I apologize for being so out of touch recently. Our webmaster and host’s server got hacked into by a malicious internet terrorist. It didn’t affect the integrity of our website, email or blog site, but hundreds of his clients were knocked offline for three days. This blog just came back up. You could be standing next to an internet terrorist at the grocery store, capable of affecting the thousands of small businesses–and you would never know that nerdy person was a terrorist. It was traumatic for Jeff and his crew who consulted with experts around the world to thwart the attack–and we were SAVED. These hackers must have nothing better to do than mess with small businesses reliant upon the internet for their livelihood. It’s sad and frightening.

But moving onto other subjects–the 4th of July is upon us! We are booked solid at the inn and cottage–and planning on lots of beachside fireworks and firecrackers. The Long Beach display is gorgeous on the 4th and then there are 28 miles of beach where guys load up their pick ups with a $zillion in personal fireworks and they are almost as big and spectacular as the Long Beach display. So it’s a colorful noisy commemoration of Independence Day. Definitely a testosterone-driven holiday! On the 5th of July, the Port of Ilwaco has a great fireworks display over the water. Our guests can dine at a couple of our favorite sports, The Port Bistro and Pelicano, and watch the show!

It’s been tough getting the gardens all planted this year because the weather was so cold so late. I’m still weeding, planting and mulching with little help this year. It still looks pretty out there. We have two of Bill’s five grandkids visiting from Honolulu and the other three are coming down for the day today so the cousins can all be together. Here’s a pic of the front deck outside the Dunes Suite and of the Honolulu kids, Kasey and Jordyn, yesterday at Ft. Clatsop’s Lewis and Clark National Park sitting in an old dugout canoe.

This is my favorite pastry recipe that my mother got from her mother, a career baker. When my brothers and I were kids and needed a real treat, Mom would whip up a batch of kolaches–we called them Apricot or Raspberry turnovers. The pastry recipe is so simple. You can use any kind of jam or preserve, but I love apricot! I have been asked for the recipe many times and finally photographed a plate of them today and have posted it on our website. I hope you love them as much as I do!
Jam Kolaches

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
3 oz. cream cheese at room temperature
1 1/4 cup flour
jam of your choice

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer or food processor until light and fluffy. Slowly mix in the flour. On a lightly floured cutting board, knead the mixture a few times until it holds together. You want to touch this dough as little as possible or it will be tough. Chill dough for 15 minutes and then roll it out and cut into 2″ rounds,around 1/4 inch thick. You can also cut into squares to make triangular pastries. Spoon 1/2 to 1 teaspoon jam onto each round or triangle and fold in half, carefully pinching the sides together to form a seal. Mix an egg yolk with a little water to make an egg wash and brush on the pastries. Bake for around 15 minutes or until tops are golden brown. (It is not unusual for the pastries to “leak” jam. Still tasetes wonderful! Immediately remove the kolaches to a cooling rack and dust with powdered sugar. Allow to cool a bit and serve warm. This recipe can be made in advance and kolaches may be frozen and used as needed. Bake a little longer if you are baking the kolaches from a frozen state!

It was not supposed to be a nice day at the beach. Well–we fooled the weatherman. It was quite beautiful. Last night’s sunset was hot pink and misty, unlike anything I had seen before and today was springy and lovely. We have a full house for the next few days which makes it great for us. I cleaned out my Long Beach city planter (all the planters are maintained by volunteers). There were a hundred tulip remnants from the brilliant red tulips this year. It looked like there had been a tulip party in the planter! Then I went to my favorite Peninsula nursery, the Basket Case (love the name) and bought many plants for the gardens and pots at Boreas and if I can part with any, I will re-plant the city planter. The garden is usually planted by now–but the weather has been so strange that nobody felt it was safe to plant until now. (See my blog with the tulips in the snow!)

If you’re in this business long enough, it is inevitable that you will fall in love with some of your guests.
It is also inevitable that considering the thousands of guests we have gracing our inn, that some will pass on.
In the last 14 months, this has happened to us twice.
Both these women died way before their “sell by” dates–one in her 40’s and one in her very early 60’s.
Too young!!
Fred and Margaret came to us 10 years ago. They walked in off the street on a busy August day, with the NO VACANCY sign hanging outside. “We want to stay here. Do you really have no vacancies?” they asked.

I had forgotten to take the NO VACANCY sign down that morning after clearing out part of a full house.
Yes, we had a room for Fred and Margaret.
Thank goodness. They stayed at Boreas for three nights and a long-standing friendship was begun.
We’ve met the kids–we know the family well. Fred and Margaret have come for “Kite Festivus” as Fred calls it, nearly every year.
We all fell in love.
Fred and Margaret started coming each Valentine’s Day for three nights. They met other guests here and would rendezvous with them for Valentine’s Day. Very sweet.
This Valentine’s Day, Fred had to cancel.
Margaret was ill; it sounded bad.
She was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer and it was just too late for treatment.
She was just too ill.
Margaret died Tuesday morning, the 20th of May at 7:15 in the morning.
Way too fast–we were hoping to get to Puyallup to say goodbye. So we are saying goodbye from Boreas.
Fred is coming back for “Kite Festivus” this August, by himself. He may be joined by his daughter, Sarah.
Our other guest, Odell, who lost his young wife, Linda, in April of 2007, comes back by himself.
Boreas is a good place to be by yourself. But Margaret and Linda will always be with us.
We don’t mean that in a trite way.
We truly hold them in our hearts.
Really getting to know and love our guests is what makes our lives rich.
We certainly aren’t doing this for the big bucks! We will miss, you Margaret, and promise to take good care of Fred.
If you can’t be with the one you loved, love the ones you’re with!
That’s us!

The Hawaiian Chieftain and The Lady Washington—
Originally uploaded by freeloosedirt

It is currently 83 degrees in Long Beach and these beautiful tall ships are moored at the Port of Ilwaco this weekend. You can take tours, go on an adventure cruise or just gaze at these majestic ships! Saturday Market along the waterfront has begun and there are more merchants than ever. We have transitioned from winter to summer in only a few days ‘time and we can’t complain. Come and visit!

Hi dear blog readers! I mentioned my brother Jeff’s new book being released next week, but already available on Amazon.com for pre=-ordering at $16.47. The proper name, that I blew the other day, is The Long Baby Boom: An Optimistic Vision for a Graying Generation by Jeff Goldsmith, Ph.D. A good book group selection! Sorry I don’t have a picture of Jeff for the blog!

Deer, Not In Headlights 3—
Originally uploaded by Bayou & Lach

I was told by my cousin Rosi that you can communicate with the creatures that love your garden as much as you do. So the other week,while there were seven deer in my garden, I went out to meet them and have a pow wow. I approached the largest doe and was within eight feet of her. I asked her if she wouldn’t mind dining in the dunes instead of on my garden’s tender sprouting bulbs. She tipped her head at me like I was crazy. She backed away and looked at me again as I tried to negotiate.

As the beautiful creatures meandered off, I decided to get out the garlic/rotten egg mixture that I spray on the garden to ward off critters. I usually get more on myself than the garden. I also went to the garden store and bought two salt blocks and some alfalfa and Bill put them out by the pet cemetery and off the path in the dunes. In those spots, guests can still view the deer, but hopefully they will be attracted to the salt and not the tender shoots and leaves in the gardens. It may be working….!!

Long time, no blog. I’m sorry about that! A very odd coincidence happened to me while I was away for a few days in Orlando for my “other” career passion, at the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers (GCM’s) Annual Meeting. My sweet Bill minded the store while I was gone! I’ve served on GCM’s national board, edited their quarterly newsletter for seven years and sat on the Western Regional Board as well.
I am invested in the organization and the ever-growing membership of now thousands of professionals whose shared passion is working in eldercare.

I started practicing care management in 1979 (I was just a child!) as a clinical social worker and trust officer at US Bank. I created the job with help from now US Senator Ron Wyden and my dad. and worked with special needs trust clients, mostly elderly or chronically disabled. There were four of us doing this unusual work in the country. After that, I owned two care management consulting firms using Masters level Social Workers (MSW’s) and RN’s as teams working with trusts and privately referred clients.
My license to practice psychotherapy (LCSW) requires annual continuing education hours, so seeing dear friends and colleagues from across the country and learning about advancements, new technology, medications, legal and estate planning updates, Alzheimer’s and dementia research and other tools of my other trade keeps me on my toes. It’s a good balance to the B&B business, which is care management in a different, more luxurious form! The news from the eldercare front is actually quite optimistic! Among the good news for aging baby boomers, is an Alzheimer’s vaccine in the pipeline, along with medications that will dissolve the amyloid plaque that forms in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, and new high tech ways to keep elders safely at home, always my top priority! It’s not a bad time to be getting old!

The coincidence was that my niece, Amy, who didn’t know I was in Orlando, called me on my cell and when she found out where I was, informed me that my brother Jeff was also in Orlando leading a weekend retreat for a large physician group. In fact, his hotel was within perhaps a half-mile of mine as the crow flies. Jeff (Goldsmith), is a nationally-known health care “futurist” who writes, lectures and consults with hospital and physician groups, technology firms and a variety of organizations about future trends, policies, technology, hospital and physician practices and all kinds of health-care related changes. His predictions have been right on the mark. He’s also a really witty speaker. i’ve seen him turn an audience indifferent and naive about his subject into fascinated listeners. It’s quite remarkable. He has a new book coming out next month for baby boomers called The Longest Boom (or something like that–I will have to get it right so I can promote it properly!). What are the odds that Jeff, from Charlottesville, VA and I would be in the same place at the same time? We spent a couple of hours together in Orlando. Nice!

These types of rather bizarre coincidences happen to me often. They also happen at the B&B with amazing regularity. I will blog about them sometime. These coincidences have taught us to never, ever say anything negative about anyone because it is a sure thing that a guest will know or be closely related to them! We insult no cities or towns because one of our guests will be from there, and the mayor is their dad. I conclude that it’s good to stay positive.

It’s also very good to be back home in this little slice of heaven. Orlando isn’t lovely (I’m not being negative, am I?) and my hotel was a big cement blob, albeit with nice rooms, with little relationship to the land and bland customer service. Very different from Boreas and our attitude–hopefully. But it was nice and warm in Florida! It’s finally spring time here–no more weird and unseasonal snow. The greens are gorgeous, we saw seven bald eagles yesterday, the gardens are popping up, the last clams of the season are being dug and the air at the beach feels fresh. Take care, everyone!

Bill and I awoke to an unusual sight for us in late April; it must be a record for late snow. The snowflakes were falling and the property was very white. Where the snow could penetrate the trees, there was a half inch. In the back garden the euclyptus tree and pine trees blocked the snow to create a beautiful green border and the patches of blue sky added to the wintery scene. It’s melting now and the temperature is 43. It’s way too late in the season for us to be very amused by the snow–but it did look pretty.

Welcome to Springtime in the Pacific Northwest!
Last weekend it was 78 degrees, this weekend it might snow. We’ve seen snowflakes today mixed with the hail, rain and sunshine.
It’s 38 degrees out and the wind is blowing. It’s a clam digging weekend, early morning clam tides.
It would be a rare sight to see people clamming in the snow at 6:30 a.m.
You can be sure I won’t be there!
We don’t attract many clamdiggers at the inn, which is fairly busy (one room is open) on this blustery, cold weekend; the fireplace is glowing in the living room and the featherbeds and down will be cozy and beckoning the guests after their great meals at The Depot, The Port Bistro and the 42nd Street Cafe!
This will be a good weekend for guests to eat, go to museums and sit by the fire.
Speaking of meals, we need to eat dinner!