I love my "frequent fliers"...guests who return again and again and become friends in the process. But most innkeepers will tell you that the best part of this business is having the chance to meet and sometimes (if the house is not too terribly hectic) get acquainted with people from all walks of life. People who live such different lives from mine that our paths would not likely have crossed any other way.
Just in the last three days I've had at the TRI a retired fighter pilot; a big-city crime scene investigator, just like the ones on t.v.; a retired couple who are on a month-long road trip in their shiny new little red Corvette; a woman who shares (and probably exceeds) my love of fiber arts, who showed me how to use a drop spindle; and two faithful return guests, one of whom I see frequently at the B&B and the other who is here once or twice a year. Now do you think the breakfast table is ever a boring place to be with company like that? Hardly!
Besides the good company and engrossing coversations, we've all been enjoying the juiciest, tastiest peaches from my own tree. The fruit was a bit late ripening this year, but well worth the wait.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
International Summer
The past few months have been particularly "international" at the TRI. I've had guests from Thailand, Korea, Denmark, Canada, Italy, the Phillipines, Rwanda, and three parties from Germany. Not bad for the middle of Kansas!
The other day I got an unscheduled visit from a couple who, judging by their names and accents, I took to be German. Wrong! They are from an ethnically German area of Italy where they grew up bilingual. Currently they live in Canada, and were vacationing in the American West. With English they are least trilingual, which leaves me a little awestruck. I thought that they emobodied this international summer, and how fitting that they visited at the very end!
The other day I got an unscheduled visit from a couple who, judging by their names and accents, I took to be German. Wrong! They are from an ethnically German area of Italy where they grew up bilingual. Currently they live in Canada, and were vacationing in the American West. With English they are least trilingual, which leaves me a little awestruck. I thought that they emobodied this international summer, and how fitting that they visited at the very end!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Where did summer go?
My little B&B, now in its 12th year of operation, has just had its busiest summer ever. That's why I haven't blogged all summer! But I'm having a blessedly moderate week before the Labor Day weekend, and I'm determined to use my spare time to catch up on a few neglected projects.
Some projects are very pleasant, like the needlework I've done in the last week. Two or three years ago I found an attractive wool wall hanging at an antiques store and bought it for the Homestead Room. But the yarn was broken in a few small places, so it sat on my "to do" pile for a long time. Finally got out my sewing kit last week, made some careful repairs, and now it's decorating the west wall of the room.
A few months ago I inherited a very old wool patchwork quilt, made from men's suits. I thought it would look great hanging in the Homestead Room. It's in perfect condition, except that the edges had never been bound. So off it went to the infamous "to do" pile. Last night I stitched the last stitch on the binding (by hand, of course). Now to figure out how to hang it before weekend guests start arriving tomorrow!
In a couple of hours I will make my way out to the garden to give it some much-needed attention. Much of our summer was so brutally hot that working outdoors was just unbearable. But recent rains and a cool front that blew in at midday today have made for some pleasant gardening conditions. Looking forward to a lovely evening outdoors.
On a day like today you can really believe that summer is almost behind us and fall is around the corner. That means the fresh summer flavors we've been enoying--perfect melons, basil and chives, peaches and cherries--will fade into pears and apples, pumpkin muffins and gingerbread pancakes. I always try to use local and seasonal foods whenever possible. The changing of the seasons, for me, is marked as much by the foods of the season as the changing of leaves and grasses and temperatures.
I hope you'll come and share the season at the Tea Rose Inn B&B sooner rather than later.
Some projects are very pleasant, like the needlework I've done in the last week. Two or three years ago I found an attractive wool wall hanging at an antiques store and bought it for the Homestead Room. But the yarn was broken in a few small places, so it sat on my "to do" pile for a long time. Finally got out my sewing kit last week, made some careful repairs, and now it's decorating the west wall of the room.
A few months ago I inherited a very old wool patchwork quilt, made from men's suits. I thought it would look great hanging in the Homestead Room. It's in perfect condition, except that the edges had never been bound. So off it went to the infamous "to do" pile. Last night I stitched the last stitch on the binding (by hand, of course). Now to figure out how to hang it before weekend guests start arriving tomorrow!
In a couple of hours I will make my way out to the garden to give it some much-needed attention. Much of our summer was so brutally hot that working outdoors was just unbearable. But recent rains and a cool front that blew in at midday today have made for some pleasant gardening conditions. Looking forward to a lovely evening outdoors.
On a day like today you can really believe that summer is almost behind us and fall is around the corner. That means the fresh summer flavors we've been enoying--perfect melons, basil and chives, peaches and cherries--will fade into pears and apples, pumpkin muffins and gingerbread pancakes. I always try to use local and seasonal foods whenever possible. The changing of the seasons, for me, is marked as much by the foods of the season as the changing of leaves and grasses and temperatures.
I hope you'll come and share the season at the Tea Rose Inn B&B sooner rather than later.
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