Something you used to do and now don't?

[wendydk]

Used to do chocolates in all rooms, used to provide a free bottle of local wine to all guests of at least two nights, used to have a bowl of fresh fruit in the dining room, used to have sodas as well as bottled water in the guest fridge (now just water)...guests did not care about all that other stuff, and don't miss it now that it's gone.

 

[ginocat]

Bed and Breakfast. Only 3 more guests and I'm done. Sold and gone.

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Bed and Breakfast. Only 3 more guests and I'm done. Sold and gone.

Good for you!! Enjoy your new lease on life! You'll stay in touch, won't you?
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For sure I'll stop by and see what you are all up to!!!

 

[IronGate]

Thank-you all for your good wishes! I am certainly 'up' for something new as is my husband. If I were a little younger I might even consider Khartoum for a bit. Well ... one never knows! My dear Gino is 18 and may have a few good years left. He's only lived here so I know it will be a big transition for the poor wee guy.Well he is certainly with us until the end!.

Oh yes, it will be a big transition for him. He is an inside cat isn't he? If so, that won't be too bad. Mine were both and I had to keep them inside for 6 weeks so they would get used to the new surroundings. But they adapted fine.
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No, he goes outside. We won't be able to let him out in the city. Vancouver has a very big coyote problem and it's just not safe for him. Well, we hope he'll adapt or maybe I can have a big dog cage that could go outside so he could lay in the sun. That's about all he does is lay about but he certainly gets annoyed if he can't go out. I think he just enjoys watching us open and close doors for him.

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When I had an indoor cat, I would take him outside occasionally and had a small harness with leash. It worked very well. You can put the small harness on your cat for just a few minutes at a time to get him used to it. Mine took to it really well and would get excited when he saw the harness. Yippee....play time outside. I didn't have to take hold the leash most of the time, but if it looked like he was going to try to climb something, I could take hold of it so he didn't get into trouble.
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Our Daisy (1/2 Maine Coon) loves her harness. I attach it to the leash and then a small dog extenda-leash and when she sees it she gets so excited I have a hard time getting her "saddled-up".
The year before last, when we first got her, I'm ironing when I feel something dropped on my foot. It's the harness. "I'm sorry Daisy, I have to get this done first". Then I feel the leash dropped on my foot. "I'm sorry Daisy I have to get this done first". Then I hear a THUD and a scrape, scrape scrape as she finds, retrieves and drags the the extenda-leash thing towards me before finally picking it up and dropping it on my toe. "OK - you're right, we could both do with a break - let's go".
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Sidetrack on the sidetrack
This video showed up in my email today. The story is supposed to be that the homeowners couldn't figure out the cause of an excessive water bill
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I don't even have to open the link to know the video ... it's great. Just to be annoying and extend the side track (sorry GinoCat - you know I love you - and that you'll probably appreciate this).
We have a water cooler in our OQ. There was always a small puddle of water on the floor and DH and I spent months griping at each other - each accusing the other of not putting the bottle in correctly UNTIL we noticed Daisy trying to figure out how to work the spigot. It was funny until she finally figured it out and I caught her holding it down, watching the bottle empty (with all those safisfying "glugs and bubbles" and her personal paddling pool getting bigger.
She was immensely pleased with herself.
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I don't even have to open the link to know the video ... it's great. Just to be annoying and extend the side track (sorry GinoCat - you know I love you - and that you'll probably appreciate this).
We have a water cooler in our OQ. There was always a small puddle of water on the floor and DH and I spent months griping at each other - each accusing the other of not putting the bottle in correctly UNTIL we noticed Daisy trying to figure out how to work the spigot. It was funny until she finally figured it out and I caught her holding it down, watching the bottle empty (with all those safisfying "glugs and bubbles" and her personal paddling pool getting bigger.
She was immensely pleased with herself.

Thanks for posting the story! This laugh will last all week -- maybe longer!

 

[Samster]

Bed and Breakfast. Only 3 more guests and I'm done. Sold and gone.

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Bed and Breakfast. Only 3 more guests and I'm done. Sold and gone.

YIPPEE! ENJOY YOUR NEW LIFE!
(I sent off gross sales to the realtor for an interested party in FLA today...I want to write what you wrote).

All the best Ginocat!
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I wish you luck with selling. I actually didn't sell as a bed and breakfast but private home. It's all good!!!
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CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!
Enjoy the next chapter of your life together.

 

[The Farmers Daughter]

On the oposite side of this topic, I would like to state what I do now that I NEVER did in the past.
I am so careful (paranoid) in my efforts to avoid bed bugs, that now if I have a business traveler, someone coming from abroad or anyone coming in that has recently stayed in a hotel (yes, I ask)...I strip the room completely and wash everything. Pillow cases, shams, mattress pads, blankets, comforters EVERYTHING!
Of course I know this does not make me immune, but at least I feel proactive.
In the past, of course these things were laundered on a regular basis, but now I have become neurotic about it.
I tend to worry about stuff, as you may have noticed.

 

[Joey Camb]

On the oposite side of this topic, I would like to state what I do now that I NEVER did in the past.
I am so careful (paranoid) in my efforts to avoid bed bugs, that now if I have a business traveler, someone coming from abroad or anyone coming in that has recently stayed in a hotel (yes, I ask)...I strip the room completely and wash everything. Pillow cases, shams, mattress pads, blankets, comforters EVERYTHING!
Of course I know this does not make me immune, but at least I feel proactive.
In the past, of course these things were laundered on a regular basis, but now I have become neurotic about it.
I tend to worry about stuff, as you may have noticed.

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no one every got bed bugs from being too clean. We don't really have them here but from what I understand they are very difficult to get rid of once you have them Prevention is better than cure.

 

[Mini]

Ginocat
It is nice you live in Canada cause I know real estate is really moving there/up here especially in the west where you are.
All the best with your new adventure.

 

[Samster]

Get up super early.

 

[hawley]

I used to have cut flowers in each room from the yard, but no one commented, so now I don't. If I feel they will be appreciated, I will cut flowers for the dining room.
I used to have chocolates in the rooms. Again no thanks or comments, so now have a bowl of hard mints individual wrapped in the dining room.
I used to supply bottled water, but felt it was abused so now I don't. We have good city water.

 

[Morticia]

On the oposite side of this topic, I would like to state what I do now that I NEVER did in the past.
I am so careful (paranoid) in my efforts to avoid bed bugs, that now if I have a business traveler, someone coming from abroad or anyone coming in that has recently stayed in a hotel (yes, I ask)...I strip the room completely and wash everything. Pillow cases, shams, mattress pads, blankets, comforters EVERYTHING!
Of course I know this does not make me immune, but at least I feel proactive.
In the past, of course these things were laundered on a regular basis, but now I have become neurotic about it.
I tend to worry about stuff, as you may have noticed.

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Make sure you position your luggage racks away from the beds. If any beds are up against the wall, move them out. Get the fully encased mattress protectors and duct tape the zipper end closed. Do both the mattress & boxspring and protect the boxspring one from getting torn by cushioning the top edge of the 'feet' on the rails.
Bugs generally head for hiding immediately so do daily checks of the underside of your mattress & boxspring. If you have nightstands, ditto, check the undersides with a flashlight. You can also take the covers off the outlets and check in there too. Strip wallpaper and paint the rooms. Use white bedding, not patterns.
I'm not trying to feed your fears, just helping with places you can/should look and things you should do. Get an inspection a couple of times a year from someone trained to use dogs, which are apparently 90% effective, compared with much less than that for a human inspector.
Unless engorged, they are kind of clear, so not easy to find. (The bugs, not the inspectors or the dogs.

)
Now...the bugs can jump ship from one piece of luggage in a cargo hold to another. Ditto a rental car. So your guest could be coming in from IL on a plane, renting a car and any one of those things could mean trouble. Someone In NYC could have bought a piece of furniture, had it delivered and picked them up that way.
You are probably helping keep them at bay, but they can come from anyone, anytime. Not just the folks you are 'targeting'. High heat in the dryer is your friend. Don't bunch everything up, make sure there is lots of room for the heat to penetrate the fabrics. Check the lint trap after drying. Anything bug-like in there?

 

[Proud Texan]

Ironing pillowcases was something we stopped a few years ago. As Banana said, no one ever commented on it...Huge time saver and don't think anyone hasn't come back because their pillowcase wasn't ironed..

But don't you think that it's the details that provide the overall experience. They may not be aware of an ironed pillowcase, but dressing a room or plating a breakfast is like creating a piece of art. "God is in the details" It goes toward the overall ambiance of a room.