News and Tidbits

It’s another Saturday in Bloomfield, and the Inn is full. Mayor Hansen would really like for visitors to our town to decide they like it well enough to come here and live. He’s been trying to get our population up over 10,000 for years, well, ever since he came into office. Seems like just about the time we get a few babies born or a new family in town, someone passes on or a family moves away. So, we’re always hovering just below that mark by anywhere from ten to fifty people.

Mayor Hansen loves our town and wants what’s best for it. My great-grandparents help found this town, so I have a great interest in keeping it a great place to live. I told you last week about their home, Founder’s Cottage. It sits in the middle of town where it was when my grandparents donated it to the city in their will. It’s on the courthouse property and the gardens around it are the responsibility of our garden club. It's a small house, but well kept by the city and the garden club. 

We’ve applied for it be registered as a National Historic Site, but haven’t heard anything about whether it’ll be accepted or not. I sure hope it gets approved. That would make my family very happy and proud.

Lynn Myers did move back to town, and from what I’ve heard, she does plan to stay and live in her brother’s house. It’ll need some work, but it can be a very pretty place once again. Her daughter, Rachel came with her, and it’ll be nice to have them here. Of course, the mayor is thrilled so he can add two more to our population. He likes to go out to the edge of town and change the numbers when they go up, but he sure hates it when he as to lower them again. Soon as Lynn and Rachel have time to come in for a visit here in the tea room, I plan to sit down and have a long talk with Lynn. It’s been awhile since her last visit, and we have some catching up to do.  

Our Spring Fling was a roaring success this year. I told you about Gnorman disappearing, and that was about the most exciting thing in Bloomfield until Andy’s bird got loose and flew all over town with the whole town chasing after him.

Remember, you can read all about these events and characters in our Bloomfield books.

The roses behind the Founder’s Cottage are blooming in full force. We have yellow, red, pink, peach and every variegated color you can imagine. This is my favorite pink bush and the other picture shows several bushes in full bloom.


 All our spring flowers are also in full bloom like I mentioned before and of course all the members of the garden club have their yards in tip top condition since we just ended Spring Fling.

So far Debby Mayne, Gail Sattler, and Kathi Macias have Bloomfield books available. You can find them by clicking on their names on the right and going to their websites.

What's in your garden this year? Tell us about it with your comments and be in the running for the goody box from the Pink Geranium Tea Room and Helen's Bakery. Be sure to leave your email address so I can contact you after the drawing on May 1. If you want an extra entry, be sure to follow us.

Springtime in Bloomfield

Well, it’s Saturday and Spring in Bloomfield and the Inn is full. Springtime brings people out of their winter hibernation. Our town is beautiful in the spring, so we get lots of visitors taking all kinds of pictures on week-ends. The Bloomfield Garden Club maintains the gardens around the little house my great-grandparents built back when Bloomfield was just the name of a brand new little community. That house still sits where my great-grandpa built it, and my Grandpa Miller donated it to the city in his will.  The trees aren't there anymore since it sits in front of the courthouse and across from city hall in downtown Bloomfield, but it's still painted yellow just like my great-grandmother wanted it.

The garden club also keeps up the flower beds in the park and other places about town, and they do a wonderful job of it. Our Bradford pear trees are in full bloom, and tulips, daffodils, and iris add a rainbow of color all over the park, city hall and Founders’ Cottage.

Springtime weather is perfect in Bloomfield as it never gets much above eighty degrees until May. Our summers may be almost unbearable at times, and our winters sometimes harsh, but Springtime is delightful.

The menu for the Pink Geranium changes with the weather, too. We add more salads and lighter dishes to go with the warmer weather. Our flavored iced teas also are more popular during the Spring and Summer seasons. This is a picture of our Oriental Chicken/Almond Salad.

Our annual Spring Fling is over and Gnorman is back in place where he belongs, and people are already talking about what they’re going to do to make their gardens better for next year’s competition.

Below is a sample of sandwiches and salads for our Spring and Summer menu. Stop by and enjoy a sandwich or a salad one day soon. Selena and I will be waiting for you. In the meantime, don’t forget the first books about our town are available for you in paperback and electronic forms.

Leave a comment and tell me about your favorite flowers or gardens. Remember, at the end of the month we’re drawing for a box of goodies from the tea room and Helen’s bakery.

Pink Geranium Spring and Summer Menu

Salads (All served with our variety bread basket)

Chicken

Oriental Chicken: Chinese noodles, salad greens, grilled chicken, mandarin oranges

                                 and walnuts with Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing

Southwest Chicken:  Grilled chicken, black bean/corn salsa, avocado, Jack Cheese,

                                     roasted red peppers and tortilla strips with Chipotle dressing  

Tuna

Fresh Fruit with Poppy Seed Dressing

Craisen/Almond Chicken Pasta

Garden Salad

Chicken/Spinach Salad (Strawberries and Almond)

Trio Salad (Choice of smaller portions of three)

Grilled Shrimp Spinach Salad with roasted peppers, pecans, onion and warm

              vinaigrette dressing

Chicken Caesar Salad

Sandwiches served with fresh fruit and Choice of bread: Rye, Croissant,

                        Wheat, White toasted or plain)

Chicken Salad

Turkey or Chicken with choice of American, Cheddar, Provolone or Swiss Cheese

Tuna Salad

Ham and Turkey Club Sandwich

Sandwich/Soup Combo: 1/2 any sandwich and half portion any salad

Sit a spell and let's have a spot of tea

Welcome back to Bloomfield. Glad you decided to visit us again. If this is your first time, you’ll love our town. The people are friendly, loyal and caring. Most of them have come in for a bite of lunch at one time or another that is except for the younger generation. Those twenty-somethings don’t enjoy the tea room like their parents do.

They seem to prefer the Fancy Schmantzy restaurant in town. That’s not the real name, but that’s what folks call it around here. I haven’t been there but once or twice myself. The décor is rather formal and people talk much more quietly than they do at Burt’s Barbeque. The fancy place uses fine china, silver, linens and sparkling crystal for their tables along with linen tablecloths and napkins. The lights are not bright, but you can see your food and know what you’re eating, and the food is excellent.

The tea room uses fine china for our dishes whether it matches or not. If it’s old, pretty and has a design, I’ll buy it for the tea room. I do love this new pattern we recently started using because it features butterflies, one of my favorite things. Of course when the men have coffee, they are given sturdy pottery mugs. Men don’t cotton to well to dainty cups, but they don't seem to mind these new ones with the larger handles. The pink and white interior with pink geraniums everywhere delights the ladies, but the men tolerate it to have some of Lida Mae’s chicken pot pie or quiche. 

I love our crystal in the Colony pattern from Fostoria. What you see here were my mother’s and she got them in the 1940’s when she married. The tea set belonged to my grandmother.

Winnie’s party was a huge success. We managed to surprise her, but only her closest friends from high school days know her real age, and we’re not telling because then people would know how old the rest of us are. One person missing was our Mayor. Woodrow Hansen had out of town business that kept him away, and frankly I think Winnie was a little disappointed he wasn’t here. I’m not one to spread tales, but if you ask me, now that she and Woody have both lost their spouses, she’d like to ignite their old flame from high school days. Now that’s one fire I’d like to see re-lit.

I hear that Lynn Myers is coming back to town to settle her brother’s estate. He lived in a creepy old house next to the cemetery. I hope Lynn can fix it up to what it was like years before her brother became such an eccentric. Lynn was once a regular patron of the Pink Geranium and it’ll be good to see her again. She’s a widow like me, but her loss is still rather new, so coming back here will do her good. I just hope she’ll feel at home again.

You can read Lynn’s story in Last Chance for Justice. It’ll be available in May and you’ll meet Lynn and her daughter, Rachel next month after they get settled in.

It’s time to get ready for week-end guests, so I’ll leave you for now. I hope you’ve enjoyed our little visit. Do come back as I have lots more to tell you and many more people for you to meet.

Be sure to leave your email address when you leave a comment so I’ll know how to get in touch with you if you win our box of goodies. Also, you can get an extra entry this month by following us if you don’t already.

Time for Spring Fling

It’s Saturday in Bloomfield and the Inn is full. Selena and I just finished cleaning up from breakfast, and all our guests have left for their own adventures today. Ashley is cleaning our guest rooms, so I’m taking a few minutes to tell you more about Bloomfield and some of its good people.

Spring time brings out the best in our gardens as they begin to bloom in a riot of colors. Libby Birdwell trimmed her roses in February and now they are bursting with blooms and buds in all my favorite colors of red, pink,  and yellow, but she has a lavender rose bush that is the most gorgeous I’ve ever seen.

 Here’s a picture of a spot in my own garden out back. I love to sit and swing and read when the weather is nice. Wish I had time now, but we have a special event going on this evening.

 It's Winnie Simpson's birthday and Selena and I are giving her a party. I'd tell you how old she is, but if I did, I might not be around for another post about our town. I'll be using a few of the dishes from the menu on our last post. The Cherry Cheesecake is Winnie's favorite along with a few other desserts. Helen, at the bakery, is making the birthday cake and will bring it over later this afternoon. 

It’s also time for our Spring Fling and the annual garden contest. We have the cutest little gnome named Gnorman who holds the trophy. I mentioned him in an earlier post, and here’s his picture. He’s a cute little fellow, but when he went missing, we had a wild chase on our hands to find him.

Amber, who owns our craft store and makes all kinds of pretty ornaments for our gardens, was in charge of getting him to the event with the trophy, but suddenly he disappeared. Amber elicited the help of Stan, who owns a car repair shop, to help her find Gnorman. That little statue led them both on a merry little adventure. He ended up in gardens all over town where he left clues for the hunt, but just when Amber and Stan thought they had him, he disappeared and once again they followed the trail.

Why Gnorman disappeared and what happens with Amber and Stan makes for a great story, full of fun and surprises in Take the Trophy and Run, another Bloomfield book by Gail Sattler.  

Don't forget our give away for April is a box of goodies from our tea room and the bakery. So please leave a comment and there's still time for me to send you a copy of any recipe from our menu that you would like. 

See you next week with more tales from Bloomfield.