New Chapter here at Finch Gardens….the children have gone off to college and left Mom to fend for herself. So it is, that I am hosting a Guesthouse AND a Boardinghouse.  Hard to imagine that it is because I so love changing sheets and cleaning house. I mean I DO…love caring for my home and making it warm and wonderful, but what I really love is sharing that with others. 

 

From early on I have held self-employment as a priority in my life. I have spent the last eighteen years here in Lake Co. working as a farmer, landscaper, teacher, volunteer and supporter of my community. I wanted my children to learn how to be industrious, determined, and directed so I grew a small business with much of their help. They dogged me a lot when I was getting started and were slow to believe that all of my, and more importantly, their, hard work was going to turn into a full time job for Mom. 

 

It started in 2001 as a produce, flowers and herbs sale in my backyard, including all of the very young Lake Co. wineries and restaurants of the day, called Art in the Garden, and grew into The Guesthouse @ Finch Gardens when we turned our garage into an adorable bungalow style getaway in 2010. 

 

The other priority in my life was making sure that my kids could always come home. So, after eight years of hosting guests from all over the world in my guesthouse, and loving every minute of it, I opened the Boardinghouse @ Finch Gardens.  This allowed me to make sense of one person living in such a big house on such a big property and provided that I could always hold a room for my kids during school breaks. It also allowed that I could continue to work on and enjoy the home and gardens that I have so loved creating.