Another great year has come and gone (almost).  This past year has been VERY busy because of our cottage rental guests.  Thank you to all of them!  We are so grateful!!  This was also the first year that we had honeymooners!  Four (different) honeymooning couples, as a matter of fact.  How amazing is that?!  Besides being Airbnb Superhosts, we are now listed as a 'guest favorite' and are in the top 5% of highly rated rentals!  We're honoured.  Truly.
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This year has flown by.  Literally.  It seems as though it was just the beginning of May, and the promise of warm weather, and new Spring projects, was on the immediate horizon.  Now all of that is in our rear-view mirror and it's a happy, tiring, Advil-filled, hectic blur.

Speaking of our past Spring projects, we constructed an outdoor kitchen at the guest cottage.  We also installed wide terraced steps leading down to the shoreline, from both the driveway and the cottage, AND we painted & hung ALL of last year's commemorative buoys along the cottages' outdoor shower wall.  We even made some improvements inside the main house, too; we added some furniture, hung nautical flags, and rearranged a few things in the walk-out basement.

While it's tough to believe that 2024 is nearly over, on the flip side, we are SO looking forward to next year!  Our Airbnb 2025 calendar is open and available for Cottage bookings.  Our larger, main home, The 'G' Spot Maine, is available by special request, as we no longer have that calendar freely open for Airbnb bookings.
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Now that the air is getting chilly, and the leaves are changing colours (and the spiders & crickets are trying to get into the houses - a sure sign of approaching colder temps), we have switched gears and are working on our c1899 Victorian home in Virginia.  We'll miss spending time up in Maine, as we always do every Winter, but we'll spend our time planning more improvements and (over)thinking more ways to make our guests feel welcomed, relaxed, and comfortable.

A great rental year for the guest cottage (well, actually not a full year - only a couple of months), and we're THRILLED!!

The Little 'g' Cottage certainly had taken its time being constructed and completed...but it was worth the wait.  Construction woes, COVID, astronomical lumber prices, delays and yet more delays had us gnashing our collective teeth.  But the cottage, better known as our Couples' Retreat, was finally completed in June of this year - 2023.  We offered a 'soft launch' freebie to friends and acquaintances on Facebook and officially had our first cottage couple in July.  With everything a 'go', we opened our Airbnb calendar for August and *BOOM* we were hit with so many inquiries!!  Wow.  We quickly booked August 3rd through October 13th, with only a few empty days in-between.  Lucky us!

Now that our rental year is complete, I am able to write this blog as a way of looking back, fondly.  We have had some WONDERFUL couples visit us this year!!  Just wonderful.  I do hope that they come back and stay with us again, because it was truly our pleasure.

We're pleased to say that we were lucky enough to receive ALL 5 Star reviews, and we plan on continuing that same attention to details, and to our guests, throughout the remainder of our rental years at Little 'g'. 

Our Airbnb calendar is open for 2024 and we've already received early bookings, which, frankly, leaves us a bit gob-smacked.  It's soooooo exciting and we couldn't be more pleased.

If you are unfamiliar with the Danish term 'hygge' (pronounced HOO-gah), then please allow me to explain.  The word itself means 'cozy comfort' and it's a concept that includes all things well-loved, soft, warm, inviting and natural.

While this photo shows a still-yet-unfinished bedroom space in our Little 'g' Cottage, hopefully it's clear to see that our quest for 'hygge' will soon be a reality.  Warm wood, neutral coastal colours, whitewashed antiques, plush blankets, soft rugs under foot, a fireplace for added atmosphere (ok, it's electric, but still...) and (dimmable) mellow lighting.  We've even included a lava lamp - ha ha - reminiscent of days when things were much slower-paced and so much more stress-free.

As stated on our cottages' website:  "It's important to us that potential rental guests understand our full & intentional quest for 'hygge'.  With such a small space, we had two options: make the space sparse, hyper-minimal, in order to make it appear larger, or fill the space with wonderful things that are soothing and soft and homey and unpretentious.  We chose the latter. "

If you'd like to see more of our design elements and read more about our (construction & design) progress, you are more than welcome to pop into our website.

While many people purchase, or build, homes exclusively to make money (rent, flip), that is not the case with us.  We built our bigger home first, as a future retirement home, knowing that we would also build a guest house as an adjunct space for family or as a place for Mr. G & I to stay in colder months, when the larger house is closed for the Winter.   Because of our passion for the beauty of coastal Maine, and the fact that we are not yet retired, we decided to share our 'spot' with others.  We'd rented our larger home, The 'G' Spot Maine, the past few years, but will now be renting the cottage, so that people, most who are unfamiliar with coastal Maine, will have the opportunity to visit and explore and enjoy all that is Maine, while staying in a very secluded & private oceanfront getaway. 

With the mass exodus from the more populated cities and towns, due to the Covid pandemic, and the subsequently massive explosion of purchased properties in Maine (for the same reason), there will obviously be many more rentals available in 2023 and beyond.  That's fine.  Different people have different tastes and are looking for different areas/places/experiences when they travel.  While our cottage is one of thousands of rentals along the coast of Maine, our is exclusively a couples retreat only.  Our maximum occupancy is two people.  No children or infants, no pets, no additional guests.  Two non-smoking adults, or just one adult, who want(s) a very quiet and private space to feel utterly at ease and relaxed.  Hence the intentional 'hygge' design.

It's already January.  The holidays, and all of 2022 for that matter, have flown by!  Mr. G and I are literally chomping at the bit to get back up to Maine to complete the interior of the cottage and announce its availability as a new rental!  We are hopeful that our guests will enjoy and respect the space and will leave knowing what we know, that Maine is a visually stunning world unto itself, coastal Maine especially, and that it was well worth the trip.   :)

It's currently mid-October and we are, once again, in Maine to continue completion of our Little 'g' Cottage.  My goodness, it's coming along nicely (albeit, it has taken MUCH longer than originally anticipated)!

If you've never offered-up your body & soul to a stick-built construction project, then you're missing out on something completely exhausting, yet completely fulfilling.  Watching this project morph and take-on its own personality has been one of the very best parts, IMO.  Anything can look great on paper, but once those lofty ideas are permanently constructed, then filled-in and changed and added-to, it becomes something else entirely.  It might still resemble what was on that paper....but, then again, it might not.  How much fun you have with it (and how little hair is wrenched from your scalp in the process) completely depends upon your eye for design and your ability to quickly think on your feet.

This cottage project certainly tested my design 'eye', as well as my ability to almost instantaneously switch gears and move forward in a completely different direction.  I've had (too) many headaches, agonizing over 'but how can I do that NOW?!'. 

Being such a small space, only 16'x24', maximizing every square foot was a crucial challenge.  Much like a tiny house, things had to fit, but make practical sense.  My original design, on paper, took months to perfect.  Then our builder changed a few significant dimensions during the construction process and my perfect puzzle became a hot mess!  A few inches or half-of-a-foot doesn't seem like much until it comes to construction!  None of my measurements now worked.  Nothing was going to fit where it was supposed to fit!  I'm not going to lie, it took me a while to RE-calculate and determine how to shift things and how our little cottage would ever function.  Lots of nail-biting and wine, let me tell you.  But the frustration is all vapor now, because it has come together nicely and I'm pleased with the final result (AND I still have all of my hair!  Win!).

Little 'g' Cottage is diminutive in size, yet I hope that our guests will find it to be charming and relaxing, because that's what's most important to us.  No one wants to go on vacation and not feel relaxed & revitalized. 

​Our rental season opening is slated for late Spring of 2023 and we'll offer-up photographs as soon as we have everything properly in its place and looking spiffy!

​'Til next year, folks!!

It is said that, when you are older, the days/weeks/months/years seem to pass much more quickly.  I can attest to this.  Proportionally, a month to a one-year old is 1/12th of her/her life, which is a long time.  However, as you get older, let's say 50, a month is merely fractional.  It passes without notice.  Years, even, are only 1/50th each.  Zip.

All of that being said, this year has completely flown by.  Working on our Little 'g' Cottage has taken up most of this year.  We've traveled back and forth, from Virginia to Maine, Maine to Virginia, every few weeks in order to attempt to complete our cute little cottage.  Attempt is the key word.  Besides the fact that, as mentioned above, we are getting *ah-hem* OLDER, and everything aches when exerting ourselves (ladders are a killer), we're diligently working on completing the cottage.  Our contractors, on the other hand, have not been quite as diligent.  To be fair, some have.  Some haven't.  We've often been left waiting for a tradesman to arrive to complete the ONE THING that is needed for us to continue OUR work, only to waste the whole day waiting.  Although we do reward ourselves with a glass of 'grape juice' when the day is done.

People say to us 'relax, there's always next month/year...'.  Is that a guarantee?  I mean, do you promise?  Because, from my point of view, I don't really know if I'll have a next month or a next year.  Getting older makes you think of these things, btw.  Pretty darn depressing.  Ha!

So, yes, we'll head back up there, over and over again, until the cottage is complete and ready to be offered-up as a super-cute rental getaway.  Surely we cannot complain, really, because spending time at our 'spot' is FAR from drudgery!!  Far.

Back to the title of this blog....  It's already September.  The end of 2022 and the start of 2023 is near!  Holiday fun, cold weather (yuck) & snow!  Families getting together to spend time 'making memories'.  No complaints there.  Bring it on.  We'll continue to hone our vast skills over the Winter at our Victorian home in Virginia.  Always something to do.  What is the cliche about 'idle hands'?  Ours are never idle.  Even when they're cold.  :)

When I mention that we have a place in Maine, so many (non-Maine) people say to me, 'but isn't it SO COLD up there!??!!!'  Well yes, in the Wintertime.  But the Summers......ahhh, the Summers in Maine are something else entirely.  Mosquitoes, yup.  Black flies.  Gnats.  Mmm-hmm.  But the WEATHER!  The weather is truly something else.

Unlike our home in Virginia, our home in Maine is considerably less humid and sticky, atmospherically-speaking.  Maine can indeed get humid, but it's usually short-lived and not quite as all-enveloping & suffocating as it is in the mid-Atlantic and Southern states.  The sun is still hot during the days in Maine, but the nights are comfortable.

Also, there's something extra-special about being on the coast of Maine during the Summer.  Summertime and ocean water/beaches simply go together.  Everyone knows that.  People are drawn to the water, no matter the season. But even the colour of the ocean water is VERY different in Maine.  It's such a beautiful aqua/turquoise blue.  Not to be confused with the Caribbean's aqua-ice-blue water.  Maine's sea water is different.  It's deeper.  MORE intensely blue. 

Along Maine's coast, watching the tall ships and lobster boats come and go is charmingly picturesque and so photo-worthy.  Smelling the fresh Atlantic sea air, slightly tinged with the odor of sea kelp and seaweed., is one of my favorites.  

Oh and the lupines!  Wild lupines pop-up everywhere and Mainers love them!  With good reason!  They're such a lovely ambassador of Summer.

Mostly, Summertime in Maine is special because of the people!  Nothing is taken for granted in Maine.  The warmer weather months are overrun with people on the go, free concerts, yard sales, church gatherings, picnics, sports games & always some sort of boat race.  I don't think that I've ever seen so many community-based events and gatherings where absolutely everyone is welcomed!

To sound like a broken record, if you've never been to Maine, please go!  Experience coastal Maine, in particular.  Take an airplane ride along the bold coast and be mesmerized by the myriad of scattered rocky, pine tree covered islands and craggy granite inlets & coves.  Spend a day, or two, going from lobster pound to lobster pound, savoring all of the traditional recipes.  Book a whale-watching or Atlantic Puffin cruise!  Go to Acadia National Park and stand there in awe of the natural, raw beauty that is DownEast coastal Maine.  Please.

With construction of the 'shell' of our Little 'g' Cottage complete, the work on the interior has begun in earnest.  As with any stick-built construction, there have been unforeseen tweaks to the completed cottage.  A smaller wall here or there, with a window shifted left or right a bit, and so on.  The challenge comes when re-designing to accommodate those construction changes.  I've spent the past few weeks doing exactly that.  Rearranging the small kitchenette in order for it to function well.  Changing the plans for the half-bath (now a water closet with exterior vanity sink) in order to make everything as practical and comfortable as possible.  

I believe that we are now in a good, re-designed place.  The interior is small ~ only 16' x 24' ~ much like the size of a hotel room, yet also offers a living room, kitchenette with laundry area, as well as a 'eat in' space in front of the large triple French door.  Nothing feels cramped or closed-off, in my opinion.  Quite the opposite.  We've even added some really unusual design elements that I'm particularly excited about.

Stay tuned for additional photos as we progress this Spring!  We're excited to complete the inside and get this rental show on the road!

The construction life of our Little 'g' Cottage reminds me of one of the old soap-operas that my grandmother used to watch.  So many ups and downs, twists and turns.  One builder was in, then out, then in again, and finally out (due to his scheduling issues, not us).  New builder is in and making wonderful progress!

If you are interested, you may view our Little 'g' Cottages' construction photo slideshow HERE.  No doubt that it will, most likely, be far less enthralling and exciting to others, but it has been SUCH a HUGE relief to us to finally get this cottage built!  Since it's January, weather stalls are a constant, but we are hopeful that, come Spring, Mr. G & I will be up there, decorating and putting the finishing touches on our cottage.  We're utterly stoked.
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The current construction status, as of this blog date, is that we are waiting for the metal roofing & the siding to be installed, then the decking will go up.  We're very close to completion, if only Mother Nature would cooperate and give coastal Maine some less-frigid, less-wet & snowy weather days.

We're hopeful that our Little 'g' Cottage will be ready to welcome guests later in 2022.  Please watch our Airbnb listing for updates and subsequent open rental dates.

If you've read any of my previous blogs, you've clearly seen that, renting-out our home, as a vacation getaway, has been exasperating at times.  OK, full-on aggravating at times.  We've not had much luck with people respecting our home.  This is, in large part, why we'll no longer be renting The 'G' Spot Maine and will switch virtually all vacation rentals to our (currently-under-construction) Little 'g' Cottage.

The Little 'g' Cottage will only accommodate one or two people, which means no children and no pets.  Sorry about that, but it's only a 16'x24' space that has been designed exclusively for adults.  That means, kayakers, hikers, nature lovers, couples visiting Maine for the first time (or more), Mom's & Dad's who need a break from the little ones, authors, artists, will all be welcome.  Best of all, you won't have to stay for a whole week.  Our minimum stay will be three nights, so long weekends will certainly be available to you.

We're excited, as this title states, because lumber costs have finally come down to the point where we may begin construction of the cottage shell in earnest.  The foundation is already in and we've been anxiously awaiting the sound of saws, hammers, and nailguns!  It will be happening next month (October), barring any unforeseen complications.  We're BEYOND STOKED!  We've been waiting for three years to get this project fully underway and it's now finally within our grasp.  Hallelujah!!  

As things progress, we'll post photos on the Little 'g' Cottage's Airbnb page, as well as its website.  (<-- those are clickable links)

Wish us luck!  Thanks for your support and patience!

I've not written much lately.  I'd had all good intentions to be blog blathering away about our 'new' little cottage by this point in time....but nothing, it seems, turns out as planned.  :)

Speaking of plans....  We'd not planned to rent-out The 'G' Spot Maine (i.e., the 'big house') this year, as the plan was to have the Little 'g' Cottage constructed, completed, decorated, and ready-to-rent, and to, thereby, forego renting the 'big house'.  COVID changed so many things last year, and it absolutely changed the timeline of our cottage construction.  Everything happens for a reason, I'm told, so we're still anxiously awaiting the continuation of construction of our guest cottage this Fall (2021), due to (lack of) availability and the (outrageously high) cost of lumber in DownEast Maine.

In the meantime, while we impatiently wait & watch the rise and fall of lumber costs, we've filled the gaping hole with gravel and secured the concrete pier/post foundation.  Really a bit of a tease, because we SO want to get moving on the shell itself.  We want to SEE the cottage take physical shape and to walk inside, listen to the echo (well, very small echo) and know that it will soon be fully complete.  After all, this is project that has been, so far, three+ years in the making/waiting. 

The photo above probably doesn't look like much to anyone else, but it's the beginning of something truly wonderful for us.  Not only will we occasionally rent-out this smaller cottage (in lieu of renting the bigger house), but it will also serve as our own private little sanctuary when we decide to, on a whim, drive to Maine for a rogue kayaking weekend or a few days of Winter ice fishing.  Why not just stay in the big house?  Because it will certainly be much easier to open a 380 sqft cottage than it would be to open the 3,800 sqft house.  Right?

Stay tuned for updated photos and please keep all fingers & toes crossed that this project will move along without a hitch!  If you've been wanting to stay in Maine, but our big house was just too 'big' for you, then our little cottage might be just right.  It will accommodate one or two people comfortably and, better yet, in fun, quirky style.  :)