Back to the pool!!!

I must say it looks awesome .. wow .... we are so pleased. Most people won't notice. We now have a line at the 4 1/2ft depth woweeeee. We are sooo modern and up to date. Check out the new tile. The pool and spa match for the first time ever. We are thrilled.
Party Saturday night, 6.00pm to celebrate the opening.

And then we have Dore Alley!!!!

What can I say about San Francisco, especially the neighbourhood beween Folsam, Mission, Market and 7th! The usual misfits, miscreants and ne'er do wells!!!!

We're Back

We are back from our 2nd annual Dore Alley weekend in San Francisco but before that, I have to tell you about the pool and spa... They are both so f@#*ing fabuloso. You can't believe how good it looks or feels. The plaster underfoot is so smooth and we now have a demarcation line at the 4.1/2 foot depth to warn stupid people they are about to go into the deep end!!!. Here's me, half pissed when the draining started.

We are now in full compliance of the VGB act of Congress and we feel so much better for the experience. The wallet doesn't appreciate the experience!! We left for San Francisco Friday Morning at 8.15. They had tiled and they were just starting to plaster. They started to fill the pool at 3.00pm Friday and it took 26 hours!! Here are some pics but they will change. I can't tell you how pleased we are but you might've guessed!!

It's started!!!!

We have started draining the pool. 35,000 gallons of 92 degree water down the drain.

The shame of it is ... all that wasted water. Oh well, we'll be filling it on Thursday with 35,000 gallons of COLD water.

Thanks to John, Mike and Jim

A big thank you to Mike, John and Jim for inviting us to dinner at their gorgeous spacious estate in Palm Springs. Mike on the left, Jim in the middle and John on the right. A good time was had by all. Lovely dinner. Julia would be proud. It was Bastille day believe it or not!!!!We drank a toast to the French! Paul was also there as a fellow invitee. We all used to be neighbours, y'know!


Here we are being attacked by the hooded executioner ... he's got a little list!!! Or maybe it was the cocktails!!!

Today we found out our booth number for Dore Alley .... 22 .. right on Folsom Street in the thick of it. We hope!!! We are both looking forward to it. You wait till you see our new 6ft tall silk palm trees to decorate the booth!! Everybody will be SO jealous!! And we can put lights on them and reuse them for Christmas!!!!!

Camera's back

Finally, we got the camera back and is working (so far), as can be witnessed by Jim and Gino frolicking in the pool last night! (Gino pretending to be a 'top'! Thanks to Jim for feeding us burgers and hotdogs.

This weekend is 'Wet 'n Hot' weekend. Don't ask, I know nothing!!! Lips are sealed but we do have some lovely guys staying with us from Australia, mostly CA but also DC and CO. Well, it certainly is hot AND humid .. 40% humidity here in Palm Springs and that's high for us!!!! Boo Hoo poor us!!!!!!

That's it for the summer. The pool gets drained next Sunday and the work starts Monday morning. When I get back from LA Wednesday it will all be done. I hope. Closed for 10 days incorporating Dore Alley in San Francisco for the weekend July 23rd-25th. Mike and John will be staying at the same hotel as we are. See you all there!

July 4th weekend

Wow, it was a wonderful weekend, old friends, new guests, one of those weekends where everyone had a great time. It was hot but why would I mention that .. it's July!!

The days all meld together .... Let me see ... oh, a kami kazi sparrow flew into the pool Saturday evening as we were sitting out cocktailing! He was chasing another sparrow (I guess it's mating season),they flew really low over the pool and flop ... bird in pool! That was a first!! Stuart went to the rescue and fished him out with the pool net. He survived, you'll be glad to hear. (The bird, I mean!).

What else, oh, July 4th fireworks ... great view from our balconey. I think eventually 12 of us were up there ooohing and aaahing and carrying on. Tony joined us of course. Visitors in from Ireland and all three western states, OR, WA and CA. The day visitors, Paul, Erich, Neil, Patrick and Gordie entertaining our guests. They know their job!

We couldn't make Mike and Johns party July 3rd sorry to say. Thanks to everyone for making it such a fun weekend. You all make it worthwhile owning an hotel and you know who you are ....
Next weekend is the Wet 'n Hot weekend. We are one of the 'overflow' hotels!!! Pardon the pun. I'll letcha know how it goes. After that ... nothing much until the middle of August with Dore Alley in between!!

50% full tonight, Tuesday. Wow!

It ain't half hot, mum

Here we are in the middle of summer and it has been the hottest day of the year so far, 111 degrees and forcasting 114 tomorrow!! This is what we can look forward to going into September. Not complaining, we do love it. We've only got to get through the next 2 weekends.

Guests start arriving later this evening for the July 4th weekend. We still havn't decided what to do; have a party or not. The problem is, it grows and before you know it we're catering for 15-20 people. We've invited Dennis, AJ and Peter over for dinner tomorrow (Friday) for Stuart's famous fish pie.