Happy 4th of July!

Wishing everyone a safe and happy 4th of July.  We salute those men and women who have fought to protect our freedom and independence.  After our barbeque – being a Vegetarian I’m having a Veggie Burger with corn and potato salad – we are headed for the Gorham 4th of July Celebration.  Carnival rides, games, and fireworks tonight it is a fun event for all – a wonderful small town celebration.   Daisy refused to wear the hat but she’s got her 4th of July on!

Daisy wishes you a Happy 4th!

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Hummingbird Rescue

Last week I was at a meeting at a friend’s inn when a guest of theirs came in and said a hummingbird was in the sun room.  The husband had gotten the poor little guy out of the window and he brought him outside.  I had read that to revive a hummer it should be given sugar water, so I got out the hummingbird food that my friend has to refill his feeder.  I went outside to where the little guy was, poured some in my hand then gently lifted the little fellow to try to get him to drink.  He took just a sip and that was it.  So, I placed him in my palm closer to the water – he started to sip from between my fingers like drinking from the feeder (it tickled!).  He drank a little then we moved him to the shade, put a feeder close by and then lifted him onto the feeder where he drank away!  Much to our delight he then flutter his wings and landed on, appropriately enough, a “Hummingbird Crossing” sign.  He then flew back to the feeder, drank again – then took off!  We cheered.

Now for years at the end of every summer – I try to entice these tiny birds to come close to me.  I take down some feeders and stand closer and closer to them as the birds get used to me.  Then I hold a feeder in my hand (I’ve seen videos of people doing this) but to no avail.  So this rescue was the first time I’ve ever held a Hummingbird – I was beside myself with joy!  I truly feel like I was given a wondrous gift!

Little male Hummingbird

Another summer is here!

It’s been a busy year – and I cannot believe it has been over a year since I’ve posted.  Another summer come and gone, another fall, ghost & goblin tour, snowy winter, maple season (we made 3 gallons of syrup this year!), and now it’s almost the 4th of July.  This past year has been filled with many wonderful guests both return and new.  I have the best job!  I have the honor of hosting delightful people from all over the world – Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Australia, the UK, France, South Africa, Japan, Canada, Brazil, and of course, fellow Americans.  My Dad & I just celebrated our 16th year of being Innkeepers.  Wow – how time flies!   How things have changed since 1999 too.  The Internet was just beginning to be the way people looked for places to visit back in 1999 – today we are using our phones to look at websites and book online.  Go figure!   I like to talk to my potential guests – why?, because I can make sure you are staying where you want to be.  I’ve guided folks who thought I was in British Columbia to the correct place, or those who really want to be in different section of the White Mountains to another Inn closer to where they want to be.  It keeps things personal and after all, isn’t that what staying at a Bed & Breakfast or Country Inn supposed to be?

I look forward to all the guests I will host this summer and upcoming fall – people from places far and near.  Helping them plan their day’s adventure, whether it be hiking, biking, kayaking, canoeing, rafting, fishing, zip-lining, going for a rolling dog sled ride, gondola ride, birdwatching, sightseeing, going to the top of Mt. Washington –

Hummingbird enjoying his breakfast!

or just relaxing on the porch with a good book or to watch the hummingbirds!  We offer a variety of packages to help you too.  Come on up and let me help you explore the White Mountains!

Is it maple sugar season YET????

This has been a strange winter! March has brought temps that we usually have in January! We generally tap our trees in early March but just tapped them this past weekend. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that temps rise above freezing during the day and below freezing at night but not so warm during the day that the trees start to bud. It’s quite the complicated process this maple sugaring.  At least we’ve tapped the trees.  It’s a waiting game now.

Maple Sugar Season is almost here!

Maple Sugar season is almost here – soon the temperatures will be above freezing during the day and below freezing at night and the sap will run!  Time to clean the maple buckets, spiles, covers, and collection containers.  Time to gather all our supplies and wait for the forecast to call for warming temps.  We’ll dig out paths to the maple trees and then dig out our “refrigeration” in the snow.  We try to utilize the natural refrigeration the snow provides to keep our sap cold until we have enough to start boiling.  The boiling is the “hard” part – it is just time consuming.  We boil on the stove since we are a small backyard operation.  We boil for 12 hours a day or so and then put the sap in the fridge until the next day when we boil again.  The reward is great though – dark rich maple syrup.  Dark maple syrup offers the strongest maple flavor and is my favorite – not just for cooking with but also to warm up and pour on pancakes or French toast.  Yum!

We try to have enough sap to start boiling before our March Maple Madness  on March 22nd.  This fun Inn-to-Inn event offers guests the opportunity to visit the historic inns of BBInnsMWV while sampling maple treats savory and sweet.

Maple Sugaring at the Mt. Washington B & B

What to do on a Spring-Like day!

Mt. Washington Bed & Breakfast

What a gorgeous few days we’ve had! Yesterday was sunny and around 50 degrees here in the White Mountains. Today is just as beautiful – wow! My guests cross country skied yesterday at Great Glen Trails at the base of Mt. Washington in Pinkham Notch. Today they’ve headed over to Bear Notch Skiing in Bartlett. Me – I went out to snowshoe. I like to snowshoe on my property and check out who has left prints in the snow. I’ve seen fox prints, coyote prints, turkey trails, bobcat trails, and lots of trails by the smaller critters in the area. The bobcat trails are the most fascinating to me – I have never seen a bobcat on my property but see plenty of evidence that they are here. I would love to see one and snap a photo but they are shy and elusive cats.
I started out dressed warmly with a polartec jacket, windbreaker, and gloves. Ditched the windbreaker and gloves in a very short time. It is just gorgeous out here! Today I saw turkey, and a cat and possible fox tracks. No bobcat tracks. The sky is bright blue and there are some clouds but not many. I snowshoed around the Western side of the property and into the wood, then came back into the house for water and lighter clothing. Then back out I went and walked along the Eastern side of the property. The turkey tracks were all over the property and what I believe are kitty tracks.

Turkey tracks by the Pear tree

SnowCoach Tour

Guests are headed up to tree line on the Mt. Washington Auto Road’s SnowCoach today.  They won tickets from me by being the first guests to reserve for the Valentine’s/Presidents Weekend.  I thought of tagging along as I have another ticket but it is Co-old up there today!  I looked at the Mt. Washington Observatory’s website – <a href=”http://www.mwobs.com”>www.mwobs.com</a> – to see what the weather was like.  Brrrrr – 69 plus mile an hour winds, making the wind chill about 30 below zero F.  Don’t get me wrong – I like adventure but that’s just a little too cold for me and my Canon Digital camera.  The poor thing would freeze on me and then I’d freeze waiting for it to thaw to take photos.  I live up here and can go on a warmer day (and I really need to find my long johns!).  I will find out when they come back if they went up or decided it would be too cold and windy for them too.  They are much more adventurous than I am – they come up every fall to hike Mt. Washington and take a different route every year.  I provided some Chocolate Amaretto Fudge to help fortify them!</p>