There is Something About Fall.......

that makes me want to bring out all my folk art and primitives. They make a home so cozy. I guess it's the colors and the comfort of worn painted objects.

A Year in the Life

Well, it has been quite a ride this summer at the Nathaniel Morris Inn. We have had the best summer we've had in quite a few years, and it felt good. Besides myself, the restaurants and shops were booming also. A different energy in the air, too.
This is the time of year of mixed emotions. Like taking down the Christmas tree. Having an inn at the beach obviously lends itself to being a seasonal business. Although we are open all year, obviously summer is our busiest time. I love the ebb and flow of the energy as we go through the year.
End of summer brings relief, as it truly is exhausting to make breakfast and beds every day.
But it also brings melancholy. Saying goodbye to faithful guests who come every year is always sad. You wonder what the year will bring until you next see them. And then there are the new guests who become instant friends and promise to come back again and again. When Labor Day hits it's like a smack in the face. Instant quiet....outside and inside.
But then comes the most beautiful time of year at the shore and with it more guests. A different variety. The kind that don't run off to the beach necessarily but sit on the porch and read and enjoy the crisp air. The church bells ring, Manasquan High Marching Band and the sound of the football game being announced.
Then come the holidays. Wood smoke in the air. Manasquan's football parade at Thanksgiving and the bonfire by the beach. The beautiful Victorian homes decorated for Christmas along with the shops on Main Street. A quiet old fashioned town that happens to have a beautiful beach. A beach that is as beautiful in winter as it is in summer. Just a diffent kind of beautiful.
Then comes the dead of winter. Snow falling and winter nesting. This is when I do my projects to get ready for spring and summer at the inn. Paint touchups, linen updating. Recipe collecting. But before you know it, it's March.
March is the season of anticipation. Excitement building for the busy season ahead. Restaurants painting outside, inns sprucing up outside. Deposits coming in along with reservations. Everyone talking about gas prices...will they really effect business this year? What about the economy? But still you come. And we are so grateful.
Spring and summer arrive and the hustle and bustle begins. The bands start playing on the outside decks. The boats are in the water. The water taxi starts running again. The horns are honking with impatient beach goers.
Ahh, life is good!!!!

quiet time

Not much quiet time around here, but I captured a couple of moments of solitude.
Now back to preparing my peach pancake......

What Should I Read?

I love to read, and most times I settle into bed with a good book. The inn has been so busy this summer that I settle into bed, pick up a book, and read one page and then.....zzzzzzzz
It's so frustrating. I have piles of "to reads" everywhere, but the little pile in the kitchen is the one that is calling to me.

So, which one do YOU think?
Nora Ephron....."I Feel Bad About My Neck"......so what I'm feeling lately
Mary Kay Andrews......Summer Rental.....nice light reading
and of course....the famous....infamous.....E.L. James......Fifty Shades of Grey

Musings.....

We have a couple of guest rooms on the third floor. One of our returning guests always referred to one of the rooms as the "tree house" because it literally is up on the trees. The house is tall so it is really high up. There's a Japanese Maple right outside the little windows, and it's always called to me. A candelabra would be really cute, but for obvious reasons I don't want anyone burning candles up there. Especially in a tree with this drought.
So yesterday it finally hit me

It looks so cute, and I also added some wind chimes.
Summer is flying by and we've been really busy. I'm so happy to be trying some new recipes. This morning I made the blueberry bread recipe from Folk Magazine. It is delicious and so easy! Wonderful with a nice cup of coffee.

Working on a new website for inn also. Can't wait till it's up and running. I'm going to have a "things for sale" page, too. Very excited.
How's your summer going?

I Got a Little Carried Away

I had a guest call me a few days before he was to arrive. He asked if I would put a bouquet of daisies in his room so that they would be there when he and his girlfried arrived.
So yesterday after I finished up with breakfast, I went to a local florist and gift store called Muellers. Here's what I got:

a cute handpainted barrel for my Nantucket Suite....they have a little greenhouse with old stuff. I always find something in there

Mary Englebright pillow

summer reading for my guests

A Midsummer Night's Dream miniature book

Teacup Wind Chimes
And, of course.........

A beautiful bouquet of daisies.....

Potting Shed Sale

I've been so busy here at the inn. This year has an energy that I haven't felt in a few years.
The Jersey shore is booming. Restaurants are busy, new shops are going in all the time and it seems people are out and about. Let's all pray it lasts.
I had my Potting Shed sale last week, and for the first time having it, I believe it was a success.
Here's some pics for you.....
















Jane's Flora Doora's were a big seller!

Welcome to My New Blog

I hope any followers I might have had have found me here. I felt the need to start with a clean slate and begin this new blog.
I don't really know why, but it just felt right. I guess I was feeling that my blog was not taking me in the direction I wanted to go. I felt off course a little and didn't know how to get back on track without starting fresh. Or maybe it's just that I'm revamping a lot of things right now. I'm in the process of getting a new website, too. I'm dabbling in facebook a little and hope to get better at that.
As I've told anyone who will listen, I really would rather be cleaning toilets here at the inn, than being on a computer all day. One of the reasons I do what I do is because I hate paperwork and administrative work. I am a physical doer. I love to decorate, garden, clean-anything that does not require sitting at a desk. Yet more and more that is what I seem to be doing. Innkeeping like everything else these days has changed. It seems it is so tied into social media and the computer that there is no escape. Up till now I have resisted. But I find now that it is impossible if I want to go forward and grow my business.
I started blogging as a hobby. I visited many of you and got inspired by all of your talents. I wanted to take pictures and share them with all of you. I have been a "decorator" practically all of my life. Always on a budget, I found ways to make thrift finds work in my home, and became quite good at it. It has become my passion and innkeeping seemed a natural way to tie everything together. It still works in that way. People young and old come to the inn and marvel at all the details that encompass the inn and really define it.
So I guess in conclusion I will say I hope you stick with me on this new attempt at a blog.
It will be a little different in the sense that it will be about the business end of things as well as the decorating and fun side of owning the inn. I am going to make every attempt to post once a week, hopefully on the same day. I felt I really let some loyal followers down by leaving you flat with my last blog. I promise to visit all of you and comment, but it will probably only be once a week. I find if I try to do more than that it becomes too overwhelming. Again, there is a lot to do around here, and I just don't want to be sitting at this desk all day!

p.s. still tweeking, and have to add some things such as my favorite blogs, etc.