The continuing saga of the leaky shower.....
   We thought we had the problem solved but the next couple who stayed here took showers and low and behold.....we had water running downstairs again......what the ?  Thought we had it fixed with the caulking!  So Brian went up and started checking all of the valves and when he turned on the rain shower the water came out over the top of the shower cabin and onto the floor!!!  Found a broken pipe connector!  So he found some parts in the garage and manufactured a new one.  Got it installed and now no leak!!!  Yea for Mr. Fix it! We have not had guests since but are hoping this is the end of the shower saga!  Still thinking of putting in a different kind of one this winter....we shall see.

Funny story!?

Last week when we had some guests here, we noticed water dripping from our bathroom door jam downstairs.  We realized someone was taking a shower upstairs and something was leaking!  Ack! Went and got buckets and held our breath that the upstairs bathroom was not flooding.  Well no one came downstairs complaining so we figured it must be the drain.....and then the 2nd person took a shower...eek! More water!  Well you can imagine we did not sleep well that night trying to figure out what was going on....
No comments from the guests the next morning...so after they left we checked out the bathroom and shower, and could see no problems. Ran water down the drain and no issue...what the heck???  I then remembered that when I was cleaning the shower earlier in the week that there was a loose bit of grout and it pulled out as I was cleaning.  So I got out the caulking and gave the base a new bead of caulk.  When the guests checked in last night we had the buckets ready, and our fingers crossed, but when the shower ran, there was no problem at all!  Whew!  Disaster averted!  Guess my cleaning was just too aggressive!  Wouldn't my Mom laugh if she saw that statement?

Well it has been so eventful that I have not had time to write.  As I sit here in the kitchen using my laptop, we have very nice guests upstairs in the Pillar Rock room from Atlanta, Georgia. We have been open since April 15th and have had people from Maine, Colorado, Connecticut and of course from Washington and Oregon also. What a hoot it has been so far. We are really enjoying it.
    Last week over the 4th of July we had 4 nights in a row booked and then the last night both rooms!  There were 4 in the Hummingbird room so we had 6 people for breakfast!  What an experience. This was the first time we have had both rooms booked.  All went well and we received some glowing reviews.

    Earlier in the year we had a little gathering here with other lodging folks in the community.  It was great getting to know some of them and talking about the ups and downs of hosting people.  Got a lot of good advice and traded brochures. Then in May we had a ribbon cutting by the Chamber of Commerce.  That was a fun event too.  We had two great articles in  the local papers.  One in the Eagle and one in the Daily News.  Both generated some interest.  We are actually a lot busier than we thought we would be and have actually had to turn some people away.  It's not like we are busy each night but it seems that certain times are just more popular! And wouldn't you kn ow it, we blocked out a week when Trevor is here to go on an Alaska cruise and attend Keelin's wedding and have had numerous requests for that week!!!  Oh well!  Hopefully they will book another time!
    When we don't have guests we have been working in the yard.  So much landscaping to do!  We finished reworking the garden area.  We made it twice as big.  Now we have 8 raised beds.  Lots of things growing in there including two dahlia beds.  This year we have lettuce, beans, peas, summer squash, cucumbers, onions, garlic etc...  Brian is also working on updating the water system.  That has been a chore.  Colleen has been down quite a few times to help him with it.  Thank goodness for the tractor.  It sure helps with the project.
   We are trying to keep the lawn looking good as we have a wedding here in September and it has been a dry summer so far.  Have been watering like crazy!  Still some brown spots are popping up but we will get then green sooner or later!  Might have to put in some sod.....?  We have lots of to do's before September gets here....
  More later....

Hello 2014!

Well the holidays are over once again and it's time to get back to work.  We haven't done much on the house except maintenance and decorating.  I am working on getting old family photos up and finishing the Military wall.  Still need to find a few more pictures. Oh and the never ending job of cleaning the office!
I did get our first newsletter done and will attach it here.  Sent it out to my mailing list and posted it on our Facebook page too.  

Exciting news, we have a few bookings already including a wedding in September.  How fun!  We will be open this year from the 15th of April until the 30th of October.  I am excited about our opening season. 

We are pretty much finished with the retaining wall along the front of the house. Whew what a job. Planted some grasses and daffodils and Irish moss, along with a few small trees and shrubs. It still looks a bit bare but hopefully by spring it will fill in a bit. Still have the corner area by the main driveway to landscape, hope to get started on it soon.
    Brian has been on the tractor a lot too, digging into the back hillside to create a terrace, and using the dirt to do some fill around the garden area.  We have pretty much put the garden to bed, but will be pulling a lot of it out as we fill in and build it up a bit.  It has been dropping a few inches a year and needs to get built back up again.  I am sure it will be a mess for a while but will be great in the end.
  Put away all of the lawn furniture and got most of the outdoors winterized.  Discovered a leak on the stairs just below the upstairs porch, so Brian cleaned it all out and re-caulked it.  I am sure this will be an ongoing issue as it did it last year too.  Time for some paint touch-up once it dries.

We have been busy on the out buildings. Now that the house is done, we have more time to concentrate on the landscaping and the garages.  Had a new garage door installed on the small garage and took off the old metal siding and put up shingles to match the door.  Looks NICE!  We can even park the car in the garage.  
Now we are working on the big garage, got it about half cleaned out and already took a big load to the dump. Brian is going to move his shop/workbench out there, so we will have more room in the little garage for the car and he will have more room to do his projects in the big garage.  
Have cleaned out a few of the flower beds, getting them ready for fall, always a big job, but it has to be done.
We have also been building a retaining wall in the front of the house along the road.  Brian did some terracing with the tractor, and we are putting in concrete blocks, and eventually we will put in plants.
That is it for awhile...time to do some traveling again!!!

We did it! We are an official B&B

Where do I start?  We have done so much since my last post in May. It's been too busy to put it all down on paper.  I guess I will just list all of the projects we have finished.

• The Pillar rock Room is done, new mattress, box spring and sheets.  It is all decorated and ready for guests. 
• We finished the railings and the front deck, looks so fresh and clean
• Hung up more art and did more decorating in the stairwell
• Finished putting down the carpeting on the stairs and upper hallway
• Repainted the floor on the upper deck and touched up the railings, finished painting the trim out there too.
• Brian installed new toilets in two of the bathrooms, for better flushing! 
• Built a new retaining wall and drainage field and then moved the big trailer back into it's permanent home.
• Power washed and stained the Gazebo, wow, it looks brand new!
• Did lots of yard work
• Installed a new garage door on the small garage
• Brian built and stained two new trellis's for the garden
• Stained the arbor and added more stepping stones to the walkway
• Started the landscaping along the road in front of the house
• Cleaned out the small garage
• Brian built a fancy shed for the garbage cans. 
• Painted and put up a new headboard in our room.

           In mid June we had an Open House.  Had a fun time showing people around the house and visiting, it was a great day.  We sure appreciated everyone's support.  We had the health inspector down the next week and we passed the physical inspection.  The following week we took a water sample in and nervously waited to hear back......and when we did, the news was good!  We passed with flying colors. And we got our B&B accreditation! WOW!  We have been working for 10 years for this to happen, could not be happier!  Unfortunately I was having some health issues so we had to put off our official opening until next year, but the excitement of actually succeeding is amazing.
          We did have our first guests a few days ago.  The reservation was made earlier this year so we said...what the heck let's do it!  It was a wonderful experience and now we are really looking forward to next year. We are setting our opening for mid April of 2014