Category: holidays and parties

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What a great day

About 4:30 today, there came a knock on my front door.  When I opened the door, there stood three kids and 4 adults, all from the local elementary school where we donated the school supplies that were collected here.  These beautiful smiling faces on these children warmed my heart before I knew why they were even at my door.  Out popped three little hands with hand made ‘Thank You’ cards from each and every child at school that had received supplies from us. The parents all made sure to thank all of us too.

I called all of my staff in so they could be a part of this since they were a huge part of what made the whole ‘School Tools’ collection a success too.  Then a bright idea hit me.  I knew that some of the patrons that had brought donations would be coming back soon so I invited the parents and children in.  I have a couple bulletin boards where I post upcoming events and I let the children put every ‘Thank you’ note on one of the bulletin boards so everyone could be thanked by these sweet children that had a hand in helping out.  That sure made my day.  Well it probably will make my whole week in the end.

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Weekend special

This weekend we decided to run a special to help bring in some business.  Our community always collects items for the local schools for the children in need of school tools.  I decided to continue what we started 3 years ago by offering half off on the weekend stay with the donation of a fully packed back pack for a child.

By fully packed I mean a pack of pencils, 100 sheets of loose leaf note book paper, pack of erasers, colored pencils and markers, 3 ring binder, pencil box or pencil pouch like goes in the binder and anything else they want to contribute like lunch boxes or other school supplies.

Last year, we collected 15 fully packed back packs with some of our patrons bringing more than one.  Everyone brought extra supplies.  Everyone that works for me also brought items for the kids.  It was wonderful to take them to the schools.  I hope this year is as successful as the last three.

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Surprise visit

There was a gospel group that had come to a local church to sing and decided to stop by here.  They had stayed here a few years ago and wanted to come by and say ‘Hi’.

They graced my patrons with a mini gospel singing.  They were even better than I remembered them being.  They sang a few of the old standards and some original songs the members had composed themselves.  The children were dancing and several of their parents were singing along with them.  It was a wonderful treat.

Most of the people even gave money to the group for them entertaining them even though there was no charge.  There are still some good people in the world, we just have to take the time to see them.

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Everyone got a treat last night

Last night, a whole herd of deer came through the back yard headed to the river.  Most of the visitors got to see them too.  That was the high light of the evening.  I was amazed at how many of the patrons had never seen a deer alive.  They had seen them dead on the road or on TV and in movies but never just walking through the yard like they did here.  I guess seeing wildlife all the time makes it trivial to me but amazing to those that don’t have the pleasure of it.  We just take too many things for granted and don’t even realize it.

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Summer heat

Well the summer heat is here and driving more people up here in the mountains where it is still cool enough to leave your windows open through the day most days.  Sure there are times when it gets a bit warm but then you turn on the ceiling fans and all is well.

Very few places have air conditioning up here.  I do have it and will turn it on if requested but most people prefer the windows open anyway.  They love the fresh mountain air.  I do too.  It sure saves on the power bills if I don’t have to turn on the A/C, if you know what I mean.

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Summer kicking up here

Boy am I glad the gas prices have kept people close.  You know what I mean?  People are taking shorter vacation trips and I have been booked solid since school got out and am still booked through labor day weekend.  I even have most weekends after school goes back booked almost solid.  I really hate that gas is so high but it has helped the local economy a great deal.  The best part is that a lot of people are finding my place that didn’t even know it was here before.  Word of mouth is the best advertising there is.

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We lost a feisty one

Estelle Getties from the old show ‘Golden Girls’ died today at the age of 84.  Bless her heart, she had dementia and if you have ever dealt with someone with that, it is as devastating as Alzheimer’s Disease.  Estelle played a character that I figure I’ll end up being someday, a feisty, opinionated little old lady . . . but the funny thing is, she was actually the youngest lady on that show.  She was a great actress and will be missed.  You can read more about her passing at Yahoo News.   Please do check it out – if nothing more than to honor her memory. Gals like her don’t come along very often.

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Kiss My Grits!

Do you remember that show back in the 70’s called Alice? It had that big haired waitress in it, named Flo? She was always telling someone to ‘Kiss my grits!’ and I have loved that line since the first time I heard it on TV.

Well, Flo and I are similar in that I’ll tell you to kiss mine too if you cross me, but just like Flo, it’s to hide that tender side of myself.

Trust isn’t easy for me to give. Life’s dealt me some pretty lousy blows but has given me so pretty terrific chances at the same time. The past is as it should be, the past, something to learn from and I’m still learning.

So here’s my blog with my stories from past adventures and my dreams of a better future. Come along with me if you like a wild ride!