Tie a yellow ribbon round the big front door …then CUT IT!

The Chamber of Commerce is helping us become official.  This Wednesday, August 27th, 2014 is our official ribbon cutting.  From 11:30 am until 12:30 pm, we will be hosting an open house with the actual ribbon cutting just after noon at 12:15.  Light refreshments will follow.

 

SPOTLIGHT

Since March, we have had the friendly assistance of Pattie, our Bedford Landings Housekeeper.  Experienced with vacation properties, Pattie takes great pride in keeping the rooms spotless for our guests.  When we have a full house, we call on Pattie!

Upcoming Fall Fun!

Beading and Jewelry Making – Sept 16, 2014 at 5:30 pm. 
Create one-of-a-kind jewelry in just your colors! Sandy Kelso, from SML Lake enjoys teaching and making unique jewelry. She will walk you through how to design, hook, clasp, crimp and loop for a stunning finished piece of jewelry. Supplies will be provided. You will select from a variety of beads to create a distinctive bracelet, necklace or earrings.  Ten participants may pre-register to attend at Bedford Landings Bed & Breakfast (1995 Buccaneer Rd Moneta, VA). A snack and beverage will be provided.  Participants are welcome to being wine for sipping while beading. $30 each.  Email: karen@bedfordlandings.com or call 540-488-4600.

Pampering:
We have recently started offering facials and pampering skin treatment at Bedford Landings.  Annette will come to Bedford Landings to pamper you.  But, you gotta schedule her to come! Schedule a Relaxation Day with Annette!

We are gearing up for a full fall!  Put these dates on your calendar!

September 13- SML Antique and Classic Boat Show.
October 11-12 – SML Charilty Home Tour
November 1- Chili and Craft Fest
For additional events see the SML Chamber Calendar.

As members of the Chamber of Commerce, it is only right as a new business to cut the ribbon.  So our GRAND OPENING is Wednesday August 27th at 11:30 am.

The actual ribbon cutting occurs about 12:15.  Afterwards, snacks and beverages are served.  If you are a blog follower, a past guest at Bedford Landings, a Chamber Member, or a friend, please join us.  Comment on this page if you would so we know how many biscuits to make!

Thanks for your support!  We aren’t going away!  This is just the beginning of many Fall and Winter events we are hosting including the Bedford Area B & B Association, the Professional Women’s Resource group, an open house for Realtors, and a Chamber of Commerce After Hours event in March.  We are working with a new representative who can schedule facial pamperings for you and we are holding a jewelry making class in September.

Stay tuned Jack to announce the date of his Biscuit School!  Then ya’ll come!

My sweet mother in law said I could share this photo so here is a contest.  Think up a good caption for this wonderful old photo that captures some of her grand relatives.  Just comment and I will compile!  Make me laugh!

We have been running in several different directions but I wanted to blog just for the record and to promote an upcoming Fall event. So today’s blog is rather a hodgepodge.

It’s been a busy July.  We have hosted many interesting guests including families with children, physicians, a veterinarian, several musicians, a couple of different professors, pilots, my bother and his wife for their birthdays, a family gathering, friends visiting friends, people waiting for their house rentals week to start, anniversary couples, and Jack’s 90-year old mama.  Mama was joined on her mid-July birthday by Jack’s brother, his wife, and Jack’s daughter and grandson for the celebration.  May she have 90 more healthy years!

The musicians who stayed at Bedford Landings were part of the newly formed Smith Mountain Lake symphony (https://www.smlsymphony.com/) who gave their inaugural performance on July 26^th.  Jack played bagpipes to open the program followed by a Bluegrass band.  We both sang with the chorus for Bach’s “Wachet Auf” Cantata.  On Friday, Bedford Landings hosted a viola player, a cellist, and a bassist. Then, Saturday, we hosted the fiddle player and his wife from the Bluegrass Band (Randy Cox and the Commonwealth Band). All were fine musicians and interesting people! The other weekend guests were most flexible as we came and went with rehearsals.

Shortcuts
We are so thankful to have Pattie, our part time housekeeper, who we schedule when we have more than 2 rooms to clean.  I have been trying to share some of our tips with her (and with Jack) so we all work efficiently.  I guess efficiency and planning are just  life lessons my mother taught me.

For example, it’s a shortcut to do this:

• Instead of searching for a new trash bags, throw 4-5 new ones in the bottom of the can then pull the fresh bag over top.  A new bag will be there next time you pull the full one out;

Each morning, Jack makes the coffee.  We get compliments on the coffee; maybe because we grind the coffee beans for each pot fresh.  It takes a little more time, but we save by jump-starting the pot the night before by:

• Pre-inserting the paper filter ready to receive the grounds and filling the coffee pot with water the night before.  Then we just grind the beans and turn on the switch for fresh coffee the next morning.

I am the one who wants to make the table and each plate look pretty.  Each breakfast place has their place setting, a cloth napkin, poured juice and water pre-set.  Coffee or Tea is offered once guests come to the breakfast room … but for pretty presentations:

• Since so many foods for breakfast are tan, yellow or white, we select the plate color to brighten the food! We place mono-colored foods on colorful or dark plates and brightly colored foods on white plates.  I know, a bit fanatical but it keeps me entertained!

Upcoming:
The happy hour painting class was very popular and we have had requests to offer it again.  For fall,  we have scheduled another fun class. Our friend, Sandy Kelso, is going to conduct a jewelry making class on September 16 (5:30 pm) where you can create one-of-a-kind jewelry in just your colors! She will walk you through how to design, hook, clasp, crimp and loop for a stunning finished piece of jewelry. You will select from a variety of beads to create a distinctive bracelet, necklace, or earrings.  Ten participants may pre-register for $30 each. Supplies will be provided along with a snack and beverage.  Participants are welcome to being wine for sipping while beading. Email karen@bedfordlandings.com or call 540-488-4600.

And that’s what’s cookin’ from Bedford Landings!

 

June has been a busy month and we expect a busy July as well! In June, we painted, we robbed the bees, and we sold the trailer.

Two weeks ago when super grand daughter Destiny was here, we got into our bee suits to rob the bees of their honey.  She was actually a big help and wasn’t ever afraid of being stung in her mighty (home made) suit!

We harvested over 3.5 gallons and bottled over 35 containers of honey.  We sell it to guests if they are interested for $7 (10 oz.) bottle.  We call it wildflower honey since we have no clue where our little bees foraged.

Our friend and artist, Nancy Rae Brown taught a painting class.  We had room for 8 per session and hosted two separate groups in a Happy Hour painting class.

At the end of June, sold our little travel trailer that we called home at the lake for 6 years.  It was such a find on Craigslist for $3500.  In 2008, we pulled that trailer from Raleigh over the mountain. We parked it outside on our property until we had the hangar. I remember sitting in trailer on our lot while it was raining. There was no TV and no place to go except in that little space. Jack and I played travel SCRABBLE. We were stuck in that little space and I thought “What has my life come to!”
Once we had the hangar structure, we built a home around it inside the hangar.  We sold the little darling for $2000 to a construction crew who will pull it to Washington, DC and house 6 crew.  They said it will save them a bundle of hotel room nights. Hope they love it as much as we did (shedding a tear!)

Also in June, we finished the loft in the Flying Room.  There is a trundle bed aloft and a seaplane hanging from the ceiling. Meant for families, the maximum number of people in that room would be 6.  There is a fee of $30 per person over 2 people per room.  All children in this room, however need to be closely watched. Don’t make suggestions for what you would do if you were a kid in the loft!

Coming in July
We have booking for every room night in July except two.  On one non-booked night, I am going to Harrisonburg, VA to visit my good friend Agnes, who has plants for the yard awaiting me.  And the second time with no bookings, we are hosting my brother for his birthday!  His wife hasn’t seen Bedford Landings yet so we are so excited they will drive over from Floyd!  To add to Family Time, we will be hosting Jack’s 90-year old mama’s birthday mid-month with visits from his brother (from Wilmington, NC) and his daughter and grandson (from Raleigh, NC)

Trending for the Fourth of July – pretzel sparklers for the guests.  Rod pretzels dipped in white chocolate sprinkled with colorful sugars!  We will probably be vacuuming up sprinkles for weeks.

Until then- ride with the wind and may it drop you near Bedford Landings! We’ll leave the light on for you!