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!