Old Bridge Inn blog

Our foster child has left the Nest

2009-10-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

I took little foster kitten "Babyface Williams" or "Willy" to the shelter where I volunteer this mornng. He is a great little fella, the cutest kitten ever, and a healthy animal with a great personality. He came to me last Thursday, Oct. 2 via a guest who was watching a girls softball game down the street. A woman had came to game with the kitten in tow, looking to give the kitten away to someone at the game.
So, he landed at the B&B because our guest knew I would take kitty to the shelter where I volunteer, the Animal Protection Agency of Jeffersonville, Indiana, a no kill shelter. Kitty or Willy was left there this morning, playing with the other kittens when I left him, happy to be alive, among his own kind, with a full belly!

USS LST 325

2009-08-25T17:17:00.001-07:00

We may see a 90 degree day or two this August, but it was another great day today and most of this week! The USS LST 325 is docked here in Jeffersonville, IN below the Overlook on Spring Street. August 21-30 - LST-325 - A World War II troop landing ship has returned to Jeffersonville for a 10-day visit. It generally will be open to visitors from 9a.m. to 5p.m. but will remain open until 7p.m. Aug. 26. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 7-18 with special rates for groups. The LST-325 was at several battles in Italy and took part in the Normandy invasion in June 1944. On Dec. 28, 1944 the ship helped rescue more than 700 men from a troop transport that was torpedoed off the coast of France, according to the ship's history. Money raised helps the USS LST Ship Memorial Inc, the nonprofit organization that owns and maintains the ship to keep it operating. We have perfect weather to visit the ship or the Kentucky state fair.

And it continues.........

2009-08-18T18:26:00.000-07:00

Ahh, the greatest summer ever continues here in the Ohio Valley. Tomorrow the USS LST 325 arrives at the Jeffersonville waterfront, the Kentucky State Fair starts and the weather is still awesome. It is hot during the days, but the nights are cooler and it is just the greatest summer ever. I look around my gardens and the planters with the trailing sweet potato vines look so beautiful, I'll have to post some photos soon! Happy Gardening to all!

Greatest summer ever

2009-08-14T13:04:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I blogged. I have been busy enjoying the greatest summer I can remember during my lifetime! I hate the hot and humid July and August here in the Ohio Valley but this summer, 2009, we have had so little really hot days that one cannot complain. The gardens still look great because we have been blessed with lots of rain, not the usual drought that sets in after the 4Th of July and lingers till October.
Of course we have had extreme weather, 10 days ago we had over 6 inches of rainfall in less that 2 hours. Old Louisville, where I grew up, suffered the most from sewer back ups. Here in Jeffersonville, right across the river from downtown Louisville and about 10 minutes from Old Louisville, we had some roads to flood, but no real problems.
One new thing I have started to do is twitter. It is really easy to go into Twitter and jut say what is up with you that day. It is easier than blogging even! I just don't know who reads it, however. Oh well, trying to keep up with the social communications, or social media!

Derby 2009

2009-06-02T11:41:00.000-07:00

What a great Derby and what a great group of folks came this year! And in the tradition of Derby all the guests dressed up in their finery to go to the races.

2009-06-02T11:32:00.001-07:00

Spring has sprung and gone, but here are the pictures I wanted to get up of our beautiful minature flowering crab apple. We have been blessed here this year with a proper spring and by that I mean pleasant temperatures that are indictative of spring and not winter right into summer!

2009-04-17T11:37:00.000-07:00

Spring has sprung and it is time for Thunder Over Louisville, the nation's largest fireworks display and also the kickoff to the Kentucky Derby Festivities! We are very near the event and can even watch the fireworks from here, but it is best viewed from the river banks, which are just two blocks away. We are blessed to be full at the inn for this every year with most of the reservations staying from year to year. The descendants of Dr. Hancock and Nora Duffy also come for this and we have a wonderful time.

We have several room for the Kentucky Derby and are just 10 short minutes from Churchill Downs. We hope to fill up for that event as well, and are very grateful for all the business that comes our way.

Early Spring time

2009-03-05T07:27:00.000-08:00

Well today is the day I can start with the winter clean up in the garden.........I so look forward to readying the beds for the emerging daffodils! Spring is officially here in two weeks, March 8 we spring forward for the annual lose an hour, or daylight savings time.

The birds have been very busy out in the gardens, we have cardinals, mocking birds, mourning doves, robins and lots of wrens! The doves usually build nests over windows so we get to watch them raise their young. The mocking birds are funny to observe, they do a special little jig on the telephone wires and they are very territorial. The cardinals live in pairs and are always together as couples.

Guests are few at the inn right now, maybe this weekend's warm weather (70) degrees plus will bring them in. In the meantime, Happy Gardening.

I see Robins

2009-02-22T08:25:00.000-08:00

If you are a gardener like me, you are eagerly awaiting spring and the time when you ready your beds for planting a few new plants and enjoying all the existing plants throughout the seasons. Watching the birds that reside here on the property has given me hope that spring will arrive in it's normal fashion with the birth of many baby chicks.

We've been here for 10 years now and there are many plantings to enjoy, especially roses. Last year I planted 4 new roses and they are the old fashioned ones that look English plus the beautiful Peace roses. I prefer the David Austin roses when I can get them. My gardening style is formal with topiary to anchor or evergreens with a mix of herbs and perennials. Altogether I have 12 roses now and look forward to seeing how they fared the terrible ice storm.

I have also planted many trees, all of them evergreens except for the flowering crab apple. All of them are miniature trees, and do not get over 20 feet tall. We made the decision not to plant any towering trees on the property since, the first year we were here, we had to take out an old Mulberry tree that was splitting down the middle and threatening both buildings. When you have many electrical lines around, it is too hard to plant the towering trees and see them so harshly pruned by the various utility companies.

The weather is harsh here with cold winters and HOT summers. I have had a time with the evergreens and may go back to planting native trees only to ensure their survival. But in the meantime, I watch the Robins scurrying about the business of birds living in the inner city.

Valentine's Week at the Bed and Breakfast

2009-02-15T17:44:00.000-08:00

Hello,

What a wonderful week we have had at the inn despite the high winds! Every year the Farm Machinery Show is held during this time and we have the same folks come from Arthur, IA and stay all week with us. Then on the weekends we have the folks looking for the Valentine's specials and getaways.

Everyone has had a great time, including myself, because it is so much fun to meet folks and learn about them. Bed and Breakfast people are basically people people who enjoy meeting others at the breakfast table and enjoy the ambiance of an old house, it's decor, and the good breakfasts!

We are very fortunate here to get a lot of folks who have never stayed at a bed and breakfast before and we are so honored that they have chosen us to test the waters. This property lends itself very well to hosting guests as it has very thick walls for privacy and enough room for us to be separate from the guests. We also run this like a hotel but with an extra heaping of southern hospitality!

Have you tried a bed and breakfast and did you like it or not?

We are danged again

2009-02-12T11:41:00.000-08:00

Well we had wind gusts up to 75 mile per hour yesterday and once again many folks in the surrounding and the Louisville Metro area are without power. I am very fortunate not to have lost power at anytime during the past year. But I certainly feel for those who have lost power, it is a terrible thing not to be able to wash yourself, your clothes or have fresh food in the fridge. My heart goes out to all of them, and to businesses who lose income during times like this.

I personally feel folks should rally behind Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson who has asked LG&E to figure out a way to bury the lines. If power outages become a way of life for this area, something must be done and generators are #2 on the list.

As an innkeeper, power is a must for us and we would be devasted without it. What about you? What do you think and feel?

Another Power Outage?

2009-02-10T18:47:00.001-08:00

Everyone here is holding their breath because we could have more downed power lines due to heavy wind gusts and strong thunderstorms which have been predicted for our area. This is the result of recent warm air (60 and 70 degree) which melted the ice left by the ice storm of late January. Danged if you do, danged if you don't sort of sernerio.

Wintertime and the living ain't easy but still great

2009-02-07T17:37:00.000-08:00

Hello,

Well us folks here in the Metro Louisville area and Southern Indiana have mostly survived winter so far, including the great ice storm of 2009. Many were without power for over a week, and there are still just a few who are still without power, but the temperatures are at least bearable at 60 degrees.

Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson has asked the Louisville Gas and Electric Company to devise ways to bury the Louisville lines, after Louisville was without power during the great ice storm of 2009 and also on September 14, 2008 when Hurricane Ike hit the Midwest.

In the shadow of 2 recent power outages four months apart, many innkeepers are considering installing generators to their already expensive to operate homes/businesses so that they do not lose business during high demand times. When Ike hit here it was the PGA's Ryder Cup.

I would be interested in hearing from others on Mayor Abramson's ideas on burying the lines and the seemingly greater need to own generators.

Life in today's world

2009-02-04T13:23:00.000-08:00

Hello,

Life today is certainly a challenge from just staying warm to keeping up with the latest forums in technology on the internet. I live in Jeffersonville, Indiana, right across the Ohio River from Louisville, KY, where I grew up. I have lived on this side of the River since 1985. Not in my wildest dreams did I ever conjure up visions of life today on the super highway.

I moved to this old house in 1999,with my husband, in order to fulfill the dream of owning my own bed and breakfast and to help the struggling downtown merchants. The journey has been awesome with all the wonderful people I have met that have come to stay at the Old Bridge Inn. I was becoming lost in the world, losing faith in my fellow man, thinking that perhaps God had forsaken us all, that evil would take over the world. But upon opening the doors to the Bed and Breakfst, I discovered that there were still, indeed, good people upon the earth and they are the ones who go to bed and breakfast!

After getting the inn open, I immediately bought a computer, learned it as I went along and joined some of the online directories so folks could find us. Then through a good friend and fellow innkeeper who helped me build a website, I learned how to build websites and maintain them.

This winter has certainly been a trying one for folks in this area with the loss of power during some of the coldest tempertures in this decade, but this is a great community and we always prevail. Our home did not lose power and we are very grateful because little did we know that during the slowest time of year we would fill our rooms with good folks needing to stay warm.

Now, today, I am for the first time blogging! I would just like to say to everyone out there who is afraid of computers, email, blogging, etc. Don't be afraid. Come on in, the water is fine!