September was a great month for Bedford Landings. The guests were great, the weather was good, we started preparing for the fall with yard work and trimming.  We aerated the lawn, planted grass seed and fertilized.  We even did a couple of projects before we took off on a 10-day vacation to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. Photos below.

One reminder, if you can take time, please vote for Best of at Smith Mountain Lake before November 6^th. Bedford Landings B & B for Best Place to Stay Overnight; and Bedford Landings Air Tours (write it in) for with Best New Business (first category) or Hidden Jewel (Last category). Thank-you!

The rest of today’s blog features a few of the September occurrences at Bedford Landings through photos.

Baking

I have only ever made four of these peppermint red velvet cakes but this is one great three-layer cake.  Gotta be pretty special to get one of these!

 

 

 

Do-it-Yourself (DIY)

I decided to unpack many of my academic books that had been packed away for several years.  I needed a bookcase.

So I kept my eye open for an inexpensive one that would suffice.  This little jewel from Goodwill would suffice just fine.

 

First it needed kilz to be sure there was no mold/mildew. I sprayed and painted on the kilz that I had left from another project.

Then as I am often guilty of, I added paint that I had on hand.  It would be full of books.  I really didn’t care about the color.

And Voila…a few hours later.  loaded up with books!

Sadly, I didn’t take any photos of Jack working hard to aerate the lawn and plant grass seed.  In the meantime, I trimmed the ornamental grasses.  It’s that time of year and in the winter, nothing looks worse than scraggly untrimmed tall grasses gone to seed.  This was their first year of growth and my first year figuring out how to trim them.

First I got a bungee cord, then loppers and gloves.

We rewarded ourselves for the great year of inn-keeping with a little trip out west late in the month.  Enjoying as much as we could see of Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, we hiked, rode horses, ate, fished, saw wild animals, ate, met people, watched geysers, smelled sulphur in hot springs and mud holes, walked, ate, shopped, took pictures, learned about the volcanos, and more…then finally we flew back home (commercially).  A great time, just the two of us!

We are home for the winter and expecting guests who want to experience the fireplace or the fire pit, watching the snow fall outside, eating some comfort food, walking in the leaves, and coming for the chili fest and the other fall activities at Smith Mountain Lake!

 

 

Artist in the House
We are more than just a pretty breakfast at Bedford Landings! We serve as wall space for artists to display their works of art and are delighted to share our space with local talent! We are most pleased that for September and October, we are featuring the work of Shelley Koopmann. You can also find her on Facebook. 

I just love her whimsical style in some paintings.  But others are simply a beautiful mix of colors. Here are a few shots of what is on our walls and a link (above) to her website and facebook page. Please drop in to view her art or better yet book a room and look at it while you are waiting to be served breakfast at Bedford Landings!

 

From Bees to Chickens
We have kept honeybees for nearly 10 years. And we have enjoyed serving and selling their honey.  But this summer, while harvesting honey, Karen was stung a few times and had a pretty bad reaction (swelling, heat at the site). Later in the summer, she was stung again and experienced a similar reaction. The doctor prescribed an epi-pen, which we are keeping just in case the reactions elevate to that necessity but we decided to give the bees to Matt the Beekeeper and no longer keep them. Sadly we said goodbye to our little girls.

BUT- breakfast at Bedford Landings isn’t just about the honey! It’s about the use of eggs too! In the spring, we are going to get chickens!

We use at least 3-dozen eggs per week in cooking breakfasts for guests so hopefully this will be beneficial. We understand that they also can eat breakfast scraps so we are doing away with the compost pile in favor of chickens devouring leftovers! Besides a little squirrel has been enjoying breakfast at Bedford Landings too and has been snatching from the compost pile and making a mess with it!

Stay tuned for more on the chickens! And if any readers have advice or laying hens for sale, contact us!

Massage Therapy
Sometimes guests inquire about getting a massage while staying at Bedford Landings. We have several therapists that we refer people to so be sure to ask. They will bring their table and we have a nice quiet (dimmed lights) theatre room where we can set up a therapy session. We will put guests right in touch with the therapist as opposed to putting ourselves in the middle. That way times can be worked out between the guest and the therapist. Just schedule it around breakfast at Bedford Landings!

Fall at Smith Mountain Lake (SML)
It has been a busy summer with many new events added to the local social calendar but the 50^th Anniversary celebration for SML continues into the fall with still more activities. We look forward to the Charity Home Tour (October 7-8) and the Chili Fest. (November 5), a new event called a Brew Fest (November 12).   The fall should be very colorful with the wonderful rains we had in July this year. Don’t forget that Jack does sightseeing rides and this would be a cool way to view the foliage!

The Skelton 4-H Educational Center was the host to the first annual (we hope not the only) cardboard boat regatta. After a month of Jack’s sweltering work days in the hangar designing, crafting, cutting, taping, gluing,  varnishing, and painting the boat, we added a name (“Miss Hap”), a marketing logo (www.bedfordlandings.com), and a flag (Thank-you Chris Baker at Business Design Solutions).

 

 

There were 18 boats built for the regatta and all were on display Friday night.  We had to strap the boat to the truck and drive it to the other side of the lake.

 

Loading the boat to transport (45 minutes away) to the 4-H Center.

Displayed with a picnic basket and wine glasses, we were awarded “Best Presentation!”

Since Bedford Landings submitted the entry, we proudly displayed brochures and business cards along with the boat.Below is a series of photos with captions about the end results.

 

 

 

Taking awards for “Best Presentation” and Third place in class was a great start for the first regatta! Plus it was WAY FUN!

Bedford Landings is a getaway for all walks of people including parents getting away from their young children, family members attending reunions, young lovers and old lovers, families traveling with children to the lake, wedding guests, and others.

Pilots Love This Getaway
Bedford Landings B & B is a also pilot’s getaway. Pilots are starting to hear about us and the fact we are located right along an airstrip (W91) where you can fly in, tie down, and spend the night at a beautiful lake location with your airplane with eyesight! We have had a few “cool” planes fly in to be guests of Bedford Landings. One was just last week when this Super Decathlon was here. Jack always loves photos of the planes sitting in front of our hangar, so here it is. This small tandem seating plane fit in the hangar, so we pulled the Cessna out just for over night to hanger this little beauty.

 

Family Stuff
Our whole fam damily will make Bedford Landings their getaway the end of July.   We have to spread it over two weekends since we are at capacity when they come! All our children and grand children live in the Raleigh area. Karen’s sister has a home here and brother Michael is not far away in Floyd. Michael and his wife visited recently for his birthday and we made a German chocolate cake from scratch. Scrumptious!

We love family to visit, especially grand children! Earlier this summer, Grandson Jamison (4 years old) visited and spent three nights for the first time. Gramma got in trouble having had his long hair cut but he was happy with the result and now nobody thinks he is a girl! He also got to taxi up the runway (not fly) for his first time.

Super Grand Daughter, Destiny is here for the month of July and has been active with taking swimming lessons and volunteering at Skyway Animal Farms.

Skyway is a non-profit working farm that is a great place to take kids and grand kids. Bea and Debbie explain what they are doing to visitors, name all of the animals, and keep a really tidy farm! Destiny has learned a lot, walked and fed the baby goats, fed the Alpacas and Llamas, learned the names of all of the Anatolian Shepherds, and helped put up an obstacle course for the “fainting” goats. We haven’t tried to scare them yet but will report when we see them faint!

 

Destiny is also helping with Vacation Bible School at Bethlehem United Methodist and fulfilling her lifelong (at the ripe age of 11 years) role play/dream of being in a “teacher” role.

 

Sister Artist
I was honored that my sister invested her tender loving care into a recent piece of art she completed for us! Sheridan Brown and husband, John, are our substitute innkeepers when we are away. She has been taking art lessons and completed a very cool piece for us that I proudly have hung in the upstairs foyer. It depicts the front AND back of our house and even places the Cessna in the sky!

Artist in the House
Speaking of artists, Mary Lou Koons is our in-house artist this month. Mary has been a full time Smith Mountain Lake resident since 1992. She has a great deal of experience with the art community, particularly in the Smith Mountain Lake area. She is a member of the Smith Mountain Arts Council (SMAC) and has been the organizer of the SMAC Art Show for the past 6 years. She is also in the Roanoke League of Artists and really enjoys entering art shows. Her work entitled “Speaker of the House” has been a favorite and an award winner in several art shows (pictured below). The work that Bedford Landings is displaying features water color and acrylic. It is priced right and we are willing to open our doors for you to see. Just email us to schedule a time to stop by.

Honeybees
Bedford Landings is a getaway for the bees but also their home. Our darling honeybees have produced 3.5 more gallons of honey. We have a little for sale and are saving some back for cooking. We enjoy the harvesting process and enjoy having bees, but this MAY be our last year.

Sadly, Karen is starting to get allergic reactions to bee stings including swelling, redness and a temperature at the site of the sting. Twice this summer, ice, Benadryl and itchy nights have been experienced. We have not made a decision yet but are considering replacing the bee yard with a chicken yard. Anyone want to trade hobbies?

Cardboard Boat
Jack has been consumed with constructing a cardboard boat. That’s right–a cardboard boat. At least we have a hangar where he can work on it! The boat must float and be rowed 200 yards in one of the SML 50^th Anniversary events to be held at the Skelton 4-H Center the July 30^th.   Come to the Cardboard Boat Regatta and cheer for Bedford Landings and Bedford Landings Air Tours boat at 11:00 that day!

Largest Human Float!
If you haven’t signed up for the Guinness Book of Records Human Float, then please do so. Sign-up, then bring an inflatable on August 6^th. SML has been challenged by Lake Winnipesaukee saying they can get more people floating on inflatables than we can. Some of you may recall that Bill Murray movie What About Bob was filmed at Smith Mountain Lake but they said it was Lake Winnipesaukee. Rumor has it that the leaves were already changing at Winnipesaukee so they changed the filming location. We can’t let them win the Guinness Book record! Sign up by July 15^th!

We have not yet signed up and hope to take aerial photos of this event! Can’t wait!

Staycations
Ever heard of a Staycation?
stay·ca·tion  ˌstāˈkāSHn/  nouninformal
a vacation spent in one’s home country rather than abroad, or one spent at home and involving day trips to local attractions.

Neesy Payne, a Morning reporter for WDBJ7 wanted to find out if Bedford Landings was truly a getaway. Working on a story about locations that could be stacations, we were honored that she “discovered” Bedford Landings B & B and Bedford Landings Air Tours. Jack flew her over the lake for some footage and she interviewed us about the business. Click this link to the Staycation Story.

Until next time, have a great summer! Storms and all!

Summer is in full swing at Bedford Landings Bed & Breakfast:Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia! Running a Bed and Breakfast is busy work, but we are also trying to be contributing members of the community. So, we have been involved in many of the extra special events planned for this summer, which is a celebration of the 50 years that this lake has been in existence.

Smith Mountain Lake became full pond in 1966 (on Karen’s birthday actually March 7^th! And yes, she is a little older than the lake!). The events that are planned for this year are happening almost faster than we can keep up! We have attended a Photo exhibition, an author signing (Sharyn McCrumb), the New Crusty Minstrels sing-along performance, a Caribbean night featuring Jane Powell, a jazz singer; The Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, complete with a special composition by Maestro David Stewart Wiley; and a Sunday afternoon festival at the Virginia Dare.

Lending leadership to a few events, we helped host a Wings and Wheels fly-in at the SML airport. It seemed like a fun time for those who attended except those who showed up right as a storm was rolling in. We had to close down 15 minutes early. Classic cars and antique planes don’t like wind, mud and heavy rain!

Since February, we have been giving leadership to recruiting/hiring a director, and recruiting singers to prepare for the Lakeside Singer’s Wake the Mountains, Rock the Shores concert. Under the (new) direction of Josh O’Dell, and with 60 voices strong, we practiced weekly for five months before the concert. We heard raving reviews of this being among the very best concerts they have heard the Lakeside Singers give! Dressed in “Lake-type Colors,” we crafted a program full of music about water and lake life. It was great fun for those of us singing too!

 

All the while we are leading and planning these events, we are still hosting guests at the B & B, getting up early to prepare breakfast, waiting on guests to check-in and washing and folding sheets and towels. One couple we hosted were travel bloggers and we appreciate their blog about the B & B as well as the Air Tours business. They were here on the day we had the Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting for Bedford Landings Air Tours. (Video)

We took off one weekend to fly to Indianapolis to attend the 100^th running of the Indianapolis 500 race. Jack joined his brothers in a traditional family event and we donned ear plugs to experience the decibels of the race while enjoying the hot sunny day complete with balloon lifts, flags, traditional singing and celebration. Rookie, Alexander Rossi, won the race, “drank the milk” and kissed the bricks after his victory. While at the race, Karen’s sister and husband watched over Bedford Landings, serving our famous pecan-encrusted bacon and making everyone happy on Memorial Day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, summer is in full swing, and we are enjoying every minute of our life here at Smith Mountain Lake and running our B & B. The gardens at Bedford Landings are improving.

I must thank my high school friend, Agnes, for the work she has done to help me get many of these plants established. She came for a very quick visit to see what had grown since last fall, so I took her out for a ride on the jet-ski. It didn’t scare her a bit, especially since is used to having the wind in her face.

 

The birds and the bees love our house. The Carpenter Bees love to bore holes. I go around plugging them with bits of cork! Mud daubers think they have found a special spot, wasps are building under deck boards. It’s a full time job keeping up with nature! The birds think we have built them a large birdhouse. Baby birds in my hanging ferns, mama birds have built more than one nest on the ledge of the porch timbers and Mama Dove finally hatched two babies on the star gazing deck.

The fields nearby have been mowed and baled and the sunsets are a time you just can’t help but snap a photo. Each one is just an incredible gift!

These are fun and busy times and we live in an amazing place. It is a little piece of paradise at Smith Mountain Lake.

I must admit that turning on the television, hearing the news of terrorism, the sadness of Orlando families, and the political rhetoric being tossed around all distress me. We continue to offer prayers and surround ourselves with the happiness of the good people who have chosen a life at Smith Mountain Lake. It is a jewel in the crown of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

There are more things to celebrate and take part in this summer! Jack has a mental picture of what he will build for the cardboard boat regatta. We await excitedly for the time when we can get over 600 people to float as part of the Guinness Book of records for the most number of people floating on inflatables on a lake at one time. and we hope to go to a couple of the Sunset Saturdays at Hickory Hill Winery!

Plan your visit soon! We are filling up fast for weekends. Many weekdays still available.  We welcome you to Bedford Landings: Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia! We will try to make you feel right at home!