Miss Beatrice Joins the Family

Apparently once bitten by the "bug" to own old things, the disease spreads and you start buying even more old things that need even more attention. Which led us to buy a 1974 VW Beetle Convertible. I know - it is just like our house, and about as old in "car years". But it is so cool!

When we bought the B&B we inherited a pool with the place. We didn't know what to do with the newfangled "cement pond" out back, but were pretty sure that the lovely emerald shade of the water was not right. Then we learned about Pool Dude. His real name was Dennis, but we dubbed him Pool Dude and it stuck. Pool Dude had a ruined voice that must have come from years of packs a day, but was delightful to listen to in a strained, will he make the end of the sentence or will it give out sort of way. Pool Dude helped us navigate the murky waters (literally) of pool ownership, to the point that now, years after his passing (will tell that story in another blog) we are able to spot algae bloom in its infancy.

All that to say, when we bought the VW for our daughter, we needed a "Bug Dude" to go with. That would be Tom. Tom is in Avilla, MO (pronounced "Aviya", because it annoys Jeanne when I say tortilla phonetically and I needed a way to extend that annoyance.) Bug Dude has not quite turned out to be the gem that Pool Dude was. He is a bit smoother, although just as crusty in his own way, and that smoothness makes us wonder.

It all leads to this: I am shopping for a timing light, tachometer, and dwell meter on Amazon because I have come to the conclusion that Bea (short for Beatrice, the name that was given the VW by Sarah upon purchase) needs to come under my direct maintenance, and no longer be a steady revenue stream for others. I anticipate making a purchase in the next 20 hours in order to qualify for free shipping to be here by Thursday! I love Amazon, although it can never replace Pool Dude, whom I miss terribly. I am planning to start missing Bug Dude soon, albeit voluntarily.

Beatrice is suffering from excess gas, I suspect. She does not idle smoothly, is a bit rough when first started, and gives off a rich odor of gasoline at idle. Unbecoming a lady of her years, and correctable, I hope.

What does all this have to do with inn keeping? A lot, I think. I love old muggle things, and love making them work as they once did. I hope to drive Bea in the Maple Leaf Parade one day, and will do so with pride. Provided, at least, that we can solve her little gas problem.

Visit us at http://www.grand-avenue.com/. We hope to post pics of Miss Bea soon.

Getting started...

Today we decided to make a commitment to start documenting the projects we do towards the renovation of our 1893 Queen Anne Victorian home/bed & breakfast. It's been an ongoing project for 12 years already, but we've never been very dedicated to keeping good records and before and after photos. My goal is to be able to post a photo of some progress we've made every few days, even if it's small progress! Today I really had fun because my 10 year old son and I decided to start polishing the brass door pulls and doorknobs in the front entry of the house. It's something I've been meaning to do for years, but I never seemed to get around to it. My son enjoys projects like this where you can work on it and really see some immediate results (and so do I!), and we were surprised to find that all the trim pieces were not brass, but were a mix of brass and copper! The photos were just taken with my phone, so the clarity probably won't be great, but we felt like we'd discovered a treasure! Have a look and enjoy what we found.