Many of you know we lived in a great little trailer in the hangar for nearly 2 years while we built Bedford Landings. But Jack needs the hangar space to spread out and complete the work on the RV-10.  Click to see a photo of an RV-10.

It seats 4 and we have completed the wings and tail. We are so hoping we are still agile and ready to travel once this is completed. Then we can travel, travel!

At any rate, we are selling the baby trailer.  Here is the Craigslist listing. http://lynchburg.craigslist.org/rvs/4409677621.html

Fly-in scheduled May 10
There will be a Fly-In at Smith Mountain Lake Airport (W91) on Saturday, May 10, celebrating the new ownership of the airport.  For this event, the cost of Avgas will be dropped to $4.89 per gallon (100LL).  Airplane displays, flights for a small fee over the lake, and food will abound. We only have 2 rooms left for that weekend.

New sign
The ground finally thawed and we were able to put up our new sign by WetchcoSigns!  We are proud to also be members of the Artisan Trail.  This is a rather new concept for our area but we will all be hearing more soon.

New Artists
In my last blog, I mentioned that my artist friend, Nancy Brown’s art was displayed at Bedford Landings.  When I told her I didn’t know what I would put up once she took her art down, she introduced me to some amazing women: the artists of ArtVisions Studio in Wirtz, Va.

For the next few months, we are now displaying the art of Nancy Stellhorn, Julie English, Marie Campbell, Shelly Koopman, and Jacque.  Give us a call if you would like to see it close up and personal!

 

Nancy Brown kept one or her works and one of my favorites on display in the breakfast room.   She will be hosting a Happy Hour painting class in June.  Nancy will guide your completion of an oil painting on location.

Happy Hour Painting June 17 at 5:00 OR June 24 at 5:00.
Iced tea and a light snack will be provided.  Bring your favorite wine. Cost is $35 each. You can call me or email me to enroll for your preferred date. We can host 8 per class.

(Karen @bedfordlandings.com or 540-488-4600).

In the meantime, enjoy the spring colors, the budding trees, the flitting bluebirds and the buzzing bees!

 

 

 

We have continued to be busy at Bedford Landings.  The snow and the continued cold winter didn’t slow down business.  We have had guests every weekend except one since we opened in December. Some have been friends passing through the area and we are making new friends with others.  The favorite room has been the FISHING room.  We think that is because it has the cozy gas logs.  The second most favorite is the FOURTH Room.  It also has gas logs so I guess we will need to consider upgrading to gas logs in all of the rooms eventually.  The Fourth Room is now decorated in BLUES and the Red decor  been packed away until next Christmas season.  It is fun collecting items around the house to change out the look of this room.

We received our final Certificate of Occupancy after Jack (and friends) completed the deck railings.  With the glorious sunshine this week, we have been sitting on the deck a bit too!  In fact our whole family was sitting on the deck last weekend.  I just wish I had thought to get a photo of everyone.  Jack and I have back-to-back birthdays in March.  With a milestone birthday this year for me, he surprised me by bringing in my best friend from Michigan, both my sister and brother (and spouses). If that wasn’t enough, the rest of the crew showed up the next day complete with all our children and grand children. Fun, exhausting, but fun!

For more Fun on the Deck, this Spring, we will be hosting a painting class with Nancy Rae Brown. Nancy has her art exhibited in Bedford Landings now in the great room and stairwell.  Make an appointment to see it or visit her website. Watch for the date.  There will be a fee and we are considering calling her class “Wine and Design!” Sound like fun!?

We have continued to test some recipes in the kitchen.  Here’s a photo of Jack cooking his Fig Dijon Puff Pastry (thanks to his high school classmate who shared this fantastic recipe). http://www.twirlandtaste.com/

We also tested a new recipe for the sideboard.  The sideboard is the table where snacks always appear for the guests.  I will share this Lemon Brownie Recipe for all to enjoy.

Lemony Lemon Brownies

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 T fresh lemon juice
8 t. lemon zest (Just grate the peel)
1 cup confectioner’s sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Grease an 8×8 inch baking dish with butter and set aside.

Zest and juice two lemons and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixture fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the flour, sugar, salt, and softened butter until combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice until combined.

Pour it into the flour mixture and beat for 2 mins at medium speed until smooth and creamy. Pour into baking dish and bake for 23-25 mins, should turn golden around the edges. Allow to cool completely before glazing. Do not overbake, or the bars will dry.

Sift the powdered sugar and whisk with lemon zest and juice. Spread the glaze over the brownies and let glaze set. Cut with a plastic knife and serve.

Spring is almost here!  The robins are back, our bees are busy and hopefully our grass will grow!  Enjoy!

 

We have now been open 50 days.  That’s hard to believe, but, we are having fun hosting guests!  Now, if I can just get Jack to listen for the dryer and fold those towels and tuck the sheets in at the foot of the bed, we are good!  Doing business with your spouse is sometimes not advised.  But we are doing fine.  We are even getting along in the kitchen for the most part.

I have sorta of missed blogging, but we have been really busy not just with guests but this winter in staying warm!  Jack has built many fires and we are continuing to work toward our Permanent Certificate of Occupancy.  Since it has been so cold, we got a 30-day extension on those porch railings.  We have the main deck complete except for the top caps.  And, Jack has the posts put up for the star-gazing deck

 

When it is cold outside, I am busy at my computer planning class lectures and Jack works inside.  Here are a few things he has done:

Laundry room shelves (a cubby for each room’s sheets and towels) with a folding table that will fold up against the wall.

He finished the window seats for the two large windows.

And I have made one of two cushions for the seats. Did you know that foam is about $30 per yard?! Outrageous!

 

The trim carpenter finally came back and trimmed out my stained glass so it looks must more finished.

I have stained every 6-panel door in the house except those that Sherry and Carolyn helped me with.  I determined there about over 60 sides to stain. Plus all of the trim.

Cooking wise, our signature item is becoming the pecan encrusted bacon. Jack’s biscuits are very popular as well as the Kahlua Caramel French Toast.  We have other dishes we are still testing.

We are already booking reservations into June and July so let us know when you are in the area and can spend some time at Bedford Landings!  Ya’ll come!

Since we opened December 17th, we have had 15 rooms nights and wonderful guests! Jack even prepared his Creme Brulee oatmeal for some guests.  He didn’t like the way the broiler made the crust so dark, so later that day, he ordered a food torch. Watch out next time we serve this!

We have found our rhythm in the kitchen and have been enjoying inn keeping!
As this was our “soft” opening to figure things out, we have now started to consider some marketing.  We have added ourselves to Trip Advisor so you can do reviews and we have  become members of the Virginia Tourism website as well as the local Bedford County Visitor’s Center. Here is how we are listed in the Va Tourism site but it took even me 4 times to find it! and in Trip Advisor, it looks as if there needs to be some reviews added to get this going. Visit Bedford (the area visitor’s center) lists our B & B.

The local magazine, the Laker did a really nice spread on our Bedford Landings opening for their special lodging issue. The Laker Weekly is visiting us again next week.  We have been very fortunate with local media outlets!

Upcoming specials are listed on the “Specials” page but include a Superbowl special and a Valentine’s special. Y’all come, we’re ready for ya!

With a Full House on New Year’s Eve, we entered the New Year with much love and laughter!  It was amazing and we so enjoyed the time.  One of the couples flew in so we were able to test our inn keeping and tie down strategies all at once! Everyone got along; some worked jigsaw puzzles, some watched a football game in the theatre room, some went to dinner, and others shared munchies and wine by the fire.  We could not have asked for a more cordial group than we had for New Year’s 2013! Jack even got his bagpipe out to blast in the New Year! On New Year’s Day after the guests departed, friends who helped us build the hangar flew in.  Vicki and Jon came to check out Bedford Landings so they might share back with their neighbors in their fly-in community near Chapel Hill, NC.  So, we cleaned and flipped the rooms in a few hours to put on our best face! So what can guests expect at Bedford Landings? Tested recipes.  We are testing recipes for taste and presentation.  We try to test them prior to you coming but sometimes you get to help judge! Just look at this jelly belly roll that I made today!  I couldn’t resist the sequence!  Each time we are expecting guests, I put out a sideboard of some homemade snack bread, cookies of treats. Last week, Jack made sweet potato biscuits. But today he is toying with Baked Crème Brulee oatmeal. We think it’s a winner! A home theatre room.  Jack finished wiring today and the sound proofed walls work pretty well in that I could hear (but wasn’t blown away) by the max volume Top Gun when I was in the kitchen.  (Photo).  The room is a work in progress as far as décor, but the movies play! If it is chilly outside, then we try to have a fire going inside! And if fire is not part of Shakti, how about water?  The guest hot tub is ready and warm!  It’s awesome!

Of these amenities, what would be your favorite? The fireplace?  The hot tub, tasting recipes or watching movies in the theatre room?