This time of year

Well the Christmas season is over and I've taken my holidays( to Mexico but that is another whole post) and it's time to get back at it. Like many hospitality operators I spend the months of January and February getting ready for the Summer season. Spend days getting my accounting all caught up and filing taxes, making marketing plans and updating websites, flyers and menus. Then there is the multitude of calls from prospective clients looking for information for there weddings and other parties. Not to be forgotten, development, rewrites and new budgets for programs and tours. I haven't even mentioned the upkeep, renovations and maintenance on the buildings. Jeez I thought this was suppose to be our quite time.

A number of months ago we got involved with Chinook Country Tourism Association and their Tourism Cluster Project. Yesterday we went for our final training on the new online booking engine and how to put the final touches on our micro site. Things look good but I have several hours of editing and uploading ahead of me before the site goes live on February 13. Aaugg I better get at it.  

The Green House and Garden: Final Chapter 2011

Its always kinda a sad day when you realize it's time to clean up the yard cause all the plants have died off for the winter. The green house seems to be the same way.  I consider the whole experiment a success even if it could have used more care than it got. All summer I served lettuces and spinach from the green house and yesterday I harvested what was left ( and it was alot) of the tomatoes and stuff. Those tomatoes where mostly green so now I'm going to make green tomato chutney. Should be good.

I think the recipe I'll use is this one from Instructible. http://www.instructables.com/id/Grans-Green-Tomato-Chutney/?ALLSTEPS

The Garden

Getting ready for the summer season means many things around here- spring cleaning, painting, repairs of winter damage , etc etc etc, My favorite is  cleaning and planting the flowerbeds and planters. After looking over the forecast for the dreaded frost and snow I decided the time had come. To my delight the weather cooperated and  yesterday morning was sunny and warm. Now I really like trips to the green house and earlier this month I couldn't wait any longer so I picked up a few annuals and planted some baskets. Because of our late spring I had been keeping them in my little green house across the ally and they where doing really well.  But yesterday was different it was the BIG trip. Off I went to Spring Break garden center in Hillcrest. Val and Rick have worked hard since early spring growing all the little plants and I found a wide selection of flowers and greenery to fill my garden with. They have gone very pink this year to help out The Pinkest Little town in the West group and I love pink flowers anyway so I was very pleased with the variety I could get. I made my selections, green things ( I'm lousy with the names- oh my grandfather is so disappointed ) and petunias and lobilia and stuff, all pink and white and very pretty. 2 new rose bushes for the big pots and I was all set.

Once home the work started. Cleaned out the beds and weeded them all, got all the pots and planters out and started deciding what to put were. I'm not one of those gardeners that have a plan to what is going where before I even go to the green house, I just place the pots around the deck where they will stay for the summer and then set the new plants out, redistribute them until I get some thing that looks good and then plant. Well things went well and now I've planted them all and they are settling in. I need to get a few more for the planters out front but thats todays mission.
My neighbor stopped in during all this and started asking questions about what he should plant and mentioned he needed to get out and clean up the beds at his place. Then off to work he went ( long weekends are busy for real estate agents) Feeling a little sorry for him I went over and cleaned out his beds too. I was on a roll. When he got home he was very grateful that the garden fairy had been by and when he heard I was off to the green house again today he asked if I wanted to get some plants for his box too. How could I say no? A green house trip I don't have to pay for.  What a great week end.

The New Room

Over the winter we have been upgrading our last guest room. That makes 4 in all. Now with spring here the room is ready for use. I must admit it's turned out very well although a touch small compared to some of the others even if it is the same size as The Garden room. Have a look.

Now all it needs is a name and for me to solve the problem of what type of head board to use on these beds we have that can be an oversize queen or 2 twins depending on whats required.

New Look

We have been working ( very slowly if you ask me) on painting the outside of the building:
Here's the results: