Election Day

Well, election day is finally here. Those of us on Orr's and Bailey Island vote at this cute little building....the Old Orr's Island Schoolhouse. Every year, the same folks work at the polls (a job my Mom used to love to do). Over 1000 of the 4000 registered voters in Harpswell voted early. A friend of mine processed the absentee votes yesterday. Unfortunately, she does not know the results! Well, we should know most of the results tonight or tomorrow--we hope!

We have been closed for 8 days, survived Hurricane Sandy, and are now braced for a nor'easter this week. My thoughts and prayers go to all of the folks in the devastated areas that suffered so from the recent hurricane. We were very fortunate here in Maine.

We have started to make our "winter repair list" for the Inn. It is quite a list....it is every year. Should keep Matt and Aimee busy! My other son, Adam will be working on it also. It is a good thing we are seasonal so we can keep up with all the repairs!

I hope you all got out to vote, and know that at least some of us will be happy with the results! Stay safe, happy and healthy! Sue

End of another great season!

So, I am sitting here in my little office at the Inn and no one is around. Shelves are bare, rooms are stripped, outdoor furniture is put away, all the frigs are off. The water is still hooked up, which is a good thing as you can see in the above picture, there is a ton of laundry at the end of the year! Aimee did load after load yesterday, but by 3pm, we were all ready to quit! So, I am doing some last loads right now.  As many of you know, I do not like the Inn to close. But, this year, as Hurricane Sandy is hitting the east coast, I am glad. I do not think we will be affected as much as many other states, but you never know. And I worry constantly about our guests when we are open during a storm. It is just starting to rain and the wind is picking up (my roses and dahlias are swaying in the wind).

The media sure is warning people to try to stay safe.  I sure hope that is the case! We will post pictures after the fact on our Facebook page so you can see how Bailey Island made out. I am sending good vibes to all of our extended Log Cabin family and friends that you will all be okay.

Well, it was a super year here at the Inn. We were extremely busy. And next year looks like it will be as well.....we have many reservations already. Give us a call anytime to reserve for next year.

My thanks to all and wishes that the storm does not do harm to any of you. Sue

Really....it just can't be.

   Many, many years ago now all of us would have a Countdown going. The Countdown til the day  we closed for the season. Having the Restaurant was so much more stressful than having the Inn ( for me anyway). By this time of year we were all ready to close the doors and say good bye til April.  Today I am thinking this just can't be the last Sunday I will  think about What is for Brekfast or how many rooms are checking out, or is anyone eating Dinner, did I lock the door, do we have enough desserts? What I will miss the most are my good friends I work with at the Inn and the room guests that have become family. We follow their life from year to year and they follow us. Like the sweet young couple that are staying now that came on their Honeymoon 2 years ago,  now they are  here again for the week and she is pregnant, already asking to come back with the baby.  Also to the family spending the weekend with us celebrating their Moms 90th Birthday. To all our great friends we will think of you many, many times until we see you again. Which by the way we are 30 % full for next year so if you have your favorite room here at the Log Cabin don't let someone else take your spot.

Matt and Aimee will do their usual Winter maintenance while I spend 3 months in Florida and wait til all the hard work  is done and come back.  Sue of course will be monitoring the phone and the credit card machine!!!     Sue will also continue to do the Blog and will hack in every once in awhile from Florida.

Here are a few pictures of pumpkins from the Festival in Damriscotta. They had over 25 pumpkins each one better than the next.

Happy and Healthy to all... Alicia

Changing of the Hottub!

So, a few weeks ago, Matt said to me that we would need to replace the hottub on the Mt. Washington deck this year. So, we called the tub people, ordered one, and it arrived this week (pic #1). Then, the challenge began......it needed a new electrical connection (no problem as Neal is an electrical contractor)......then we had to get the old one off the deck and the new one on it....and we are full!!!  So, we hired this crane company, rewired the connection, and as soon as the folks checked out this morning, Matt drained the old one, and the crane arrived!!  Within 30 minutes that crane operator had the old one off and on a trailer in the driveway, and the new one up on the deck!  It was amazing!!! Now, hopefully everything will work!

Poor Matt has had a busy week with the maintenance issues here.  For those of you who do not know, he does all the plumbing, carpentry, painting etc, etc, etc. Yesterday he had to replace a door that someone put their hand through (not sure exactly how that happened). Last night he had to replace a thermostat on a heater. This place sure is job security for Matt. Build a large wooden building on top of Bailey Island that gets the weather from all sides with no protection......then fill the 9 rooms for 7 months to almost 100% occupancy, and you have repairs after repairs. Not only is Matt the only "guy" here on the staff, he is talented! (Must take after his Mom.)

Anyhow, it has been a busy day and a busy month, and a busy season. We are down to our last 2 weeks of the season, and I am sure Matt is ready for a break (and to go hunting).  For me, the end of the season is bittersweet.....as I love this place so much.

So, if you did not make it to visit us this year....call us for next year1 Sue

Catch and Release

  Aimee and I were cleaning the Harpswell Room when she yelled over to me " I need some Help."
I hurried over to find her in the downstairs bathroom hanging out with a Chickadee. The bird some how, like one of us left the door open, flew into the room and now Aimee had it trapped in there so we were not chasing it all over the room.  While we were trying to woon it off the shelf the little guy just keep flying farther away. Aimee finally popped the screen out of the window and I went around the other side and did a Chickadee mating call, whatever that is. Soon enough the young bird flew away and Aimee and I could get on with business. I thought we should take a picture of us having a beer like the Baileys and Coffee but back to work we went.
The outdoor temperature doesn't feel like July but inside the Inn it feels like July. This week we have had about a Dozen guests that come in July and have decided to add a Fall Trip to Bailey Island. It is great seeing them for an extra visit  and they get to experience Maine and get a different feel for Fall Foliage.
The Room guests have been raving about the William Wegman Exhibit at Bowdoin College. He has a photography display of his Weimaraners  dogs and a short movie to go with it. Everyone has said the movie is so funny and the exhibit is great, plus it is free. The exhibit will be at the College until October 21. 
We do have some openings the last week of October so don't miss out on some last minute leaf peeping, it will be months until you can get a great Breakfast or Dinner from us. One guest is just checking out and said " I will see you in 252 more days". I guess he is counting.


Happy Holiday Weekend ---Alicia

Computer crash

I know, I know.....the title of this blog has nothing to do with this picture. Let me explain......our computer program that we have entered over 5000 reservations on for the past 15 years "ate itself" (that is the computer experts term). We had pushed it past its limit. This is good and bad. The good? We entered so many guests and reservations that it could not hold them all.....the bad?  Well,  I will spend the next months entering every ones info into a new program. And, we do not like the new program as well as the old (isn't that always the way?).  So, I have entered all of September and October of this year.....and I started on 2013.....when I decided it was boring and went out to take a picture of our "red" garden.....which is spectacular right now!!

So, bottom line (as my husband would say)....is that this September we were 96% full.....October we are already 65% full....and next year we are 27% full already!! Yes, that is good....unless you are the person typing all of that info into the new program. Actually, I am not complaining. I like to type!

 So, for past guests who are used to getting our promo discount postcard, that will not be happening this year. I cannot type fast enough. With any luck, I will get everything entered so we can send a
Holiday card (no guarantees). We shall see.

Last weekend, and this weekend, we have had wedding parties staying with us. Last weekend the weather was iffy.....this weekend it is drizzly and cold. Hopefully the wedding will be great regardless.

Well, I have a big birthday this week.  I could actually collect Social  Security! I guess that means I am officially "old".....but I sure do not feel it!   (You are suppose to say I do not look it right now.)

Ok, type, or pick flowers......what do you think? Sue

Fall

  Wow... Summer is gone and the calender is right. Tomorrow is the first day of Fall and the temperature certainly is matching the calender. We haven't had a frost yet but the temps this week did dip down to 47 at night. Some Towns in land did get frost.  Matt turned off the heater in the pool today which is also a sign that Summer is over. At least we do not have to cover the pool at night anymore. My sign that Fall is here is Apple Picking. I even bought a new apple peeler from LL Bean this year and got my chance to use it this week.  Terrence and I went to the usual Rocky Ridge Farm. If you are here this Fall it is a fun place to go to. They have a store that serves everything from cider and whoopie pies to homemade donuts. They have horse drawn rides through the Orchard and a huge field where you can pick out a pumpkin. I made Apple Pie and homemade Apple Sauce at the Inn this week.

Another sure sign of Fall is the changing of the foliage. Along the Coast we haven't had much color yet but that is about to change. The Pro's say this is going to be a stellar year for the foliage. The Bureau of Tourism has a website where you can view when each area of the State should be at peak foliage www.mainetourism.com

I have been to two new Restaurants in Brunswick for lunch lately and they were both very good. One is called LemonGrass which is at the top of Maine Street near the College and the other one is called Tao and is DownTown near the Post Office.

The Inn is still very busy but come visit us in October, we still have some consecutive night openings.

All the Best....Alicia