Bellhaven Resort

Wouldn't you know, just when I was really getting back in to blogging, my computer went all wonky on me!  I would have trouble with start-up and if it did start it would shut down with out warning or reason.  So my dear husband got online and ordered a new on for me.  He was able to get the same operating system I had (Windows 7) on the old one.  I'm happy about that since he's griped ALOT about Windows 8!  It's enough of a chore to get everything back on a new laptop without learning a
new OS.

Rainbow over Clear Lake

Since we will be leaving our current job in just about a month, I thought it was about time I tell you about it!

Bellhaven Resort is located in Kelseyville, California on the shores of Clear Lake.  It is about 2 hours north of San Francisco.  It consists of 6 cottages owned by 5 different people.  We are the caretakers and our motorhome is parked on the property with a great view of the lake from our front windshield.  We watch over the property and maintain the grounds.  We receive a monthly stipend for the "normal" work and extra pay for cleaning the cottages and special jobs. 

View of 2 of the cottages

We arrived October 1st and met with the summer caretakers and one of the owners.  They gave us a general "lay of the land" and left us to it.  This has turned out to be a great job!  We pretty much do what we want, when we want.  If the grass needs mowed, branches picked up, irrigation system repaired or turkeys chased of the property, that's what we do as needed.  Between the two of us, we are paid to do 120 hours a month.  That's only about 3 hours a day each.

Sunset

Fall kept us pretty busy with leaf raking and I was busy cutting back the massive vinca beds.  We've had very few of the cottages rented, but that is common for the off season.  I guess summer is a whole other ball game!  I suspect we will be busy with guests during April.  Glenn has rebuilt a couple of the picnic tables this spring and I stay busy with trimming (still).  It is not uncommon for us to fill all 11 of the big 90 gallon trash totes with leaves and trimmings each week.

It's been a great area for bird watching and we also have our share of wildlife.


Deer  by rec center

Nice, fat turkey!

It's been a challenge to keep the deer, turkeys and ducks out of the landscaping. I had to stop filling one bird feeder when we realized a skunk was visiting each evening to eat the dropped bird seed! Since it was right beside the motorhome, we certainly didn't want to startle the skunk if we needed to leave the motorhome!

 

View from dock towards cottages

Glenn fishing

One of the big attractions of this job was being on the lake.  Clear Lake is one of the top bass fishing lakes and Glenn does love to fish!  The downside is California charges an arm and a leg for an out of state fishing license.  Glenn had decided to wait until the first of the year to get one (CA goes by the calendar year), but Jeremy and Michele surprised him with the license for his Christmas gift.  Unfortunately, I don't have any fish pictures to post yet.   The water has been cold and Glenn is still learning what these fish like.  He's anxious to catch one because it is not uncommon to pull 7 or 8 pounders out of this lake!  That's a whole lot bigger than he is used to catching in Ohio!

I hope you've enjoyed this little overview of our latest "workamping" adventure.  Now I will take a break and nibble on the ooey, gooey pull-apart bread I just pulled out of the oven!

March Birthdays

We have several birthdays during the month of March (including mine!). I wanted to share the cards I made to send to my loved ones.

 This first one I made for my son, Trevor.  I use CTMH Victory paper pack (retired), assorted CTMH cardstock scraps, a wood grain embossing folder and cut the truck and sign from the Cricut cartridge "Outdoor Man".

 

This card was for my daughter-in-law, Michele.  She love peacocks!  I used CTMH Footloose paper pack (retired) and the peacock (hand cut) was from D1438 Circle of Love, a retired stamp set.  I punched the border and added a cardstock background under it.  You really can't see it here, but I added Prisma Glitter (Z134) and Sparkles from the Blue & Green Assortment (Z1327)  The card base was our Diecut Cards (Z1473).

 

 

Sorry this is sideways.  I couldn't get it turned around.  Any suggestions?  Anyway, this card was for my grandson, Austin.  It also uses the Victory paper pack. The fish plaque was all cut from "Outdoor Man" Cricut cartridge and the "Happy Birthday"  was cut from Outdoor Denim cardstock using CTMH Artiste Cricut Cartridge 1790). 



 

If you need more info on these cards, feel free to let me know.  Enjoy!

Celebrate with me!

Last week I celebrated my "plenty-ninth" birthday!   It was a great day and I want to share!  I want to give YOU a birthday present from me.  Here's how it will work -

Prior to March 28, place an order for $25.00 or more (before shipping and tax) on my website http://marcieronken.ctmh.com  Your order will be sent immediately, my gift will be sent at the close of the gathering.

You must "join" the online gathering "Marcie's Birthday' (you'll find it on the first page).

I will then send you a surprise gift.  It will be a new item: an ink pad, stamp set, embellishments, who knows?  That's the surprise!

Don't forget to check the "While Supplies Last" section!  Always a good deal there.

I can schedule an online gathering for you, too.  You will qualify for hostess gifts ($150 minimum gathering) just like a gathering at your home and you don't even need to clean house!  Just contact me and we'll "Git 'er done"!

Lakeview Park

Hi!  It's me - the world's worst blogger!  LOL  It's been WAY too long since my last post, but in reality, I blog all the time.  It's just in my head and it never seems to make it to the computer. It's not that I'm not on the computer (Facebook, Pinterest, Candy Crush, all those great time wasters), I just never seem to make it to Blogger.  Anywhooo....I'll try once again to post more regularly.  We have some great travels planned in the near future and I would love to share them with you!

 

It was a gorgeous spring day (even though spring hasn't "officially" arrived yet) so Glenn suggested a picnic lunch at a nearby county park.  Lakeview Park is on the shores of Clear Lake.  It's a beautiful park and they don't charge an entrance fee like the state parks do.  I made some tuna salad, packed a couple of drinks, camera, binoculars, bird book and my Kindle.  Glenn grabbed his fishing pole and off we went.  You can't beat this view!

After eating our lunch, Glenn did some fishing or should I say "casting"?  He's still learning what the fish like here.  A gentleman came over to talk to him and it was a writer for the local newspaper.  He writes an outdoor column twice a week.  He gave Glenn a couple of tips, but it didn't result in any bites.  I'm excited to be able to post a picture of him with his first catch in California.  The lures they use here are as big as the fish we are used to catching in Ohio!

 

While Glenn was fishing, I was on the lookout for birds.  Nothing new for my life list today, but I did see Tree Swallows, Buffleheads, Canada Geese, Sage Wren, Yellow-rumped Warbler and American Coots.  When I wasn't watching the birds, I was soaking up the sun and reading.

 

We headed back to Bellhaven (our current work place, I promise to post more about that later).  I spent a little time cleaning windows in one of the cottages, then finished up cooking our evening meal - crockpot pork roast, mashed potatoes, gravy and peas.  It was delicious!