The Sunflowers’ Blog

I (Bill) finally made it to the B&B I own.  I only had a week and a weekend, but it was a wonderful time.  Well, sort of.

I was supposed to board a flight from Tampa at 1:15pm but it finally boarded after 3pm because of bad weather shutting down Newark where I was to change planes.  After I boarded the plane was pushed out from the gate to make room and we sat on the tarmac watching a movie.  The movie ended (credits running) before the engines were started to taxi for takeoff!

After another delay in Newark I finally arrived in Moncton in the early hours of the morning … but my luggage didn’t make it. Neither did that of a number of other passengers.

I don’t understand.  I had a LONG layover in Newark so why didn’t my luggage have time to be sorted properly?

My time at the B&B was wonderful, even if it did rain every day. I never made it to the beach, only 2 blocks away. Every time I wanted to there was either something to do or it was raining … again! It didn’t rain all day but enough was enough. I did manage to spend a number of evenings in the hot tub. Even more important I was finally reunited with my bride (of 26 years). However, the details of that story are private!

Actually there was one day I could have gone to the beach but I chose to mow the fields (too big to really call it a lawn) instead. Actually, until then I felt more like I was renting a vacation home instead of being the owner. Riding around on the lawn tractor (that I own!) I finally felt like I took ownership of the place.

My trip home with our son, Tristan, was thankfully uneventful. My time at The Sunflowers by the Sea was all too short, and the memories feel more like a wonderful dream.

We returned to Tampa just in time to make storm preparations for Tropical Storm Fay, but that is another story.

BTW, my luggage finally caught up with me 3 days later.

Yesterday was Sunday …  Brunch day

This is our fourth Sunday brunch.  The first one we had one person, the second we had none (it was a cold, rainy day), the third we had two.  Every time it was either blueberry pancakes or french toast.  I can handle pancakes and french toast.  Today’s special was breakfast crepes.  Crepes filled with scrambled eggs, ham and cheese and covered with a bechemel sauce.  All the sides were prepped and ready to go.  I prayed (again) and then left it up to God.  If we get guests, great, if we don’t … LEFTOVERS!

I had a call on Saturday evening for a reservation for four, maybe five, maybe six people at 11:45 or 12 o’clock … nothing like being definite … the name was Brine.  At 11:45 three people walked in the front door.  I greeted them enthusiastically, “Good morning Mrs. Brine, I see there are only three of you.”  Only it wasn’t the Brine party!  Wow!! We were going to have more than four people for brunch if the Brine reservation showed up.  Fear and panic started rising in the pit of my stomach.  We had thawed enough blueberries for pancakes, so we were in good shape.

They ordered two ham and cheese omelettes and french toast.  Just as we got their order, the Brine party showed up … all six of them!  Mad scramble, call up the boys from downstairs as sous-chefs.  Melody came in with the order.  Three specials, two Eggs Benedict and two eggs, poached.  dMelody says she saw the fear and panic in my eyes!  They want Eggs Benedict … well I did put it on the menu.  With a little scurrying we made it through.  Melody had the foresight to tell them the Benedict would be a little longer because I was making the hollandaise from scratch.  Everyone got served, everyone seemed happy.  The first table of guests finished, paid and left (too full for dessert).  The Brine party were just being served dessert and Melody and I were starting to tidy the kitchen when two more people showed up at the door!  Special du jour and Eggs Benedict.  I was much more calm because I had some leftover hollandaise, only no one watched it while I reheated it and it curdled!  OK, make a small batch, no big deal. 

Who am I and where did the terrified person go.  No big deal to make a little extra batch of hollandaise!

Everyone seemed happy.  I gave a couple of tours of the B&B and handed out a few brochures.  All that prep paid off, except I didn’t make a single blueberry pancake!

All hands on deck for cleanup and then took the rest of the day off for some R&R.

Thank you God for answer to prayer and be careful what you pray for!

Well, here I am.  Not sure how this thing is going to run, or how many people are going to be reading this.  So after lots of prayer and what we thought was some big answers we committed to this bed and breakfast.  It is a beautiful place with a peaceful feel about it, even with the traffic noises coming from the road out front.  Right now, I need to trust God’s answer to our prayer because things are slow in starting up.  It’s good I am here in one way, but not so good in another because I am missing my man!  I know there is a purpose, I guess I am just impatient in getting there.

Anyway, onto this blog thing.  Today.  Melody (my daughter) has two cats, Tigger and Streak.  They both seemed to be terrified of leaving the cover of the great indoors.  They usually take one look outside and turn around back into the house.  Today, as I was playing a game of Sudoku on the computer (DKM Software on-line sudoku game) I noticed a cat on the railing of the front porch.  On closer inspection it was Tigger!  Then he jumped off the railing and into the side garden.  I screamed downstairs and then the craziness started.  At one point I had a hold of his collar and was scratching the top of his head when Melody came clodding in behind me without talking and scared him.  One scratch and he was gone again.  He managed to find one of the few breaks in the lattice under the large (1200 square foot) deck.  His food didn’t tempt him out and he began to cry.  Dumb cat!  Long story short, I got distracted and started pulling weeds, while the kids took the screen out of the basement window which opens out to under the deck and tempted him back in.  He apparently appeared as if he had on a veil of spider webs.  Maybe he will be scared of the great outdoors again.  How did he get out?  My fault really, I propped the back door open with a log to get some fresh air into the basement.  It appears he managed to muscle his way through the small opening I had left.  Like I said, “Dumb cat”.

Supper tonight was mild italian sausages, cooked in beer and then browned on the BBQ, with some chips and cole slaw.  Reward dessert tonight, a small bowl of ice cream.  After dinner Melody and I prepped for brunch tomorrow.  Baked an German apple streusel tart, prepared some cinnamon rolls which are proofing in the fridge right now and baked the potatoes for home fries.  Pray we get some customers for brunch because I am tired of eating all this good food!

There is a baby hummingbird at the feeder right now!

Gotta think of some catchy way of ending my entries.

God bless,

Willemina

This is where Willemina (for the most part) will record her thoughts and experiences with running the B&B.  Sometimes I (Bill) might drop a word in as well.

So far she has been gone (from our home in Florida) for almost 6 excruciating weeks!  I just pray that it will be worth it.