Progress on the Snook and a new bed in the Tarpon

It appears we have correctly named the Snook Cottage.  Chris saw a snook in the water outside the cottage 2 weekends ago, and again this past weekend.  Seems they like hanging out around their namesake.

This weekend we painted the cottage.  We knocked out all of the main room with just the baseboards and some touch ups left.  The closets and the bathroom will need to be painted too but no hurry on those.

Initially we had though about painting the top half of the walls navy blue and then putting up white beadboard or board and batten on the bottom half.  However, when we got into the cottage again we saw that we had forgotten there was already a dark wood chair rail going through the cottage.  That, in addition to the adjacent creamy white beadboard cabinets made us change plans and go with this instead.  Plus, any art work we put up top will look better against the vanilla color vs the navy blue.

Sorry for the pictures being so dark, I was in a hurry and just used auto settings.

It's hard to tell here, but we painted the kitchen walls floor to ceiling in the navy blue.

We need to add a matching chair rail to the far wall.  That wall used to be french doors leading into the gallery.

  

We also made some more progress in changing out fixtures from brass/silver to oil rubbed bronze. 

Next up: continue to furnish, repair TV, figure out shower, countertops, backsplash, repair or replace microwave, finish paint....no small tasks.

Also this weekend we moved a daybed into the front/2nd bedroom of the Tarpon, and moved out the futon.  We think this will be a huge improvement to anyone utilizing the 2nd bedroom.  We've had a few people who needed the 2nd bedroom turn us down because they didn't want to sleep on the futon.  While we thought it was comfortable, we don't blame them at all, and think this is a much more comfortable solution.  The bed has a pop up trundle that with a king size mattress pad/cover will be a comfy king bed for a second couple, or can remain 2 separate twin beds for kids or adults who do not wish to share a bed. 

T-shirts for sale!

Wow.  Just like most everything else we've done, these shirts were a loooooong time coming.  First to decide on and order, and then getting them up online.  But, they are here and they are spectactular.  Well that might be an overstatement, but they're pretty cool.

The men's shirt is this American Apparel shirt.  It could be the most comfortable t-shirt in the world.  Everyone who has worn one says so.  The seafood shop across the street uses them for their t-shirts so we copied them after realizing how wonderful a shirt it is.

The women's shirt is this Next Level shirt.  I decided on this t-shirt after buying one at a concert and falling in love with the deep v and the fitted, long length.  It's also super soft.

Existing quantities are pretty limited - you can buy one through our physical store, our online "shop" page, or just email me!

We Have Liftoff!

AKA "lift(s)-in"

It happened to coordinate that the boat lifts went in right around the time that our full time tenant moved, vacating the "Snook" cottage.  We were out of town when this happened, so we got to see everything all at once and after the fact, missing the installation of the lifts and the moving of our tenant. 

So, we had a lot to do this past weekend!!  The lifts are not hooked up to electricity yet (or weren't this weekend) so there wasn't much to do there other than admire them and visualize how they will look filled with a couple of boats. 

The Snook cottage on the other hand....we had our hands full with that.  We cleaned for a collective 12 hours on Saturday; dusting, cleaning windows, kitchen cabinets, the bathroom, the wood floors, etc.  It was an exhausting day but well worth the effort as the place is going to look amazing. 

Saturday was cleaning day; Sunday was "start to get organized and furnish" day.  I switched out the kitchen knobs that were dated and broken for some cool oil rubbed bronze ones; a fixture color that we will repeat throughout the rest of the cottage.  We bought a few other fixtures that will be installed (kitchen faucet, bathroom faucet, etc) and some paint samples to try out.  I had also bought a dish set at Goodwill, and a new set of silverware I bought online a while back, so those got washed and put in cabinets.

We brought in a couch we had bought from some friends who recently redecorated, and a coffee table that was a freebie from other friends redecorating.  In addition to those, we have a huge set of outdoor pillows and chairs that we have yet to bring out that were from some of the same friends and THEIR friends.  We are so grateful for our friends giving us these amazing hand me downs!  Lucky us.

So; this weekend will probably entail hanging some chairs we bought a few months ago (that were just waiting for this perfect spot), possibly picking a color and beginning to paint, playing with the hopefully hooked up boat lifts, and enjoying this view.

Future endeavors for this cottage include switching the washer/dryer spot for the shower area (the shower is currently next to the kitchen, outside the bathroom, and the w/d is inside the bathroom).  We are hoping that they will switch up without too much trouble.  Also need to choose and install a new countertop and backsplash in the kitchen, and shop for the rest of the furniture we need.

I will keep posting pictures and details as things progress!

Oh and we already have this cottage booked for the month of February 2014 and we haven't even advertised it yet.  In fact, the only vacancies we have in all 3 cottages for
January - March 2014 is

Jan 1-14 in the Redfish and the months of January and March in this Snook cottage.  So if you are reading this and you think you want to book a stay for winter 2014,
better call/email asap!

Resurrection

We're ready to start posting again!  Yay!  Let's celebrate!!!

In the past year we've been so busy adapting to being business owners on top of working full time outside jobs.  We've spent countless hours on the road driving back and forth from Tampa to Matlacha, and for me (Linda), hours packing and unpacking a suitcase evey weekend (I specify "me" because it takes Chris about 3 seconds to pack, plus he comes from work so he doesn't do the food/drink/dog/laptop, etc. packing).  We've been doing monthly tax reports, CRAZY maintenance we've never had to do before (we own an underwater drill if that's any indication), rental agreements, VRBO listings, etc. etc.  It's been a huge adjustment and this blog just sort of fell to the wayside when these mundane things took over from the earlier excitement of establishing the cottages and boutique for business.  BUT we have some really exciting changes coming up so look for these updates coming very, very soon:

1.  Adding two boat lifts and a small additional dock/walkway

2.  Getting the Snook cottage ready for rent

3.  Expanding the Tarpon cottage into the existing "dining room", giving it a water view from inside 

4.  Getting a small flats boat to better accommodate the fishing in the immediate area

5.  Possibly adding a pontoon boat as a pseudo floating dock to aid in kayak/SUP entry/exit

We had hoped to expand the dock square footage and add a floating dock, but were told by the county that our dock square footage was officially maxed out.  But the main thing was just getting a lift so that we can keep our boat on site and not at the marina, and that is planned to begin in just a few weeks. 

So until we can share more of the ongoing projects, here is our last year in dog pictures!!!!!

I love putting my camera on self picture mode and taking pictures of them in the back seat while we're driving (just to clarify - while Chris drives and I ride).  They spend about half of the drive nuzzling and licking us.  It's so sweet.  The rest of the time they spend sleeping on top of each other.  Sometimes Fisher will sit on Tiki's head.  Good times.

Doggin' it

Wow, so apparently it's been so long since we've had a blog post that I couldn't even remember how to make one.  There's a whole new format.  Whoops. 

So, aside from not having much of interest to post, things were just really busy this winter/spring.  That's a good thing!  Our 2 cottages, the Redfish and the Tarpon, were booked solid in February and March, and had a decent smattering of reservations in Dec, Jan, and April.  May is looking about the same.  We also have 6 weeks booked already for Winter 2013! 

The boutique has had a steady stream of business.  Not quite to the extent that our tenant had hoped for, but between the economy, the bridge construction, and just being a new business, it's not doing too badly. 

Now that we can actually stay in our own cottages on the weekends here and there, we've been doing little improvements to the outdoor areas.  Cleaning up the landscaped areas, adding mulch, painting some decor to brighten up, adding some items of interest, etc.  We hadn't focused much on the outside until recently, but having the time and motivation to get to work out there is really making everything look so great!

Next up will be painting the docks.  Not sure if it's just age/wear and tear or our two (yes, two) dogs running around that is making the paint come off....but it's time to give it a new coat.

So speaking of the newest Yellowdog, meet Fisher.  We got him at 9 weeks old.  He is Tiki's half brother (they have the same father), and just as beautiful and smart and sweet as the original Yellowdog.  Here are some pics taken on 4/8 and 4/22.