SUMMER NOTES (MUSIC NOTES, THAT IS)
Reply
Music’s in the air, and it’s not just our big bullfrog serenading guests with the whippoorwhills singing backup:
CSABA PUGGA FULL STEAM AHEAD
Today was a hot day. Okay, so it only got up to 83 degrees, but that’s “hot” here in the national forest and mountains (we’re at about 2600 feet above sea level). We were really surprised to hear that it was hotter this week at the higher elevations along the parkway. However, we do know that the moment you drive into the forest to reach us on what we like to call our 2-mile tree lined driveway, the temperature drops by about 9 degrees. Nature at its best!
NEW RESIDENT
We’ve been having thunderstorms this week. We desperately need the rain for the flowers and trees, and the lightning has been spectacular some evenings, lighting up the ridges like an early 4th of July. We even had some hail one night! Not big hail, but it sure surprised us. Another surprise we got was the observance of a resident we haven’t seen before. A gigantic turtle. Now, he’s probably not new to the lake, but he’s new to us.
EVERYTHING’S COMING UP ROSES
We’ve got clay soil, which it appears, roses just adore. We have about eight small rose bushes, all different colors and types. Here are Brigette’s three favorites (the favorite this year is the second one pictured):
LANDSCAPING BEGINS
A SERIOUSLY GOOD ORANGE SOUFFLE
Dave made orange souffle this morning for our five guests. The oooohs and ahhhhs and requests for seconds were enough to put a smile on our faces! Orange souffle is a deliciously sweet warm breakfast dish made with eggs, orange juice and sugar. It rises to a grand height and while it’s still high, we serve it in a beautiful, very large pottery bowl made just for the Inn by a local artist. It serves 4-6 people, leaving enough for seconds, of course.
MEET SAL
Joey the Cat lives in our private area of the house, and the outdoors is his playground. He made a new friend recently, Sal. He enjoyed chasing Sal, but Sal didn’t seem to enjoy being chased by a large orange fluffy ball. Then Joey decided to bring Sal to our office for introductions.
WALK-UP PC IS UP AND RUNNING
When we bought the Inn on Mill Creek, one of our (well, Dave’s) ideas was to have a “walk-up” PC for our guests. We already have wireless internet service throughout the Inn, but if you don’t bring your laptop with you, the Wi-Fi doesn’t really do you any good. Well…now you can check your e-mail, Google a nearby restaurant or attraction, or find out if your favorite baseball team won their latest game — right in our Great Room.
TALES OF THE ORCHARD
Our orchard has something like 175 trees. Someday we’ll count them one-by-one and get the exact amount. We have a peaches, apricots, cherries and a few different kinds of apples. We’ve been told our trees are over 50 years old but we are treating them like our new babies.
THE PADDLE BOAT ARRIVES
The paddle boat, perfect for our small mountain lake, arrived a few days ago. Of course, Csaba Pugga wanted to try it out immediately with Dave at the helm: