Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Hi,

I’m sure everyone is aware today is the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, it is also the anniversary of Apollo 17 being launched in 1972 and the space craft Galileo finally beginning it’s orbit around Jupiter after being launched from Atlantis six years earlier.  It is also the anniversary of the birth of Madame Marie Tussaud’s in 1761 (of the Madame Tussaud’s waxwork museum fame).

American Textile, based right here in Duquesne, is one of the country’s largest suppliers of pillows, mattress covers and pillow covers is opening another manufacturing and distributing plant in Tifton, GA.  This will be their fourth site.  They don’t sell direct to the public, but make a number of brands and are carried in Bed Bath & Beyond, Altmires, Amazon.com and other outlets.  Way to go PGH manufacturing.

What a wonderful day I had yesterday.  It was one of those days that everything went right.  I really didn’t start the day with a major agenda, but there’s been a bunch  of little tasks that have been nagging me.  Yesterday, I just started knocking them out one at a time.  I got tons done.  🙂

Today was a turning point for Bougainvillea.  If you go to my web site, www.j1c.852.myftpupload.com and click on the Icon that says Accommodations, the seventh room down you’ll see Bougainvillea as it used to be.  It is now a queen.  Three weeks ago it was the last room available and I got two calls for lodging and when they heard it had a full sized bed, they said they’d call me back.  Which they never did.  Two weekends ago again Bougainvillea was the last room available and I got one phone call for lodging and when I told them Bougainvillea had a full sized be, they said they’d call me back.  When someone says that they’ll call you back, that always means thanx but no thanx.  So now it has a queen bed.  That’s a shame, because I like the frame for that full sized bed.  I also rearranged the look of the bedroom a bit.  I have to admit, the queen bed actually fits in the room better than the full did.  The new look will be debuted on my web site in a week or two.

When I opened my first Bed and Breakfast in Florida, I worked at Cuccina’s restaurant on Palm Beach Island.  They had this wall art they commissioned from Palm Beach Floral.  They were roughly four feet tall and six feet long and were bamboo lashed together making roughly one foot square open spaces between them.  Then they attached wicker baskets with silk flower arrangements attached to the bamboo and other items of interest.  Palm Beach Floral charged something like $4,000 EACH.  So I had to make one myself (for a lot less).  🙂   It’s been in storage since I moved up here and since there’s no head board over Bougainvillea’s new queen bed, I’ve pulled my bamboo art out, cleaned it and am updating it.  I think it’s gonna look pretty cool, maybe $2,000 worth.  🙂

Speaking of new mattress & box springs, I got them at The Original Mattress Factory.  They are a locally made and owned.  And actually, their prices were quite competitive.  Maybe the best part is they make mattress that are the same on the top and bottom, so they can be flipped over yearly.  This greatly extends the life of a mattress.  Most mattress manufacturers stopped making flippable mattresses, so this is a great find.

Good night,

ed