Discombobulated

Now that we are older we have been leasing rather than owning cars.  Our lease is up in a few days so last night we went to a dealership to pick up our new lease.  I was to follow Andy home.  The new car is black and somehow in rush hour traffic I started following the wrong black car.  Had he not pulled into a gas station I would have still been following him. Duh!  I knew where I was, but it was so disconcerting that I found it difficult to get out of the maze of side streets to get home, but I finally did.  Mike and Andy were calling over and over but I could not stop to answer in the heavy traffic.  When I pulled into the driveway Andy was white as a sheet and both he and Mike were standing in the driveway waiting for me. From now on it will be driving Miss Doris. I give up.  With isolation lasting for months I had not been driving.  I am going to practice with Andy the car phone feature; with cell phones, we rarely used the car phone feature before.  Now we are putting it in use for sure. There are more do-dads on this new lease, it wears me out thinking about learning it all, but I intend to for just in case situations. I know, we are lucky to be able to do all of this and I am not ungrateful or unmindful of the suffering of others, it was just a moment for me and a dangerous one.  I do know enough to get off the road. That short time frame scared the bejeebers out of me.

There, the word of the day, bejeebers, from the little-used words of old. Every post will put one or more of these words to work again. (Oh, I also used discombobulated too.)

Not late , not late, for a very important date

Andy and I are always on time, early even. We think being late is disrespectful.  My father was obsessed with being on time and it morphed into my outlook on life.  It is nerve-wracking to be obsessed with anything, but being on time is, to me, major stress.  Andy and I, however, did not realize that being late was accepted and practiced in France.  So when we were invited by one of the Paris antique dealers and her husband for dinner, we pressed the bell on the street and waited to be let into the second door, then pressed that bell and waited yet again.  We were on time and that couple was not ready for on time people.  So they plopped us down with radishes and a drink and proceeded to get ready for dinner. (The meat had yet to be cooked and I am not sure it ever was fully cooked.) So we sat. We noticed the husband carried a plank into the apartment from somewhere.  I don't know where people store planks in Paris, but there it was.  I thought it interesting that it was used with another plank as the dining table. No tablecloth. We watched the construction of our meal from the get-go.  Andy started looking around and then he began rolling his eyes trying to direct me to see something.  I thought at first he was having a stroke. He used his tongue in cheek and eye roll to direct my attention to the glass coffee table on which the radish dish and our drinks sat. Finally, I got the message and looked through the glass top and saw a pile of cat leavings.  If you thought being early was a faux pas then you should have seen us trying to maintain decorum while trying to hold in nervous laughter. We were about to burst when the doorbells started ringing and another couple that we knew arrived. (Maybe a replacement couple for the likes of us ?)  They were French and acceptably late.  We knew them and we were giddy with relief that they were invited.  By that time we had made so many gauche mistakes we thought we might be asked to leave and it would have been a welcome request.  Nevertheless, much later we were called into a closet with the table planks enhanced by actual chairs. I was at one end and the hostess, unfortunately, was at the other end of the board. While chewing our gray meat, I started the conversation with a sentence that caused another uproar about a famous auctioneer breaking my American friend's arm. I said that I was surprised about him doing that...throwing her against a stone wall and breaking her arm because he did not like her questioning his auctioneering moves concerning the American quilts that she had given him to sell. In unison, the couples agreed she deserved it because she was acting big. I plopped my elbows on the table with emphasis to disagree and one end of the plank flew up and food and utensils flew end to end in that tiny room and dinner was done and so were we.  I don't know how we got out of there.  It was surreal. Yet, oddly, this was only one instance of our many kerfuffles in Paris.

waxing nostalgic three

Thinking about today's school situation and what will happen to the world of education I once more waxed nostalgic. We lived in Roseville, Ohio. I think that is a pretty name for a village but it was not a wealthy place.  We lived, fortunately, right across a gravel road from the McCoy pottery where my parents and various members of our family worked.  I loved the pottery and enjoyed the workers.  We became friends and after at age five, I fired the heinous baby sitter who was a teenager and one I hoped would never procreate, the workers would look out for me to tell me it was time to go to school. I had a little chair from my tea party table and chairs out in front of the house facing the window of one of the guys working with the clay.  At a certain time he would shout, "time for school, Doris", and away I would go to first grade. If it was raining I could hear him from the front porch.  I don't remember what I did in the winter, but I came out unscathed except I am very careful with females in my life. I also think how the children who were in school and bullied that this remote learning that is in play right now must be a relief for them.  Not to have to face the bully every day and yet be able to learn must be a welcome respite.

During the school year a person would bring in a scale and everyone would be weighed and the results were on our report cards along with a lot of other personal information that could not be printed like that in this day and age.  I hated that day because I was tiny.  Everyone else weighed the usual amount but I came up not only shortest in class but I weighed the least and everyone thought that was so cute and funny. I found it less humorous, I can tell you that.   

Another school day was vaccination day!  Can you imagine getting away with that in this culture? It was free and painful and I blessed the situation with vomit every single time.  They got so they would move the trash can beside my desk in preparation for what was about to happen.  I never disappointed them.

Parents were not involved in the schools.  They had their jobs and the staff had theirs and the two seldom if ever mingled. Written communications were the thing at that time and they worked very well. I always got to school very early in the mornings and if my teacher was there we would practice my spelling.  One day she pronounced shoot and I carefully spelled shit.  I can remember the teacher's glee.  I am sure the teacher's room got a laugh out of that as well.

There was also a bully girl in my class starting about third grade.  Leanna was her name and she was mean through to seventh grade when I moved away. There were days when we had a good time together and then something would set her off and she was so nasty. Other than she and the one and only baby sitter, I have always been blessed with good friends, good family, and good times. When I donated the books that I have written to the Roseville Library I heard from several of my former teachers and classmates and Leanna was one of them.  She wrote a note and signed it with your old friend, Leanna. Yea, right... That library was where I discovered The Nancy Drew books and those books made me a reader for life. I remember a flood in that library and all the books became moldy smelling and there was not a library close by, I would check out the dried and smelly books anyway and hold my nose while I read. We had teachers that read to us every day after lunch.  One read the Uncle Wiggly series.  I loved that time of day, so when I became a teacher, that's what I did.  Every day after lunch I read to them for a long time.   I still hear from some of my students and that is always the first compliment that they mention, oh, and dodgeball is right up there too in the remembrances.

From a teacher:

Good day today...

We had the most glorious day yesterday with Kathy, Joe and Glenda coming up for the day from Cincinnati. We had two nice meals together while the pool and pergola got a working out as well.  We played cards on the porch while the others were in the pool keeping cool.  The first meal outside was like a scene from Tuscany. A colorful tablecloth, bottles of wine, mimosas to start along with a frittata, Italian salad, sweet corn, good chatter with hours of catching-up.  We had not seen them since July 2019. Matt and Stacy brought the great-grandchildren over for the day and Madeleine, age three, performed songs and dances from Frozen to entertain us further. The sun was exactly right with a soft breeze all day long.  It was perfect.

Speaking of perfect, we had a delicious pork roast for the second meal.  It was wrapped in bacon and I had marinated it for two days, roasted it for 40 minutes, sliced it and it was beautiful and tasty.  So easy.  Sometimes we take pork for granted.

The guests came at 10:00am and left at 6:00 and I was beat!  Luckily, Beth and Kathy took over clean up and left the kitchen in perfect order.  I could not have taken on that task at the end of a great day. When I am done, nowadays, I am done.  However, I feel lucky to be able to do what I do at the age I am. I had a good night's sleep and am writing this around 4:00 am. Not too bad.

Getting ready for company at last

Yesterday I made two crock pots of soups: chicken and noodles and hodgepodge.  The latter was entirely eaten last evening so I made another pot this morning.  It burbled away while I did another cold Italian salad to go with the brunch frittatas for tomorrow's arrivals. Notice the baby corn; I adore products from Jake and Amos, I think it is an Amish company.  Fell in love with their baby corn and the marinade in which they rest.  I could eat the entire jar.  All of their products are good but expensive unless you go to an Amish store, then the products are more than reasonable.  I ordered several from Amazon because I did not want to go into a store if I could help it.  So I paid more but they were delivered the next day right to my door. Love Amazon too. In this salad, I used the juice from the jar of baby corn and let it rest and mingle until Sunday morning when guests arrive for the first time since July 2019.  What a world. When I waved the July 4th guests good-bye last year I had no idea, nor did anyone, what hell we were in for and now it is upon us.

Guests, oh my

We are having guests Sunday, the first time in over seven months. I'm a bit giddy. Kathy is driving Miss Daisy...no, she is driving Joe and Glenda up here to Many Branches for the day.  I will have a nice hot frittata waiting for them along with a salad with all Italian ingredients. It is never the same and the ingredients change with whatever is on my shelves and in the fridge.  For dinner, I will have a lovely bacon-wrapped pork roast, roasted potatoes with multi-colored carrots which will be roasted with the pork.

We are in the middle of construction trying to recover from the new pipes syndrome which has left dust and grit all over the house. Normally, I would not have guests, even family, during that time but I think last July was the last time family was here.  Only three are coming, so it will be fun outside playing cards and having good food and catch-up time. Oh, drinks might be in order as well.

ahhhhh the dust, the dust

Celebrities have never much interested me.  However, I did follow Martha Stewart when she first started out.  I admired her work ethic but not her stiff way of speaking.  She was trying to shed the New Jersey girl speak and was often seen as stilted and pompous while trying to shape a new way of presenting herself. I bought and watched and rewatched her first set of videos.  Sometimes weekend guests would visit (a lot) and I would cook Martha dinners which was very laborious, a bit like her speech pattern.  One Thanksgiving the company and I dressed the turkey in puff pastry and it looked perfect and was delicious to boot.  But it is not something I will ever do again. Anyway, Martha rode high for a long time and worked very hard pinching other people's ideas on occasion without giving them credit or so the press said, and you know the media is always right.  Lately, however, she's struggled to be important again in the TV sector.  But, I think she has found her niche on HGTV channel 52 (I think) in Columbus.  It takes place on her pristine farm and it is a garden show.  Andy and I liked it very much and she even told jokes--one about her husband.  She said couples who garden together stay together but not my husband, he ran away. (He actually did leave her and was it messy!) She said, 'I used to assign him garden duties and he would lay down in the grass and listen to classical music.' She did not think much of his gardening skills although she did tend to be critical of everyone who wasn't her.  Now she is more comfortable in her situation... loose and more comfortable in speech and demeanor and I think this show may work out for her.  She is a very good teacher and prides herself instructing others often and clearly. I think Snoop Dog has caused her to lighten up either that or its the weed. They are an unlikely pair but enjoy their time together. Strange, the connections we make with people in our lives. 

If you follow my blogs you know about the new pipes and the big cut-outs in my ceilings.  The powder room is the worst and a guy has just torn it to smithereens and is still working on it as I write. This blog gives me an outlet so I don't run screaming down Cooke Road. None of us like messed up houses and all dread construction and I have had enough of it done over the 34 years we have lived it.  I can't think there can be that many more surprises in store for us.  I've talked to The Lord about it and I think he agrees, we've had enough all the way around this year. Yet the hammering continues, the dust is still flying, and I have my night work ahead of me...that includes the shop vac and the mop. I bet you are wishing you were me. lol

Note:  I do have time to read and the book I am reading now is really, really good.  Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate.











                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Almost back to normal

Things are getting back to normal.  Right now there is not a plumber in sight, Bella is at the vet having 17 tiny teeth pulled (a problem with Yorkies), and, Dino arrived last night to assure me he can put the house back together and will leave no holes to worry about, plus he is spray painting the pergola. All is right with the world...well, maybe not.

Another happy note is David, JD, and Johnna are coming for Thanksgiving.  I think we will make it a blow out and celebrate all that has gone missing these last seven months. It will be my 83rd birthday as well and, oh, Beth's birthday is that month too. It makes me happy to think about us all getting together.  I will see what the plans are in Cincinnati too. It could be a really big house full of fun.

I am out of the cooking mood today, so everyone must shift for themselves unless I get an urge for spicy shrimp alfredo which is tempting. I've worked pretty hard chasing dust, mopping, and trying to have some cleans rooms until Dino starts working on Saturday. Then the grit and dust return with a vengeance.

Life is good considering the alternative.

Shrimp in alfredo sauce with marinated carrots

Pounding and sawing and hauling oh my

I need to distract myself from two guys taking down some of my ceilings in order to get new pipes in place.  The old ones are 82 years old and they have started problems.  I already have a man scheduled to do the fix-up work, the plaster, the drywall, and the painting.  He is coming tonight to look over the project. Hopefully, the WaterWorks will be gone along with the troubled old pipes .

I have some lovely BQ country pork ribs in the crockpot which will be served over thin noodles for dinner, along with a salad. That Kroger meat run yesterday is serving us well.

I don't want to look at the powder room, they have been in there for hours.  It makes my stomach churn.  I like things running smoothly with no surprises.  Guess that request is out the window.

The guys have accomplished the new pipes and boy were the 82 year old pipes a rusty mess.  So, we are good to go but now every room in the house must be cleaned due to the grinding and the fall out.  Oh well, it could have been worse.  We could have called a different company and had to deal with the sales' pitch for things we did not need.  WaterWorks has integrity.

Many Branches

I feel like the Pioneer Woman must feel when she is out living in the middle of nowhere. She does find ways to entertain herself and others just as I did today.  I actually got excited about spending half an hour in Kroger just in the meat and produce parts of the store this morning.  Andy had the get away car washed and got me an iced capp at Tim Hortons and by then I was ready to be picked up and eager to get home to cooking. The Kroger meat department at Graceland is a hidden gem.  Their meat department is pristine and inviting and today I walked right in and filled my cart with wonderful things.  They had the little fillet steaks, bacon wrapped, two for eight dollars which is a bargain.  Nate, my grandson, works outside all day and he starts off every morning with steak and eggs.  (By the way, he leaves the kitchen looking like he had never been there which I totally appreciate.) 

Tomorrow, WaterWorks hopefully completes its job of new pipes for the Mother-In-Law Suite.  They have cut holes in three rooms so far and then that will be left to be repaired and painted.  Construction is destruction as I well know. But, those pipes are 82 years old and we knew it was coming sooner than later.  I am going with the flow, not getting excited or worried about what will be.  It is what it is and it has to be done.  We love this home and will do pretty much anything to keep it up and pretty.

Tonight we are having corn on the cob and salmon.  I have a lot of choices since my Kroger run, but that's the one that appeals to me today.  It is easy and delicious.

We were so lucky to have three year old Madeleine spend an over-night Saturday.  Her mother had to call to have her come home because no one wanted to release her.  She is such a joy. Mike and Beth made a tent for her to sleep in, but Mike ended up having to sleep in the tent and Madeleine slept in the bed with Beth.  Who would have ever thought Mike would be so besotted with a child? Well, we all are.

Thursday Bella gets dental surgery, Friday I get my hair done, Saturday Beth, Mike, Andy and I are going to an open house couples shower in Cincinnati.

I hope you are all well and happy and hanging in there with interesting ways to keep you entertained...TV news will not be one of them.

Waiting like birds in the wilderness

Like birds in the wilderness here we sit waiting for WaterWorks to come to fix some pipes in one of the bathrooms.  Is this the period of time when things begin breaking one by one?  One Christmas in our other house ten things broke in a very short period of time: the sweeper, the dishwasher and on and on.  I hope this is not a sign of what is to come, although, hell is breaking loose all around us according to the news. Next Saturday we are to venture down to Cincinnati to a couples shower for Andrew and Brittany. Guests come in groups at two-hour spans but still our group will be at least (with) 20 people.  I have not been near that many people since January.  I may be becoming a recluse.  I love the couple who have postponed their wedding and parties three times so far, but I am not looking forward to the chances we are taking.

On a happy note, the weather has been glorious.  It's a true summer this year with no great temperature changes or awful storms. And, it is still summer for more than a month.

I have not cooked today due to waiting for the plumbers.  I don't want to be in the middle of something and have to hike to the second floor or the basement or wherever the warren of pipes lead. I don't want to know how it works, I just want it to work.

Mike is excited, tonight we may have an overnight guest if she can work it in her schedule; Madeleine may be packing her bag as we speak for a sleepover at Many Branches. (She's three and says white milk frustrates her.) She should try waiting for plumbers.