The Lake House

[lighter]

I'm doing floral arrangements for these guests.  They seem really great so far.

Hummingbird buzzed my tower early this morning.

The hawk is hunting down pesky 🐿️ that eat my truck wires.

Plants in the yard look great, even in this heatwave.
Lighter

[Twoapenny]

They sound like perfect guests, Lighter.  Life would be sweet if they're all like that   It is hard finding people that get on with the job properly, without someone standing over their shoulder the whole time.  Hopefully you'll get some good ones

[lighter]

Current guests wanted to check in a day early.  My sister and I moved at breakneck pace to have house ready by 7:30pm check in. We passed guests in driveway and texted
happily back and forth for a bit.  They were exploring and choosing rooms.....the house looked just right..... everything clean.....6 fireplaces glowing (faux fires) and firepits set up. 

I'm having coffee on my brother's porch.  It's breezy/cool, his lake is full and geese are grazing on the bank as hawks call back and forth, hunting.

I hope you're enjoying your garden while it's yours, Tupp. 

[Twoapenny]

That sounds lovely, Lighter   You and your sis seem to make a good team.  We've had nothing but rain for weeks now so I mostly look at the garden through the window   Lol

[lighter]

Chilly rain....
I really miss it!

[lighter]

Lake house guests checked out this morning.  They watered the plants and would have taken care of trash....just have no plan for it yet.

More than ever, I want to steer clear of Airbnb and into event center waters.

Spoke to a friend in the healing arts.  She booked in November. 

She's performing a spiritual cleanse on the house and grounds next week.

Lighter

[lighter]

We're prepping the lake house for a third group this month.  This morning garbage problem gets sorted.  Lordy, it's not good.

Potential housekeeping team member worked 8 hours yesterday.  She's very quiet and I'm very frank with her.  Can't read her much past introverted and likes to vacuum, which I despise and..... she's 21yo and needs or wants lots of supervision.  She's a visual learner.  I can't tell if she wants to try to manage the entire job or just take an hourly piece.  I don't think she knows yet.

I feel better about the job, soup to nuts, bc it's getting simpler and more familiar.  DD22 is helping clean bathrooms and run the laundry.  I climbed the bunk bed.  A little easier this time, but thinking they need to go.

I want to jump to events....pig roasts and chandelier arrangements.  It's nice to feel creative joy raise her head again.

The 5 yo had a bag of red suckers.  I've traced her movement through the house by sticky stick and fallen bits from her mouth.  Her grandma made up for it by cleaning all the beach towels, stripping all beds and leaving me a big box of home grown tomatoes I Fantastic Mr. Fixed last night, twice, SO GOOD!  Once with chagio....one of my favorite meals.  Almost every plant is alive.... lost a second blueberry bush maybe, but found a huge apple on one of the trees!

Azalias and lemon grass all hanging in there.  Ferns, creeping Jenny and Crepe Myrtles as well.

Now....to deal with the trash.

Lighter

[lighter]

I think DD22 and I have spent 4 nights at lake working.  DD is sick.  I've finished trim and another door painting project plus day of potting into the trip....rainy and overcast.... it's feels like a guilty pleasure. So much joy and it rained and will rain a week!!!

 That I'm still doing projects means I still can't gage the scope of the housekeeping job, or how many hours it takes and I have a single young woman on board, introverted and somewhat mysterious about her thoughts on the job. 

I think she'd try to handle the entire thing (2 full days and nights to handle it) but she'd need help, at least at first.  DD says no one person can do it, and she might be right.

We left the lake with another day's work to do.  All the plants are flourishing.  The patio looks great.  Front door is beautiful.  Interior looks "like a dream", so sayeth potential new housekeeper.

We've planned a family lake vacation with the Ohio cousins, their daughters/son and 2 adorable granddaughters.....about 2yo and 5yo.  Can't wait to build fairy houses when the them and go fishing with them!!!

Lighter

[lighter]

12 guests checking in today fir 4 nights.  Next group of 12 arrives Aug 1.  I have 12 days marked off for family reunion with cousins and siblings....their kiddos and 2 grandchildren. 

Will be amazing to have house in such neat and clean order, finally. 

I have an AC unit ready for install in garage, in case we need overflow beds.  Will think about cleaning/painting/scraping ceilings ng texture and window coverings.  Contractor coming to deal with small electric and plumbing details.  Will see what he's up for.

All in all, I'm excited to discuss possibilities with sibs and begin setting up events....chapel....fixing up large outbuilding, etc.

It's feeling right.

[Hopalong]

Wow. It sounds like an amazing and LARGE project. Exciting to develop.

Chapel? I'd love to know more about that. I'm sure there aren't many vacation rentals with chapels. Are you hoping it could work as a rental retreat space for small religious groups?

hugs
Hops

[lighter]

Not religious, Hops.  We're thinking retreats, weddings and memorial services, generally.

Putting together retreats with a nutritionist, acupuncturist, brain integration practitioner, meditation/yoga to instruction, etc.... and abundant time in nature appeals to me very much. 

Guests arrived Thurs and all I've heard is...
"We've arrived."
And...
"You're home is beautiful 😍."

Crickets after that. 

We really want to veer off from vacation rentals all the way into events.

 My brother talked about adding goats and miniature horses.
 Again.
 Very sweet, imo.  Not sure how that aligns with the evolving mission, as I interpret it, but I'm glad his heart leans towards nurturing creatures. 

I really want a proper orchard....I guess my inner child keeps asking for the orchards of our childhood.

We'll likely be planning landscape designs soon. The more natural the better, imo.  I still despise mowers throwing dirt at the windows, and sometimes rocks..... expensive to maintain grass, equipment and/or hire mowers when "forest" and native shrubs are an option.  I have the mower lined up, should that be necessary.  Will see.

I'm looking for a BBQ master to cook whole pigs on site.......need more single bed spaces....thinking sturdy built in bunks when comfortable stairs built out in the garage.  The kind with curtained privacy. 

I just had a dryer installed in garage and will ponder highest and best use of it he current laundry room stubbed for a sink, 7th toilet and possibly another shower....or extend that bathroom into garage with several toilets and showers/sinks. 

I'm just letting possibilities spring into the light.  See what makes sense.

Lighterl

[lighter]

I'm hustling to get house set up for guests arrival Aug 1.  It'll happen, just never how I think it will so ...  dropping expectations and heading South after minor decisions based mostly on the rain.

Youngest picking up free drawing board from friend who's moving.  DD can use a drawing board....hope it's not HUGE.

I have magnificent huge frames (and art, depending on your taste) in my garage.  Likely headed to the local consignment shop.  That's too bad, bc it's worth thousands and I wish I could use in the out building at some point. 
:: releasing outcome::
Consignment opens tomorrow or I'd have dropped all 3 pieces on my way to lake house.  I'm not tired.  Just done swimming against the current.

That makes SO much sense as I read that back.  Just bc I'm swimming doesn't mean I always swim where and how I've always done.  I can stop and float or swim with or straight down just to see what happens....holding open possibilities and, as always, curiosity.

Lots of rain!  Happy plants and overcast sky means less wilting in the heat.  Yes😎

[Twoapenny]

Events and retreats sounds lovely, Lighter.  I went to this amazing wedding once, small and low key but they'd hired a guesthouse by the beach so we all spent the weekend together and the wedding was the bit in the middle.  It was so lovely because often at weddings you don't get time to catch up with people properly.  It's so busy and you rush about trying to chat so it was nice to get there the day before and have proper catch ups and then say proper goodbyes the day after as well.  Lovely times.  I bet yours would be an amazing weekend to have a celebration of any kind, or a full weekend of healing or whatever else might be on offer.

Not swimming against the current makes sense.  I'm feeling a lot more tuned in to not endlessly pushing for something if it isn't happening.  Still feel frustrated when things don't happen easily if I'm honest, but feel more comfortable with doing what I can and then waiting to see what comes of it.  Fingers crossed for easy currents though, eh? xx

[lighter]

Yes to all you said, Tupp.

And....
it's not just stopping fighting the current.  It's what happens when we stop.  That's a gap, empty....a little scary....all that open space ready to be filled with something new.

Not knowing what, creates discomfort, IME.

We met with the Army Corps of Engineers and have a plan mostly hammered out to plant 100 trees...white oak, maple, Dogwoods and a few others.  They want to yank our dock permit for 5 years, but that's not for sure happening.

I'll move the firepit 50' with DD22 and finish cleaning for arrival of guests tomorrow.

I bought 6" insulated attic vent pipe to replace our cheap accordion foil dryer vent, bc it's full of water in low spot again.  Will block w up new dryer if guests use it.

The house was in great shape after last guests checked out.  There's some kk d of lacquer like substance in sink,bilon floor and a few other spots....but house looks like no one was here, really.

Lighter

[Twoapenny]

You sound like you're getting really good guests that look after the place well Lighter, that's a good thing and really helps.  You hear so many horror stories about people treating places badly, it's nice that you're getting people who have similar standards to yours and aren't destroying all your hard work!  I'd bet there will always be something else to tweak, that always seems to be the way, doesn't it? xx