May 9th, 2010
I honestly don’t know where spring goes. It seems like one day it’s winter and the next thing I know the calendar is filling up and I have guests more days than not. Even though summer is considered to be the “busy season” here, in many ways spring is busier because there are certain things that have to be done every year but can only be done during this span of a few weeks when the weather is warming up and before the crowds descend.
This has been an especially busy spring here at The Stone Lion Inn. If you’ve wondered why the blog hasn’t been updated in a while, here’s what I’ve been up to…
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Improvements, Innkeeping, Renovation, staff
Posted in Innkeeping | No Comments »
March 14th, 2010
Hard to believe winter is almost over. On the one hand it’s been a long one, on the other, as with each of the years I’ve been doing this, the busy season is approaching all too quickly. As usual, there is a lot to do around here.
This is the time of year when I take a look around and decide what needs to be done either to keep up or to improve the property. There’s always some simple maintenance, like patching plaster and touching up paint, tightening faucets, re-caulking showers (one of my least favorite jobs), etc. That kind of stuff is sort of a no-brainer. Then there are things that should be replaced because they’re showing signs of wear & tear. Some of those things I replace often, like towels. Other things, like area rugs, need to be replaced because after ten years they’re showing signs of wear. The house also needs new shutters, the existing ones are probably original and they’re falling apart. These are the projects I do myself.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Innkeeping, Renovation, Summer, Weather
Posted in Innkeeping, being in business | No Comments »
February 22nd, 2010
When I was searching for a house in Wellfleet that would become The Stone Lion Inn, I saw a couple of properties that just made me drool. One was a former windmill with views of the harbor and the other an enormous house with outbuildings in the center of town.
At the time I knew nothing of town history so I didn’t realize that both these houses were still in the families of the men who had built them in the 19th century. Later, long after I purchased the beautiful and well situated house that I did, I was content knowing that neither of these amazing properties would ever come on the open market.
I learned today that one of them has, in fact, been put up for sale by the family. It’s the larger of the two, known as Belvernon, and has amazing history. Unfortunately, a lot of that history is still in the house in the form of plumbing, wiring, heating and, I believe, a cesspool which will have to be updated to a new septic system. The renovation will be a Herculean undertaking; I do not envy the future buyer.
If anyone wants to see the listing, it’s here.
I love my house.
Tags: History, Renovation, Wellfleet
Posted in Out and About, random stuff | No Comments »
January 24th, 2010
This has been a quiet month, even by winter standards. There have even been some completely empty weekends including like this one. There is, of course, still work to do, but the pace is very different. I also get to work more on my body’s natural schedule, which notably does not include getting up before sunrise.
Last night I attended a surprise birthday party for a friend. My contribution to the dessert table was lemon bars, a recipe I hadn’t made in about ten years. I’d forgotten how good they are, and how easy. They were a hit with the guests, too. I’ll post the recipe below. It was nice to go out for the evening and not have to worry about late check-ins or prepping for the next morning’s breakfast.
Late this afternoon I was taking a bag of trash out – possibly the most mundane chore ever – when a full-grown red hawk came out of nowhere, swooped low over my back yard and perched in my neighbor’s tree. Made my day.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Recipe; Wildlife
Posted in Out and About, nature, random stuff | 1 Comment »
January 6th, 2010
It was ten years ago this week that we first took hammer and pry bar to plaster and started the renovation on the inn. Want to take a little walk down memory lane with me and revisit the project?
It was a daunting task; we had two sets of walls to remove on each side of the house, including plaster, lath, vertical supports and, on one side of the house, a bunch of brick. The plaster dust was horrid and I remember that the combination of dust mask and goggles made my glasses fog up something awful, but not wearing the protective gear was worse.
We worked from about 8 a.m. to dusk seven days a week that winter, and on into spring. My dad, who lives two hours away, drove out every weekend for six months and put in two days of work to help out. That extra pair of hands was an enormous help, especially when hanging sheetrock. In addition to my dad we had a team of plumbers and an electrician to handle those trades and I found someone to hang the wallpaper in the bathrooms. A couple of friends came out and gave us the gift of a few days of work, mostly painting, and towards the very end I did hire someone local to help with the interior painting and another local person to scrape & repaint the front facade of the house. Other than that, my husband & I did all the work ourselves.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in being in business | 1 Comment »
December 27th, 2009
A week before Christmas we had a highly unusual snowfall, almost 2′. To get that amount all at once is fairly rare out here; to get it before Christmas is almost unheard of. Not that it wasn’t pretty, it’s just not that much fun to deal with.
Wellfleet's December blizzard
Ok, that doesn’t look so bad does it? Nah. But you can’t really tell from the photo just how much of the white stuff is on the ground.
This might give you a better idea:
The courtyard behind the house after the blizzard
Are ya gettin’ the idea? The cold weather stuck around for almost a week, and so did the snow. Temperatures did finally start to creep back up above freezing on Thursday and we had highs in the low 40’s & 50’s for three days, so it’s pretty much gone now. It did make for a white Christmas, the first one in the ten years I’ve lived here, so that’s good.
Speaking of Christmas, I hope everyone had a good one. A good friend invited me over to her house for Christmas dinner with family & friends, which was lovely. I made a chocolate-orange poundcake to bring, a recipe that could use a little more tweaking but was still pretty darned good. I also made sparkling cranberries. Those were just on a whim, a friend had sent a link to the recipe, they looked gorgeous & easy plus I had fresh cranberries in my refrigerator. I’ve gotta tell you, they were really good. Here’s a picture:
Sparkling Cranberries
Can you imagine a more perfect addition to a holiday table? The best part is they can accompany food or just be eaten as a snack. They are kind of addictive, though, so watch out!
Guest-wise, things have been fairly quiet around here. Thanksgiving was busy followed by a totally dead weekend, then I had a stretch of about 8 days where there were guests every night and then nothing the following weekend. That’s not so unusual, though. The period between the holidays is often one of the slowest of the year and I’m fine with that. I have a few guests this week and then we’ll see what the final holiday weekend of the year brings.
Here’s wishing everyone a happy, healthy and safe New Year. See you in 2010!
Tags: Food, Holidays, Weather
Posted in guests, nature, personal | No Comments »
December 15th, 2009
Some towns go all out for the holidays with tons of decorations, a huge tree & lighting ceremony, house tours, concerts, plays, caroling and so forth. Not so much in Wellfleet. A lot of the shops and restaurants are closed. Decorations are understated: two large, living trees in front of town hall are lit with strings of white lights (LED of course) and the doorway of town hall is similarly surrounded. Green wreaths are attached to a few lamp posts on Main Street. Preservation Hall had a holiday sale one weekend and there’s an event for local kids with Santa followed by a free matinee movie at the cinema. That’s about it. Drive through the center of town after dark and there are a hand full of cars in front of The Lighthouse but the scene is utterly subdued and peaceful.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Holidays, Win a Free Night
Posted in Events, Out and About, being in business | No Comments »
December 4th, 2009
Yes, I fell off, apologies to my regular readers (if I have any). I’m going to try to get back on and stay there, though.
It’s been an interesting season, mostly in a good way. It was my first as a solo innkeeper, so there was a lot to figure out as far as how to do what I normally do plus the things my ex-husband did, like grocery shopping. That may seem like a small thing, but let me tell you in July and August it is definitely not! In those months it has to be done about every 4 – 5 days and the traffic can be a challenge. Not to mention the additional crowds at the supermarket. Figure it out I did, however.
I’m not going to try to summarize the entire summer in one post, I’ll relate stories as I think of them and have time. I did have a good season, despite the grim economy and the less-than-stellar weather, so I can’t complain on that front. And I’m still here. And I will try to stay on the wagon.
Tags: Innkeeping, Summer
Posted in being in business, blogging | 1 Comment »
June 23rd, 2009
Ten years ago today I checked in my first guests.
I can’t believe how quickly the time has passed, it’s been quite a ride! I’ve learned a lot, grown a lot, met amazing people and am going through a huge transition in my life, but I wouldn’t change a minute of it. And how many people can say that about their jobs?
Posted in Innkeeping, being in business | 2 Comments »
June 7th, 2009
I had my assistant, Nancy, in to do breakfast this morning and I took advantage of the opportunity to sleep in. Once up, though, I feel like I didn’t sit down most of the day. Here’s what I did:
- Helped strip beds – my housekeeper is still fairly new and we had a lot of rooms checking out today, made up one of them for her;
- Did 4 loads of laundry;
- Took apart & checked the new plug on the vacuum cleaner – I’d had to replace it a week ago and I think one of my housekeepers has been using the cord to yank it out of the sockets;
- Retrieved the “short” screens used with the a/c units from their storage place & vacuumed them, also 2 needed minor repairs;
- Got the frame kits for the a/c units down from their storage location;
- Went to the transfer station with Adam to help unload the brush trailer – it was full of leaves that had been sitting all winter (ew) so tomorrow I have to hose it down;
- Helped Adam install a/c units in 3 of the bedrooms;
- Stowed the 3 full-size screens where they will spend the summer;
- Sorted recycling with my housekeeper;
- Touched up the paint at the top stair where large suitcases seem to chip it every third day;
- Did a little vacuuming in my own space;
- Vacuumed the kitchen floor.
Oh, and I was having a bear of a time with my internet connection today so I rebooted my computer three or four times and I rebooted the modem & router, which are two flights up, twice.
I feel as if I’ve run at least 10 miles today, but it wasn’t really an unusual day… for an innkeeper.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
