good "foodie" shop and to be able to do it alongside the Star is very convenient.

We had an exciting trip to Grassington last night to take part in a charity dinner organised by the Angel at Hetton. After a shortened lunch service at the Star, we headed over the hills, car packed with jellies, brûlées, compotes and berries, to the town hall, where we were to serve dinner for 125 guests.

It was a super event. Francis Atkins from the Yorke Arms at Ramsgill did the starter, the Angel did the main and Andrew did the pudding.

Between you and me, I think Andrew and Francis were very pleased that their courses were cold. It was, however, very well organised and the facilities were very good.

The dinner was followed by a brilliant concert from a group of West End performers, which included Denis Watkins's daughter. It worked very well to bring people together to use their talents to raise money for a good cause. We thoroughly enjoyed being part of it and I'm sure the evening was a big success.

JACQUIE PERN and husband Andrew own the Star Inn at Harome, North Yorkshire

Next diary from Jacquie Pern: 29 November