73 of 365 of What it is Like to Run a Resort

Saturday, September 25, 2010.
The first official day of our quilt retreat is underway. Attached is a picture of what the lodge looks like. We have 8 sewing machines all set up from the Bernina dealer; tables and notions from Pamella's Place and people from all over. We learned techniques for applique for Halloween and how to operate Bernina 440's.

John worked outside most of the day raising the piers. We got rain and the piers are floating away. So he worked really hard getting them all adjusted. It rained most of the day so he will probably have to adjust them again soon.

Paula Reid is our quilt retreat teacher and she flew in from California. She arrived late last night and this morning she came into the lodge for a cup of coffee. She also needed a towel. There was no way she could pack her own because her suitcase is so full of stuff for all the other classes she has to teach. She will be flying to North Carolina or somewhere in the Southeast on Monday.

I gave her a towel and she told me that the sump pump was going off all night. She had to go and sleep in the loft. I felt really bad and apologized. Hopefully she will still be okay with the retreat experience in Mercer.

The windows in the lodge fogged up pretty bad. It was cold outside from the rainy and cold weather. We still hadn't put up the outside storm windows up since they had been painted this June. How are we supposed to put them up, I wonder?

Later in the day the sun came out and the colors of fall just about popped out everywhere. It was beautiful.

We took the group to the Odonata shop before dinner. At first some of the group didn't want to go, but everybody bought something. Then we drove to dinner at the Pines Restaurant. They serve wonderful food, and we had a great time.

Later the ladies came back into the lodge and sewed some more on their projects. Everyone seemed to be having a great time and I was glad. Paula went to bed early because she hadn't slept good the night before and I did too. I left Pam talking with 3 ladies in the lodge. I had done a lot of work to prepare for the retreat and it all hit me. By 10 p.m. I was in bed. It was a good thing because I had to get the coffee going early the next morning.