Brrrrrrrrrrr. It's cold in Palm Springs!

Actually, right now at 2.20pm its 54F (12C). Not cold for a lot of people out there in the frozen north/east but definately cold for us more warm bloodied creatures!!! High winds last night, dropped today but more winds promised for overnight tonight. In Los Angeles, last night they had the worst winds for 70 years!!!!! Certainly not weather for lazing around the pool.

Our poor guests!!! This is the kind of day I usually recommend visiting the museum using free tickets given to us by the Chamber of Commerce.

PSSST!!!!

We are hosting our very first PSSST pool party this afternoon, 12-4pm. What is PSSST I hear you ask? Well, if you must know, Palm Springs Social Sun Tanners. A  naked men's club that has been going for years and years. Not a very rowdy group,  Unfortunately the sun disappeared behind the mountain at 3.15 so everyone scattered before 4pm! No pictures!

Thanksgiving comes early!

We decided to have our Thanksgiving last Saturday instead of the traditional last Thursday in November. Most of the people we wanted to invite were either going to be away or working so we had Dennis, AJ, Peter and friend Craig,  Don and Lou (2 recent arrivals from San Francisco), Stuart and myself made eight. We had invited "Paul at the Gate" but he didn't show up. Instead of cooking the traditional turkey, we had two boneless turkey breasts . Delicious. Stuart prepared the turkey and gravy not to mention the oyster dressing and I made the cranberry relish We had shrimp cocktail and calves liver pate as appetisers (I made the shrimp cocktail/sauce), roasted winter vegetables,( carrots, parsnips, fennel and butternut squash) together with pommes anna. For dessert, Ina Gartens Rum Raisin Tiramisu and her recipe for Eaton Mess, all washed down with lashings of wine followed by Port and Stilton!, Yummo! Oh, we had asked our lovely guests from Denver to join us for dessert, which they did. Lovely indeed!!!

I don't know what we will be doing on the day. Too late now to book a restaurant but, hey ho, its an American holiday, not a British one. Wait a minute ...in that case,  why were we doing all the work??? Mmmm. Have to rethink for next year!!!

Leather Pride

It wasn't very good weather over the Leather Pride weekend November 11th-13th. It poured with rain most of Saturday. Even though we were full,  we had nobody sitting around the pool. Having said that, it was a great week/weekend with our visitors from Australia and Canada helping out with the festivities!!! (and from what I saw, helping out with international relations, if you know what I mean, nudge, nudge!!!).

Palm Springs Mr. Leather competion was held at the Palm Springs Convention Center for the second year running. This year it was held in the main entrance which is very big but does nothing for the acoustics. I don't know what the staff (particularly the young girls working the bars) thought of all these queens in leather chaps and jocks. Must've given them quite a shock or at least something to gossip about.

We were given an award and went onto the stage to accept it to a great round of applause and cheers (hopefully not jeers!). A very nice acrylic trophy thanking us for our support over the years (and our financial contributions I might add). Very nice, thank you. Dave Rhodes from the Leather Journal  took our photo. We'll have to wait and see whether it hits the streets this week. Actually Dave stayed with us for 3 nights over the weekend. Hope he gives us a nice plug! Check out the Leather Journal for pictures.

Oh, by the way, Mr. Tool Shed won the competion. Congrats!!!

John Gallagher at the Red Tomato.

Ooop, nearly forgot. For those of you in town for Pride this weekend or even for locals, our friend John (bon vivant) Gallagher plays the piano at the Red Tomato every Friday and Saturday night between 6-9pm.

This weekend he will be wearing my rainbow sequined vest to celebrate Pride. Quite a sight to behold. Go see!!!

(Rainbow sequined vest left to me by our dear late friend Richard Williams).

Happy Gay Pride, everybody!!!!

Well, here we are, Gay Pride weekend again so soon! Boy, how times flies. 80% return visitors this weekend and next. Lovely to see you guys again, almost like a family gathering only much more fun!!!!

Welcome back Skip (no,NOT that one!), Don and Jeff from San Diego, Al & Gary from San Francisco, the Two Bobs from Seattle, Chris from Vancouver BC, Roger & Jack from San Francisco,  Alex, Dominic from Los Angeles, welcome we love you all!! Ooops, how could I forget ..... we seem to have had an influx of our Australian cousins, all from New South Wales. Last week we said goodbye to Robert, this week a big hello to Kevin and Tony. Another Commonwealth gathering. God Save the Queen!!!!

Our Anniversary!!

Nobody is more suprised than we are but October 31st 2000, Stuart and I moved in to the Colibri Inn, Palm Springs soon to become (5 months later), Chaps Inn which has been our home ever since. Eleven years have gone by. How is that possible? Yes, we still love it and I'm sure it will be very difficult to leave once we decide to sell. Not yet though. Not for a few more years!!!!!

New Towels!!

It's a sad day when the arrival of new towels is the highlight!!!  We have given away better towels than we have used in a lot of hotels around the world. The last hotel we stayed at in San Francisco (and it wasn't cheap), you could've shaved with them or at least had a self dermabrasion!! Our friends Mike & John will testify to that! Same goes for the Hilton Hotel at Terminal 4, Heathrow. (Paris, take note. I bet you don't use the same towels as us poor mortals!).

What to do with the old towels?  (some are pictured above waiting collection), they are going to the homeless shelter here in Palm Springs. Goodbye, dear towels, you have served us well!!!!
PS, Just so you know, all our towels and linens are made here in the USA

Jim Reed

We have decided to have a celebration for Jim here at the hotel on Wednesday, October 12th 6pm-9pm. No need to bring anything except maybe some soda or, if inclined, alcohol. Gino will be bringing some nibbles and you know us, we can't help but cook up a feast!!

It's a beautiful day here in Paradise

It has been a glorious day today, mid 80's, but starting to get a bit chilly in the evenings. Stuart and I had to put our lightweight douvet on the bed  last night; first time since mid-June!!! Poor us.

I drove back from LA on Wednesday in reasonably heavey rain. Good God people, SLOW DOWN!! All those in their high and mighty SUV's and trucks, spare a thought for us low riders. There is a CA law, enacted at least 3 years ago which states that if it is raining hard enough to use windshield wipers, you MUST put on your lights. Don't people realise, they disappear in a cloud of mist thrown up by their speeding SUV's etc. It's bad enough when the white lights disappear, some red lights to follow would be nice. You go over the edge, I go over the edge!!!! That's my rant for today. I was going to write to the local paper but this is just as good.

Anyhow, Chaps Inn is full for the weekend .. yeah!!! It has become something of a Commonwealth weekend what with visitors from UK, Canada and Australia. God save the Queen!!! The forecast is promising mid 80's all the way through Monday. Lucky us. Also visitors in from California (of course),  Florida, Arizona and Texas.

Jim Reed

We saw Gino for the first time since Jim died. He seems to be holding up well. Natural Causes is what the the coronors report said. He has been cremated and we are planning a small celebration of his life sometime during October.

Will keep you posted.

Jim Reed

It was with great sadness last night we heard of the passing of our friend Jim Reed. Gino called us with the news. This was so sudden and unexpected . Jim had traveled back to their Texas home and was found in bed. We don't know exactly what happened but will post when we know more. Our deepest sympathy and condolences to Gino. We love you Gino.

We'll miss you Jim and your barbeques, smiling face and knowledge of all things Home Depot! RIP

Thunder clouds approaching!

I can't believe it has been so long since I blogged! Well, the parking lot opposite is finished but nobody has been allowed to park on it so far! Doesn't look too bad. Our computer went down so we are the proud owners of a nice new shiny black model.

Yesterday we had thunder and lightening, quiet dramatic. It poured with rain nearly all day.

Sadly today, we say 'goodbye' to our dear friend Dick who has been with us for 7 days. He's off back home to San Francisco. The three of us went for lunch yesterday at LULU, downtown in the old Muriel's. A HUGE menu, they are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Very ambitious of them and we hope it works out. It had a great quota of fags and will definitely be on our list of recommendations. The 'red hat society' were there for lunch enjoying themselves as usual. For those who don't know, the 'red hats society is a group of women who go out for tea (or lunch, or dinner) for themselves, not for charity but to have FUN! I think the minimum age is 50 but I might be wrong on that. Anyhoo, check out the poem, "When I grow old I shall wear purple, and a red hat".......... then you'll know what they are about.

Goodbye to Dick, but hello Friday to Jim and Terry, also from San Francisco and also in for 7 days. Welcome back!!!!

I have just finished reading "Secret Historian" By Justin Spring. The life and times of Samuel Steward, professor, tattoo artist and sexual renegrade. How very interesting and we have a lot to thank Steward and his contemporaries for the life we now have. Please read it (ignore the footnotes, they drove me crazy), reflect and be thankful.

Weather back to normal.

Here we are, weather back to normal. The humidity has gone and we are now at a respectable 12% and the temperature a comfortable 103f (39.4c). Pool is a perfect 89 and looks very inviting! Clear blue skies, not a breath of wind. Oh to be in Palm Springs now that summer is here!

Re previous blog .... we made a telephone complaint about inappropriate use of our Knox Box and guess what? Couldn't care less. As our dear friend DG said .... does having a key to a Knox box give them the right to enter any business at any time without permission?????  We will be bringing  this up with our elected representatives.

What do you think?

We had a Palm Springs police car parked in our parking lot last night for at least a couple of hours. Parked horizontally and looking up towards Indian Canyon watching (it transpired) a car parked on the side of the road. (No doubt our local drug ring).

Stuart and I were getting ready to eat dinner when suddenly, as if from nowhere, there was a police woman standing on our deck. We were a little suprised to say the least and scrambled to find clothes! She wanted to use the 'restroom'! "How did you get in" asked Stuart. "Oh, you have a Knox box so I used the key" she replied. A knox box is a secure locked box attatched to the outside wall containing a key to our front gate for use in emergencies which the fire department insisted we have.

Well, here's the thing. What constitutes an emergency? I don't think that wanting to have a pee negates the usual politeness of asking before coming on to our property. Even the fire department on their annual inspection call from the gate and ask to be let in. We don't want to make a fuss or get onto the wrong side of the law, but really, how would you feel if a police officer suddenly 'appeared' without ringing your doorbell first?

It's a dry heat, right???

WRONG!!! This morning at 6am we had a humidty level of 60% which is extremely unusal. It dropped to 30% by 8am but is back up to 42% at 11am. I'm so pleased we bought a barometer!

The forcast for today is a high of 107f (41.6c) It certainly feels like it might get up there. Currently (11am), 97f (36.1c) We're not complaining, we are just glad we're not on the east coast. Misters are working and the pool is inviting!

Nearly forgot!!!

I meant to say, we finally got the gardeners in to chop down the trees which were overhanging the walkway outside 9 and 10. What a difference! We can see the sky and the trees are no longer banging onto our roofline or getting stuck in the wind underneath the eaves! Well done, Alex and your 'gang!'.

It's going to be a hot one!!!!

Heat advisory warning have been issued for this weekend for San Bernadino and Riverside counties with temperatures expected to be up to 10f (12.2c) degrees warmer than usual. Bring it on!! This morning at 7.30 we were already at 84f (28.8c).
I just put the misters on at 11.30am and we are at 94f (34.4c). More later ..... we love it.

Well, how disappointing, by 4 pm it only got up to 102f  (38.8c). Mind you, that was ITS (In The Shade) with the misting system at full bore. Ho Hum, tomorrow is another day!!!!

A busy weekend

Can you believe it? Here we are, August, one of the hottest months in Palm Springs and we are 70% full! Despite the fact it was at least 110 on Thursday. It has cooled down a bit since them. We only had to call out the air-conditioning people to one room  but that was fixed very quickly. People in from France, Spain, England, California, New York and Georgia!!! All slings have been rented so a good time being had by all!!!

More about our trip

You know when you meet some people you just have an instant rapport and a love of friends and you feel you've known them all your life? Well, that's how we feel about Kev and Ian, long time guests at Chaps Inn living in Soham, England. We spent a delightful lunch with them. There they are, delightful company and we love you guys!!!!

15 ASSOCIATION 2012

The dates for next year's 15's 'meeting' is August 10th thru 12th. Mark it in your diary. It is a date not to be missed!!!

Welcome to the 15 Association!

We welcome back members of the 15 Association. Lovely to see familiar faces thanks to Peter, Dennis and AJ. We had a bit of an accident earlier this evening when one of the members attempted to stand after sitting in one of our patio chairs and managed to get his PA caught in the mesh seat ... ouch! He is at the emergency room at the Desert Regional right now. Yanked it right out .. blood ... tears ... fainting ... vomiting ... (OK I'm exaggerating, but there was blood, plenty of blood and I washed down this morning!!!!). And so the weekend continues ........ fun, fun, fun (until my daddie took the flogger away)!!! LOL. I told you it would continue ... Stuart just dropped the remains of an apple pie on the kitchen floor. Oh Boy!!! Blood AND apple pie cleanup!

More about our trip!

As I said, Stuart's youngest sister Rachael had just bought and opened a tea shop in Stratford upon Avon called 'Fourteas', a Forties theme with forties music and lots of war time paraphernalia and propaganda on the walls. A lovely space and a very good pot of tea!!!! Here's a picture of the full Ivor Novello English tea!! Yummo!!!

And here's a picture of our friend Jane (who drove 200 miles to spend some time with us, Jane and Ian shared a flat during the '70's!!).

And our friend Pegi underneath the Union Jack enjoying a cuppa!! (Love the poster ... "Keep Calm and Carry On!". How British and how appropriate for these days of riots!!!!).

Here's Ian. (right) Rachaels husband with their daughter, Alice who we remember as a very small child! Stuart, Pegi and I took a open top double decker bus tour of the Shakespeare 'properties' ending up at Mary Arden's house outside Stratford, left opposite. We didn't go in to visit as we preferred the local pub for a liquid lunch!!! What a lovely afternoon we all had!

We're B A C K

We had a wonderful time visiting friends and family and there wasn't a drop of rain which is highly unusual for England at this time of year. Where to begin? Well, we flew United Airlines Palm Springs to San Francisco to London Heathrow. Here's a picture of Stuart in business class just about to enjoy a glass of champagne before we took off. It was 1pm after all! The flight was uneventful thank goodness and we managed to sleep for a few hours and arrived feeling quite rested and on time. We had arranged to rent a car at Heathrow which can be a bit daunting if you have not driven on the left for some time as neither of us had. It's not so bad and we soon got the hang of it. Stuart drove the first 100 miles or so with the aid of GPS or, as they say in England, SatNav! (Satellite Navigational System!).

We met my mum, dad, sister and nieces at a restaurant for lunch in a town called Kettering, midway between London and Stratford  arriving there 11am ish. Fairly horrible experience due to there being a wedding party and not enough staff. My turn to drive the next leg of the journey ... about 80 miles from Kettering to Stratford, motorway (freeway) nearly all the time. We arrived in Stratford around 4pm. Exhausted!!

We had rented a 2 bedroom apartment in the middle of Stratford Upon Avon. Here's the view from the 1st floor (2nd floor in America), of the canal connecting Birmingham with the river Avon. After settling in and paying our rent for the week, we set off to Stuarts sister Rachaels' new tea rooms in Stratford called Fourteas. More about Fourteas coming up later.

We're on vacation!!!

Finally the day has arrived. We are now closed until August 4th. Off to England to visit the folks tomorrow morning. Taxi picking us up at 5.30am for our flight to San Francisco at 7.10.

More when we get back

Goodbye Betty!

As you all are aware, Betty Ford flew out of Palm Springs last week and what a wonderful advertisment for the valley. Did you see ..... clear blue skies, mountains shimmering in the heat haze. Stuart and I went onto the balconey and saw the plane as it took off. Better than her husbands which took off the other way and we glimpst his plane briefly between 2 palm trees!

The parking lot opposite looks almost ready. It won't be bad once we get the trees planted. Forcasting 104 today. I'll be at the movies with Dennis, AJ and Peter watching Harry Potter!

The trees arrived!!!

The trees have arrived  for the new parking lot opposite. It won't look as bad as we thought once these get planted and established.

The last Hurrah!!

Or "Hooray" depending how posh you are. You can either have been to an 'Hurrah' school or an
"Hooray" school, especially in England. (Thanks for that one, Caroline!).

This weekend is the final weekend of the year. After this, nothing until the middle of August (The 15 Association) for which we thank them. This weekend is the annual party between a few hotels in the neighbourhood. We are one of the 'overflow' hotels, pun intended!!
Full to overflowing we are and lots of lovely yellow wrist bands for the already initiated. More later. Very nice to see some of our regulars again and visitors from California (of course), Texas, Florida and Colorado. Welcome!!!!!!!!

Now ... pool etiquette (again). Do I always have to remind people .. NO GLASS AROUND OR IN THE POOL OR SPA. Isn't it common sense? I am removing all glass containers from the communal fridge NOW.

Just heard on TV a restauranteur from San Francisco, after having a restaurant for 15 years, "it really isn't that difficult iff you love it" Our sentiments exactly!

A dreary day in Palm Springs!!!

You won't believe this but here we are, Sunday July 3rd, the day before Independance Day and it is cloudy, humid and we've had a few spots of rain! The clouds are so low, the mountains have disappeared. Hopefully it will burn off and we'll be back to our usual 100+

We have cancelled the Monster Manhood Weekend event supposed to be here this afternoon, complete with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgance and an accordian playing clown! That would've been a sight!!! We're full to overflowing. Guests in from New Zealand, England, California, Arizona, New Mexico and Massachusetts. Apart from 3 rooms out of 10, everybody has been here before. WELCOME BACK!!! We love you all!!

Whitewater

Before I start, we got a new BLUE umbrella from Albertsons, see previous blog posting.

Today, my husband and I decided to visit the Whitewater National Preserve just outside Palm Springs and have a picnic! . I don't know what brought that on apart from the fact that today was the only day we had by ourselves before guests arrive for the weekend and we don't have any days to ourselves before we fly to England at the end of July.

It was lovely. Almost had the entire place to ourselves. A couple of Spanish speakers and their wailing children but we found a quiet spot underneath a Californian Oak. It was a lovely couple of hours and highly recommended. Can you imagine such a lovely peaceful place with such dramatic views and a river running right throught it? You have to experience it to believe.

From umbrella to satellite dish in one easy swoop!!

LOL, there we were sitting outside enjoying a lovely warm, quiet Sunday afternoon with a bottle of Merlot and suddenly, out of no-where came a gust of wind which turned one of our umbrellas inside out!!!! It's a twister aunty Em!!!!!

We bought two of them from Albertsons yesterday. They usually last at least a season. Not this one and we bought the last two blue ones. Well, they were only $49.95 each after all. It'll be taken back tomorrow and maybe we'll try a red one!!!!!

It caused endless amusement for our guests (for at least a minute), so you see, even out of tragedy we supply some laughs!!

By the by .. we played host to two sash winners this weekend. Mr. Pistons Leather 2011 (Long Beach) and Mr. Christopher Street West, (LA Gay Pride). Come again. You're welcome.

This is what has happened to our lovely desert opposite!

This is what we are left with after the desert has been covered over. It isn't finished yet; the roof has to go on and the white parking lines to go down but we're nearly there. Hopefully we'll have a nice fence and not a brick wall! Picture taken from our balcony.

How peaceful we are now!!!

There were no loud noises at 6am. (See yesterdays post) There was no heavy machinery or equipment beep beep beeping today. None. How very nice and relaxing. Looks like they've almost finished. I still regret they did what they have done. I much preferred to walk out and look at an open piece of desert which was one of the very few left now in town. Now we have a parking lot. Oh well, progress. Once the desert is ashphalted, it's gone. Forever. The main entrance is on Mel but we have pedestrian access across to the hopital which is good. I don't have to walk ALL the way around to mail a letter!! I'll post a picture when I get around to it.

psbear .. Charles is only here until Monday. He's on Recon and went looking for you. His dance card is fairly full but y'know.......... for 10 cents!!!!!!

How long does it take to build a parking lot?

TWO BLOODY MONTHS SO FAR!!!!!!!!!! (See blog April 19th). Woke this morning at 6am to the joyful sound of heavy machinery with their interminable beep beep beep and their rumble like mini earthquakes. Yesterday they started laying blacktop (tar) and the smell is indescibable but then you all know what it smells like!

Our apartment shakes, the glasses in the kitchen rattle and the cats are spooked but wotcha gonna do? Our two guests are pissed off (and who can blame them, they didn't expect this when they booked and neither did we), they're being woken at 6am and even sitting outside (it's 103 today by the way), it's not very relaxing. Hopefully they will finish by 2pm (it's now 12.30pm). There must be some law against working in this heat after a certain time. What happened to siesta? Anyway, blah, blah, blah. Looking on the bright side, they do not work at weekends (hopefully), and they are doing it out of season for which we are very thankful.

In the meantime, here's Charles from Downunder dressed to kill!!!!

Palm Trees get their annual trim.

Well, as you can see by the before and after photos, the poor tree was scalped!! Unfortunately the crew arrived before the boss and they started trimming. We like to leave a few more branches so it doesn't look so de-nuded! Oh well, nothing we can do about it. The other two, the twin Washingtonians fared a bit better as you can see. They only cut out the flower spikes so there isn't much difference. They are intact, Jim!!!! By the way, an interesting tid-bit, Washingtonian Palms are the ONLY indigenous Palm to California! Mexican Fan Palms are not, although technically California was part of Mexico once!

The weekend bookings are going well, looks like 80% full tonight and tomorrow and it's only 7pm!!!! We are welcoming back an old friend who hasn't been here for 5 years, shame on you, Tom!!!!!!!!

Our Anniversary

Today, Thursday, is our 3rd wedding anniversary. Actually the date we got married is June 19th but that is fathers day here on Sunday and we will not be going out for brunch as every gay man with their husbands and children will be out in force, including our doctor, dentist and the mayor of Palm Springs. Instead, we decided to go for dinner somewhere we could walk to, Rick's Cuban up the street. Very nice, I had prime rib, baked potato with a side of spinach. Stuart had fillet mignon (rare) with onion rings. Both lovely BUT ..... PEOPLE ......

Please, please can we have some decorum regarding dressing for dinner? What you wear at the gym is not appropriate for wearing to dinner. Men, at least have t-shirts with sleeves .. please, no hairy armpits over the dinner table. Ladies, I think it's called a sundress. Please, cover up the chest. I mean, there is absolutely no need to have those tired old tits dragging over the dinner salad. None of us appreciate that tattoo you all try to hide by pulling up your training shorts as you try not to show us your ass crack walking to the rest room.

Apart from that .... we had a lovely time and recommend Ricks, just dress appropriately.

Last weekend.

Well, the weekend turned out really nice. We ended up 90% full for Saturday night which was a bit of a suprise ... they just kept turning up!!!! How do they find us? It's not as if we're on a main street or anything. Thank goodness for Google, Twitter, Facebook and our blog!!!! Lovely people. We now have 3 guests in from Australia. I am seriously thinking we should dust down the Australian flag and fly it from the balconey. We said goodbye to Richard & Pete from Middlesborough, UK who will be back for July 4th weekend and help us celebrate by watching the fireworks from said balcon (it's Spanish for balconey .. boy, you learn a lot from this blog!!).

Weather is absolutely beautiful, up to 90f  today, that's 32c for those living in more enlighted climates!!!!

We had a cancellation for gay pride and leather pride due to another couple who decided to buy a house here thank you very much guys!!!! Anyways, we have filled the room for leather pride (6 nights) but have a room to go for gay pride. Another 6 nights would be nice, hint, hint!!!! It's the suite, $154.

A word of warning and a challenge!!

Here's a word of warning to all you men who shave their balls!! We have a vistor this week from Australia who used Nair (a hair removal product), to remove the hair from his balls. He is in absolute agony, mainly because he had been in the sun and then used it after getting the boys a bit sun-burnt! So, don't go putting Nair on the twins even if you havn't been in the sun!!!!!!

Now the challenge ..... you will get a mention on the blog if you can come up with a witty limerick. It must start " There was a young man from Australia" or "There was a young gentleman from Melbourne". Words should include "hair, nair, down-under, shave, balls, razor, pubic".

Here's mine ..... There was a young man from Australia,
                         Who decided not to use a razor (!),
                          Instead he used Nair
                          To melt off his hair
                          And now his balls scream "you failure!"
Get the picture?????!!!!!!

The birds have flown the nest!!!

The hummingbirds flew the nest yesterday. One minute they were there, the next, not. They are still around. How quickley they grow up these days!!!

Dennis and AJ dropped by Memorial day for dinner. It was AJ's birthday May 31st. I had made some red velvet chocolate cup cakes to help celebrate. Very nice, thanks again Ina!!  Dennis had ordered beef suet from Jensen's because it is very hard to find and Stuart had been going on about wanting to make something with a suet pastry. Guess what? Tonight, Dennis, AJ and Peter will be joining us for steak and mushroom pie with a suet pastry crust! Yum!! I will do a remake of the red velvet chocolate cup cakes. Oh, welcome home from IML Peter. Mr. Leather Europe was the winner.

This weekend is fairly quiet. Some return visitors, Jim from West Vancouver and Allen and Steve from Seal Beach, CA. Thanks for the cactus info, Steve. We now know December is NOT a good time to plant cactus. Did our landscapers tell us this? No, of course not.

Two men checked in last night from Key West and were going to stay only 2 nights. They had been here for about 2 minutes when they decided to cancel the next hotel and stay here until Wednesday!! Yippee for us!

Memorial Weekend.

This is a very busy weekend coming up but first of all, sorry I havn't posted anything new for nearly 3 weeks! I can't think why, it's not as if anything uninteresting has happened!!! I've had a birthday since then, May 24th actually and 59 if you must know! Thanks for all the greetings .... Facebook, e-mails and even a couple of cards in the mail! Thanks Jim. I was in North Hollywood on Monday, drove back on my birthday so we could go out to dinner together... walked down to Trio, very nice and a huge improvement on a previous visit.  Great martinis!

The hummingbird next door has hatched and there are 2 babies. Something interesting I found out .... hummingbirds usually lay 2 eggs 24 hours apart but they both always hatch on the same day. Fascinating, I know!

Back to the weekend. Mainly return visitors which is always nice to see some familiar faces. I think the furthest travelled will be from Maryland. I'll let you know how it goes. Have a great Memorial Day holiday.

Here's a reason for living in Southern California ....

How about 84f  29c @ 8.45pm today, May 4th 2011.

Tomorrow, Cinco de Mayo when we all pretend to be Mexican and try to remember what cinco de mayo is about. Not about Mayonnaise although you are more than welcome to spread some onto your burritto or your quesedilla. Better still on your nachos with mucho queso y pescos tacodores!

Por las attenciones, muchicimas gracias. Expecto gramaticas reparardes.

Don't try this at home!!!!!

Sitting outside the other night, early evening having a cocktail as you do. A distict smell of what smelt like caramel or burning sugar. Turns out one of our guests decided to dry a shirt in the microwave and it caught fire!!! Good going, Wayne.!!

Another realy lovely weekend here at the inn. Full for Saturday and 70% full for Sunday. Newcomer Shrader from LA ( he'll be back!) try to remember names next time!!!! Return visits from Bud and Trip from Atlanta,Thomas from Bellingham, WA, Greg and the aforementioned Wayne, Albuquerque, NM, Bill returning from San Diego and Rene from Carson not forgetting Will from Las Vegas. We have the best guests.

So, what did you think of the wedding? We got out of bed 2.30 Friday morning and had a lovely cup of tea watching the Queen et al arrive at the Abbey. Gorgeous, I think you'll have to agree. All those old Landaus, Rolls Royces and Bentleys. Not to mention the guardsmen and the horses! Boy, we know how to put on a show and you're welcome!!!!!

Check out the picture ..... Aaaaah, A humming bird on her nest right next door. It's a bit difficult to see where the nest ends and the bird begins but she is about the size of a big bee. The hummingbirds around these parts are the Ruby Throated variety but only the males have the Ruby throat. The females are a bit dare I say, dowdy!!!  There should be a couple of youngsters in about a week.

Another couple of Idiots!!!!!!!

You won't believe this ..... we told another couple to get out, go away and find somewhere else!!!  Shoo, go away! They arrived yeserday, early evening having booked room 9 on the second floor with sling. Snooty to say the least. Want to see room before checking in. Came down saying oh we thought it would be bigger (!), and better appointed what ever that means! Stuart just looked them in the eye and said, 'give me the keys, don't bother' .. boy were they suprised!!!!!!!

We ended up filling the room, two lovely boys from Alisio Viejo!! They thought the room was so well appointed they never left! (Well, they did eventually this morning).

Excavators have arrived!!!!

We knew it would happen one day, but whhyyyyyyy???? The lovely expanse of desert opposite the hotel is being developed.  All the spring wild flowers we have enjoyed for the last 10+ years have been grubbed up and burried never to be seen again. How sad but there you go .... progress. Not only that but instead of taking a short-cut across the desert to our closest mail box, I have to walk all the way around, up onto Indian Canyon, down to the hospital I mean, how inconvenient is that!!!!

The land belongs to the Desert Regional Hospital .. a "for profit" Tennant hospital and it is to become a new parking lot (car park to you Europeans!) although when they wrote to us a couple of years ago they were only going to develope a corner, next to Helios. Doesn't look like that from our balconey. It looks more like they are building an ancient bronze age burial chamber!!!! At least they havn't started jack-hammering YET! I'll let you know how things 'progress'. At least, whatever it is, the main entrance will be on Mel, not Monte Vista. There's a blessing!!! (We hope).

The Ocotillo is in bloom!!!!!!

We have waited for this to happen and here it is!!!! Our very own Ocotillo flower. One of several but this is the first!!!

Strange weekend just gone. We wern't quite full but we had visitors in from Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico and, of course, California. All I can say to one of our day guests, (no names, but really ) ..... I thought you had at least a modicum of standards or taste. Obviously I was wrong! Yeukieee!!!

Coachella Valley Music Festival

If you are expecting me to give you a rundown on the bands playing this weekend at the Coachella music festival, sorry to disappoint you!!!! You have to check out the Desert Daily News for that. All I know is, Sir Paul was helicoptered in as a VIP and quite rightly so. I went to Albertsons to do some grocery shopping this afternoon and had to wait at the deli counter whilst these young slim hipped children were served. Grandad (me) did a cicuit three times before I could get my Sara Lee low sodium chicken!!! I tell you .... Woodstock, where were we??? It really is a big deal. The Coachella Music Festival is the second biggest gathering of people in the United States, the Rose Bowl being the biggest. Astounding. It's held on the polo fields in Indio!!!!! Usually our friend Joe from New York has flown in for the festival. The tickets were sold so quickly, within 48 hours, he didn't make it this year. Joe, we miss you.

We did it again!!!!!!

I don't know how we do it but I can safely say our 10th anniversary party yesterday afternoon was a great sucesses despite the cold wind. We have often been told we throw good parties and are asked what the secret is. There is no secret, it's all to do with the mix of friends, booze, food and music!!! That's all. Of course we only invite  people we want to be with. Why would we bother with people we don't like??

It was especially pleasing to see Alex (Ironrod), his husband Hank and their boy butch. Don Thompson and Henry, John and Tony (you know, the two who, for better reasons known only to themselves, moved to Yucca), Mike and John (that's the professor and bon vivant) with their friend Jim (Gagbear)', Dennis, AJ, Peter and Jim in his toga. Erich (husband Doug couldn't make it),  Paul C. had  invited his impossibly handsome dentist Mo and another friend who's name escapes me and other various odds and sods we know. Our guests staying with us all had a good time. Jim and Gino couldn't make it. Thanks for the wine, guys!!!! Next party? Who knows. Every day is a party at Chaps Inn!!

Oh! I nearly forgot the food: How's about Ina Gartens Chopped Liver Pate, shrimp in a creamy sauce on a bun, Stuarts Pulled Pork (delish as ever), English cheddar cheese, a baked brie, I made a summer pudding and Stuart made a couple of lemon meringue's. Not forgetting Ina's Savory Couer a la Creme on crackers served with Major Greys chutney! How posh is that??? (Page 48, Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That?).

I don't know where to start!!!

OK, I'll start from the begining ..... we had taken a reservation from a couple of Mexican guys and they were due to arrive by 11.30am yesterday. When they hadn't arrived by 3pm, Stuart called their cell phone. They are on their way and will be with us by 7pm. Around 7pm they called us. "We're lost". They had somehow totally missed us and were now on East Palm Canyon going towards Cathedral City. "Turn around and come back to Palm Springs" they were told and given detailed directions on how to find us. They called half an our later. "Where are you" we asked. "Ummm, Date Palm Drive on a freeway!!". How they got onto the freeway from our directions is beyond us. Finally, they arrived after getting lost again for the third time. Not two as expected, but three. Stuart is now scrambling about gathering up a third set of towels etc. Two of them go into the room and were heard by Stuart to say "we'll check out the room to see if it's good enough!!!!" Good enough??? Well, the one guy who was in the office filling out the arrivals card was told we were only expecting two and there would be an extra charge of $20 per night for the third. He started to argue with me ... (I'd had a couple of g'n t's by then).  He couldn't see why they had to pay extra. Something snapped. "Go away then," I said. He had that startled look like the proverbial deer/rabbit. I repeated, (very calmly I have to say), 'Go away, find somewhere else to stay, we don't want you money, go now, shuu and find somewhere 'nice' on a Friday on one of the busiest weekends of the year". And off they went into the dark night!!!!! Oh that felt GOOD! Call me Basil if you will but I don't care!!! After 10 years of owning an hotel, that was a first. Oh, I nearly forgot. The one who was arguing with me came back to the gate. "I left some papers in the office". Guess what they were?? Detailed instructions from Mapquest and they STILL managed to get lost. Idiots!!!

PARTY TIME

To all our faithful blog followers:

Party here, 2pm-? Saturday April 9th our 10th anniversary party as Chaps Inn. No need to bring anything. You know us, never a shortage of anything!!

Woken to a trembling, earthshaking rumbling!!!!

No, not an earthquake but the local authorities grubbing up the street outside disturbing everyone at 7am this morning. This is about a week after some men were sent to fill in the cracks and potholes. Now they've dug the whole thing up and gone away. Now it's worse than ever. I'm sure it will be right nice once they finish!!!

What do you make of this???

Late yesterday afternoon we had a phone call from Martin, the previous owner of the Ambiente Inn and Black Palm. He sold the hotels a couple of years ago and they have been turned into apartments. The 'new' owner is suing Martin because he did not disclose that the hotels used to be gay and clothing optional. What that has to do with anything beats me. This has serious implications for all of us whether clothing optional or not. According to Martin, the letter he received was  offensive and mentioned 'gay' and 'clothing optional' three times!

Luckily we have a Human Rights Campaign 'pop-up' shop opened recently in Palm Springs so Martin is going to call them and hopefully find a good lawyer. This is so outrageous and must not be allowed to go forward. This needs to be in all the Gay press.

A quote from the Los Angeles Times

I don't know if any of you are aware, but a Southwest Airline jet was landed safely at Yuma, Arizona on it's way from  Phoenix to Sacramento when the cabin decompressed.

I am quoting from the Los Angeles Times .... 'the missionary group, all dressed in identical orange t-shirts was (was? don't they mean were? My comment).   returning home from a year in Los Angeles. Group member so and so  aged 48 said they were unaware of the incident until they got in line to check their luggage. 

Asked whether she was worried shrugged ."God is in control. We don't worry about it", she said. "The worst thing that can happen is we end up in heaven" ..........

I'll let that sink in for a moment ... surely if you are a christian,. that should be the BEST thing??????? Just a thought.

It Lives!!!!!!

Our Ocotillo is alive and thriving. What appeared to be a big bunch of dead sticks 3 weeks ago has sprouted leaves and flower buds!!!!  We are SO proud!!! There will be dramatic and brilliant orange flowers right at the tips of the stems and we can't wait. I know, I know!! It's a bit strange having a picture of an Ocotillo in a blog instead of naked men in stages of disaray, but you all know what that looks like and sometimes it ain't pretty!!!!!

This weekend is the Dianh Shore girls weekend so the entire town is filled to overflowing (believe me!) with ..... lesbian people. It's OK, we don't have to leave the property at all!! Talking of which, the girls from San Diego are taking over Chaps the last weekend in September so we become Chapesses Inn for 3 days! You have been warned!!

PS Our Pedalanthus is about to bloom! You'll have to look it up if you don't know what that is! I might not have the correct spelling but that's what my husband told me. "The Pedalanthus is in bloom again!".

Jim, we miss you!!

Here's a welcome home picture!!! We missed you the moment you left. I waited on the balconey but didn't see you leave. Next year ..........????!!!!!

It's a busy time of year!!

Wow, we have been so busy since I last blogged. March is always our busiest month but this March has been exeptional. Recession? What recession???? We have been full all weekend, tonight and tomorrow (Sunday and Monday) and all lovely people. Oh, one grouch but that's all. Everyone getting along, chatting, laughing and room hopping!! What kind of joint do they think this is??????

Guests in from Canada, England, Scotland, Dallas, Chicago, Arlington Virginia, Omaha Nebraska not to mention a splattering of guests from California!!!!!

I had a dental appointment yesterday, yes, Saturday! One small filling and a temporary crown over the tooth I broke last July in San Francisco. I was telling one of our day visitors that I had a crown put in. He said, 'Oh, I don't like crowns' Quick as a flash with no hestation whatsoever, Stuart came back and said 'What, an old queen like you doesn't like crowns"  How we laughed!!!!

Tony goes to Yucca!!!

We gave a party last night to say farewell to our friends Tony and John. After many years of being our neighbours they finally decided to jump ship and go and live in Yucca. We are still trying to figure out why!!!

Here's a picture of Tony with our friend Jim and on the right are Mike and John, (you know, the Proff and bon vivant).
Between Stuart, Jim and myself, we cooked up a storm!!!! Jim made ribs and chicken wings (delich). I made Ina Gartens Hummus and her rum raisin rice pudding!!!!! You all need to try that. Stuart made coleslaw and Ina's chopped liver and Paul supplied a wonderful potato salad. Yumo. Not to mention my lemon bars to help the rice pudding go down. It was a lovely evening but very cold, we had to put the heaters on. It is only March after all. We thought there would be tons of food left over but it seems we got it right.

Also making an appearance were Dennis, AJ, Peter, Jim and Jim (3 Jims altogether). John, Tony's other half. guests from the hotel, Scotty and  Don.

Tonight, (Thurday) 90% full!!!!!!!!!

LOBOC See Post 11/19/2010

Well, I promised more information about LOBOC, that is the Long Beach and Orange County m/c club. As I mentioned, we have been the host hotel for LOBOC since 2002. Before they left last year, they made reservations for this year, 2011. Without any warning we were dropped in favour of another hotel close by. To say we were disappointed is a real understatement of how we felt when we found out. Nobody called us, nobody came round to tell us and this is a group we have bent over backwards to accomodate for what would have been their 10th year. We turned away prospective guests because we were 'full', about 40 nights were lost because we believed we were still hosting the event. One of the members did eventually drop by. Apparently no-one wanted to tell us because the hotel (alright, it's Helios), is for sale and they were hedging their bets incase the hotel was sold and the new owners wouldn't honour the bookings!!! We know who is behind it all because he has made no bones about preferring Helios to us because "they have vegetation" 
The event was supposed to be this weekend and we heard they have cancelled on Helios at very short notice. We don't know why yet but I can't imagine the Helios boys being too pleased. I guess they have burnt both bridges now. Where will you stay next year, huh? Warning all Palm Springs hoteliers .... watch out and make sure you get a sizable (non-refundable) deposit. Anyway, we were full this weekend and were able to take people wanting to stay for longer than a weekend so we ended up MUCH better off!

St Patricks Day

Mike and John (you know, the Professor and the bon vivant) invited us to their St Patricks day party at their expansive estate in North Palm Springs. Lovely and loads of food. Corned beef, cabbage and other lovely stuff! In attendance were ... Stuart and myself, Jim from Minneapolis, Bob and Harry, Tony and John (more about them later .. thay are moving to Yucca! Yes, there is a place called Yucca). Jim (the other Jim) who is very excited about his new job delivering stuff to old people on Medicare. Cathetars anyone?? Many many other people who's names escape me. More later .... I havn't mention LOBOC yet ........

Moving on ....

We continue to be delighted with our new landscaping and here's a picture of something with flowers!!! My Grandmother collected cacti for years, gathering dust on her window sill. Nothing ever flowered not to mention they never grew a spit, (this is England we are talking about!) She would be thrilled to see this.

Still here!!

Despite not posting since February 19th, we're still here. Having been chastised by our friend Jim from 'the Cities' on numerable occasions during the last week I have decided to bring you up to date but where to begin?? I think starting from today and working back .....

Today, Friday March 18th we are one of the host hotels for Chubfest and you can check that out on http://www.chubsrule.com/ we have a full house and it is a very busy month for us. March usually is. Apart from Jim from Minneapolis, we have Don  from Toronto back again for 33 days and international guests from Edinburgh and London but most of our guests this weekend are from California, (San Diego, Vallejo, Long Beach, Simi Valley) but also from Illinoise and Colorado. Promises to be a lovely weekend weather wise.

Not very nice weather!!!!!!

It has turned miserably wet  for Presidents Day Weekend. It rained all night (boo hoo) which is particularly annoying as I washed down the deck yesterday.  As our guests started to arrive, the temperatures dropped and the clouds rolled in over the mountain. Never mind, here's a cheerful picture of one of our new cacti in bloom a few days ago just outside our front gate. Aaahhhhhh!!!

Once again, the majority of guests are return visitors. We welcome back Sam and Justin , Rudy and Walter from Los Angeles, Jay from St Paul (see you in a few weeks, Jim!). Ron from Atlanta, 2 visitors from Canada and one from England. Not to mention Peoria, Arizona. Great to see you all. Thanks for coming back!!!!  Ooop, I nearly forgot to mention the two lovely boys from Santa Ana who stayed last weekend. Please come back! (no names, as requested!!!!).

Here's another picture, this time the aloe next to the steps going to rooms 7 and 8. We call it our Neptunes Trident plant for obvious reasons. In a few days they will have brilliant yellow flowers. Sorry, no pictures of naked men around the pool. Far too wet and cold. No doubt the steam room will be made use of this weekend!!!!! We''ll see how many can fit in at the same time!

Marc Langet

It was with great sorrow we heard the news that one of our regular visitors had died. Marc was born in France but lived in Belgium and was working for the EU in Brussels. A gentle giant all 6ft 5inches. He took some of the pictures for us on our website. He loved to travel,  loved Palm Springs but most of all, he loved us and staying at Chaps Inn.  We will miss him greatly. Lovely to see you, Gerard. Next time bring happier news!!!!!

Don't cry for us!!!!! (Agentina or anywhere!!).

LOL. I know the rest of the world is suffering with record rainfall, low temperatures, snow up the wazzu, winds, plague, pestilence, locusts and frogs falling from the sky but, here in sunny Southern California, to be precise, Palm Springs, we woke to a low at 7.00 this morning of exactly 32f, 0 centigrade on our thermometer. I rushed to grab the camera to take a picture of this momentous occasion. By the time I got back, the temp had risen by 1 1/2 degrees, so what was the point?! Just so you know, it was up in the mid 70's later and people were sunbathing NAKED around the pool!!! Rush and book your tickets NOW!!!!! This is the place to be.

It's been 2 weeks?

My, how time flies. Can it really be a fortnight since I last wrote???  I should've made a resolution at the New Year to 'write more often!'. I didn't!! Just a quickie, the weather here has been fantastic, mid 70's most days and a welcome change from all that rain. The mountains are looking green and the wildflowers are poking through. The season has started well despite a slow start. Looking forward to seeing some (if not all) of you this year.

The sun arrived!!!

Hello everybody!! It has been a while. Today, January 14th, we were able, for the first time since before Christmas, to wear shorts and t-shirts and/or go naked!!! Weather forecast for the weekend, mid to late 70's(f)

Stuart and I have spent the last couple of days clearing out 10 years of crap!!! We rented a skip (dumpster, in American) and severly under estimated the size we needed. We had a 3 cubic yard skip delivered and we filled it in a flash. We had to call the Palm Springs Disposal Service for another. This time we got an 18 footter!!! It fills up one entire parking spot from side to side and top to bottom. Pictures to follow! You can't imagine the stuff that can accumulate but really this isn't the first time we have had a good clear out. All the old vertical blinds from the rooms needed to go and you can't imagine how many dried up pots of paint we had. I admit, there was some stuff that we brought with us 10 years ago which should have been dumped then but you know how that is!!! It continues tomorrow with Lowe's having one of their electronic drives ... TV's, computers, hair dryers you name it they'll take it for re-cycling. They  also shred paperwork in a huge shredder so goodbye to years of accumulated paper. All for free!!

The question has already been asked .... are you planning on selling? Well, I can see why anyone would think that. Landscaping the parking lot to give some 'kerb appeal' and now not one but two skips in the parking lot!!!!! No, not for sale. Sorry neighbours, we're staying!!!! Maybe we watch too much HGTV!! By the way, The View is for sale, previously the Indianola. $1,300,000 if anyone is interested.

The year has started very well. Long may it continue. Tonight we are 60% full. All new guests except one room. Hank arrives from Guernville tomorrow for an annual visit so welcome back!!!!! That will make us 70% full. I am so glad we have 10 rooms it makes the %'s so easy!!!

Oh Oh,   You all heard Chief Domiquez has resigned due to the Warm Sands Sting??? Well, retired to spend time with his family as he puts it. Good riddance to bad rubbish. No tears for him, he'll be alright. But what about the 19 men arrested in 2009 still waiting their fate?  Note to new District Prosecutor .. drop all charges.
That's all!!!!

Happy New Year!!!!!!

Hello everybody and a very happy New Year!! We celebrated in fine style at 4pm last night which was 12 midnight in England. I think that might become a tradition. At least we were in bed by 10pm as usual!!!! Ken and Mark dropped by, as did Mike and John, Jim and Gino, Tony and as many guests who wanted to have a glass of champagne!!! Stuart made his lovely filo pizza, I baked a brie (thanks to Peggi for the idea!). Home made hommus, filo tartlets filled with salmon mousse and lashings of champagne!!!! Talking of lashings, unfortunately Dennis a AJ couldn't be here due to work commitments. The cake is a traditional English ChristmasCake. Stuart made two, one for 2010 and another for 2011 which will be fed regularly with alcohol throughout the year. For all those who think they don't like fruit cake, this would make you a fan!!!!!