Fresh Bread!

One of the biggest challenges I've had is to have good, fresh bread for breakfast.  I love bread!  Nearly everyone does; it makes the meal.  There is nothing like the smell of baking bread to make a house a home.

Fresh Bread at Oft's Bed & Breakfast

When we first opened our Bed & Breakfast we bought fresh bread from a local bakery; well, a bakery 10 miles away.  It was expensive, time consuming and wasteful.  You see our business is sporadic.  We would buy a $5-$8 loaf of bread for 2 or possibly 4 guests and then have the rest of the loaf go stale or eat it ourselves.  (I gained about 10 pounds!).  Freezing the remaining portion just didn't cut it either.

During one of our trips back to Colorado, we stayed with old friends.  They had a stack of old "Mother Earth News" and started leafing through them.  One article caught my eye; "Impress your friends with the bread formula: 13, 3, 3, and 6."   I was curious and found it was a recipe for wet dough bread.  It was 13 cups of flour, 3 TBLS of yeast, 3 TBLS of salt and 6 cups of water.  This makes enough dough to make four loafs of bread.  The neat thing is you can store the dough in your refrigerator up to two weeks and bake it as you need it.  Fresh bread whenever you need it.  Problem solved. 

I've modified the recipe somewhat; using half whole wheat flour.  I have also found some small bread pans that are perfect for 4 people.  We've had lots of complements, especially when guest check in. "OH, what is that wonderful odor coming from the kitchen?"  "That is your breakfast bread!"   

Guests Bearing Gifts!

We meet the most interesting people.  During the past few weeks we have been extremely busy hosting guests for the College World Series and the Olympic Swim Trials.  These guest were normally early risers and would return late; spending little time in our home as they focus on the activities of their respective events.   However, we did have a couple from the Dominican Republic stay with us. 


We received an e-mail from Danilo requesting a room and information on the sites to see in and around Omaha.  He was swimming in the Master's Swim Meet and after the meet they were going to take a few days to see the sites.  In our correspondence, he asked if we liked ground or coffee beans.  Beans of course (daaa!). 

Lilianna and Danilo

He and Lilianna arrived and handed me two pounds of Santa Dominican coffee.  He told me; and I agreed, that would be saved for our own personal use.  

They were a lovely couple and we spend several enjoyable breakfasts learning about each other's countries.  Both Danilo and Lilianna worked in an exclusive resort in their country (Casa de Campo) and they showed us gorgeous photographs of the resort.  In turn we directed them to local sites, vineyards and museums which they enjoyed.  They invited us to come to their country where they offered to show us around.  Who knows!!   

We have a beautiful state; however, I never dreamt that someone from an exclusive Caribbean resort would be vacationing in our neighborhood.  Neat!  
  

BACK SIDEWALK DONE!!!

There is always something to fix or repair when you have a century old home.  One project that I've been putting off is fixing the back porch stoop.  The concrete had settled next to the house about 10 inches so everything tilted toward the house and created a BIG step.  When it rained or snow melted, the water would run under the porch. 

The hardest part of getting something done is simply getting started; to commit to the task at hand.   Well I worried and thought about how I was going to brake up that old 100 year old concrete slab.  Did great granddad use steel or rebar?  Was I going to simply create a bigger problem or what? 

When the weather cooled, I grabbed the sledge hammer, got down on my knees (bad back!) and let go.  To my amazement, it started to crack, right where I wanted it to.  It broke up in manageable sized pieces.  I sorted out the large from the small.  The large stuff got hauled out to the farm and the smaller pieces were set aside for fill. 

Back Porch of Oft's Bed & Breakfast

I priced delivered concrete and ready-mix along with the tools and mixer I would need if I did the job myself.  I found it would cost a little more doing it myself because of the cost of a mixer but I would have it for future work which would be a big saver.   I have several sidewalk panels that need replacement.


I checked reviews on mixers and got a good one at Lowes for about $300 and started hauling bags of ready-mix.  I staked out the form and added the old, broken-up concrete where I needed.   I was getting started when Larry Witt drove up, parked and got out with his working clothes on.  He saw what I was doing and stopped by and offered his assistance.  He is a professional concrete man!   Well, I started to mix concrete and it started to run uphill to the project.  

Gordon Mueller mixing concrete

Larry handled the 'mud' at the project sight; shoveling, packing and smoothing.  I had split up the project into three sections.  I figured this would allow me to get a better idea of how many quick-crete (80lbs) sacks I would need.  I didn't want to run short; that is something you don't want to do when pouring concrete.  Anyway, I had hauled two loads of 80 lb sacks; a total of 24.  Just about a ton of ready-mix. 

Larry Witt: the Master at work!

We just kept mixing and pouring and before I knew it one section was done and the second have done.  Larry thought we had enough to finish the second which make up about 80% of the project.  Sure enough, the 20 sack finished the two largest sections of the walk.  They were simply beautiful!

We had to let the concrete set a little before edging so we sat on the porch and enjoyed a cold brewski.  The edging then got done and we broomed the surface to make it a little rough so no one would slip on this new masterpiece.

I pulled the forms after the third day and laid the last little section which only took three and a half of the remaining four sacks.   I'm just as happy being lucky as smart!  I had nailed my estimate on the nose. 

Now with the afternoon temperatures hitting the high 90's; I am soooo happy this project is done.  Every day I go out and admire the project.   As I think about it; the worry about getting started was worse than the physical work itself.  Especially, when you have a good friend that jumped in to help.  Thanks Larry!

Busman's Holiday

Business has been really good; we had guests for over 3 weeks.  The College World Series, Olympic Swim Trials and the Master's Swim Trails have kept the washing machine, vacuum and stove busy.  This week we had a couple of cancellations that fell on July 4th so Linda and I thought we would go on a busman's holiday.   For those not familiar with the term; busman's holiday is a term started in England for someone who takes a vacation doing something similar to what they do for a living.   We went to another Bed & Breakfast for July 4th.

Argo Hotel, Crofton, NE

We met a charming inn keeper, her name was Sandy who owns and operates the Argo Hotel in Crofton, Nebraska.  Crofton is a small farming community located about 15 miles south of Yankton, South Dakota.  Sandy jokes that it was literally at the end of the line, because the railroad tracks actually ended here.  She bought the property in 1994 and did extensive renovations; ending up with a charming bed and breakfast (15 rooms!), steak house, bar and speak easy located in the basement.  

The property is a century old, being built in 1912 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.  She has been in operation for 18 years.  The Hotel was recently featured on the "Nebraska Stories."   In Sandie's interview she reported that the hotel was haunted in the basement where she occasionally heard the faint crying of a child before the renovated.  During construction, a baby's skeleton was found in the basement wall.  The remains were buried in the City Cemetery.  The baby's name and origin remains a mystery but since its burial the crying stopped.

Lobby of the Argo Hotel

 We arrived late in the afternoon and Sandy told us we should go to Yankton to see the fireworks.  We had planned to go anyway to check out the antique shops, there are several of them.  We did go and enjoyed shopping.  I bought 16 Louis L'Amour paperbacks for my collection and at dark we headed down to the river with the rest of the community.  They shot the fireworks over the river from the Nebraska side.  It was spectacular!

Fireworks over the Missouri River, Yankton, SD

The next morning we had a great breakfast of "one-eyed Jacks" and lounged around.  Linda went for a walk and I enjoyed my coffee and a Louis L'Amour classic.  We paid our bill and said our good-byes to Sandy for her wonderful hospitality.

Sandy and Linda

We are 'rediscovering' small town Nebraska so we headed to Niobrara; weaving through the country side.  Nebraska has some amazing history most notably starting with Lewis and Clark.  At Niobrara, we found a historical marker we followed in the country.  It seems half of these lead to nowhere but this one we found. 

 

  

We found this Mormon marker overlooking the Niobrara River close to where it entered the Missouri River.  Newel was born 4 years before Lewis and Clark's expedition and died and was buried at this spot 165 years ago.  Amazing!

Our drive then took us to the town of Verdigre, NE and we learned it is the "Kolache Capital of Nebraska."   The baker said the town recently celebrated it's 125th anniversary and the bakery sold 750 DOZEN Kolaches.  I simply had to try them; they were GOOD.  

Our drive took us to another historical marker we had seen several times before but never visited.  We drove about 2 miles off the highway and found the old pioneer cemetery of Dewitt out in the middle of the farmland.  It tells an amazing story for those who want to listen.  

It is an OLD Cemetery.  There are about 50 makers scattered and you can tell the cemetery has more graves but the markers have either been taken, fallen apart, or sank into the ground.   Those markers that remain, tell quite a story of infant death and young adult death, and wars mostly forgotten.  

Here is where "Little Nettie" lays, age 10 months.  She died in 1867.  A large number of the graves are of children.  Not all were children. 

 There was Benjamin Richards who died in 1877 at the age of 93.  He was born in 1784.  That is a long time ago!  And there was another grave that caught my eye, there were to metal markers along the stone.

Civil War Veteran

This gentleman was a member of Post 197 of the Grand Army of the Republic and served in the Civil War.  I found several other graves of Civil War veterans.  That added a special meaning to our July 4th celebration.  "Lest, we forget" goes far beyond the wars of this century.   Take care.