Can't See The Forest For The Trees

Cleaning house has never been my strong suit. My mother has always said that she just doesn't see dirt and clutter and I believe her. My kids are like that, too. Seriously. I, however, see it and get overwhelmed by it. Sort of. It's just that I'm a bit of a perfectionist and control freak. (I know, I know - many of you out there are saying, "Really Wendy? Gee, I would have NEVER guessed!") So - I see it and think of EVERYTHING that-should-be-done-at-some-point-down-the-road-which-means-I-should-do-it-all-now then I get overwhelmed and don't start it at all.

This weekend is the Chaddsford Winery's Annual Blues Festival. The Chaddsford Winery is well worth the trip if you haven't been there before. It's also worth the trip if you have. Now that we have moved into the Brandywine Valley, it's practically in our backyard. That is a wonderful thing.

We had attended the Blues Festival a couple years ago (making the worthwhile trip) and loved it. This year we are going again. As a result, we have friends coming in from out of town for the weekend. I'm looking at the house and saying to myself, "I have to do WHAT in HOW MANY DAYS???" So, I'm trying to prioritize the housework and just have at it.

You may not see me for a couple of days. I'm chopping down trees...

What A Week!

Well, Tim probably doesn't have Lymes, although they'll continue to treat for it anyways. He just spent most of last week in the hospital with what they think was a spider bite induced cellulitus. He's finally home and still healing.

How is this house-related? He got the infection while working on cleaning the yard and powerwashing the last few weekends. The infection is behind his knee and since he couldn't see there, I took several pictures in various stages to show him (at his request). I will, however, spare you all those "house-related" pictures.

Tim is thinking about hiring a lawn service...

Tick Tock...

I haven't posted in awhile because it seems that we have been busier than usual. Tim had just had a root canal done on Thursday and was still in some pain over the weekend. He just took it a bit easy on the outside work and only did a lot of weeding. Saturday night we had been invited to a lovely dinner party. We were both very, very tired on Sunday/Mothers' Day.

Yesterday Tim was supposed to fly to Florida for a conference all week, but woke up with a fever and feeling really horrible. Ends up he has Lyme's Disease. We're pretty good about checking for ticks - especially when he's been working outside raking 8 years worth of leaves. I guess we missed one. He has a pretty nasty rash behind his knee where the tick clearly latched on.

So, he's down for the count for about a week. Once the flu-like symptoms wear off, I expect he'll be tired for a few weeks.

In the meantime, I've been looking for counter stools for the kitchen, finding more missing items for my office and running kids around. I keep trying to get to the dining room so that I can unpack, but never quite get there. Today..... yes - today.

Here is one of the counter stools that I like from Barstools.com. We both like these stools (which is unusual) and we really need them. I'm just not sure they'll fit with the decor I have in mind for down the road. Ideally, I'd like the counter stools and whatever island/cart I get to somewhat coordinate.

I've also been looking into "green" countertops for the kitchen. There is a new type of countertop that uses recycled paper. I have a lot more research to do on that, though.

In the meantime, I feel like time is running out... that I should have had a lot more done by now. Maybe getting the dining room done will help.

"The Best Kind of Rain, Of Course, Is A Cozy Rain..."

"... This is the kind the anonymous medieval poet makes me remember, the rain that falls on a day when you'd just as soon stay in bed a little longer, write letters or read a good book by the fire, take early tea with hot scones and jam and look out the streaked window with complacency." ~Susan Allen Toth

This is a cozy rain day. All of us slept in. Tim sat up from bed, waited a second or two, then crawled back in for another 15 minutes. My daughter stayed in bed until 20 minutes before her bus and I didn't get up until 15 minutes before her. My son got up 15 minutes before his first class. We all just wanted to stay in bed.

This is the type of rain that calls for a soup and bread supper night. It may also be the night that I finally go up and organize my office so that I'm not using and cluttering up the breakfast room all the time. It might also be an early-bedtime night. That's not always a bad thing.

Yes, we're still unpacking. Getting my office set-up, small as it is, will actually be a big help. The papers that I usually keep at my desk are now strewn all over the house. While I generally know where everything is, they are still ALL OVER and make the place look much more cluttered than it really is. Once that clutter is gone - particularly from the dining room, breakfast room and butler's pantry, I think I can make a lot of quick headway into what's left to unpack.

This has been a week of budgeting for the household projects. We finally made some decisions regarding the furnace and that work will begin shortly. We are waiting for only two more quotes - - the electric and the master bathroom, then we can start figuring out what we want to do beyond that. I made it clear that I want to strip all the wallpaper in the house first. Even if it means bare walls for awhile, at least it's only one time that we have that big mess in the house. I think we can get started fairly soon.

In a way - I'm hoping it rains all weekend. Tim has spent the last few weekends outside (much needed), but having him inside will help me get things done more quickly. I know that it's robbing Peter to pay Paul, but I can live with that.

"Life is Hard For Insects..."

"...And don't think mice are having any fun either.” ~Woody Allen

Last night, while working on the computer, I heard the sound of something large, with nails, run across the upstairs floor. I immediately yelled for the kids to see where they were. Ooops - right beside me. The running upstairs seemed a bit brisk for our dog right now, since she isn't feeling so well; but that's just what it sounded like - the dog running and skittering around on the hardwood a bit. Nope - she was behind me.

Not good. It sounded very large, so I wasn't too keen on investigating on my own. My husband was out of town, so he was no help. I called him anyhow. We had Erlich scheduled to come to the house this Thursday to do a termite check, so he said to call them. Erlich told me that it was more than likely mice ("Yes, ma'am, they can make that much noise.") and that they would send somebody out first thing in the morning.

Well, just in case it wasn't mice, my daughter slept with me and my son chose to sleep downstairs on the couch since most of the sound was coming from the direction of his room.

As promised, Erlich showed up first thing this morning. Good news - it's just the mice. As you know from a previous post, we knew we had some, but it seems that they are beginning to set up parties, events and their own guest rooms long before the humans here are actually ready to open. Erlich has laid out a plan to get rid of them, as well as quickly indentified areas in the house where they are getting in.

Since Mr. Erlich-Man was here anyhow, he also did the termite inspection. We do have some termites in a stump out back and we actually got to see a "swarm" happen in one of the rotted landscape timbers, but there is no evidence of termites in the actual house. We hope to be able to simply do a preventative treatment.

We also have some type of ant that lives under concrete, flagstone, etc. Again - outside the house, which is good. Erlich is confident they can get rid of the mice and the bugs.

Overall, I think we're in good shape, although I can't say the same for the bugs and mice.

Privacy, Pu-lease

My dream for many years has been to own and operate a bed and breakfast. I don't want a big inn-like place, just a few simple rooms where guests feel like they're at a friend's house comfortably relaxing. When we started looking to move and the dream started becoming a bit of a waking idea, we looked at some "turn-key" bed and breakfasts that were for sale. What an ideal situation that would have been -- walk into a place that already has everything you need set-up -- including your client base! (If you have the same dream, check out BnBfinder.com - they have a great B&B for Sale page. If this isn't your dream, just check out the site - it's a great way to find B&Bs while traveling.)

One of the things we noticed while looking to buy a turn-key was that the "owners quarters" were very small. We're in a slightly unique situation in that we are opening a B&B while we still have our kids in the house. This means that owners quarters the size of a dorm room just aren't going to work for us. Also - my kids are still kids - they have homework, they want to play outside, they want to play on their Wii and they still want family game night.

So, we had to look for a house that had adequate room to raise a family and welcome guests all at the same time. We found it here. The north wing of the house makes an ideal place for the family to be while the south wing of the house is full of guests. When my children move away, we still have the option of opening the back two rooms in the north wing without interfering on our master bedroom suite.

But, not only am I concerned about giving my children some privacy, I am also concerned about making sure the guests have access to privacy when they want it, too, without having to be locked in their rooms to get it. That's why I'm scoping out the backyard for small "retreat" and sitting areas. Our personal experience is that B&B guests are generally social and want to be with the other guests, but not always. Giving guests a place to call "their own" while they are here is important.

While we are renovating, I am trying to keep the privacy issues in mind. For example... there are wonderful wrought iron door latches on all the inside doors... with no locks. When Tim and I stay at a B&B, not having locks isn't a big deal to us, as long as the door latches and stays shut. However, we may need to look at some lock options as we remodel each room, since not all guests will feel that way.

Is privacy really worth all that it's cracked up to be? Only when you can't get it.

Entertainment

We just had our good friends Bryan & Joan leave after a way-too-short visit from NJ. These are the first overnight guests we've had other than family and they are good enough friends to hear and understand all the caveats - we're sharing one bathroom, there are paint chips in your bedroom, don't use the closet, etc. A couple of excellent bottles of wine later... sigh...well, now they've left and we're back to work.

Tim has been power washing the back patio. You can't really see the difference here in these pictures, but I'll post them anyhow:
The patio was to the point where anytime the stone and concrete were wet, you'd slip and fall. The concrete needs a lot of patching and Tim is considering ripping it out, adding more stone, and redoing it. The benches also need some minor repairs and repainting.

We were going to put our metal table set out there, but I don't think it fits aesthetically. I think we'll put that on the patio by the house in the courtyard. I think Adirondack chairs flanking the hearth would be better for that area, particularly for guests. I'm trying to look at the different spots in the yard as little areas of retreat for guests.

Having our friends here was great because we got a chance to entertain a bit. Entertaining is something we enjoy, which is one reason why we're doing the B&B. I got up early, made a nice little breakfast of whole wheat pancakes and veggie-sausages (not bad, I have to admit - the sausages, that is) and kind of did a very, very small dry run on what this will be like "live" when we finally open.

I can definitely see where hiring a bit of help for some basic housekeeping will be a must, but each time we have family or friends over, more ideas and plans become concrete. This is not just a vision anymore, it's starting to form a bit into reality.

I know that we're still a couple years away and that the hard work hasn't even begun. We're both trying to keep ourselves very cognizant of that. In the meantime, we'll continue to do small dry runs with friends and family just because -- well -- we like them.