Stories

• Why Hannah's? - Plus History
• Dream Quotes
• The Animals
• The Seasons - Spring
• The Seasons - Summer
• The Seasons - Autumn
• The Seasons - Winter

WHY HANNAH'S?

Many people ask us this question and there are many levels to the answer. The explanation is a composite of the following:

Anne spent several years in Japan and part of Paul’s background is German. Unfortunately our marriage has not been blessed with children but our idea was to name a daughter Hannah. It is a variation of Anne in German and Hana means flower in Japanese, with Hanako being a popular Japanese name. When we purchased our property here in Balhannah the name for the cottage was obvious! Also, Hannah can be read the same backwards as forwards and palindromes are considered fortuitous by some cultures.

A LITTLE HISTORY

The cottage was actually a dairy in the 1960’s. We have been able to source a photograph from that time and have been told, on good authority, that the cow in the photograph was called “Princess”.

Then, sometime in the late ‘70’s or early 80’s, it was converted to simple living accommodation to cater for the expanding numbers over in the main house.

We had been looking for a property where we could run a Bed and Breakfast for several years so when we saw this in 2000 we could see the potential given the terrific location.

Initially, we occasionally rented out the cottage to strappers and trainers who came over for the Oakbank race meeting at Easter.

Even before we had actually moved in to the main house we had our initial plans for the Bed and Breakfast in to council. Once approval came through for the development it then took a couple of years to secure the right builder and actually to start major renovations. We had to keep several original walls but the cottage is essentially new and a lot of energy, enthusiasm and effort have gone into creating what exists today.

Hannah’s opened for business on Friday 10th October 2003 and our first guests arrived the following day. We have won four tourism awards in the last three years and have been entered into the Hall of Fame for winning the same category, self-contained accommodation, for three consecutive years.

Hannah’s Cottage is proud to be a business with National Accreditation, a 4½ star AAA tourism rating, Climate Accreditation- Innovator status and membership of the BBFAA- SA division.

Dream Quotes

You may have noticed that our email address is dream@hannahscottage.com.au 

Creating Hannah’s Cottage had been a dream of mine from way back in the 1990’s. Paul kindly followed along with this and we looked at, and missed out on, a range of properties before we finally purchased at Balhannah.

We believe that it is important to have dreams and have collected a range of positive quotes that we find meaningful. We hope that you will enjoy them too.

Where possible we have acknowledged the author of the quote. If you know who owns any of the other quotes, or if you have other quotes that you think may be suitable for inclusion, please email us at dream@hannahscottage.com.au

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
Eleanor Roosevelt

• Heal the past    Live the present   Dream the future

• The key to happiness is having dreams. The key to success is making dreams come true.

• Dreams are the soul’s pantry. Keep it well stocked and your soul will never hunger.
  Cindy Williams- American actress

YOU MUST ACT ON YOUR DREAMS

You have to make your own opportunities.
Your future isn't a matter of chance,
it's a matter of your choice.
It's not something that you wait for,
it's something that you pursue.

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities.
Seize common occasions and make them great.
Opportunity sometimes comes disguised
in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat.

Start today, right where you are.

Distant fields will always look greener. Yet, golden opportunities are all around you.

• You can live your dreams if you pursue them.

• If you don't have a dream, how are you going to make it come true?

• Have the courage to follow your dreams. It's the first step towards attaining your destiny.

LIFE RESPONDS TO YOUR OUTLOOK

• Life is largely a matter of expectation.
  You must expect to succeed, if you want to succeed.

• When you expect things to happen, strangely enough, they do happen.
  Expectation energizes your goals and give them momentum.

• When you believe something good can happen, it will happen.
  The dreams you believe in come to be.

• Set your goals high.
  If you begin with some wild expectations you'll succeed beyond your wildest expectations.

• Dreams and ideas can cross continents and oceans.
  They go anywhere you can go.

• If you act on your dreams you can live them.

SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE ARE DREAMERS

• Your dreams are your vision of where you'll be after the battle, your prize at the end of your journey to success. Your goals are the steps you take to finally attain your prize.

• Unless you're willing to work hard and establish some discipline in your life, all of your dreams will be pipe dreams, little mental fantasy trips that will never materialize.

• Make concrete steps toward fulfilling your ultimate dream, and start with solid objectives and goals.
  Your dreams are where you want to go, your goals are how you get there.

• Don't be afraid to think big and dare to be great. Dreamers are not content with mediocrity. They never dream of going halfway.

The Animals

Hannah’s Cottage Bed and Breakfast is situated on a 20 acre farm near the picturesque township of Balhannah, just 5 minutes from the tourist town of Hahndorf. Being a small farm we also have farm animals, all of which add to the ambience and uniqueness of the Bed and Breakfast experience.

                                                 Ronin, alias Ronnie, crazy pup, pup-a-loon

Trevor, as he used to be called, was a loveable drop-out from the Lion Hearing Dog centre in the town of Verdun. He came to live with us in October 2000 after Anne returned from being a volunteer at the Sydney Olympics. He was about 12 months old and had had at least 3 previous owners. Within about two days we knew why!!! He was sooooo naughty, tearing Paul’s good business shirts off the line, pulling the plants out of the pond and leaving them on the back lawn, escaping any enclosure we put him in etc.

We named him Ronin, which means “Masterless Samurai” as he was without a master. The modern meaning of this Japanese word also means a Yr 13 student or someone who has failed to get in to the university of their choice. As he was a “drop out” it seemed appropriate!

Ronin will love you forever if you give him some of your bacon and egg breakfast. He enjoys being patted and will jump up and kiss you if you give him the slightest encouragement! He tries to talk but people often misunderstand his growls and think that he is bad tempered. Just use the wagging tail as your guide!

Ronin is a kelpie / blue heeler cross and he earns his breakfast by alerting us when guests arrive and preventing anyone from getting near the front door if we are not at home! He is an original character, always putting his nose in a hole and just waiting to be encouraged to dig up what might be there! He keeps Anne company when she rides out with Thistle and always tries to nip Thistle’s heels when he gets a chance.

Chalani Thistle

Anne and Thistle eventing at Grand Cru 2011 - Photo courtesy of In Motion Photography

Thistle arrived at Botathan on the first of May 2005. Anne had tried several horses prior to this but one was a bolter, one had not passed the vet check and one had caused Anne to be hospitalized with a pelvis broken in three places!

Thistle is a pure bred Australian Stock Horse. She is only 15.1 hands high but has a big heart and loves to jump. She is quick on her feet and enjoys variety so Anne has been having fun learning about Stock Horse Challenges, camp drafting, doing novelty events, practising basic dressage and also having show jumping lessons. Anne and Thistle started eventing in 2010. They placed in the top 10 in two of the 4 events they entered in 2011.

Thistle is alpha mare in the paddock and bosses the other agisted horses around. She rarely looks as though she is starving but often behaves as though she is!

She loves it when you feed her carrots from the bag provided in the cottage and is always happy to have a chat over the fence.

(Image on right: Anne and Thistle in the paddock in front of Hannah’s Cottage)

The cattle

At Botathan we fatten young steers and then on sell them. For this reason we do not give them names!

The picture to the right is of our 2008 steer.

The sheep

The sheep change now and then due to death from natural causes, requests to take a spare sheep and so on. Three of the current sheep have names and are called Beavis, Butt Head and White Nose. They are fairly friendly and enjoy eating wheat. If you earn their trust they will nudge you and eat out of your hand.

The Seasons - Spring

Hannah’s Cottage Bed and Breakfast accommodation is situated in the wonderful Adelaide Hills Region of South Australia. Although it is only a 30 minute drive from the centre of the city of Adelaide it feels as though it is miles away from civilization because it has expansive rural views from its hilltop position. This is what makes it special and unique.

The climate is essentially Mediterranean so we do experience four distinct seasons. The photos included here are taken on “Botathan”, the 20 acre property where Hannah’s is situated, so you could enjoy such scenes as you wander the property at particular times of the year.

As with most Mediterranean climates, Spring and Autumn are when the farm looks its best.

The cottage garden in spring	The Paulownia in bloom in September in the front paddock

The Seasons - Summer

As the cottage is actually in the hills the average temperature is usually a little lower than that experienced in Adelaide and it usually cools down more in the evenings. This means that, on a summer evening, it is lovely to relax on the verandah enjoying a complimentary bottle of quality Adelaide Hills wine and home-made cheese biscuits whilst watching the sunset.

The cooler nights are always welcome in summer and, if you feel energetic, you can enjoy playing tennis under lights on a balmy evening.

                Tennis court on a summer evening                                  Morning Glory on the galvanized tank

The Seasons - Autumn

               Mist in the valley in late Autumn                             The Pinoaks along the drive in Autumn

The Seasons - Winter

The fact that it gets cooler than Adelaide at night makes staying in by the roaring fire a great temptation during winter.

                    The Oak tree in winter garb                                                         Pre-storm build up

               Misty morning after a rain shower                            Looking across the dam in the back paddock
                                                                                                                       after really good winter rains

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