Happy Independence Day!!!

I love the 4th of July!!  We really go all out to decorate, well we do that for every holiday but there’s just something about Independence Day that I love!!  We always have a huge community picnic type party with grilled hot dogs and hamburgers with all the fixin’s and of course potato salad, baked beans and we can’t forget the banana pudding and homemade ice cream.

Then there’s the fireworks display.  I love all of the laughter, ooohhh’s and aaahhh’s from the children when the fireworks start.  It’s just a wonderful time for all!!!   I hope each and everyone of you have a wonderful 4th of July and remember what the celebration is all about, our independence!!!

Well there was more to Valentines Day

We were absolutely booked solid for Valentines Day.  With the excitement of moving Celeste and Little Joe into their new apartment, I forgot to tell you about how we celebrated Valentines Day here at my Bed and Breakfast.  We had special packages for our customers where they could get a dozen roses, rose peddles on the bed, champagne, strawberries dipped in chocolate and a special dinner served in their rooms.  It’s always a big hit and this year wasn’t much different.

In face, we’re usually booked solid for Valentines Day by Christmas.  Most of the people that made their reservations were ones that have been here for Valentines Day before.  Love is definitely in the air here and it’s a wonderful time for all.  This year we added a couple of things that we didn’t have before to help bring in more customers in a tough economy.  We threw in the whole weekend instead of just Valentines Day.  So for what they usually paid for just the one night, they got the complete weekend.  It worked I am so glad to say.  I just hope all of you had a Valentines as full of love as my home was.

Here’s wishing you a Very Merry Christmas

It has been far too many years since I have seen the wonder in a child’s eyes on Christmas morning.  Santa has come and gone and left Little Joe the most wonderful gifts.  He and I made Christmas cookies for Santa on Christmas eve.  We all sat around the Christmas tree and sang Christmas carols, sipped hot chocolate and waited for time to go to bed before Santa passed us by.

Little Joe and I watched the Santa tracker on the computer and when he got over our state, it was off to bed without a whimper one.  He was so excited that I thought he would never go to sleep.  This was the first Christmas that Santa has been to our house for one of our own and it brought a joy here that I can’t begin to explain.

Santa brought Little Joe and battery operated 4 wheeler, a Lightening McQueen laptop educational computer, Mater bed set for his bed and more than I can write quite honestly.  Celeste even got somethings from Santa.  She got lots of clothes and boots and shoes, which she really needed.  She got more than she ever had before in her life she told me later.  The joy in their eyes was all the Christmas present I needed but

Celeste did get me something from her and Little Joe.  She had gotten one of those kits that you make a hand print of a child on plaster and wrote ‘We love you Nana’ on it.  I will treasure that for as long as I live.  It was absolutely the most perfect gift I could have ever asked for.  Here’s hoping that you and yours had a wonderful Christmas too.

Quite week thank goodness

Well it’s been a quiet week around here, thank goodness.  A couple of local Christmas Tree growers brought us three deer they killed because they were eating their trees.  I made jerky from some of it, had some of the other made into sausage,  and the rest were cut into roasts and ground into hamburger.  A local butcher does all of this for me and he does a great job.

When he makes the sausage and hamburger, he always adds a little beef fat to it because deer is so lean that it’s so dry if you don’t add the beef fat.  Once that’s added then the sausage cooks much better and you don’t have to add any oil to the pan when it’s cooking.  I use the deer burger for soups and chili.  I’m not crazy about just deer burger to make meatloaf but if you put half deer burger and half hamburger, then it makes pretty good meatloaf.  Surprising how many people come here because I serve wild game.  It’s the only place they can try it and know it’ll be good.

I’ve also had a blast Christmas shopping for Little Joe and Celeste.  I guess I have spoiled them  because I got Little Joe a remote controlled car, a Nintendo Wii (I hope he’s not too little for it), a Leapster and a bunch of games for it, and a bunch of other small toys like dinosaurs and even got him a frog aquarium.

Celeste, well she’s like a daughter to me.  I bought her a used car but it’s a good one.  I had my mechanic check it out to make sure it’s a sound car.  I got her a Honda because they get pretty good gas mileage and are pretty darn dependable.  It’s a Honda Civic and I can’t remember what year it is.  I have CRS (Can’t remember shit) so you’ll have to excuse me.  I also got her a Dell Laptop computer.  She graduates from High School this year and is planning on going to college.  She’ll need a laptop in college and it sure won’t hurt for her to have one now.

Hey, wanna see my place?

I realized that all I do is talk about my Bed and Breakfast and haven’t shown you what it looks like.  Well I had to do a lot of work to get it turned into what I wanted but I loved every single minute.  I have already told you about the different rooms that I rent so there’s no need to repeat myself.

This picture was taken when we got an early snow before I got the Christmas decorations put up but I still think it’s a pretty picture of my place.  My new barn and animals are off to the right.  My garden is off to the left.  You can see the gazebo on the back of the wrap around porch.  Now you can see why there are deer, and other animals that come around the house.  Anyway, here it is.

The house smells of Gingerbread

The house smells absolutely wonderful.  Celeste is in the kitchen making a Gingerbread house.  She has been working on it every night for about a week now.  She’s a very talented young lady.  From what I have seen so far, it’s going to be absolutely beautiful.  Little Joe ends up with more Gingerbread than the house does it seems sometimes because Celeste wants it to be perfect and if it’s not, there stands Little Joe ready to eat the imperfections.

Oh I don’t think I told you that we’re having a Gingerbread house contest this weekend.  First prize is a $100 gift card and a weekend stay here whenever you choose.  Second place is $75 and one nights stay.  Third place is a $50 gift card.  So far we have 10 contestants that I am sure of.  There are 8 other applications that haven’t come back in yet so they could still be in the contest too.  Most of the contestants are locals.  We do this every year and then leave the houses up for viewing by my customers.

Last years winner also sold theirs to a lady that paid $150 for it.  I almost fell over.  It was a big Gingerbread house and it was beautiful but everything has to be edible and I guess they could be kept for a while.  I don’t know.  Anyway, Celeste is making the barn, animals and manger scene.  So far, it’s absolutely gorgeous.  I can’t wait to see it when she’s totally finished.  No I’m not one of the judges.  There are judges that come here from other contests to judge them.  Here’s one from last year.  Isn’t it amazing?

Here’s wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving

This is going to be one of the best Thanksgivings we have ever celebrated here.  With Celeste and Little Joe now new members of our family, we have a great deal to be thankful for.  They have brought so much joy into our lives the we are truly blessed.

Blessings come in all shapes and sizes.  I find a new blessing every single day and more than one in most.  We are open for business and have a full house but we also adopt a few local families for Thanksgiving Dinner too.  We’re having turkey of course, deer roast, and all the extras that everyone has.  Desert is of course pumpkin pie, coconut cake, carrot cake, and banana pudding.

I hope and pray that each of you has a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving too.

Here comes the snow!!

It’s already starting to get cold enough for the ski slopes to make snow and we have gotten natural snow for three days in a row now.  The natural snow hasn’t added up to many inches but the temperature is low enough that what fell has stayed.

Thanks to the snow, we are booked solid this weekend.  People love it when it snows and the mountains is where they want to be.  Once the ski slopes are all up and running, I tend to be one more busy lady.  Oh I’m not complaining at all because this summer has been a bit skimpy to say the least.  Now that gas prices are coming down, people are venturing out a little more but still not like before.

If we have a winter that is just close to usual, then the year won’t end in the red.  If not, somethings gotta give before long.  Luckily I have several hunters that donate deer to us during hunting season so that really helps with the food costs.  People look forward to my deer roast and deer stew every winter.  I just hope it’s enough to pull them back in this winter.

One good thing, I do have a couple reservations for the week of Christmas already.  I was afraid my usual Christmas patrons wouldn’t show this year but they’ll be here as they have for the past 4 years.  They’re more like family now than just people that come here to stay.   That’s what I have tried to build here, a family atmosphere and I must not have done too bad of a job.

Celeste

Late Friday night, there was a knock on my door.  When I opened the door, there stood a young woman with a little boy.  She said her name was Celeste and her little boys name was Joe.  She didn’t have anywhere to go because her family had thrown her out that evening and she wondered if maybe I had a job she could do to pay for a room tonight and some food for her and Joe.

This is a 17 year old young woman with a 15 month old beautiful little boy.  I invited her in and got her and Joe something to eat.  I sat with her and talked to see what I was dealing with here.  I sure didn’t need a teenager that was on drugs here but I didn’t see any signs of anything like that.  All I saw that she had a bruise across her cheek that she had tried to hide with makeup but didn’t do a very good job of it.

She said her father was bad to get drunk and take everything out on her and her mother and she just couldn’t take it anymore.  He had gotten angry about nothing and threw her out.  She said she was still in high school and had someone that kept Joe for her to be able to go to school.  She really wanted to stay around here so she could finish school and then hopefully go to college so she could take care of Joe and herself.

My heart almost broke as I listened to this beautiful young woman talk.  I made a deal with her.  I told her that she could clean the rooms and help with the other chores around there and she would have a place to live as long as she stayed in school and took care of her son herself.  No male visitors to her room and no drugs or drinking.  When I saw the tears swelling up in her eyes, I knew this was not a bad kid.  Just a kid that had made a few mistakes and was trying to do right by them.  I guess I now have somewhat of a daughter and grandson if all works out like I think it will.  I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.

Fall Festival

Well with fall finally here, to kick off the weekend, we always have a fall festival here at the bed and breakfast.  Friday night starts off with a ‘pig pickin’ which is where we have a whole 75 pound pig barbecued and then there’s the usual fixins which are barbecue slaw, potato salad, baked beans and banana puddin’.  Some of the local musicians (and there are a lot of them in these hills) stop by for some pickin and grinnin.  I guess you could call it a mini fiddlers convention.

Then Saturday, some of the locals bring their arts and crafts for a craft fair here on the grounds.  We have everything from handmade quilts, home made jellies and preserves, fresh vegetables, and some of the most amazing paintings and crafts you have ever seen.  Anyone is welcome and many come from all around just to spend the day if I’m booked up which I usually am for this weekend.  This year wasn’t any different which surprised me.  There weren’t quite as many here just for the day as there usually are but that’s the only difference.

Today, we had a good old fashioned gospel singing.  There were choirs from several different churches here and again some locals just got up and sang solo.  The air was just crisp enough that I made hot spiced apple cider for everyone.  The whole weekend was a complete success not only in fun but financially for me and several in the community too with the arts and craft fair.  It’s one of my favorite weekends throughout the year.