Chantry Breezes B&B
Newsletter
Southampton, Ontario
May 2005
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Chantry Breezes B&B Newsletter Southampton, Ontario May 2005 |
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We have been busy getting ready for your summer
visits - spring cleaning rooms and doing all the other renovations and
up-grades we mention below and in our previous newsletter. Many of you
have booked already - only a few spaces are left on summer weekends, but
we still have room available during most weeks. Please let us know your
plans as soon as you can. We hate to disappoint our previous guests!
A few items are noted below to keep you up to date on the goings on in and around Southampton - and especially at Chantry Breezes! |
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The winter seemed particularly long at times, even though there was not a lot of snow this year. Don and I were looking at the Smith Suite and decided to spruce it up a little. We agreed that new baseboards would improve the look of the suite and so we began there. Of course, the doorframe trim needed to be upgraded a bit, too. And the window trim could be added, as well. Then we looked at one of the walls and wondered what was behind the drywall. After that was removed and we discovered the base of the chimney. No fireplace, I am afraid, but the wall then needed a few bags of concrete to patch up the old base. A few days project was starting into its fourth week. We needed to be creative around the base of the wall and Don found some nice river rock to install. We move around the furniture and put in wicker chairs and a few new lights. Then on to the other room. We replaced the headboards with fabric covered pieces and then more baseboards and trim. The decorators suggested more mirrors and I think we are almost done repainting. There has been a flurry of activity over the past few days. The backyard looks as if an over-zealous army of groundhogs tore it apart. We have a new power box and a trench for the plumbing and wiring and new garden lights being installed. (I think they will be done tomorrow, or by the weekend at the latest.) Then replace the bridge and the earth and put the plants we had to move back. They should be fine with a little TLC. The plan is to have a spoil-me bathroom and keep the rest of the cottage shabby chic. (The bubbler tub is sitting on the veranda in a box and we rescued the old sink that has been sitting in the garden – still needing one porcelain tap that I think we can find at Restoration Hardware.) We have had great fun scouring our favourite haunts for furniture and details for the decorating over the past year. We hope to be finished by the end of June. We already have most of the weekends booked by those of you cheering us on. (Those weekly e-mails and phone calls are encouraging!) The person who wants the attic done will have to wait!! I told Don he would need another wife if he wants to open that many rooms! Those of you who have stored bicycles in the garage will be aware of the mountain of stuff we have stored in both the garages. With our parents moving into assisted living, and the children accumulating things for apartments, and finding pieces for the cottage, the space just gets over loaded. Our former neighbours in Oakville have taken pity on us and volunteered for the Garage Sale Team. They will be helping us unload things we no longer need on May 21, at a great Chantry Breezes Garage Sale. We have been going through boxes and bags and sorting out furniture. Anne and Lorna are in charge, with Steve and Larry offering to help if they are plied with enough muffins and coffee.
The opening will be delayed until September, which will disappoint many of you, but the end result will be so exciting. Plan on a walk by the new building and look at the museum as you take the pathway around Fairy Lake. The orientation to the Lake is very picturesque. A new group of boat model enthusiasts is planning to sail there one evening a week, as long as they don’t bother the swans, so look for them, too. A wonderful program of lectures and workshops is planned and will be held in the Rotary Scout Hall on Grey Street. (Turn right at the hospital and look for the fourth building on the right, beside the Chantry Centre.) Check the offerings at the website: www.
Jenny &
Don Amy
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