April 16,2024
We had some heavy thunderstorms last night. So, the first thing this morning we did a little cleanup of picking up limbs, branches that had blown down last night. The big clean up was trying to pick up a shattered glass table. The only way to get most of the glass was to get the stone also. Since we are on vacation, Gresham came over and shoveled up the gravel/glass and took it someplace. Since Janey and Dennis are in town we decided we would venture out to the Ozark Folk Center State Park. It was very cool. On site they have a small village and you go from shop to shop to see artisans at work and you have the opportunity to buy some of the crafts. There is a wide assortment of craftsmen. There is a quilt/fabric, jewelry, blacksmith, toy, ceramic, knife, and many others. We roamed around and had a chance to listen to some live music. It was a beautiful day but as we were wrapping up our day you could see a storm rolling in. We opted to return home. Thus ended our day as Janey and Dennis were still recovering from their travels. And trying to dry out.
April 15, 2025
Nancy took Bree over to the campground to play with Tater and Charlie. They walked down to a creek and the dogs and Janey and Nancy had a great time. Nancy and Bree came home tired. They rested. Tonight is the first night of a sign language class. Krissa, Chris’s wife, is deaf. She is going to start a sign language class for anyone who wants it. Very cool.
Several years ago, when Carissa, our daughter, was attending Vincennes University to be a sign language interpreter. In addition, a Carmel Police Officer I was good friends with offered a sign language class at the fire station. We all took the class as a family. It has been a long time since we had used it. Being around Krissa, some of it has come back. But we will go to the class. Can only help. Also, it will give us a chance to meet some more people.
It was a great class.
April 14, 2024
Yesterday I wanted to mow the lawn as we are going to have a big crowd next weekend and we will be off for a few days. So I started the mowing yesterday but finished it up this morning after the breakfast service. We only had 2 people. Our “vacation” starts today. There are three breweries in the area. One is not open today so we are going to visit the other two. The first on our list is Rapps Barren Brewing Company in Mountain Home. That is an hour drive away. Being Sunday, they have a Sunday Brunch. The food selection is limited. I did get a flight of beer but was not really impressed with anything. I found one or two that were okay but nothing that I wanted to take home with me. Nancy and I split an appetizer of 3 beef sliders. They were very good. Nancy had their root beer, which they brew also. It was pretty good. No one was overly impressed with beer. The brewery itself was really cool. My favorite part was their water fountain that had a sign over it that said “Michelob Ultra”. Beer drinkers will know. And then on the way to the truck we saw a beautiful rod.
After Rapps, we headed back home. We had passed Norfolk Brewing on the way to Rapps so it was out next stop. They also had flights but they did not have 4 beers that I actually wanted to try. I settled for a taste of one and took a small pour of it. It was okay,. The brewery was small and served food but nothing that we really wanted.
The locals I talked to suggested the best brewery was the one closest to us but not open today, Gravity BrewWorks in Flat Rock, AR. I guess I’ll have to check it out at a later date. Our friends are Janey and Dennis. We got to know each other in Arizona when we spent the winter there. We’ve kept in touch and Janey likes to sample beers as well. Today was a little disappointing.
On the way home we stopped at the store to pick up cole slaw and rolls. I had smoked a pork butt yesterday and today we are having pulled pork sandwiches. It came out great. I was very pleased with it. We went home and had dinner. They had to get back to their dogs so Nancy and Janey made plans to walk the dogs and find some water for them to play in.
April 12, 2024
Happy 49th Anniversary to Nancy and I. Yes, 49 years! Nancy decided that she didn’t want to go out tonight for dinner so we went to PJ’s Rainbow Cafe for dinner last night. Great food. Our friends arrived okay but after traveling, they just wanted to chill and we’ll make plans for the rest of the week. One of our guests came to me before breakfast. She is a retired nurse, and she informed me that one of our guest fell against the desk at the front entrance, when he came in. I had checked them in and offered them a hand to bring in there luggage but he declined. I went on my business and then found this out this morning. The retired nurse bandaged the wounds and assessed as non life-threatening. Nancy came in and she went to check on them as they were late for breakfast. She had to change the sheets as there was blood from a couple of scrapes. She looked at the wounds and re-bandaged them. After breakfast, the three of us each wrote up a report for Chris. Standard procedure when an incident occurs. Our backgrounds came in handy. We contacted Chris and let him know of the situation and I scanned our incident reports and sent him the file.
April 10, 2024
After such a great weekend with our fiends from the eclipse group to a real bummer. First, we only have 6 people in the house. Secondly, yesterday and today are supposed to be our days off, but we have friends coming into town tomorrow so we are working to be able to have more time off. So, we had someone come in that was going to spend 3 nights with us. He came down in the morning before breakfast and spoke with Nancy. They are leaving today because, are you ready for this? The floors creak too much. Yes, a house that is 118 years old, a B & B, and the floors creak. At least they stayed and ate breakfast. One couple never bothered to show up for breakfast. Such is the life of a B & B.
April 9, 2024
Today will be a really busy day for Nancy and Jessica as they have rooms to flip. That means to clean them and get them ready for the next guests. Some of which is coming in today. My day is the same; cook, serve, clean up. The Eclipse crowd is leaving today. Chris wanted a couple of the guests to do a video review. A few of them volunteered. I going to miss this group. This morning we started breakfast with yogurt with bananas and homemade granola. Then I made scrambled eggs, bacon, and Scottish pancakes. Our recipe book also had a recipe for peanut butter syrup. So I thought what the heck It went over real well. Nancy loved it. After all the photos were taken and the videos done Nancy started stripping the beds and clearing the rooms of any cups and/or containers. Jessica comes in to help flip rooms and is a great help. She is fabulous at her job. As I had finished my job, I was sitting in the kitchen enjoying a cup of coffee. Nancy came in with a stack of letters and cash. These fine folks left notes of thanks and notes of green as an appreciation for their wonderful visit. It was very touching.
And then, the couple from Connecticut came by to thank me again for helping them find a room in Mountain View. I thought that was so very nice.
April 8, 2024
Today is the eclipse. I made enough cookies to last a couple of days so no baking. For breakfast we served a Berry Cheesecake Yogurt, the Amish Casserole, and sausage. People have been enjoying the food. Hardly any leftovers again. I don’t want to spend a lot of time prepping so I planned the menu accordingly. We also have a cottage that we rent out and it had some wonderful people in it. Before I started dishes, I went out and set up my lawn chair. It takes a while to do dishes from a large breakfast.
Between loads of dishes I set up my chair to view the eclipse., I was talking to our guests from the cottage and as they are not a part of breakfast or snacks as they have a full kitchen in the cottage. So I went inside and brought out a few chocolate chip cookies for them. They loved them.
I just finished up and as I was walking outside, one of the cottage guests said they were about to come get me. It was almost time for the eclipse. It was very cool to sit with all these people in our back yard and see the eclipse and socialize. The one gentleman in the cottage is a professional photographer. He had quite the set up and we were able to see some amazing images. He has posted them on his website Reflections of Thought. Totality lasted at a maximum of 4 minutes and 27 seconds. We were in the right place as we witnessed 4 minutes and 14 seconds. Was really neat how you could feel the temperature drop and see the sunset at 2:00PM. And then to feel the warmth again. All through this past weekend, we had a festival going on in town. They had the Square blocked off, food trucks, vendors, etc. We had not been a part of it yet as we have been busy. Today was going to be our day to explore the festival. I decided I wasn’t cooking tonight either. So we listened to some music, walked around the various vendors and found a food truck for dinner.
April 7, 2024
I try to plan a menu that is varied and covers all the basics. I also use recipes that can be prepped the night before. In the mornings I will go into the kitchen at 7:00AM and the first order of business is to set the oven temperature and start coffee. Our larger Bun machine is not working correctly so we are using a Mr. Coffee. It takes a while to brew a pot but we keep brewing them as needed. While the oven is heating and the coffee brewing, I check our Cafe. where we have the snacks, sweets, and tea and coffee with our Keurig. The cookies were gone. So after breakfast I will have to make more of something. Breakfast this morning starts with a Fruit Salad with an Orange - Vanilla Syrup. The main dish is a Farmers Casserole, which contains almost everything and bacon. I also served shirred eggs. Again leftovers were very minimal. Once all the food is served, I then remember to take pictures of the food. Maybe one of these days. This group has a sweet tooth. A couple of them suggested chocolate chip cookies. Some wanted semi-sweet chips, some milk chocolate, some dark chocolate. This was real easy to accomplish. I use the same cookie recipe but just switch out the chip flavors. So I made all three varieties.
April 6, 2024
Yesterday while I was trying to decide what baked goods I should make for our arriving guests, Nancy suggested white chocolate chip / macadamia nut cookies. I had never made them before so I found a recipe and tried them. They came out great. Today the eclipse crowd rolled in. Talking with them, they are a group of high school friends from Minnesota. There are 13 of them. Our Inn is full. They are a real good group of folks. I try to have a sweet snack for them. Today I made some peanut butter fudge. One of the guests requested his favorite cookie, peanut butter. So I had all the ingredients so I made a batch of peanut butter cookies. I’m not a big fan of them but these turned out real good. This morning’s breakfast started with Ambrosia as the fruit dish. Then we had Baked French Toast Casserole with Blueberries and sausage. They thoroughly enjoyed the food and left very little on the table. Some are just going to chill at the Inn today and some are going on a planned excursion. These folks are a lot of fun. While I was doing my prep, a gentleman came in and was asking if we had any space available. I told him no, we were all booked up and no one cancelled. I thought I would call Chris, our owner and owner of the Wildflower as he knows the industry and town real well. Meanwhile the elderly couple decided to walk around the festival and check back with me before they leave to go back to Little Rock, about 2 hours away. The weather forecast for the eclipse is iffy in Little Rock and they flew in from Connecticut for the event. Chris finally got back to me so I walked over to the festival to find them. It just so happened that Chris had a room cancellation and had a room available. I walked them over to the Wildflower and introduced them to Chris. It’s all I could do. So I went back to finish my prep.
March 20, 2024
Today I wanted to kind of settle in. We have been traveling with the smoker and the Blackstone but they have been kept in the basement. Yes that is a term for a certain storage area in an RV. I did not get them out in South Carolina because the weather was not that nice and we were only there for one month. Same is true for the American flag. Since we were only there for a month, we didn’t bother putting it up. So my first step was to get my table and Blackstone out of the belly of the RV. After I had those set up, I had to pull a 20 pound propane tank out of the bed of the truck. Check. The Blackstone is ready to cook.
Next I pulled the smoker and pellets out of the basement and got that set up. Check. Now before I can put the flag up, I need to wash the front of the RV. As I was finishing the washing, the sky darkened. Thunder boomed. So I thought maybe tomorrow I’ll get the flag put up. Fortunately the storm did not last long and there was not very much rain. There was enough of a break in the weather that I was able to put the flag up. Phillip had given us a remote he found at an after Christmas sale. The flag plugs into a small box and then plugs into the outlet. Then we can control on/off from inside. Works great!!
To cap the day off, I opened a beer I had bought in Colorado. It was Howitzer Amber Ale. Really good. Then for dinner I fired up the Blackstone and made cheddar cheeseburgers with bacon. They were really good. I’m happy to be cooking outside again.
March 19, 2024
Today is a day off from work. The goal of the day is to install a TV in our bedroom. Nancy has been wanting one. Her reasoning is that sometimes sitting in the living room, her neck hurts and she needs to lie down to get comfortable. So we searched and found a decent deal on Amazon. I thought a 32” smart TV would be good. She wanted to go bigger. Amazon had a 32” Vizio for $158. But for $1 more you could upsize to 40”. So 40” it is. We already had a mount for it. About 2 years ago we changed the mount in the living room. We kept the old mount for one day when we might put a TV in the bedroom. Today is the day. It actually was very easy and did not take very long at all. The longest part was signing in to all the apps.
March 16, 2024
Today is the day for Phillip. He had plenty of help though. Braxton is now 8 years old. Since anyone can remember he always loved ridging on the zero turn mower. He always wanted to drive. So from time to time, Daddy and/or Grandpa would put him on our lap and left him drive. Well today, the boy drives all by himself. Phillip cut up the tree and Braxton hauled the limbs and brush to the back yard. Just so happens that Michelle was back there burning boxes. And some of the brush. Nothing like a family affair to clean up a mess. Thankful we have such great family to look after the homestead while we travel.
March 15, 2024
After working today Nancy decided she wanted to go out to eat. There is a nice little Mexican restaurant, Mi Pueblito, within walking distance. Shortly before we left for the restaurant, Chris, texted us and invited us to The Inn at Mountain View Bed and Breakfast for a jam session to be held in the parlor. It would give us a chance to meet some locals. The restaurant is about 3 blocks from home. We made the short walk. Dinner was great. After dinner the short walk of 2 blocks was very nice. We got to the Inn and there were a few guests from the Inn, Kevin, the owner, Chris, and the musician Gary Rounds. For over an hour there was music, singing, laughing, and story telling. It was really nice. We met several people. It was a very enjoyable evening. Just before we left, a family came in. The two young girls played guitar and sang. Beautiful voices. Then the brother stood up and played the upright bass. We eventually made our way home. Nice evening.
March 14, 2024
Back to work today. For the next week or so, since we have no guests we will be able to do a lot of cleaning and organizing. We also have no time schedule. We just do what we can and when we can. It is very relaxing.
March 13, 2024
We have a lot of traveling to do today. For the past month I have been having some knee pain, especially while standing a lot. Nancy found a reputable orthopedist and made my appointment for today. However, it is in a town called Mountain Home, about an hour north of Mountain View. My appointment was for 10:00ish so we needed to be an hour early to fill out paperwork. We arrived and took care of all the paperwork. I think it took longer to fill out the paperwork than the time we actually saw the doctor. They took me back, and then on to X-ray. After a few shots I was returned to my room and waited only a couple of minutes for the doctor. He was very nice. My issue is that I have a lot of osteoarthritis. I could even see it on the X-ray. The lower leg was pushing out and the gap between the joint was more narrow on one side than the other. Not a lot of options. I chose the nonsurgical one. The doctor gave me a steroid injection in the knee. The injection was not as bad as I thought. Now that the first stop is complete we need to get on the road to travel 1 1/2 hours to Batesville so Nancy can get her new lens in her glasses. Fortunately right around the corner from the doctor’s office and on the way to Batesville, we found a little donut shop. Interestingly enough they also had sausages wrapped in a dough of some kind. We each got one to classify as “nutritious” for our breakfast. We also got a couple of donuts. Everything was very good.
We finally arrived in Batesville and it took Nancy about 10 minutes to get her lens installed. And then we were on the road again. This time we were heading back to Mountain View to get back in time to pick up a prescription for Nancy. This many miles in one day makes for a very long day. We made it back in time and finally got home to relax.
March 12, 2024
We decided that today we would walk around town and visit some of the local establishments. We are only 2 blocks south of Main Street and the Square. We left Bree at home and took our short stroll. The weather was beautiful. Mountain View is a quaint little town. The shop keepers are all very friendly. We visited various stores just looking at some local crafts, etc. There is a really neat shop called Wallace Wood Works. They have hand crafted wood furniture including swings, rockers, tables, chairs, and some live edge pieces. Absolutely beautiful pieces and I believe reasonable prices. Another place that caught my eye was the Dude Ranch Boots. They carry western boots, Ariat shoes, clothing, and hats. Several shops had tee shirts for sale touting the upcoming eclipse. Haven’t found a great design yet. I did find a neat design on Amazon but it did not have Mountain View on it. The design was an eclipse with a guitar silhouette and the wording is Hello Darkness My Old Friend.
While we were sitting outside on a bench, relaxing, Nancy overheard two ladies talking about a dog. It turned out they found a dog walking on the street downtown. It had a collar so they were calling the owner to come get it. The owner did not drive and the two ladies were dropped off downtown and had no transportation. So, I walked home, got the truck and we took the dog back to the owner. We drove back to downtown and parked. Our next stop was The Urban Forge. They make a lot of items for home decor. One of the coolest I saw was a toilet paper stand. I took a picture. Very cool stuff but you pay for quality craftsmanship. Good thing we weren’t living here when we built the log home. It was mid afternoon and we were hungry. We checked into a few local spots and decided on PJs Rainbow Cafe. It is a cash only spot that serves some really good food. The staff is very friendly and pleasant. They are known for Chicken Fried Steak and Open Faced Roast Beef Sandwich. We each ordered one of them. As we were waiting on our food, others were ordering dessert. Actually pie. The pies are made by Rita on premises. We were conversing with one staff member whom we found out was named Rita. Actually, Rita the Pie Lady. The pies were decadent looking and everyone who ordered a piece raved about them. Fortunately for us they have to go containers. Nancy had the Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie and I had the Banana Split Pie. Oh My God!! Was awesome!! We had to walk around a little longer to walk off some calories. We walked over to Mountain View Music.
Outside on their porch there were a few people playing and singing. This is a norm for these parts. We went into the store and introduced ourselves to the owners, Scott and Shay Pool. They showed us around and we talked for a couple of hours. They have some very nice instruments in their store. They used to own a B & B about a block away. They also repair and build instruments there. Great day.
March 11, 2024
Since we have no guests and no one to fix breakfast for, it is time to start deep cleaning and organizing to my tastes. The Ozark was closed for the winter but opened in a hurry for the forestry guys. There are a few projects that Nancy is working on also. She did bring her sewing machine and her and Chris have decided that the beds need saddles. Don’t ask me, I have no clue. Anyway, we are using this down time to do certain things around the Inn. And we do not have to get up early. My favorite part.
Meanwhile, back at home in North Carolina, they had a storm last night. And that storm decided to bring down another tree in our neighbor’s yard. So now Phillip has his next weekend planned. Sorry..
March 8 - 10, 2024
Seems strange being able to sleep in until 06:30AM. Felt good though. Today I am going to wear my new chef clothes. I bought some for this trip. They are very comfortable in kitchen and easy to take care of. The first morning of this weekend we only had 10 for breakfast. The fruit course was a Mixed Berry Cheesecake Fruit Salad. The fruit salad is yogurt, Cool Whip, cheesecake pudding, and mixed berries. The meat was sausage links and the main attraction was a Praline French Toast. Coffee and orange juice are standards. We have a Cafe area with a Keurig where guests can help themselves to various coffees, teas, and cocoa. We also try to have snacks out for the guests and Nancy and I put a few pieces of fresh fruit out as well. Breakfast went over well. While our guests were attending various events at the Festival, I made some homemade chocolate chip cookies for the cafe. They were my Mom’s go to and my favorite recipe. We have a Kitchenaid 6 quart Professional Stand Mixer. When we first arrived, Chris told me it wasn’t working. I took it apart and surmised that the switch was bad. I found one on Amazon and Chris ordered it. It arrived yesterday, so today I am getting the mixer back in service. The switch did the trick.
On Saturday morning, we had 13 for breakfast. Today’s menu was Bacon, Egg, Cheese, Pancake. It was a very big success. We never got a taste. It looked good. Bacon was the meat side and the fruit was a Fresh Fruit Salad. As the cookies were gone, I made brownies, from scratch. I have an easy recipe and they turned out very good.
Today is the last day of the Bluegrass Festival. All of our guests will be checking out. This morning I made a Tater Tot Sausage Breakfast Casserole. The meat side was sausage links. The fruit dish was Ambrosia. Had lots of left overs. I will not use that recipe again. We found out that we will not have to be in a hurry to flip the rooms. The forestry firefighters will not be returning. They have been reassigned to another area and their current location is closer than here. So we will not have much to do over the next couple of weeks. Our next biggest time will be the Solar Eclipse on April 8th.
March 7, 2024
Today is going to be a very long and busy day. We are up early for the firefighters. Today is actually my menu. I made them Breakfast Bites, bacon, and a starter of yogurt and fruit mixed with some Cool Whip. The Breakfast Bites are tater tots in the bottom of a muffin tin. Bake for about 10 minutes and then top with scrambled eggs, cheese, sautéed onions and peppers and chopped bacon or ground sausage. Orange juice and a fruit started are served at every breakfast. They went over well.
The firefighters are leaving today and headed to Batesville for the weekend because the Inn was already booked for the Bluegrass Festival. Mountain View bills itself as the Bluegrass Capital of the World. We are expecting to hear a lot of music while we are here. Sounds good to me.
All the rooms have to be flipped. That is to say, beds stripped and remade, bathroom cleaned, floors cleaned. Chris has provided us with another young lady named Jessica. She helps out in situations like this at both b and bs. I worked on cleaning the kitchen, dishes, dinning room. Nancy and Jessica worked on the rooms. Guests could start checking in after 2:00PM. It was a very long day for both of us. I also prepped the breakfast for tomorrow morning. We will be having 10 for breakfast. The nice thing about this is that the coffee does not have to be ready until 07:00AM and breakfast at 08:30AM. I am still getting used to this oven. It cooks a little cooler than the set temperature so you have to give everything a little more time.
Just for grins and giggles, I turned the breaker back on and tried the washer. The time off must have worked. It was working just like it was before. One less thing to have to do.
March 5, 2024
Our first day off. We are scheduled to have off on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. While we are off Chris is covering the breakfasts. There is no room cleaning to do as they are occupied. We have been traveling with the T-Mobile Hot Spot. Amazingly it worked great while we were at Huntington Beach State Park. I believe we used it a couple of nights while we were on the road. Once we arrived here in Mountain View we have decent WiFi so we really don’t need to pay for the Hot Spot any longer. So today we are going to go to Batesville, Arkansas. It is about an hour away, as most towns are. The larger cities of Conway is 1 1/2 hours away and Little Rock is 2 hours away. But Batesville has a Walmart and a T-Mobile store. There is also a Kroger grocery store. I want to check it out to see if they carry Boars Head luncheon meats and cheeses. The first stop was T-Mobile. I took the unit in and as the gentleman was processing it we engaged in small talk. As it turns out, he is a retired firefighter also. However, his was through disability. We talked about the fire service. After everything was processed he thanked me for coming in and talking to him about being a firefighter. He said that his coworkers just didn’t understand. I enjoyed spending my time with him also.
Next stop is Walmart. We chose this Walmart as it has an eyeglass section. In January, shortly before we left town, Nancy had a cataract removed from her left eye. After being cleared to travel and allowing the proper time to heal she could get one new lens. So she went into Walmart, had here eyes examined and ordered the correct lens. We will be going back in a week or so to get in put in. The last stop was Kroger. What a bust. No Boars Head. Very small store and not real impressed with it. So home we went.