After Easter

Easter signifies a new beginning. I think that's one of the reasons I love spring so much. One of the nicest things about running the bed & breakfast is getting to meet new people that are really nice and sometimes turn into friends. On Thursday and Friday we had a returning guest from the Chicago area. He comes to Watonga as part of his job and has though he has also stayed at the Lodge, he usually stays with us at least one night when he is in the area. Yesterday for breakfast I made "Dutch Baby pancakes" from a book I read recently, with bacon glazed with brown sugar and fresh rosemary. On the side were sliced pears and apples with just a little bit of grated asiago cheese on top. A couple of surprises to the taste buds.

Yesterday was a beautiful day, too nice to stay indoors. After breakfast I got out my yard utensils and began raking leaves off the the garden beds, when an SUV turned onto our lane from the highway. Skeeter met the car and it stopped midway down the lane, the driver obviously afraid she was going to hit the dog. I called him back to the house and walked out to meet the car. The passenger rolled down her window and smiled and said she and her daughter were just out for a drive and saw our sign on the road. I asked them if they'd like to come in and see the B&B and the woman said she knew that this had been her dentist's house! Sue introduced herself and her daughter, who was driving, and I invited them to come in. We walked through the bedrooms and out onto each deck, and then outside off the Texas bedroom and around to the front of the house. Sue expressed her excitement at our having moved here and taken over the property, and asked if he ever hosted retreats for women's groups. I said we were available for that, and she said she would love to bring her friends here. We had a nice visit while we walked around. Her daughter brought her husband Bob (who had stayed in the car originally) in and showed him through the bedrooms. We all had a nice visit while we walked around. Sue's daughter (I'm sorry I don't remember her name right at the moment) loves to garden so we had lots to talk about. She said she could appreciate all the work that has gone into the house, having done home remodeling herself. I hope they will both come back sometime. I got back to work and raked leaves off of the front garden along the porch and also from under the cedar tree next to the OK room deck. I transplated some thrift and some sedum to a few places that needed color and watered them in, and also divided a clump of summer sedum and planted them into pots. I'll find places for them when they get their roots established.
Andy was busy researching supplies for the brick oven, and then worked on putting in a drain underneath the flagstone path that goes along the south side of the house and meets up with the back cement patio.

After all our work was done, we showered and then to town to visit with Brad at the winery about the Wine Competition they are planning for the Cheese Festival. Andy and I both felt like we accomplished quite a bit yesterday.