This was our first month without any guests!  We are still keeping busy finding all kinds of things to do and see around the area.  Our best wishes to you, whether you are sheltering at home, or providing essential services to the rest of us.   Let us know…what have you found to do?

1.  You probably know that I love to bake!  It is one of  my favorite things to do.  My problem now is that it is just for one.  So that presents a challenge. April, Liz and I have been trying to use up all the perishable items at the Inn.    My personal challenge for the past few weeks is to make one of my favorite foods…pizza.  I have tried several recipes for the crust…don’t have the perfect one yet.  Is this what social media calls “distractibaking” ?  As time goes on I will be moving on to breads…croissants…and all things sweet that I have been craving.
2. Every day, I have been making it a point to take a walk around the neighborhood.  Now that I have more time, the walks have been getting longer.  One of my favorite games as I walk, is to look at everyone’s yards.  Each day, I see how bulbs and trees get closer and closer to blooming.  Then,  I compare it with what is happening here and at my house.  Just today I saw my first tulips…and the magnolia trees are beautiful.  Because there is less traffic, I hear more and more birds, as well.
3. I am always so impressed when local businesses step up and do something without being asked.   Two of our local wineries, Five and 20 Wines and Distillery and Arundel Cellars  have figured out a way to use their facilities to manufacture hand sanitizer, and are getting it to the folks that really need it!  Kudos to them!
4. Along that same thread, our local restaurants have been seriously hurt by the state order to stop table service.  I try to order some of my meals just to keep them afloat, but was blown away by both the cheery greeting (through a mask, of course) when I picked up my meal…and then…a handwritten Thank You as well at the Skunk and Goat Tavern !  It is little things that make my day!
5. I have to admit, it has been a long time (I have owned Grape Arbor since 2002) since I have had Sunday mornings off.  I have cooked breakfast for guests just about every Sunday morning now for almost 18 years.  But I do love reading the Sunday paper and drinking a cup of coffee…and now I have been able to do that…except now I am ready to make breakfast again!  It is also difficult to get used to drinking a glass of wine alone in the evening.  It is apparently a Finnish tradition called kalsarikannit…or “pantsdrunk” ..the art of drinking in your underwear.  Not me!  I am wearing what my friend calls my “daytime pajamas!”

Hoping to see you all soon!  Keep healthy..and smile!