The Days Go By

Time always seems to get away from me before I get the next blog written. So here it’s over a week and I am just getting around to the next installment.

Labor Day weekend was beautiful but a little too hot and humid for me. When the weather gets like this, Bruce and I enjoy sitting on the porch with iced tea in the afternoon. In fact, here he is.

Our guests, on the other hand, were just loving it. The many of them were eating outside on the patio. We all know that these beautiful, warm days will not be with us much more. Especially in the evening hours, people just seemed to luxuriate on the patio before, during and after dinner.

Bruce wants me to put a commercial in this time and here it goes. For the past year we have been developing a Planned Unit Development (PUD) comprised of the cabins on the west side of the lodge. You can’t imagine all the hoops that are jumped through for this. At any rate we have finally completed all the legal requirements and fulfilled all the regulations.

Starting now we are offering 1/5th shares in several of our cabins. You buy it for life and pay a monthly maintenance/taxes/insurance fee. A 1/5’s share means that you get to use your home every fifth week throughout the year. We have a schedule of exactly which weeks this means for several years out. Two weeks each year are set aside for deep cleaning. If you are not using your week, the cabin goes into our regular rental pool with you getting a share of the cabin rental.

As you can imagine, there are lots of details to this project and lots of questions. Bruce, as a newly licensed realtor, is handling it all. You can e-mail him at bruce@gunflint.com. He is available by phone during the day at 218-388-2294 and at night at 218-388-0876.

Meanwhile, I am learning to work the front desk again. Last Saturday I learned to sell pop! What this actually means is learning how to put the sale into the computer. I am slowly coming up to speed on our computer system. Pretty soon I hope to be able to take a reservation. Almost any questions that guests and visitors ask, I can answer or at least make up an answer (who is going to question me?). These darn computers are another thing. Pretty soon I will have it down.

Another project is testing recipes for the Wine Dinner. This is Bunny Mills, our baker.

A little later today we will be making “Mediterranean Twists.” They may appear instead of crackers with the soup course. It is all a matter of testing until we get the right combination of tastes. Needless to say, we have lots of volunteers to be the testers!

Outside our windows, fall is definitely coming. The hot, humid temperatures moderated with rain last Tuesday. My garden is starting to die off but the tomatoes still need to ripen. They will probably finish turning to red in the garage. Garlic, green beans and pea pods are done. The last of the raspberries are in the freezer. We are starting to harvest a few potatoes and carrots for a meal but they need to stay in the ground and grow some more. The same is true of the eggplant and jalapeno peppers. Our zucchini, however, is growing huge. Besides the kitchen, all the neighbors have gotten their share.

I have made zucchini relish several times. One time was really a disaster. In the morning neighbors and I cut up the vegetables and set them to soak until evening. We went down to Trail Center for dinner. Upon coming home, I put the jars in the dishwasher to warm up. The vegetables were drained and washed. The sugar, vinegar and seasonings were added and everything was turned on. I went down to the office for just a few minutes to work on the blog and promptly and totally forgot about my cooking relish. Bruce discovered it smoking away. Not only was the relish and pan destroyed but the ceramic glass top of the stove was slightly melted. What a mess! For the next batch I sat in the kitchen during the entire cooking time.

Time to put on my staff shirt and go down to the lodge. It is going to be a quiet day but those are also good learning days.