Updates from Oyster Haven

My husband and I have been busy getting projects done at our Oyster Haven house, making sure that it's ready for its June 1 VRBO opening.  I've been painting, cleaning, shopping for kitchen items and various knickknacks, and decorating; he's been building things out of wood, clearing the beach of debris, hauling trash to the dump, shopping for outdoor furniture and water sports equipment, spreading a floor leveler in a basement room so that he can lay down some new laminate flooring...um, wow--when I see it in writing, I realize he's been working a lot harder than I have!  But what's new?  He's my hero and he always does the heavy lifting.  (Plus I have a very bad cold, probably a sinus infection...and the sun has been in my eyes, and I tripped on a rock...yadda yadda yadda.)

It has been beautiful here for the past few days.  Here's a recent photo of our view from the back of the house.

Isn't it glorious?  Whenever the water sparkled like this, my mother-in-law used to say that there were diamonds on the lake.  That's a perfect way to describe it.

Last night, as we were sitting in the hot tub after a long, tiring day, taking in this spectacular view (my guy had a scotch on the rocks, I had a coffee loaded up with cream and sugar), we decided that we would get up early today and take our new canoe out for its maiden voyage--as long as the lake was calm and glass-like.

Well, if you live in the Northeast, you know that the weather is about as fickle as a teenage girl.  As the old adage goes, if you're bored with the weather, just wait five minutes and it'll change.

So I woke up this morning, all excited about our planned canoe ride...and I looked out the window and saw big fat snowflakes falling.  That's right: it's April 26, and it's snowing.  As I sit here writing this blog post, the view from the kitchen window is gloomy and gray.  And did I mention that it's SNOWING?!

So the canoe ride will have to be put on hold, at least for another day.

I'm so excited that we'll be able to offer our guests the use of not only a canoe, but two kayaks and a stand-up paddle board.  Before too long, we'll be having a new dock put in.  We've picked out a nice  dining set for the deck and some Adirondack chairs for the yard.  Soon, we'll also be purchasing some comfortable patio furniture, so that people can relax around the outdoor fire pit.  Hopefully, by opening day there will no longer be the threat of snow and guests can enjoy plenty of outdoor sports and activities.  (Even here in upsate NY, winter does not extend into June!!)

While I was figuring out the décor for Oyster Haven, I decided to shamelessly use one of its walls to promote my two Catholic novels, Finding Grace and Erin's Ring.  Check out this framed piece of artwork in the front hall, which doubles as a marketing tool.

Actually, as another way to promote these novels, for the past two months I was running a giveaway on Goodreads.  It ended last night at midnight, and I've received the names of the winners.  I was thrilled to see how many people participated!  592 entered to win one of two signed copies of Finding Grace; and 753 entered to win one of two signed copies of Erin's Ring.  

But back to this little slice of heaven called Oyster Haven.

One of my sisters-in-law, who also has a VRBO home here on the lake (and whom we are using as our guide and mentor as we navigate the tricky waters of the business), says that we have to try to distance ourselves emotionally from our property.  If we feel too much like it's "ours," it will be hard for us to let anyone else use it. 

If only it was that easy!  Every time I spend a few days in this house, I grow more attached!

As we soaked in the hot tub last night, my husband and I talked mostly about how excited we were that our whole brood is going to be spending a week here with us in August--including the son stationed in Germany, who will be taking some leave.  Sometimes when I think of letting other people use our heavenly lakeside retreat, I'm a little jelly of the time they're going to get to spend here.  Unfortunately, however, we must rent this house out in order to be able to afford to own it; in a perfect world, we could use it whenever our little old hearts desired!

But as retirement approaches, we are trying to figure out where we belong: here, where we have roots--where we grew up, met, and fell in love; or in NH, where we raised our five boys--in the house where we've lived for the past quarter of a century?

In the meantime, we're just hoping that plenty of people stumble upon our VRBO listing and decide to spend their summer vacation at Oyster Haven.  We think they'll love it as much as we do.