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

Tuesday, June 28, 2011
The picture is of bite marks on our dumpster. A bear tried to get in to get the garbage but we had a big sheet of steel on top that was chained on. So he showed us he was there but only a little garbage was able to be reached. Minor inconvenience. Those of you who have been with me since the beginning know what my first blog was about. For those of you who didn't read that first entry, it was of the live capture of a nuisance bear here at the resort. They love our dumpster full of trash. But we don't love them.

John has been working hard to keep the bears out of the dumpsters, sometimes even standing in the dumpster on a piece of plywood to compact the trash. He did that on Saturday. The dumpsters are picked up every Wednesday morning.

Today was the day Orla had to go and get spayed. We dropped her off at 7:30 am and since they had to wait for a blood test they just took from her, we waited with her. After awhile John left to do two errands. They took Orla in almost right after he left. I wish he would have waited. He was trying to save time but it ended up costing us over a half hour as I waited for him to drive back from Ironwood to pick me up and then we went out to breakfast.

Our relatives were watching the resort for us. Just as we finished ordering our breakfast (9 am) our phone rang. We immediately thought it was the vet with bad news and our hearts jumped into our throats. But it turned out that one of the cabins had a septic tank problem. The waste was coming up into their tub when they plunged the toilet. So there was a back up somewhere. We finished our breakfast and hurried back home. I rinsed the tub, cleaned the bathroom completely with a disinfectant spray, rinsed the tub again and then wiped it again. The rest was up to John.

The customers also had another cabin in their group so they could use their shower/bathroom for the time being. John worked from 11 am until 4 pm when he took a break for lunch. At that time our relatives decided to leave.

I hadn't been able to sleep very well on the little daybed we had. So I layed down next to Orla, who was recovering from her operation, and tried to close my eyes for a little while. Our customers were supposed to be transported to a drop off site for a kayak outing at 2:30 but I couldn't find them anywhere. I was a little upset that John had scheduled a kayak outing for the day that Orla's operation was to take place. But then I sure shouldn't have let the operation be scheduled for the week when our relatives were here either. So they didn't want to hang around another minute waiting for us to visit with them. They also had other plans in Minneapolis for the next day, and then they decided to leave. So at 5 pm they all packed up and drove off. We were sad but understood.

Orla couldn't keep food down and was vomiting. For over 3 hours I tried to get her to eat anything, crackers, sandwich meat, cereal, potato chips, to no avail. Finally she ate a slice of American cheese and could keep her pain meds down. She was able to finally sleep in comfort. She even had a slight smile it seemed.

Our customers didn't need to be dropped off for the kayak outing so that worked out well this afternoon. With the plumbing problem and Orla's operation, it was a very hectic day.

Around 5:30 pm Dave arrived from his day job and helped John finish the septic problem. They had to dig out the pipe from the cabin to the septic. It had a huge tree root through the pipe and it had even broken the old, clay pipe. John had been working up there all day trying to dig out the roots, rocks and dirt. He was dirty from head to toe and took a shower at 8:30 pm and went right to bed.

Since Orla was finally sleeping I took all the towels, sheets and such from the company we had and threw them in the laundry. Then I put new sheets on, etc. Afterwards I talked with some customers. One customer/friend, Sue, decided to take a kayak and go out on the lake in the evening light. The lake had been wavy all day with the wind but now was like glass with the fading light. It was very inviting. I was a little jealous but let her go out alone to enjoy her outing. The ripples from the kayak paddles waved across the quiet lake as the loons called out. What a beautiful sight our lake is.

344 - 348 of 365 of What it is Like to Run a Resort

June 23-27, 2011
The picture is of Dave, our caretaker, with our dog, Orla. She just loves him and he loves her too.

Thursday, June 24, I got ready for John's mom, sister/husband Kathy & Jim, and Jim's mom, Lorraine to visit. I started by getting sheets and making the guest bed, putting stuff away in the office (extra sleeping) and cleaning the bathroom. I also visited with customers, sewed a little in my sewing room, and worked a little in the office. Later I worked in the basement for quite awhile getting ready for the laundry to come tomorrow.

Friday John's mom and sister arrived in the late afternoon. Denny, John's mom, had really missed Orla, our puppy, and boy did that puppy miss her. When Denny came into the house, Orla went crazy happy. Before they arrived I had spent hours working in the basement making bags up for Saturday and putting sheets away. Later I made a nice dinner of grilled hamburgers and we all visited most of the evening. In preparation of their arrival, I had vacuumed the entire house, cleaned the kitchen, put a thousand papers away off the dining table and got our bedroom ready for Denny and Lorraine.

Our bedroom is roomy and more comfortable than the office room. The office has a day bed that is probably as old as I am and are very low to the floor. John and I decided that it would not be safe to have Denny and Jim's mom, who are both in their 80's, sleep in the office. So we packed up and moved into there. So we set up Denny in our room and Kathy/Jim in our guest room. We thought that worked out well.

Later in the evening some customers came into the lodge for a glass of wine and we visited, which was fun.

Saturday was very hectic as we had to get the cabins ready for customers to arrive and saw some depart. I had worked very hard Thursday and Friday to get everything done ahead of time so I could visit with relatives as much as possible. So I made the 9 bags of clean laundry and had them ready in the basement. Saturday I stripped the old laundry from the cabins, dropped off the new one, made the cleaning girls their lunch, and then I was finished. So I visited with Denny and Kathy that evening. It was a good day and customers arrived safely.

We are a full resort this week, which is always great. This group has 5 cabins and is having a family reunion. They represent 6 different states. They also have a lot of children and that is fun. One of their relatives has a place on our lake so that is why they chose us. The relative on the lake, Linda, came with welcome baskets and put them on the tables to welcome her relatives. I had originally put here that she was a brown nose, jokingly, but it was taken seriously and she was hurt by my comment. So I am sorry for that comment. I meant it as a cute statement and was supposed to be funny but I guess that sometimes I make mistakes and doing a blog has that risk. They were a very fun group and we really enjoyed everyone.

I made a stir fry for dinner and Denny provided wonderful, bi-color, sweet corn. She and Kathy had made a trip up to Ironwood while we were busy cleaning cabins, etc. So they did a little driving and exploring. My daughter arrived Saturday afternoon for an overnight visit with her little dog in tow. We had a great visit and it was wonderful to see her little baby bump is getting a little bigger.

We had to call one of the customers because they had not arrived yet by 10 pm. It turns out that they would not be here until Sunday and I must have written it down wrong on their time of arrival. At least they were okay.

Sunday my daughter and I went to church. I had to serve communion and so I took the opportunity to stand by the entrance and introduce my daughter to everyone who I could. She was all smiles and I was very proud. After church I bought a Milwaukee Journal and we ended up sitting down at the beach most of the day reading it and relaxing in the sun.

Later in the day Kathy's husband, mother-in-law Lorraine, and son Pete arrived. Danielle left after church. So the couch was Pete and Jim was in the guest room with his wife, of course. Lorraine was in the big bed with Denny. We had a full house.

Monday I went shopping with Kathy, Jim, Pete and as it turns out, a lot of customers. We didn't plan on going to town the same time and day, but that's the way it was. We had fun seeing each other's purchases and pointing out cool finds. Kathy bought me some really neat reading glasses at Aunt Esther's Attic. They have little LED lights in them that can be switched on. Later in the afternoon, at 6 pm, was the once a week pot luck. I made a big chicken/rice dish, Denny made baked brie, Kathy brought cajun crab cakes, Lorraine contributed homemade cookies and we all pigged out. It was a HUGE pot luck and I grabbed a couple recipes.

I'm thinking of making a pot luck special cook book from the resort's favorite dishes. We'll see if I ever finish it. We had a great few days. It sure was fun to visit with John's family again as we hadn't in some time. As it is, we won't see them for awhile now. I was glad I had done so much to prepare for their visit so I could have the time to spend Sunday and Monday with them. You never know what might happen around here, like what might need to be fixed, so you have to make the most of every day. I think we did. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

341 - 343 of 365 of What it is Like to Run a Resort

Monday, June 20-22, 2011
The picture is of Orla falling asleep. She has been so busy playing with everyone and everyone's dogs, that she is really tired lately.

Mondays are our pot luck days. At 6:00 p.m. I get the lodge ready for the party. I sweep, clean up the bar and set up the paper plates, plastic ware, trivets, condiments and make 2 pitchers of kool-aid. Then at 6 pm somebody rings the bell. Afterwards everyone who wants to attend is visiting, eating and having a good time. A couple of women in the group want me to make a recipe book for Pine Forest Lodge. Here's one recipe they want me to add: Marge's Taco Salad:
1 1/2 lbs. Ground Chuck, browned and seasoned w 1 1/2 pkg Taco seasoning mix
1 head iceberg lettuce, shredded
3-4 tomatoes, chopped
3-4 green onions, chopped
1 can kidney beans (important: DO NOT DRAIN!)
8 oz Catalina dressing
2 cups shredded cheddar
Crumbled Doritos (as much or as little as you want)
Combine lettuce, tomatoes and green onions, toss. Add undrained kidney beans, toss. Add Catalina, then beef, toss. Add cheese and Doritos, toss. Refrigerate til you serve it. Enjoy!

My sister-in-law and nephew and niece came to pick up their labs that we had been babysitting. They are good dogs but a lot of work. I had to sweep twice a day because of their shedding and they kept jumping up on the sofa. So Judi, Tommy and Jaeden joined us for dessert and we visited awhile.

Tuesday and Wednesday John asked everyone again if there was the possibility of a kayak trip. This group is very independent and they did not need his direction. So John was a little disappointed. For years he has been taking customers on guided trips, hikes, kayaking outings, etc. and now the customers know how to do it themselves, they don't ask him to come along. Maybe next week he'll get his kayaking fix.

I went on a drive with Pam to a few fabric shops. She and I love to quilt and it is fun to have a friend who enjoys the same hobbies as you. So we sewed a lot and saw each other's projects develop over the last couple weeks. She will be leaving this Saturday and I will miss her.

It rained most of the week so far but the customers don't seem to mind. They are still going outside and down to the beach to fish or run their dogs, play and socialize. People are happiest while on vacation.

John and Dave did a lot of work around the resort. They hauled cement blocks, cut down trees, moved dirt, chopped wood, painted inside cabins (that were empty) and much more.

I cleaned 2 cabins since they were partial week bookings, did a lot of laundry, sewed on my projects, organized my sewing room for extra sleeping in the coming weeks, and did some paperwork. I also did a lot of regular household things that are much too much to mention.

Days go by so fast around here. We socialize, pet dogs, hang out, have a few drinks, visit with and talk with as many customers as we can. That makes the days go by so fast I can't believe it sometimes. Our lodge has people going in and out to use our wi-fi, buy candles we have for sale or to get a book to read. There is always something going on and we live a very charmed life by most standards.

John and I love this life and we decided that we will do this until we can't anymore physically, and when that happens, we will just hire someone to do it for us. We are staying for as long as God is willing to let us stay because we love it so much. Life is good and it was a good couple of days.

333-340 of 365 of What it is Like to Run a Resort

June 12-19, 2011
I can't believe I let an entire week of my blog go by. Time flies when you're having fun. Since I can't remember what days what happened, I'm just going to throw everything in a bunch.

Almost every day I can hear the eagles talking to each other. They have a funny peep, peep as they soar in the air, and an occasional screech. They must have a nest around here somewhere close.

The loons have 2 eggs ready to hatch on the island. We alerted the Lake Association president and he, in turn, notified everyone on the lake association to stay off the island. Too bad the lake otters, raccoons, eagles and other predators won't heed the warning too. Hopefully they'll make it.

The air turned cool this week. We had a lot of overcast days with some rain. So you know what happens then - mosquitoes. We have a bumper crop this year.

John and Dave fixed a pier, installed a heater in Balsam, put a different one in Cedar, cut down some trees for better views, installed a pole for electrical, cleaned up a huge mess a bear made out of our dumpster, went kayaking with customers, and various other regular stuff.

I had the cleaning girls come on Saturday so that meant stripping the dirty laundry out of the cabins, getting the bags of clean laundry made up and put in the cabins, and various other running around things. Pam and I made a trip to Minocqua to the new quilt shop there, and the old one, and spent some time talking about stuff. The bar was full several nights with a lot of people, which is always fun. I even got out to lunch with Bridget one day.

My brother asked if we could watch their dogs, a yellow and a black lab. We got them on Thursday and will have them until Monday evening. They are spoiled rotten and love to sleep on the sofa every chance they get. The only problem with that is they are shedding. So I have been kicking them off.

A friend came and gave me two huge containers of fabric. THANK YOU SO MUCH, MAGGIE!!! So I guess God is telling me I'm going to live awhile longer because I have a lot of work to do now. I finished my daughter's baby quilt and organized my sewing room. Dave will probably be staying in our basement for the rest of the summer and my sewing room is a little smaller now because of that. So I had to get things better organized.

The flowers are all planted now. I still had a few impatients on the deck waiting to be put in dirt. So they are all looking pretty now in pots here and there. I love flowers.

Its a good thing I did the gardening about a week ago because of the rain and the mosquitoes, I would be bit up. When John had to fix a plumbing problem, he had to be outside and he said the skeeters were so bad he had to apply the bug repellent twice.

So for the first time all summer this year, we are entirely booked. Some customers will leave on Monday (got here Thur.) and some will leave Wed. but we are booked for now and loving it. I woke up on Saturday and said to John, "Happy first full Saturday!" Finally we can get back to paying everything in full rather than making small payments. Finally we can make deposits instead of cashing in stock. Finally it is summer. Yippee!!!

331-332 of 365 of What it is Like to Run a Resort

Friday, June 10 & Saturday, June 11, 2011
The picture is of our lake view early in the morning. When the water is warmer than the air, like in this picture, the steam comes off the lake. Sometimes I can't help myself and I have to take a picture.

Friday morning we had toast, eggs and bacon for breakfast. When I say "we", I mean all of John's friends who arrived the day previous. I had been making meals for a week straight now and I mentioned that maybe we could go out for lunch. They all agreed and later we went out to the Pines. It was fun to get out and not have to cook.

The heater in the Cedar cabin doesn't work so we had to order a new one. Dave checked it out and said that we shouldn't even turn it on. Then he checked the Balsam cabin and said that even after he had gone through everything on it that it kept turning off. So we ordered another one for that cabin too. With Dave here to install them, it will be easier for us. Dave's specialty is heating and air conditioning. The units we ordered will fit better into a room and you can even put a chair or something against them. They are 14 inches wide and reach to the ceiling with a aluminum box around the heating unit. Anyway, they are safer too.

After a day of talking, hanging out and some fishing, the group decided to go out to dinner too. So we went to the Cranberry Inn, which had been completely renovated recently. They were so busy it took us over a half hour to be seated but we didn't mind. I especially didn't mind since I didn't have to cook another meal.

On Saturday morning John and I got up fairly early. I went to the Lupine Fest with a customer/friend, Pam. When we were getting ready to leave, we got 3 more people to come with us. I bought a pineapple/guava jam and Kurt bought a big planter for his deck. It was fun to look around at the craft stands. Even though the wind and weather was cold, there were a lot of people there too.

After we dropped off the 3 extra people, Pam and I went back into town to the grocery store in her little Smart Car. I kept asking her if we would be able to fit all the groceries in and she said it would be fine. I had 7 bags and she had 3 and they all fit. Phew! Its so fun riding in her car too. Everyone cranes their neck to see the car.

I got the 3 cabins ready for the customers who would be arriving on Saturday afternoon. I had to turn on the refrigerator, stove, heat and hot water. After I did that I mowed the lawn of Ironwood cabin and started on ours. When I had done a section, and needed a glass of water, I walked up the deck stairs to find my sister and her husband had stopped by to visit. We hung out on the deck for awhile and talked.

Later I took her down into my girl cave - the sewing room - and showed her the baby quilt I was making for my daughter who is pregnant. My sister spotted a project I had laying there that I had completed this last winter. She said she loved it so I gave it to her. She had tears in her eyes. I was really glad to give her something I had done.

Dave rented a generator from Mercer Rentals and welded the main dock where the welds had come apart. That took him awhile but now we can use it safely. There's always something around here that needs repairing.

Before the evening set in, it got warmer. So I painted a section of the fish cleaning house so that Phil, who had just arrived, could use it when he catches fish. I was brown paint all over my arms and hands when customers arrived. I air hugged them and we laughed.

Later in the evening the bar was full with kids and adults all hanging out and having fun. Most of the group went down to the campfire later and I went to bed. Before I did that though I washed a huge pile of dishes from the supper. I can't sleep with dirty dishes on the counter. It was a good day.

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

June 9, 2011

I sold something on ebay for the first time ever. The picture is of the book we sold. Only I didn't do it right. I didn't know you could put a reserve, or didn't understand how, and I had to sell it to the minimum bid amount. You live and you learn.

John took a group up to a waterfall, the Black River Falls. He also took Orla and it was her first big trip with a group. She's such a good puppy and John said she did great. The falls has one wheelchair accessible section that Gina could see the falls at so that was good for her too. They were gone most of the afternoon.

When the group was gone, I got a lot done. Things were starting to pile up around here and I had been in demand to our customers so much that I was feeling overwhelmed. So I finished a lot of work and felt much better later. I planted the 2 window boxes on our lodge/house, planted the Maple cabin window box, weeded 3 gardens, planted 3 gardens, put mulch on them, planted the few dahlias I had left, cleaned up the house, the bathroom, made the guest room bed, did some laundry, some paperwork, and then finally took a little nap. Shortly afterwards the group came back and we were busy until very late. Some friends arrived just before 11 pm and they stayed in our guest room. Tommy, our friend who plays wheelchair basketball in Barcelona, left early this morning.

John stayed up until 1:30 am and I hit the sack around 11:30 pm. We all went outside off and on to see if the northern lights were out. Since they weren't at 11:30 yet, we all called it a night. The sky had clouded over.

This weekend the cabins were pretty empty so John invited a lot of his old friends to come up. So they are here until Sunday. Kurt and his son, Scott, Rick/Pam, Ed/Debbie all came up. Rick and Pam gave us their old, flat screen monitor. Wow! What a difference that makes. We were using an old beast of a monitor that was so small of a screen that you had to scroll left or right to see the entire window. So now we are styling.

Last night we had a buffet of food set out and we all porked out pretty good. It was a good day.

327-329 of 365 of What it is Like to Run a Resort

Monday, June 6-8, 2011
The picture is of John on the Action Trackchair that was on loan to us for our ATV rally this last weekend. He really liked it but doesn't quite need one yet.

I tried so hard the last 3 days to get projects finished. I started on the cleaning and preparation to paint the fish cleaning house. Then customers needed me for various things and it still sits there waiting. I have the white primer on the dark brown door, etc. so it stands out.

It was very hot here the last few days. It got up to 90 for 2 days in a row. That is very rare for us in the northwoods.

We had a friend drop in on Tuesday, Tommy Schroeder. He plays wheelchair basketball in Barcelona, Spain. Since he is back in the midwest, he wanted to stop by. So he came for two nights.

I was working hard to make sure everyone had meals on time and no one went hungry. Then I went on a trip with a customer. Then I did my own thing, sewing for a few hours, and afterwards everything hit the fan.

John was panicking that the Birch cabin wasn't finished. The screen door was missing/fell apart. The cultured stone isn't finished, and more. So I started a screen door from scratch. I hand sawed 2 X 2 boards into a frame, used "L" brackets to hold it together, painted it and got the screen ready to put on as soon as the paint would dry. Then John found out that we could just transfer the customers to another cabin and Dave could finish the projects. So all that work was in vain. I am really upset about all those hours wasted.

I went to the floral gardens and bought $50 worth of flowers. I wanted to plant them right away but customers needed me all day off and on and with making meals, I didn't plant them yet. Every time I try, something comes up. So I am frustrated.

In the late evening the customers wanted me to swim or kayak with them. They ended up swimming, so I joined them. The sun was hot and the water was warm so I jumped in. That was fun. I even got our puppy to swim a little.

The customers noticed that the loons have 2 eggs in the nest on the island. So hopefully no critters like otters will get them and we will have 2 chicks again this year. We are watching and waiting from a distance of course.

I have a lot to do and sometimes I feel overwhelmed. This is one of those times. I have to clean a cabin or two before Saturday. I have to make 2012's schedule. I have to paint the fish cleaning house, plant flowers (which I notice are tipped over by something now), and much more. I guess I will take a day at a time. This job is so much better than any other job I've ever had so I shouldn't complain.

323, 324, 325, 326 of 365 of What it is Like to Run a Resort

Wednesday through Sunday, June 5, 2011

Al finally called me Wednesday night to let me know that only 13 people would be coming to our ATV rally. We had reserved the entire resort, just like the previous years. So now after we had turned so many customers away, thinking we were full, we were not. John and I don't know what to do about that because we are out a lot of money now.

Thursday I went to my son's sentencing. He is now in jail for 8 months and 2 years probation with AODA assessment, counseling for PTSD for his stint in the Marines, and other counseling. He will be working during the week days through the Huber law, which is good. Hopefully he will learn that when he drinks, bad things happen, and he shouldn't ever drink again. When I got back home, I unloaded all the groceries and then told the cleaning girl to take a break. It turns out she had been cleaning a cabin for 8 hours. John said he didn't think to see if she was okay or anything. I couldn't believe it. She had been cleaning up all the mess in that cabin from the fire extinguisher and fire we had had earlier in the week. She felt bad because the kitchen had been her responsibility and the broiler pan was the source of the fire. Anyway, the cabin is spotless now and you could never tell there was a fire of any sore.

After I left the courthouse, I went shopping for everything we needed for the rally. I was mentally stressed by so many things that I barely made it through the day. I went to bed early.

Friday the people arrived and partying started. We didn't go ATVing on Friday, but did hang out a bit and have fun. John took a group kayaking from our resort and I picked them up down stream after their 3 hour kayak trip. Then Greg Olson of WATVA came by with two neat machines. They are called the Action Trackchair. They are in the picture. You can go into the woods on them even if you have a disability because they operate by just moving a joy stick. So now people can go in the woods to hunt, etc. even if they use a wheelchair regularly. They are pretty cool.

Earlier on Friday John took the group for a small ATV ride on trails that they normally wouldn't see. Everyone loved it and enjoyed the day.

Saturday the rally changed directions on the trails they usually took. The group was inspired by the previous day's new trails and seeing something new. So they decided to ride out in Price County. They took their ATVs on trailers and drove to Park Falls. There they started on trail 111 and we met them at the covered bridge. We had picked up Subway sandwiches so we met them there with them. Our puppy, Orla, hung around with the group and walked with me in the shallow side of the river.

I took one of the rider's service dog, Mandy, home with me and Orla. Mandy's owner had been dropped off during lunch and she was riding the ATV the way back only. Mandy sat by her owner's wheelchair and didn't move a muscle. I made the wheelchair roll into the lodge and Mandy followed. She had been bothered by small flies and I felt so sad for her. I gave her a bowl of water too and she finally napped in the lodge next to her owner's wheelchair until she got back.

For the ATV rally, they supply the food and I make it all for them (except one lunch). So I started on the dinner as usual and soon enough everybody was in the lodge eating and having a good time.

Before the rally I had removed all the bar stools, rugs, extra chairs and stuff to make room. When you have a bunch of wheelchairs in a room, you need to clear the path. So now that everybody has left, I swept, cleaned up all the mess and will put the stools back in, etc.

Sunday afternoon the cleaning girls arrived, expecting to clean all the cabins. They only needed to clean two as one person is staying longer in their cabin. So we had only needed 3 cabins total. What a shame that we had turned people away.

Around 5 p.m. on Sunday my friend, and our customer, Pam, arrived. She will be up here for 3 weeks. She owns a quilt store and doesn't get much time to quilt with all the work she has. So for 3 weeks she will be doing a lot of sewing machine time. She really liked the improvements we did to Alder, of course.

I had worked very hard all weekend and even earlier preparing for this ATV rally. Even though the amount of people was down, it is still tiring because of all the meals and clean up I have to do. So I went to bed at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday night. It was a good weekend overall.

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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

No picture this time because I haven't had time.

I got up early today and went into Alder after breakfast to put together the refrigerator. It is a new one for that cabin, but about 5 years old, and given to us by our neighbor. To transport it to us, our neighbors took off the doors, put all the parts in a drawer and we picked it up. So now it sat there in the cabin, all in parts, waiting for me. The doors were difficult and it took me about an hour to get them on. I thought it would be easy. I should have known that nothing is easy around here.

John came into the cabin to hook up the gas to the oven/stove. He finished that while I cleaned out the refrigerator. Orla was keeping us company and she is such a fun puppy. The weather was warm and humid and we had the wonderful new windows open. A cross breeze is a wonderful thing.

Afterwards I took all the dahlias I had in pots, ready to plant, and put the pots in the back of the 1983, Toyota LandCruiser. I drove it into town and to the church where 1 guy and 4 ladies and I planted flowers. The LandCruiser has leopard spots painted on it and the doors say, "Pine Forest Lodge Safari". It's a classic resort vehicle and I like it. When my kids were younger, they hated it when we would pick them up at functions where other kids were around. They ignored us for awhile and then would get in as secretly as they could. That actually caused more people to see the vehicle because we were waiting there so long.

After I was dirty and had wind blown hair from the planting of dahlias, I went to the gas station to fill up a 5 gallon can of non-ethanol gas for our outboards, and the Safari vehicle. Wouldn't you know it that when I am looking my worst, I run into a couple I know from the area. I looked like hell but gave them a dahlia or two and explained what I had been doing. Hopefully when I see them next I'll look better.

John worked on putting in the main pier and did a section at a time. He didn't want my help. Then he worked on getting a large power pole into the dirt up at Balsam cabin. A storm last November took out the wires to the cabin. It was already shut down for the winter so we just left it. You can't dig a hole for a pole when the ground is frozen. So John and Dave just waited a little too long. Cleaning girls were coming the next day to spring clean the cabin and so far there was no power to it. You can't run a vacuum cleaner or have hot water without electric in that cabin. Late in the evening there finally was power and no one got hurt or anything. John worked hard on that project. He had to get a load of dirt into the ATV trailer, one shovel full at a time. This is no easy task for someone without the ability to stand up straight without a walking stick.

We had some customers arrive into the Alder cabin and they just loved the new floor. That is always nice when our hard labor is appreciated. John had just finished painting the window trim on the back of the cabin just before they arrived.

I made the bag for the Birch cabin, which would have to be cleaned tomorrow too. I did some laundry of my own for a change, played with the puppy for awhile and did some work on the computer. When Dave got home from his painting job, he moved some of his stuff into our guest room. I will get the rest of his stuff tomorrow.

Our annual ATV rally for people with disabilities is starting this Thursday, which will probably use all the cabins. I still haven't heard from the person who is organizing this event. I got confirmation that they were still coming, but I needed to know how many people, etc. So I e-mailed him again. Hopefully he'll get back to me soon.

We had a customer call and with tears in her voice, to tell us they wouldn't be coming up this summer. Her husband had a stroke the year previous. This last week he fell and hurt his knee really bad. So they just can't make it. They had been coming up for over 10 years with their kids, etc. She was really sad she couldn't come up and I think the fact that her husband is still doing badly, probably had something to do with that. Hopefully his rehab will get him in better condition so they can come up next year.

I e-mailed and called and left messages with people who would be here that week of the cancellation. Hopefully we will fill it so we won't be out all that money. We only ask for $200 deposit from people. If someone cancels last minute, we are out hundreds.

Later I made a good dinner for John, Dave and I. I took leftover roast, red peppers, zucchini, 2 cheese brats, sausage and onion, fried them. I boiled ravioli filled with pesto & walnuts which I bought in the frozen food section. Then I made homemade alfredo sauce. First I would dish out the veggie/meat on the plate, then the ravioli and then a scoop of the alfredo. It was fabulous. I was pretty tired after the day so I had a glass of wine.

We visited with our customers in the lodge for about 2 hours and then it was good night. It was a good day.