Our "Other" Houses

This is the house we are working on now. It has been sitting there waiting for attention for almost two years now, and we are finally finding time to work on the renovations. We hope to have it ready to rent (or sell) in late fall. Since this picture was taken, we have replaced the windows and added nicer columns to the front porch. The two bedrooms and baths upstairs are almost done, but the biggest project still awaits us... the kitchen is totally gutted now and needs everything from walls to counters and new appliances.

We actually bought this house about a year after the one above but were able to get it ready much faster because it needed less work. We have been renting it to a single mom and her son since March. The plan is to hang onto it as long as we can. Our renter is great, so we hope to keep her for a long time.

The goal is to hold onto at least one of these houses to pay for Kiara's college or maybe a wedding... All of our
neices and nephews getting married now have us thinking it's not too early to make a plan. Seems like yesterday they were just kids. I blinked once and Kiara turned 8... if I blink again she'll be 18 and all grown up! My, how time flies...

Eery Moments

This is a picture of the pond in my mom's front yard. Isn't it beautiful??? I went to spend some time with her over the weekend. Saturday night a really eery storm came through. The sky would turn from totally dark to a sudden sporadic glow with heat lightning that created a silhouette of the tree line over the pond. Then the wind got stronger and stronger until it felt as though we were going to be swallowed up and carried away. It was a memory I think I'll keep with me forever. It just seemed so surreal...

Today I finished remodeling a small room upstairs that we were using for storage. My sister-in-law Joan might remember it as the laundry room (she stayed at Roselawn for a few months when we first bought it). It looked like something out of an episode of "The Munsters"... with wallpaper peeling and black paint on the beaded-board. It looks clean and quaint now- a great improvement!

Speaking of eery storms and creepy rooms... Paul told me that while I was gone we had a guest claiming to be a psychic. When he asked her how she slept she said, "Not too well... the voices kept me awake all night. They were trying to get me in the conversation." Then she mentioned the doctor talking to her. Our house was owned by the first female doctor in the county (after which we named one of the rooms). I'm not even sure if she knew the history of the house. People keep telling us this house has "spirits". My brother even said he could see a ghost in a digital image I sent him. Now this story is freaking me out just a little. Quite strange...

Hope no one's afraid to come visit us now tha I've told that story!!!

Coffee House Open!!!

We had the Grand Opening for our Coffee House last night!!! About 20 people came throughout the evening to enjoy coffee and tea. At one point, the parlor was comepletely full! We've hired a high school girl to help us out, and all of last night's profits went to pay her-- but, if nothing else, it helped with publicity and marketing. We had a few people ask us about hosting a private function for them.

The night before last, Kiara's grandma and cousin, Macie, came for an overnight visit. They had a great time pretending to be cashiers at the Coffee House during our "practice run"...

.... Then enjoyed a game of Hungry Alligator during their "break"...

In the News

Thanks to my friend Anne T. for sending this picture! It was recently featured in our local newspaper called The Charlotte Gazette along with a write-up about the "Railroad Evening" which I described in a previous post. Kiara is sitting on the rock to the far left, with her good friend and neighbor, Tilly, standing in front of the door (in red). The girl sitting next to Kiara is another friend named Mary Laurel. The other 3 children are siblings that go to our church.

Other Than Innkeeping...

I just got back from orientation for becoming an adjunct professor at Southside Virginia Community College. If I get enough students to make the classes, I'll be teaching Intro to Early Childhood Education and Guiding Children's Behavior. I am excited about this opporunity as it will be a great way to supplement our fluctuating B&B income, and I enjoy teaching adults who want to learn! I may also be teaching elementary-age students who are on homebound this year. I've done a little of that in the past and really liked the one-on-one focus.

Paul is working part time now for Family Preservation Services. He's a mentor for troubled youth and also monitors others who are on house arrest. For the mentoring part, he gets paid to "hang out" with the kids! (What a job!) The monitoring involves resonding to a page every time a client goes out of range and making sure they have their ankle bands on by doing weekly checks. It's great having a job that is so flexible because we can work it around the B&B and other commitments. Here's a recent picture of my guy- taken during a recent camping trip... Isn't he a cool cat??? Speaking of cats...
Scroll to the bottom to see a slide show I created of our pets. I managed to include all but one of our cats who is always in hiding. It was a lot of fun to do! The link is there if anyone wants to make their own...

Good Morning, I Mean Afternoon

Can't believe I slept 12 hours!!! Hey, life as a B&B innkeeper isn't so bad... at least when there aren't any guests! We had a full house over the weekend, so today's goal is to get the rooms ready for new guests. Paul is at our "Church Street" house now working on the renovations. We have been working on it for over 2 years now (and it wasn't even in as bad of shape as this house-- it is just harder to get to since we have to drive a whole quarter of a mile!!) We plan to either rent it out, sell it, or talk my mom into living in it... if we ever get done. My mom is living out in Buckingham County pretty much by herself. She didn't want to move from her long-time home in Sandston, but my dad talked her into building a house on his inherited land after we had moved to Keysville. Not even a year after finally moving in, my dad was diagnosed with cancer and passed away two weeks later. It will be a year ago on October 27th. Needless to say, it has been very hard on all of us, and we really want my mom to come closer. Here's a picture of my dad... who will always, always, be in my heart.

Fun in the Country

Being a suburban girl all of my life, I'm having to grow accustomed to the nuances of country living. I must admit that it has been 3 years and I still haven't gotten over my Kohl's withdrawl... and I really miss having more than just a handful of restaurants from which to choose for a night out. However, I am finding that life in a rural setting really does have its advantages. We just got back from an event called "An Evening of Railroad Music and Song" which was held at a beautiful nearby farm. The purpose is to raise awareness (and funds) to save two local railroad depots. Among several local performers was a group called the Buckingham Lining Bar Gang. The Gang demonstrated how "call and response" work songs were used as cadence to push railroad tracks into proper alignment in earlier times.
A hayride took visitors on a tour of the grounds, including nearby railroad tressles, and they had poles to lend out for fishing in the pond.

As we were walking around, I realized that I knew most of the people there-- at least by face. That didn't happen often in Richmond. It is kinda neat to been so embedded in a community that you could go somewhere and not feel like an "outsider". We have met so many great people in the short time we have been here. Most of them are over 70, but still they are great people!

We all really had a great time. My mom came with us, which made it extra special! Kiara went back home with her grandma for the night. I'm sure they will watch movies and play with the dog until 2 a.m. We have a full house tonight, but no one needs breakfast in the morning so I can sleep in a little later. Yeah!

Hello, Cyberspace!

With the prompting of a good friend, Adele, I am entering the world of blogging. She warned me that it can be addictive, so if this happens I hope someone will plan an intervention! My hope is that this will make it easier to keep in touch with friends and family and let them know what's happening at Roselawn. For anyone out there who doesn't know, we recently moved to a rural area and opened up a B&B. This was quite a transition for me, as I left a life where my parents, a lifetime of friends, Kohl's and Outback were easily accessible. We have been here for about 3 years now. Although I try, I have lost touch with a lot of friends from "back home". I'm hoping this blog will at least give them the opportunity to see what's going on in my life, and hopefully some of them will post comments. (Please??) I also hope to make new friends through this. Who knows, maybe my blog will even turn out to be a good marketing strategy for our Bed and Breakfast!!!