Plenty of rain – but no showers

What an interesting month it's been - certainly a varied one. Take our 4th Annual Classic Car Show for a start. On Sunday morning, we were up at 6am to put direction signs all round the route of the 35-mile road run. Nearly 100 cars turned up in Louth Market Place for the start by the mayor, and off they went.

It then started to rain, gently at first - bear in mind that lots of the cars were open-topped - and then the heavens opened. Most of the cars came back to the hotel and parked up in our beautiful grounds, and then the owners came in for lunch and refreshments.

Hamburgers and hot dogs were available outside, and I think we sold about six. Many of the owners just sat in their cars, and the judging was wet and miserable.

The local morris men turned up at 2pm, but didn't perform because it was so wet. The mayor, bless her, got extremely wet handing out prizes, and at about 2.30pm we reluctantly closed the show.

People often ask me why I do it, and my response is that, apart from my own interest in old cars (we have four), it is part of our marketing strategy. It does create a lot of interest, and brings a lot of people to the hotel. Since we started it three years ago, several local car clubs come and meet here.

Muddy water

Earlier this year we suffered a burst water main. Well, just before the May bank holiday, contractors turned up with diggers. They started work outside, and within 10 minutes they hit the water main and cut the electricity cable. We had no water or electricity for about an hour.

Both supplies were restored, but we had brown, muddy water running through our system. Two days later, most of the guests complained that their showers did not work. It was chaos. We rang the water board, they sent an engineer, and he agreed to provide a plumber to clear the silt-blocked showers.

Another interesting event was our Italian wedding. A local man was marrying an Italian girl, and all her family stayed with us. The first problem was when they flew from Rome to Amsterdam, and then to Humberside Airport - while their luggage was sent back to Rome. After frantic phone calls, and a few threats, the cases finally turned up about 30 minutes before the wedding.

We made the wedding cake. We don't usually do this, but an Italian wedding cake is like an exotic triangle, with a sponge base, well doused in peach brandy, covered with whipped cream, and set with a meringue nest of glazed fruit on top. They loved it - and we will now put it on our menu.

Next diary from Colin Hillyard will be on 16 July