Guests Love the Water Feature
Posted on April 30, 2015 by
It is always nice to get comments and compliments about what guests love about Bedford Landings. And though it is still new, guests love the water feature. Jack painted the chess board squares earlier this week and we planted some red hot pokers, ferns and a few other plants we hope will grow over the summer! We had a wonderful full house on Tuesday for a surprise birthday party. Here is an excerpt from her email after their stay.
I have only one regret about our visit -that we didn’t have more time. That, and I wish the weather had been slightly warmer. I wanted to sit by the new water/chess set area. I wanted to sit in the hot tub. I wanted to sit on the upper deck to watch the stars. I wanted to sit in the upper hall sitting area to read. I wanted to sit on the couch in our room to read. SO much to do! And not nearly enough time.
So for the big reveal, here is a photo. But you must come see for yourself! A photo just doesn’t let you hear the sound of the trickling water, the buzzing bees, and the chirping birds!
Ta daaaa…introducing our water feature called “Marthy’s Creek.”
Bedford Landings B & B is always growing and adding features. Today’s blog is about wine, wreaths and water.
Our new water feature is almost complete. I blogged about it two weeks ago. I still have to put in some plants around it. Since the weather has been rather chilly lately, we have not planted all the garden plants and have not stained the patio. We plan to stain every other tile to make a checker/chess board. Once that is complete, I will share photos of our giant chess board which will be part of the water feature. (work by WaterGarden Designs.)
You may remember that about this time last year, my Mom was living out her last days on earth. To honor her, we will dedicate this water feature to her and call it Marthy Creek. Marthy was Mom’s nickname. Her mother often called my Mom, Marthy (her name was Margaret Ann). In her later years, I affectionately called Mom Marthy too! So come sit by Marthy Creek! Here is a little video I took this morning. http://youtu.be/U9Z6P3CXKAw
We are trying to landscape and slowly the grass is coming in. But to add color, my (good high school) friend, Agnes brought me many plants to add to the yard. AND she planted them! They were just put into the ground last week so are still trying to take root. They include not only a border of white pines, but also red bud, forsythia, Lilly of the Valley, Day lilies, Bluebells, Pachysandra, natural ferns, red hot pokers, wild marigolds, and more. Thanks Agnes for such a labor of love. Jack also added 4 blueberry bushes so the bees would be happy!
In addition to wine & water, we have added a 48-inch brightly colored spring wreath to the grand fireplace. Southern Roots (thanks Suzie) designed a lovely wreath for Spring/Summer and I have stored away the Winter/Fall wreath until next year.
Wreath as seen from upper level
I have covered the water and wreaths, but WHAT ABOUT THE WINE? We applied for and received our Alcoholic beverage license. It wasn’t easy, but Jack stayed with it, completed the forms, requiring us to lease our home to Bedford Landings, revise the Health inspection certificate to display our LLC status, purchase from approved wholesalers, and finally we received the license.
Now we can sell wine to guests. We are able to offer gift baskets with wine included for special occasions. We are carrying a very limited quantity right now of red and white wines but hope to offer some of our local wines once we see how these sell.
So we may not always have wine and roses at Bedford Landings but we are getting there! We have wine, wreaths and water!
I don’t really need to explain about the birds & bees to you, but yet I do! See, at Bedford Landings B & B, we have some bird & bee issues.
Bird and Bee issue one:
Last spring, I blogged about an annoying bluebird issue. The bird kept slamming his beautiful little body against our windows. This spring, the bluebirds are at it again. Apparently bluebirds are very territorial. He is attacking what he sees as another bird in the window reflection. Short of plastering black paper on the OUTSIDE of the window, I can’t get the little bluebird to stop. I taped scary falcon silhouettes on the window (thank you wildlife specialist friend for that bit of advice which didn’t work). The falcons are not scary to them at all so after the wind dies down a bit today, I am going to have to move the bluebird box further from the house. It will save their little bruised bodies!
This photo shows the proximity of the bluebird box to the windows, the bluebird standing guard, and the scary falcon silhouettes.
It’s not just the birds at Bedford Landings, but the bees are at it. Jack drove to North Carolina yesterday to get three new nuclei of bees. After a three hour ride buzzing about in a cardboard box, they were hopping mad once he got home with them and placed them in their freshly painted bee boxes. We have one hive already and we are adding three more hives as people who visit Bedford Landings love our honey!
So to entertain the birds & bees at Bedford Landings B & B, we thought we would build them a play space! We are installing a water feature and future guests are gonna’ love it! In the photo, you can see it is a work in progress but I hope to update readers with a picture of the completed feature by next week!
Norman Tharpe at Water Garden Designs is the craftsman who has the vision of what this shall be. I have gained a respect for his craftsmanship and I am impressed with his work and his workers. They diligently have been stacking rock for the walls.
There will be a trickle down brook (as I have labeled in the photo) to a pool of water with a fire pit on the left. Birds & bees alike will love the water feature (except when there is a fire)! The square tiles in the center of the patio will be stained in contrasting colors to make a chessboard to host our giant chess pieces. Give Norman a call if you are considering such a feature. Or message us if you want a reference about their work. Water Garden Designs 434.824.8619.
Two announcements next…you will want to know about this.
The Jewel of the Blueridge is the reference for Smith Mountain Lake and many people are busy planning special events for the 50th Anniversary of the lake. And it’s on my birthday (March 7Th) that the lake became full pond (I was 12). A catchy little tune has been written about the “jewel” and I have linked it on our page. Kudos to Jerry Hale for his talent in writing this song!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGPoZQuBYA0&feature=youtu.be
Lastly, on June 13, the SML airport, in partnership with the Smith Mountain Lake Christian Academy are hosting a fly-in at the Airport. You can drive in or fly-in to learn more about planes, get a plane ride, grab lunch, see drones or take a turn in a flight simulator. Activities are scheduled between 11 and 3 on June 13th. Each activity will have a fee to support the Academy but there will also be free fellowship, photo ops and things to see! Mark it on your calendars!
Come see what we are doing at Bedford Landings! There is always something going on! And tell us…What are your birds & bees up to this spring?
Springtime at Bedford Landings! It’s in the air. We wonder what to wear with the change in weather, we watch the wind and sunshine doing a dance, pilots call for wind reports hoping they can fly, and we yearn to be out on the beautiful water here at Smith Mountain Lake! I wanted to share a few activities we have this Spring.
Last month, I told you I would do a follow-up post with an updated photo of the painted chairs for the Chair-ity event so here they are. My sister and I collaborated long distance since she lives in Florida more than she lives at Smith Mountain Lake. She painted the way cool seats of the CATBIRD and the TREE FROG. We call these chairs Sitting in the Catbird Seat and the Jump Seat! I love them but I really want to see what others did to decorate their chairs. I think the sale is in May in Bedford.
Jumpseat and Catbird seat
We are starting to get daily phone calls wanting reservations for summer so not only is it Spring at Bedford Landings, others are feeling that Old Dreary Winter has moved on! Make your reservations now for a summer get away!
This week, Bedford Landings is hosting the Chamber of Commerce membership for a Business After Hours social. We are so happy to have wonderful partners! We will serve wine offered by Ramulose Ridge Vineyards, Pizza by Benny Adelina’s, A tray of Asian faire by Edo’s Sushi and Grill, Beer from Sunken City Brewery, and hot appetizers from the new Eastlake Restaurant. Also we will have entertainment by Jodie’s Acoustics. Our Chamber of Commerce at Smith Mountain Lake is so active and helpful! We are pleased to be able to host this Springtime social!
Last Fall, we bought a previously owned deck boat that proceeded to sink, flooding the engine and leading to a huge oily mess. Jack and I have been busy power washing and trying to get it ready for the season. More on that later!
As Spring is springing, we are just hopeful that we will grow some grass this year and our landscape will start to mature! To anyone with a green thumb, we welcome any flowering sprigs you have growing that you wish to share!
More later as we celebrate Springtime at Bedford Landings!
Can you say zero degrees? Well, paint my world cold! The snow and a
drastic change in temperatures is nice a for a day or two, but I am
done with winter now. I didn’t choose to live in the northeast and after living for a year in chilly Michigan in the 70’s, I moved back south! What are you doing on these cold days?
One idea is to paint your world RED with Redbox. But each time we go checkout a moviem selecting from the ones I have made note of to watch, the ones we wanted were already checked out. Not such a novel idea. Everyone else has thought of that. And no, we don’t have Netflix.
Nine year-old Grand daughter, Destiny, came to spend her snow days with us yesterday. The most fitting DVD to watch was FROZEN. Paint her world NO spring break! So far she has missed 5 days of school.
I decided to warm up the game room at Bedford Landings. So I bought
toasted nutmeg paint and warmed up that little room with color and new
decor. I love it’s new look! We have had the wood stove
stocked and burning too!
Before the paint. We had just added the wood stove.
After painting one wall.
Another paint job has been fun! In Bedford, someone found some new
unfinished wooden chairs in an old chair factory. They need a little TLC and
paint. They ran a news story and promoted the chair availability
asking artists to pick them up to repurpose. Not that we are artists, but that didn’t stop us. Jack picked up 3 of them. My sister, Sherry and I are decorating two of them and friend Carolyn has another. I have already done my part with my colorful paint. Jack is preparing a wooden seat cut to shape then Sherry is using acrylic paint for the seat covers. She will be here in March with her rendering. These will be auctioned off in May at a Chair-ity. So far this is what they look like. I will share the finished product after she brings the rest.
After adding paint to the chairs
Jack bought some white paint for the new beehives. By the looks of the
snow on the hives, we will be lucky if there are still bees in the two
hives we own.
We plan to buy a new nucleus of bees this spring but hope at least one hive survives the winter for we will need honey for biscuits. We have completely depleted last years 3.5 gallons. Of course many Bedford Landings guests are enjoying it in their own homes. Maybe we should recall those 35 honey bears we sold!
The thermometer is stuck on 5 degrees as I write this morning February
20, 2015. But this I know, spring is just 5 weeks away, the snow will
melt in all parts of the U.S. And but my oldest child turns 30 in 3
days.
Whitney and me taken June 2014.
So not only do I paint my world cold, but I paint me old– but happy at Bedford Landings with a crackling fire, warm toasted nutmeg paint and a list of movies to watch. What color do you paint your world today?