First flurry

Today we saw our first snow flurry after pouring rain Wednesday and flood watches yesterday. I guess winter is almost here, albeit not officially.

We are getting ready for our trip to Italy for Christmas. We are happy that we have some long term guests who will be staying over the holidays and will water our plants and keep the home fires burning.

We will be dining out in Saratoga for restaurant week, which started today - $18.19 for a three course dinner or $9.09 for a three course lunch. We are going to try a couple of restaurants that we have wanted to go to, but just have not.

Still taking yoga and going to the gym - we are taking a jump rope to Italy so that we can keep up the exercise - do you think it will ever leave the suitcase? I am not at all sure.

Will give a full report on our trip when we return next year.

Thanksgiving Wishes

Tomorrow is the big day - the gardens have been put to "bed", most of the tools have been cleaned and oiled and the fall plants have been planted. Perhaps it is time to reflect and give thanks for all that we have to be grateful for and for our friends and family.

We are going to a wonderful restaurant that specializes in turkey dinners, though they do serve other things as well. Last year was our first time there and we had a totally delicious meal.

We wish all guests, past and future, a most Happy Thanksgiving.

Fall has Fallen

We are now past peak here, but it is still beautiful.
Richard found a quote we both love -"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower" by Albert Camus. How true that is. Every season is wonderful, for different reasons.

We are getting ready for a dinner party tonight - two couples who have not met, but the two women share an interest in renaissance art - one teaches, the other is a very fine artist. She paints Icons and they are absolutely gorgeous.

Fall Foliage coming Fast

The fall season is coming very early this year. It is already gorgeous around here and we have weekends open for guest viewing.

Our trip to Sturbridge in the 1929 Model A was perfect in every way. The car performed without a hitch, the weather was glorious, our B&B in Woodstock, Ct was outstanding and the restaurant where we had dinner was probably the best we have been to in many, many years.

We are having several trees taken down right now to open up our glorious views even more. So come take a look.

cutest little girl and our Model A

Yesterday a five year old girl (and her parents) arrived in the afternoon. She got out of the car and came up to me and started talking. Not a shy bone in her body. A little later, while I was gardening, she came over and said "I did some deadheading for you. It will make the flowers bloom again" I could not believe my ears. She is just precious. Her name is Hayden and she can come back here any time. Oh, her parents are really nice as well!!

Only two weekend left for racing season and then I guess Richard and I will take a bit of a rest. We are going away in our Model A on September 17 and 18 to Sturbridge Mass for the New England meet. There will be about 200 Model A's there and it is wonderful to see our friends from the Long Island Model A club, to which we still belong.

Will fill you in on it later!!

Tuxedos by the creek

Last weekend we hosted two couples who were traveling together. The men were performing with the Philadelphia Orchestra, singing the Ode to Joy from Beethoven's 9th. They were dressed in their tuxedos and had a bit of time for a glass if wine on the deck by the waterfalls. Richard and I and the two wives were all dressed up in our shorts/tee shirts. Wish I had thought of my camera. How incongruous we must have looked.

However, the wine tasted good to all of us, no matter how we were dressed!!

Little Lost Dog

Two nights ago a small, injured beagle turned up at our door. We called everyone in the neighborhood, to no avail. One of our guests , a true animal lover, slept in his car with the beagle all night to keep him quiet and warm. The next morning animal control came to pick him up. I had already made him scrambled eggs, cottage cheese and bacon. He was very hungry poor thing. I hope they find a good home for him.

Giddy-up

We had a wonderful bunch of guests for opening weekend at the track. Two couples from Canada (two brothers and their wives) and a couple from South Jersey-she is Officer in the State Police and he owns and operates two sport clothes shops. We also had a professional ballet dancer and her husband who is an actor and playwrite. None of them won big at the track, but they all had a great time.

Yesterday we went to Williamstown, Ma. to an art gallery showing work of a friend of ours. We met another couple and had lunch at an Indian restaurant. No dinner last night for either of us.

Today is the last full day I have with no guests until August 16, so I am in the garden where I love to be. Right now I am taking a glass of water break and writing this.

Garden Tour

We had a magnificent day for the garden tour yesterday - no humidity and plenty of sun. A delicious brunch with friends first to start the day and then home for the tour. We had a nice showing and I hope the Easton Historical Society made money.

This weekend the horse racing season starts and we are all geared up and ready to go.

Garden Tour

Can't believe it has been over two weeks since I sat down to write ,but it is our busy season, so I am forgiven, right? Also, the garden tour is this Sunday and between terribly hot weather and a full house, I have not had a lot of time to spend in the garden this past week. It amazes me how many weeds can grow in less than a week. But I guess I have to go with whatever I can do and hope for the best. I have been spending 5 - 8 hours a day out side for the past two months, so all the gardens have had some love and attention.

In my "spare" time I am reading "The Candy bombers" about the Berlin airlift and Hal Halverson who dropped candy to the German children in little parachutes he fashioned out of handkerchiefs. My father was the operations officer of the Berlin end of the Airlift and we lived in Berlin for two and a half years back in 1949. I recognize so many of the names, many who actually came to our house for parties.

Nature

"All good things are wild and free"=Henry David Thoreau. We truly love Thoreau's writings and try to live up to his thoughts with nature. Another one we love is "In the wilderness is the preservation of the world" Nice thought, don't you think.?

Wedding Morning Surprise

Last night we were to host a couple who had been married earlier in the day. The groom's mother came over just before the wedding, dressed in her "Mother of the Groom" dress, to put a gift on the bed. She said the couple would be in about 10:30 or 11.

This morning, two other couples came down a bit early, and were already at the table, when I heard the bride and groom come down the stairs. I looked up to meet and greet them, and lo and behold, it was the mother of the groom, still in her wedding finery. I said "are you checking up on the kids? and she said, no, they wanted to party all night so she and her husband stayed here and were joining us for breakfast. There he was in his Tux, minus the jacket and tie! There was a lot of fun conversation around the table about the wedding and the "surprise".

Disaster in the Kitchen

Saturday morning, with 6 hungry guests about to come down for breakfast, I preheated my oven, or so I thought, and an hour before breakfast, opened the oven door to put in the casserole-it was ICE cold. Nothing I did could make it go on.-So I called a neighbor and took the liquid casserole to his house. We made extra coffee, biscotti were already made and with about a 10 minute delay, I served breakfast. The car trip to the neighbor's house, up and down steep hills, was a bit messy, but all in all, breakfast was delicious and the guests were very understanding. Today, with only two guests, I am using my taoster oven. The part for the large oven will be in on Monday and we will be back in business!!!

Memorial Day Weekend

We are expecting a beautiful weekend and have guests to care for as well. The first are due to arrive in 30 minutes.

Both of our ride-on mowers died this week so Richard is buying a new one and we will get the others repaired so that we will always have a back-up. He does not want to mow all these acres with the hand mower!! Wonder why not at age 81.

The asparagus is going to seed faster than I can pick it, but that is because I would rather dead head all the iris. They are gorgeous this year and I am marking them with plastic markers because they need dividing-I hope guests will want them, but certainly the people coming for the garden tour in July will.

Back to the garden.

From Yosemite with love

We just returned from a vacation to San Francisco and Yosemite-If I did not love it here and having our B&B I would move to SF in a heartbeat-what a wonderful city. Yosemite was gorgeous and the waterfalls falling at their fullest. We hiked 8 miles to the giant sequoias as the road was still closed due to snow.

While we were gone we had a group staying here who were attending a bee conference nearby. B&B guests are the best-they left the rooms and kitchen so neat. It was a pleasure to come home to.

I am way behind in the garden, but spent 8 hours out there today. My hand is a bit tired today, but the doctor signed off on me last week, so I guess I can do whatever I need to get the gardens ready for the tour on July 18th.

Spring

The first day of spring was gorgeous-and the crocuses are blooming as are the snowdrops! But today, is freezing, actually 25 degrees and though sunny it is too cold to garden. I am glad I got some of the clean-up done last week.

We started the wood sove up yesterday in anticipation of the drop in temperature and we are glad that we did. It is toasty warm in the family room.

Meaningful quote

"Every man dies, but not every man truly lives" William Wallace. Wallace was one of the ancient kings of Scotland.

Thumb

The cast is off and I am about to leave for Physical Therapy-but we are having a nice snow storm and Richard will have to drive me. I don't do well in snow.

The pain I am experiencing is normal for the type of surgery I had, but I functioned much better with the cast-I have no range of motion in my wrist right now and it hurts with every tiny move, while the cast kept it immobile. I will have to be diligent with my PT at home.

Expecting a full house starting tomorrow and we are looking forward to it. We had wonderful repeat guests and 4 new guests for President's weekend and that was so much fun. We sat around in the evening and had drinks and cheese and crackers, compliments of the repeat guests and really got to know the new guests. We went out to dinner with our "old" friends one night and one night the guest made delicious chili. This is what B&B is all about.

My purple cast

Got your interest didn't I? On Jan 9th I had hand surgery on a severly arthritic thumb-a bone was shaved off and a tendon from near my elbow was pulled down and wrapped around the injured bone and muscle. When this gorgeous purple (my favorite color) cast comes off on February 15, and after a few sessions in physical therapy I should be as good as new-or so my doctor says.

Been a bit rough typing and trying to cut vegetables and undoing caps, but mostly I can function. Oh, can't properly dry my hair or use the curling iron so I have been looking a bit messy, but other than that I am doing well. Some pain, but that is to be expected. The worse part was developing vertigo-that was awful, but is 99% better now.

Back to work now-yes, does that ever stop???