Wow things really grow here!

We planted a garden a while back and I built a bunny gate for the garden so we could keep our veggies all to ourselves (well, we'll share with you when you come!)

Now the zucchini and squash have taken over! You can barely see the Japanese Maples in there anymore and I know that we have onions planted somewhere in there… Yikes!

You can no longer get to the bean vines from the gate, you have to either hop the fence at the other end or work from outside the garden and just kind of stretch your way in. Wow.

I've already harvested a couple of zucchini – which only have 20 calories per cup – and they're rather tasty! I can't wait until the tomatoes, squash, beans and eggplants are ready to harvest!

Whohoo!

So, as you may or may not know, we're in the middle of our 'soft launch'.

That means that we get to see friends and family for an afternoon, share a meal and then pretend that they're paying customers until the next morning.

This lets us hone our skills and learn what we need to know about our hospitality and the room.

(It turns out that I've never actually shaved or brushed my teeth in the SCR and didn't realize that there wasn't a shelf to put anything on… hmmm. Yup – that's been fixed!)

Last night we hosted our first couple that we didn't already know beforehand. Michael and Susan are from TO and are in town to explore our neck of the woods.

They arrived last night (while I was making sure that this is the best Bayfest ever in Sarnia!) Sherry made us all Eggs Benedict and Sweet Potato Hash Browns for breakfast (yuuuuummmmmy!). We had a wonderful chat (even though we talked about politics for several minutes – Susan just ran away… smart gal!) After that they headed off to catch the ferry to Pelee Island.

Looks like the weather will be perfect for our Toronto-based couple and perfect for Country Weekend at Bayfest.

Whohoo!

It's amazing what a difference a coat of paint makes!

I was able to prime and paint the tub in one afternoon because our farm is pretty much as hot as the surface of the sun.

I could watch the paint dry as I was applying it (the steam went up from the paint and it was pretty much dry to the touch!) I let it cure for an hour or so and I put the black coat on. It was pretty quick.

The paint took really nicely to the bare metal and it made the tub shine.

I did a little reading on the web about what to do with the inside and all of the sites (except the guys advertising the DIY products) said that you should let a professional strip the original and redo the white lining.

So I took a look at the inside of the tub and I'm thinking that we might be able to re-condition the ceramic coating on the inside and just clean it to within an inch of its life.

I know that it won't be New and Shiny but at least it'll be clean and very period looking (100+ years old like the house!) and cleaning it won't cost us $1000 like having the pros come in and do it would.

I'll keep you posted.