Retire those paint trends. Gotta love Martha Stewart! She is such a shoot-from-the hip kinda gal! Her emails, I’m sure she thinks we are close friends, seem to pop up daily in my inbox. When I have time, I click on those and read her latest advice. I have always been a big fan of magazines and TV programs like Martha’s. I was told a long time ago to pay attention to those resources, after all, Martha has a huge team of writers, photographers, advisors, designers and graphic artists to put together a very high quality product. We used to set the VCR (stop laughing) to record Martha when her daytime show was on during working hours. Then on a Sunday afternoon when we needed to rest, we’d watch a couple of episodes and virtually travel, cook, decorate and learn from Mother Martha and her amazing team. She was a resource, a travel agent, antique advisor and essentially the neighbor lady who had all the answers. How to trim a shrub or flowering plant correctly, how to repair a quilt, bake perfect muffins or make place cards for Thanksgiving dinner. I admit it, 90% of that was useless information for me at the time, but very entertaining. She made housework, projects and gardening entertaining! Bravo! It’s amazing what we pull up from a memory to make our homes. I recently gave a lecture to some ladies and found myself admitting “one of the great joys in life and a great responsibility is to create our homes”. For ourselves, our children and to welcome friends and guests. Many, many things I filed away from Martha’s shows I now use at Castle La Crosse. As I think about the layout of a room, I consider traffic flow and atmosphere. That is a word I find I now use almost everyday. As I move into the world of becoming a lifestyle brand and writing the next chapter of our lives here, I remember how Martha was so comfortable as she chatted with us. I do my best to lend a calming, comfortable and welcoming air to our home for the guests. Today Martha sent me an article about five paint color trends that need to retire, maybe you got that too. Whew, I passed the test, we don’t have any rooms with those glaring mistakes that need to fade away. Here is a link, see for yourself: https://www.marthastewart.com/8299271/outdated-paint-color-trends?did=871502-20221113&utm_campaign=msl-November_relationship-builder&utm_source=marthastewart.com&utm_medium=email&utm_content=111322&cid=871502&mid=101838384486&lctg=193306708
Next up, the importance of travel and getting out of your comfort zones! I think one of the great opportunities we have in the US is travel. We are heading to the central US soon, just to explore incredibly beautiful Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri…for starters! We have many guests on their way to see as many of our National Parks as possible, but don’t forget those State Parks, too! Some State parks would love to get National Park status, but that doesn’t seem to be happening. I listen to our guests and their stories about parks, campgrounds, hikes, waterfalls and trails they have seen. Then I get the travel bug and that bug grows till I am shouting “gas up the car” and tossing my things in a suitcase. You should too! Go, explore, stay with us on your way to or from and tell us about what you have seen! My podcasts will start on YouTube early next year and I plan to talk about all these things! I am really enjoying the process of gathering information, learning the technology and gadgets that are needed to film correctly, testing the microphone and getting started! I think it will be fun, entertaining and educational. Thank you Martha for blazing that trail for us to follow. I’m sure she’s reading my blog posts!
Project update, I didn’t forget. Well, the weather changed suddenly and I have been doing inside things. I watched several YouTube videos and searched online for the best way to paint a piece of furniture. We have a king size bed that has always looked a little shabby to me, so I have been painting it….a lot! I decided it needed to be red, don’t ask me why. Then yellow, again… Now it’s dark slate color, just this side of black. It’s got good lines, so I keep at it. Plus, it’s not a great piece of furniture, so it is really just my test project. It will find a home somewhere in the Castle when finished.
Safe travels my friends, stay warm, eat well
Billy
