The Inn Keeper’s Diary

The Musician

Katie Sawicki  2011

Katie Sawicki and Emily Stanback first visited our home June of 2008.  Right after we got Winston the Pig.  The two girls were on a cross country musical journey. Not in a position to host a house concert that month, we  offered to let them stay in the B and B for two days in exchange for a  “mini” concert in our kitchen.  I told Katie about our annual music festival, and vowed to have her back some year to headline.  That was this past month.

You can check out Katie’s music here

The Call

5 :20 AM the phone rang.  Now nobody calls me @ 5:20 in the morning unless  someone  just died or is in jail,….so I picked up the phone.   Karen from Kum and Go  was on the phone.   A couple needed a place to crash.  They had been driving all night and could not find anything anywhere.  They’d left their home in Virginia   11 AM the day before.    They were on their way to pick up a quarter horse, so  they were pulling a 24 ft  horse trailer.    Wife and I talked briefly,  said, what the heck, the suite was open, just needed 30 minutes to tidy up…so I talked with Larry on the phone, gave him directions….30 minutes later,  he was backing the 24 fthorse trailer into our driveway.  Turns out he was a real life horse whisperer.

The knock

Two weeks ago, my brother-in-law went missing. Ended up filing a missing person’s report. Police caught up with him south of St Louis heading home.   The next night, he showed up @ our door.  Am not @ liberty to share any more details (this adventure is still unfolding), other than the fact he spent the first two nights on my bedroom floor….

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The word hospitality literally means “Lover of strangers”   I love that definition.    B and B’s come in all shapes and sizes.  Some of you reading this have experienced a visit to our place first hand, so tell me, how would you describe  a visit here?

It has been weeks and weeks since I’ve felt a “writing muse.”  Finally decided this morning to  just sit down and type.  It’s not that all of you don’t come to mind,  (I love the bantering that takes place on my blog)   but I refuse to write just for the sake of writing….too many other irons in the fire.

I told  my  recently found brother-in-law , I feel like the cook on a wagon train. I’ll whip you up something for breakfast, but after that, you’re on your own.  (Indians are  circling the wagons and I’m needed elsewhere)

Stay tuned….

Making hooch old school

Got the recipe for making jail house  hooch on Wednesday.

Brian and I were   talking about life behind bars….

As in what it’s like doing time in the Cook County Jail.

We got onto the topic of making jail house  hooch.

I love learning about stuff like that.

It’s not about getting a buzz  as much as discovering  how something works.

As Brian put it, “When you’re behind bars, you have a lot of time on your hands   This is just one more thing to do to break up  your  day.”

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Before my grandpa passed away,   John and I stopped by his  house  with a  tape recorder.

I  wanted to record him  retelling the stories I’d heard a hundred times growing up.

One of  my favorites was about his brother Manno making moonshine.

They had the still hidden in a hog feeder.

The day we taped him, I was in for a surprise.

Grandpa gave us the recipe 

“ You take a hundred pounds of sugar,  a bushel of Rye.  let it soak for a week.  Put it on the stove, bring it to a boil.  In  the lid you have a hole to let the steam out.  Attach  a coil of  tube to the hole .  Put the end of the tube in the jug.  That’s all there is to it.“

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When I think about  alcohol  (now) the first  thing  that comes to my mind  is “ Who is in Control?”

The booze or me?

There is nothing innately evil about alcohol itself.

It is what it is.

I probably have 3 or 4  servings of  alcohol   a years.

My struggles are  in other areas.

I don’t believe you have to completely abstain to be in good standing with The Almighty.

You live long enough and you discover,  alcohol has a mind of it’s own.

Just ask someone who’s addicted .

That’s why  early in our marriage my wife and I  decided we would not   drink unless we were in the company of each other.

(Or immediate family).

Stopping @ the bar after work for a couple of beers is a great way to undermine your marriage.

If you really want to  be  radical,  next time you’re out with your friends   order  ice water with lemon

…or coffee (black)

It messes with people’s minds.

Besides,  alcohol makes me sleepy.

You’ll have to excuse me,

I need to  check on the still.   DM

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