Happy Pride 2009 !!

Vancouver Pride culminates this weekend with the parade on Sunday, August 2nd. Since changing the parade route last year to include a portion of Vancouver's main shopping street, Robson Street, then along Denman St. to Beach Ave. and along English Bay to the Sunset Beach Festival Site, crowds are approaching half a million people! The weather is perfect. We are in the midst of a long, summer heatwave setting thirty year temperature records.

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The Pride Society has developed a three year theme starting with Educate this year, Liberate next year and Celebrate in 2011. Click on their logo above to be taken to the Pride website and all the details.

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Nelson House B & B is proud to fly it's rainbow from the front gable all year long. We are happy to be hosting the world round our breakfast table and heading towards our twentieth year in business serving the community.

The week that was.

What a week! I started off thinking about the hot summer of '69 - forty years ago. I am someone who lives very much in the present and usually resist a nostalgia trip down memory lane. Still the fates seem to have conspired to remind me just how many years I have been on this planet.

A former colleague from the Foreign Service contacted me and the rest of our peer group to mark the occasion of 35 years passing since we were all hired as "the best and the brightest". This number is pragmatically important as most of these former young bucks are now qualified for retirement and the full, golden pensioning off, reserved only for government workers and politicians. Of course, I wish them all the best of luck. Problem is that the email exchange was accompanied by a group photo of these guys, I mostly remember as twenty-somethings in the summer of '74 - now gone to faded government grey. Well, it was food for thought, but certainly no regrets that I took my career into my own hands over twenty years ago.

This weekend, I relaxed at Jericho Beach Park for the Vancouver Folk Festival. The wooded beachside park glories in a panoramic view of English Bay, the sailboats, the city skyline and the north-shore mountains. Among the myriad of performers, I particularly enjoyed Cheryl Wheeler's wit, Roy Forbes peculiar twangy voice, Lester Quitzau's bluesy guitar, Geoff Berner's caustic ironies, Bellowhead's fine English disco/seashanties and Mavis Staple's touch of history. She told the backstory of one civil rights song, written by her father for, and that became a personal favorite of, Martin Luther King. She began her own singing career in 1969 and is still going strong.

Today, July 20, marks the 40th anniversary of Man on the Moon. - July 20, 1969. I was a child who star-gazed and remember the science fiction spookiness of the Sovet Union's sputnik overhead. I remember the fuzzy black and white images and crackly sound coming LIVE from the moon. I went all nostalgic this week as I recalled Walter Cronkite's sonorous narration of this and other great events. The technical feat was,without a doubt, amazing. However, mostly I remembered Walter's American authenticity. He always seemed to represent the best of the USA.

As Mavis sang into the dusk at Jericho, the International Space Station, came out of the western sky - by far the brightest light among the early stars - and glided as swiftly and silently as time through Vancouver's sky. We danced and some of us waved.

Busy as a B & B

Nelson House is in full summer swing. We celebrated both Canada Day and US Independence Day with great conversations between Canadians, Americans, Brits, French, Germans and Danes. While tourism statistics tell us that BC may be missing some American friends this year, the international assortment around our breakfast table proves that the world is still coming to see Vancouver. Add to the mix that our B & B attracts both gays and straights and I lke to call it our "motley assortment" !

All of us have been enjoying the International Jazz Festival under wonderful sunny skies. Two of my favourite concerts were free and outdoors. Both musicians and audience demonstrated the exuberant, astonishing mix that is Canada's multicultural success story.

Vancouver's Delhi to Dublin is a group of five that mashes up Indian Bhangra, Celtic & Dub. The combined sounds of tabla, fiddle, dhol, Punjabi vocals, electric sitar and electronic beats create pure excitement. The soundtrack on their website gives you a taste of something somehow familiar and exotic.

And then there was the Toronto-based flautist, saxaphonist and bandleader Jane Bunnett and her extraordinary Embracing Voices project. Here she mixes top-notch jazz instrumentals with the soulful choral sounds of Cuba and Haiti. Watch, listen and...soar.



Please let me know if you like. There is more of the same - right here in Vancouver.

Vancouver International Jazz Festival

Calling all jazz lovers! Vancouver's thriving music scene explodes tomorrow and keeps on shining through the holidays until July 5th. The best local and Canadian talent, a sampling of Europe and Latin America's finest musicians and of course, some well known, Big Name headliners.

I love the festival website. If you are thinking of coming to town, you can explore by date or by artist or by music style or by themed music series or even by instrument. Be sure to check out the artists' sampling of audio files. Here is a link to an alphabetical list by venue. It will give you a peek at Vancouver's live club, cool cabaret and concert scene - much of it within walking distance or a short cab from the B & B. As well, it will point out the many, many FREE events!

As for the big tease names - you can't beat two of the world's greatest saxophonists - Sonny Rollins and David Sanborn. Or one of the best trombonists - Ray Anderson. A guitarist like Dick Dale. A vocalist like Kurt Elling. However, I think the whole point of a Festival is to see and hear the next generation of stars and to be here for the unexpected pairings and live collaborations. It's not too late. Don't miss out on all that jazz.

A bed and breakfast garden continued...

The blue ceanosis or wild lilac beside our front steps is buzzing with happy bees. No wonder, the perfume emanating from this hardy shrub is both head-spinning and delightful!

The pink rose is a bonica. I have three and each stands eight to nine feet tall - covered with blooms all summer long. Many, many more blossoms to come!

Last Minute Special

Nelson House B & B is now offering a Last Minute Special - 20 % OFF - if booked within 48 hours of arrival date.

But please be warned:

- you must mention this special when first booking
- we do not answer the phone after 6 PM & we frequently fill up
- no Saturday-only bookings
- once confirmed, there is no cancellation refund!
- you may not get your first choice of room
- if staying more than one night, you may have to change rooms
- to lock in your discount, it's best to 100% complete our secure Reservation Request Form (with your credit card) and we will confirm within 24 hours

Tick Tock

A bed and breakfast garden.

A bed and breakfast garden often shelters some classic specimens of the plant world. Right now, our Alba Rose is in full bloom and scent. Alba is an Old Garden Rose, meaning that it predates the introduction of hybrid varieties in 1867. In fact, the Alba is one of the world's oldest known roses. It is famous as the "white rose", symbol of the House of York, in the 15th century, English "War of the Roses".

In liturgical symbolism, it represents the Virgin Mary. The simple shape and white colour is associated with the light, innocence, purity, joy and glory of the Madonna. Visions of the Virgin are said to be accompanied by the light, sweet scent of this rose.

The Alba's beauty graces our garden by day and it's gentle fragrance is a blessing by night. I don't exactly genuflect but I do stop and smell the roses and recommend it to all my friends.

Blog readers ... please speak up ... politely.

My last post on tips for prospective innkeepers, brought a great deal of interest. For one thing, I was able to track the power of Twitter due to one tweet from http://twitter.com/bnbs who has over 12,000 followers!! By the way, the recommendations on this twitter site are bang-on.

My stats counter went bananas but so few of you posted a comment. Shy- are we? Please, I would love to hear from you on any of the multifarious subjects that have crossed my blog.

Also of note, I rejected my first blog comment. And guess who it was from? It was from one of the United States' largest and most prominent B & B directories. You are probably thinking that I should be so flattered that this big business directory is reading this blog. Well that thought went out of my head in two secs when I realized that the author did not, in even the slightest way, acknowledge the ideas in my post or blog. Not so much as a "Nice post!"

It reads - If you're seriously interested in owning and operating a B&B or for seasoned innkeepers that want some extra tips to make their inn a success, consider our Big Boss' new book for Dummies. www.blahnblahfinder.com/

Okay, I deleted the title of the book & website but as you can see - every word is a blatant commercial. And worst of all, their bad manners and poor public relations team overlooked the fact that I am their paying customer! I pay them to list my business on their directory site!! Sheesh - what a lost opportunity to both please me and - politely- inform the public about what they are selling.

Innkeeping - you just gotta Love People

I once read that innkeeping is "the hardest job you will ever love".

I think the author was talking about the long hours and physical labour involved in maintaining a large house. However, the important message is that all of that hard work takes place in a happy and relaxed atmosphere. And all of that work is by your own choice, for your own profit and enjoyment.

If you ever thought you might someday like to operate a B & B, ask yourself if you really do like people, engage with them, manage them and want to know more about them - starting with yourself.

Do these characteristics sound like you?

At the very least - you must be cheerful and optimistic. Well - are you?

To run a bed and breakfast, you can't be afraid of hard work, but it sure is easier if you are self-motivated.

Every day in this job, you are going to meet a wide variety of people. Do you communicate well?

Can you handle more than one thing at a time?

Stay cool when the unexpected happens?

If you truly are a "people person", you will learn from your mistakes and forgive those of others.

It helps if you have an innate desire to keep your home clean and tidy.

It will help more if you don't make your guests uptight over tracking in mud or a spilled coffee.
A bed and breakfast is a home, meant for the living.

Are you flexible?

Practical?

Non-judgemental?

If you can answer Yes to most of these questions, then innkeeping may be your thing. Most of your guests just want to enjoy themselves, unwind and learn a little about the place they are visiting. Generally, their demands will extend no further than asking for an extra towel, explaining their dietary restrictions or picking your brain for local restaurant recommendations.

As it turned out for me, an innkeeper sets the tone and the guests intuitively pickup on it. Be yourself. Be a gracious host and you will have very grateful guests.

Built Terrier Tough

Thank you for everyone who asked! Don't worry. Ozzie is on the mend and will soon be back at his Front Desk position.

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Whatever airport security, jet lag, traffic hassles or border lineups have contributed to your day, he is dedicated to taking the "ouch" out of your grouch. He is very good at what he does. He will quickly have you signed into the bed and breakfast experience and bring back that smile inside.

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Please let us know, how have dogs affected your life?