May 4 2023
Musings on a summer night at the Chaparral Retreat:
May 4 2023
Musings on a summer night at the Chaparral Retreat:
Yesterday afternoon we were hit by a massive hail storm! The scene was eerie as steam rose when the frozen hail hit the ground. The outside temperature was 70 degrees when the rain started falling, and it quickly turned to hail. The storm lasted about thirty minutes, starting with pea-sized pellets and ending with almost golf-sized frozen balls. I welcome the moisture but not the destruction of my gardens and all the cleanup work that needs to be done. On the bright side, tomorrow it will be warm enough to go out and hunt mushrooms!!
April 2, 2023
Spring is here, and we are in the process of "sprucing up" the property for coming visitors and events. Andy has been working hard: he replaced the fence on the front of the property using cedar boards from trees he cut down from the "way back" of the property. He has been clearing more trails through the woods. The kids planted some fruit trees and though we may not get fruit this year, they have survived and we look forward to future harvests. We have lots of projects to get done this spring!
We spent a lot of 2022 traveling to check out event venues, other lodging options, attending hospitality seminars, and trying to see how other businesses like ours are adapting to meet the changes in travel, entertainment, and hospitality services after three years of living with COVID. Last year we moved toward expanding our "customer base" to offering the Retreat for workshops, business conferences, and art retreats.
So, 2021 wasn’t quite the year clear of the Coronavirus like we thought (i.e., hoped) it would be back at the end of 2020. We in our family have all been vaccinated and continue to social distance and wear masks when in public. Sadly, we’ve experienced through good friends what the virus can do and it looks like the virus is going to be with us for a while so we will continue to take precautions in the near future. The good news is that we have been able to leave the house and resume some semblance of “normalcy” by getting to go out to eat, travelling, and spending time with friends. We took a few trips this year: to Bakersfield to visit my sister Becky and her family and to lay our brother Simon to rest at the National Cemetery; a quick overnight trip to Dallas, and a trip to New Mexico to celebrate the retirement of one of Andy’s college buddies.
Our son Drew earned his degree in art education from Southwestern Oklahoma State University and almost immediately got a job as a high school art teacher in the town of Yukon. The commute is long and he and Jenna are looking for a house to buy nearer to his job. Jenna works from home as a paralegal for a Dallas-based law firm and all of her work is on-line. Their house project on our property has been at a stand-still since Drew went back to school to finish his degree but they still intend to finish it at some point and use it as a studio. Our daughter Alma is still living in Portland, Oregon and is happy there. I still post updates on goings on around here on Facebook (Chaparral Retreat and Guesthouse) and sometimes write in my blog at chaparralbb.blogspot.com
Aug 2, 2021
It's 6:00 pm on Monday, third day of my birthday celebration. I made taco salad with grilled and sliced steak for family dinner, after eating out two days in a row with friends who were in town to celebrate an anniversary and my birthday. Being with good friends and family is the key to a happy birthday!
We are having guests again at the Chaparral Retreat, but with some changes in order to take into account the continuing threat of COVID19 and its variants. I will miss cooking breakfast for our guests and spending time visiting with them as we ease back into the new normal. Everyone's safety is our primary concern! The peace and quiet of the Retreat, beautiful sunsets, flowering gardens and trails through the woods are all still here for visitors to enjoy. See the website at www.chaparralbb.com for updated information. I am also keeping up to date on postings to the Chaparral Retreat facebook pages.
As Andy and I were walking around the property last evening, we saw that all of our crape myrtles died back from the deep freeze we had early this year. But they are putting out new growth from ground level. We have a lot of trimming to do to get rid of the dead and give the plants a fresh start!