Camai B&B Happenings

Robins have flown

2009-07-18T17:24:00.000-07:00

It has been exactly one week since all the baby robins flew away. Before I went for my usual long Saturday walk, I checked their nest. All four were stuffed in the nest. I returned back to the B&B after two hours. They were all gone. Now we have a second empty nest.

My husband and I will probably remove this nest from our fuchsia hanging basket tomorrow. I am considering setting up a letter box on our Camai B&B property and using the two nests.

Walking

2009-07-06T21:40:00.000-07:00

I'm pleased that Craig and I walked the Mayor's Half-Marathon on June 20. Craig finished better than his previous half-marathon time by 30 minutes. I finished in the same time as my previous time last August; however, I had so much energy that I jogged the last half-mile.

Today, I downloaded my Nike+iPod and found out that I've now logged in more than 500 miles since using my Nike+iPod. I'm pretty proud of this accomplishment. The Nike store sucked me into buying a T-shirt for the Nike 500 mile club. I just may be wearing that shirt if you see me at Camai B&B or around Anchorage!

Peonies in bloom

2009-07-05T17:23:00.000-07:00

The peonies this year have been outstanding in their display of numerous and large flowers. I am not only enjoying them visually but also enjoying their fragrance. I remember the scent of peonies that were in my grandmother's backyard in Illinois. I was barely more than a toddler then.

Rose Suite (Antiques are "New")

2009-07-04T16:33:00.000-07:00

Just this past week we changed the furnishings of the Rose Suite to a beautiful walnut antique headboard and dresser. We also changed the art on the wall. These furnishings came to me via my grandmother. She used the furniture in the late 1890's in her home. I have her photos of some of the pieces she used.

After my grandmother's (Meta Pillsbury Dunbar) death, I inherited several pieces of her furniture. Some of it had been stored in her Illinois attic for such a long time that it was damaged. In Anchorage we are extremely fortunate to have a man who does repair and restoration beyond outstanding! He worked on this "new" furniture and has brought it back to its glory.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. More than that I want our guests to enjoy the quiet relaxed space.

Baby Robins at Camai B&B

2009-07-03T20:22:00.000-07:00

The eggs hatched and the babies are getting big enough to see over the edge of the nest! The babies are just furry mouths to be fed. B&B guests, young and old, are enjoying watching the birds.

Moose cow and calf vs. roses

2009-06-13T18:10:00.000-07:00

Much to yesterday's guests' delight, they were greeted by a cow and calf in the neighbor's yard. They took many pictures. I took none.

This morning at breakfast the guests told me that they were delayed getting into their room late last night because the moose were just hanging out in our backyard. They were eating the rose bushes. The guests also mentioned that the moose were just lounging in our front yard this morning. I went and looked. Sure enough! They were there. Still I took no pictures.

The picture is of one of our 15 roses bushes that we keep on our deck just so the moose cannot eat them.

2nd Robin's nest

2009-06-13T17:57:00.000-07:00

Today I watered the fuchsia hanging basket which has a robin's nest in it. Somewhat later a robin came and stayed. I took its picture. I also took a picture of another fuchsia hanging basket which is just to the right of the basket with the robin's nest. This is more excitement for me.

Two days ago I left home to do a long training walk of 11 miles. (My half marathon walk is in just one week from today.) When I returned home three of the four baby birds had flown away. The fourth flew away sometime yesterday. My feelings are akin to an empty nest feeling when our children left home for good. I wish I had been present when they left.

Oh, well, I'll get another chance to watch this new nest's birds hatch and eventually fly away.

Robins at Camai B&B

2009-06-10T10:26:00.000-07:00

The first robin's nest has four baby robins which appear to be just about ready for their fledgling flight. Yesterday one baby flew straight up bounced off the house's eve and landed back in the nest.

Today we saw another robin making a nest in one of our fuchsia's hanging baskets on our backyard garage. I water that basket daily so that the plant will live. Now I'm in a quandary about watering.

Garden at Camai B&B

2009-05-31T21:46:00.000-07:00

The weather has been so great for gardening this spring. I've got all twenty-three of my hanging baskets planted and hanging. They are beautiful and full of promise for increased beauty.

I had more than the usual dead perennials in the rock garden this spring. Almost all have been replanted. Certainly everything is doing well now. The picture shows the blown glass flowers that my son gave me for Mother's Day. I think they go very well in the rock garden.

Robin nesting

2009-05-13T11:21:00.000-07:00

This year we have a robin building its nest on top of our low pressure sodium light fixture on our building. I was slow in figuring this out and just thought that the dead plant material on our deck was stuff that we didn't get picked up when doing yard clean-up.

I am eager to watch this cycle of nature play out with eggs, baby birds and their first flight.

Last year we had a nest of dark-eyed junco. This nest was in our strawberry bed against the house.

Springtime at Camai B&B's gardens

2009-05-12T18:10:00.000-07:00

Wow! The weather has been fabulous! Yesterday we watered the lawn, and today it is turning green.

Craig purchased some pink delphiniums for our raised bed next to the garage. He was told that pink is a double recessive gene. Since we have no other delphiniums they will breed true. The promise of their beauty excites the gardener in me!

If you are staying with us this summer, please ask to see them. They will be right next to our plantings of canary vine.

Planning up-grades for Camai B&B

2009-05-08T14:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I met with my interior decorator to work on plans for changes to the bathrooms and kitchen.

In the fall I intend to change the furnishings in the Rose Suite to antiques which were in my grandmothers late 1890's home. I had the antique bed and dresser restored. The dresser has a marble top.

Going with the marble top, plans are being made to re-model the Rose Suite's bathroom. The counters will be changed to a marble-like surface; mirrors will be changed as will the fixtures.

When it is done this winter, it will have a different look to the bedroom and bath area.

There are also changes in the planning stages to remodel the Peony Suite's bathroom and have a granite counter as well as a different sink...perhaps a vessel sink.

The kitchen remodel is the biggest of the plans and I will be talking about that as time goes on.

Since we are fortunate to have guests throughout the summer, I plan to get all the remodel plans done as well as purchasing/obtaining the parts needed for the remodel done this summer. Come fall the actual tearing out and putting in new will happen.

Church Activities - Pioneer Home

2009-05-08T14:37:00.000-07:00

My congregation (St. Mark ELCA) partners with another Lutheran congregation and does a Lutheran Fellowship Hour on the first Thursday of each month. We do this in the dementia wing of the Anchorage Pioneer Home.

Last night's Fellowship Hour was on the theme of the Good Shepherd. I enjoy playing the hymns so everyone can sing. Last night we sang hymns, and our leader (Fran) encouraged each person there to tell what memories or reflections they had concerning shepherds.

At the close one of our congregation members (Doris) gave each person there a large hand-made cross which she fashioned using yarns, ribbons and artificial flowers. As she gave each person his or her wrapped gift of a cross, Doris said, "I made this with love for you." What power there was in that. Each resident showed true joy and let her know the exact spot where it would hang! One resident quickly left in her wheel chair, hung the cross, returned, and invited Doris to see what a great place she had for the cross.

It was a WOW moment!

Camai B&B's website & mobile site

2009-05-05T10:55:00.000-07:00

Acorn-IS designed my new website. I am pleased with the results it is bringing us. I have a superior bed and breakfast. Guests are finding our website on-line. While some are saying travel reservations are down, I attribute our bookings to this new site.

I am also pleased to have the only mobile site for an Alaskan bed and breakfast at this time.

Almost a month ago Acorn-IS very graciously surprised me with setting aside the mobile design cost as they tried to please me. I did not realize that designing mobile sites has very new and newly developing technology. Thank you Lisa and Mark (Acorn-IS) for your work.

Spring time means preparations

2009-05-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

We at Camai B&B are getting ready for summer with several changes to the bed and breakfast.

We are moving some of the furniture out of the common area to make a more spacious room for guests to relax. I have cleaned up a desk in the "tree house" area off the common area. It is now ready for guest use.

Later this week I will update the information books in each suite to reflect all the new DVD's Craig and I have purchased for guest use.

It is truly an exciting time of year full of promise for a great summer! I look forward to welcoming many visitors again this summer.

Spring is here!

2009-05-04T15:27:00.000-07:00

The weather has been positively summer-like with many days of warm sunshine. The snow is gone. The flower beds have been cleaned and I'm ready for the grass to green!

I must restrain myself from planting flowers. Temperatures could easily dip below freezing at night.

March walking

2009-03-20T22:58:00.000-07:00

The sun has been shining, our mountains are dazzlingly white with snow, and we have gotten outside to walk. It was very brisk when we walked outside last Sunday but certainly worth the views. We had just returned from being in Hawaii for one week. We walked every day while in Hawaii. I must say it was a cold wind here and caution against slipping was necessary.

It was good to get away from the cold, but we are glad to be back home in Anchorage.

January Walking

2009-01-31T20:22:00.000-08:00

I did it! This month I walked more than 60 miles. My goal was to walk 30 miles. As Craig says, "You're always far exceeding your goals." Apparently I can make my Nike walking information public with the icon below.

January Walking

2009-01-30T21:26:00.000-08:00

January has been a wonderful month for walking. The first week of this month Craig and I enjoyed walking in sunny Hawaii. Once we returned to Anchorage the weather made it impossible to walk outside. I enjoy walking the halls of University of Alaska Anchorage where I teach. The walking "course" from the business building to the library and back is 1 mile. On Saturdays my walking partner and I walk several miles. It's inside and a free walk!

After tomorrow I will have walked more than 60 miles for the month.

New website

2009-01-30T21:23:00.000-08:00

I hope that you are as pleased with the ease that you can find information on our new website. The professionals at Acorn-Internet Service produced the website I wanted. They are now designing a mobile friendly site for the B&B.

New website

2009-01-24T19:57:00.000-08:00

Finally the new website is "born!" There are still a few things to tweak but I am hopeful they will be done the first of this coming week. I am very pleased with the result but do not want to go through the process for awhile.

Green Happenings at Camai B&B

2009-01-22T22:54:00.000-08:00

In December we bought a Prius Hybrid. While I am finally getting used to driving it, I still take the city bus to my teaching job. It turns out that riding the People Mover is very easy and the walk to the bus stop in just far enough for some exercise.

New website

2009-01-22T22:46:00.000-08:00

It is a new year and still no new website. I continue to diligently supply all the information requested almost within hours of receiving the request. Acorn-IS and the many people working there tell me it is very close to being done. I am so frustrated that I am blogging about it.

If you decide to have a new website designed and marketed, I suggest you choose a smaller company. Acorn-IS did a great site for our Anchorage Alaska Bed and Breakfast Association. It was done without all the hassle I feel I'm going through. They have grown bureaucratic since then.

New website

2008-09-27T20:14:00.000-07:00

I started working with ACORN-Internet Service to create a new website for the bed and breakfast. Work is going well. Before this process, I never realized how much work there is to be done to create a new website worth having.

Yesterday we had a professional photographer come and take even more pictures of the bed and breakfast as well as pictures of us the lighter, newly revived Camai B&B hosts. (That is us, Craig and Caroline.)

My goal is to have the website up and running by December of this year.

Summer 2008

2008-09-27T20:07:00.000-07:00

It was a very busy summer at the bed and breakfast. We had many wonderful guests from all around the world including Australia and China, as well as Canada. While it was one of the colder summers on record we had beautiful flowers in our garden and yard.

This was the summer Craig and I trained for and walked a half-marathon. It was a first for both of us. We plan to continue our walking the Anchorage trails and enter the Mayor's Marathon next June; however, I will stick with the half-marathon.

I am proud to say that Craig has lost 40 lbs while I have also lost 40 lbs. It was all done through eating healthy and walking!