Sixteen year old window washer... uh huh

Madeleine was the main attraction on Father's Day.  She was the only gift Mike, her grandfather, wanted and she came to spend the day, and, to keep us all on our toes. I must say Beth, Mike's wife, is so very good with her.  Madeleine's mother had to work so we were pleased to entertain her while she entertained us. Her Father had a nice long Father's day nap and Mike got to enjoy every moment with antics.  With all the attention she gets, she does not seem too spoiled, but she does have a mind of her own.

Mike and Matt and Andy wanted simple fare: stromboli (and lots of it), pizza, and I made that shrimp recipe that I showed on Facebook Sunday.  I had made ahead of time the Pioneer Woman's pimento cheese recipe to serve with crackers while waiting for the food to arrive.  We had drinks and starters and the pools got a working out...the big pool and the baby pool.  We had to 'drink' (spill out) a lot of baby pool tea as Madeleine never tired of serving us.

I learned my lesson about hiring a 16 year old to do windows Saturday.  First, you have to actually point to each window and ask her nicely if she would mind washing this window inside and out for money. Sigh...you mean all of these windows in this whole house in one day. OMG. Yes, and the window sills too--what are sills? But, I see some dead flies and spiders. I should probably skip those and just leave them where they are.  You then have to actually fill the bucket with soapy water, test it to see if it is too hot for delicate hands present her with rags (eweww), a squeegee, what? (show her how to use it) and show her how to be safe on a step stool. And, make sure it is cool enough in the house for the princess of windows. (To say nothing of 93 degrees weather outside.) Could she have water, a coke with ice?  Do you know how hard it is to hold a phone in one hand and wash windows with the other? Please. It's true, I have no heart.  I discovered she had a fear of bushes. If there was a bush near a window, she skipped it entirely which of course meant the entire front of the house downstairs AND, to match, upstairs (which she never got to at all.) When she quit she left the bucket of dirty water, the wet rags, her coke glass and equipment (which never got used, on my living room floor for me( 80 Years old) to pick up and empty while she danced around in the backyard on the phone waiting for her hardworking uncle and crew to finish up icky yard work.

Saturday frenzy

They did the work, but I am exhausted.  There were eight workers here today (well, 7 counting the non productive window washer) and just keeping up with keeping them watered, finding equipment that they did not bring, answering questions, and running them here and there in the golf cart...to name just a few things, left me wondering how I did all of this, taught, traveled, did shows, antiqued in London and Paris, wrote books, fed the troops, kept the house myself, mowed two and a half acres....I could go on and on.  I swear it was easier than today doing the finding and suggesting and pointing and paying to be this tired at 2:00 in the afternoon.

I have a lovely pot of fish chowder, however, and peace at last.  Andy is taking a swim, we'll have a drink, the dogs will have a treat and the edges will smooth out.  I must say things are looking pretty here at Many Branches.

My niece, Pam, has broken ground on her new home.  It has been a long time coming, but I bet things will be going faster with her cracking the whip.

Hmmm, that pool is looking pretty good.  Maybe I'll just fall in, cool off and have that cocktail under the pergola.  Life is good considering the alternative.

Andy says the water is 82 degrees but still very refreshing.  Madeleine can try it out tomorrow, Father's Day.

Avocado toast

Have you had the new rage, avocado on toast?  It seemed too simple to be tasty.  However, I had it for breakfast this morning and I can hardly wait to have it again.  Luckily I bought a bag of avocados.  You know how fast they ripen, so we will simply have to deal with that by eating this delicious, simple offering on  well toasted pieces of bread.  I put a whole avocado in a bowl with lemon juice, salt and pepper. (No hot sauce but I bet that would be good.) Then I sliced colorful cherry tomatoes and mix them into this chunky beautiful stir.  Popped out the toast and put a heaping amount of avocado mixture on the warm toast and Bob's your uncle.  (It was mighty fine.  Why am I writing like this today?) Restaurants are getting big prices for this wonderful idea, but make it at home and see if I am right about this splendid offering. It's a beautiful day to have this outside with a big cup of coffee,  Yum.

Biscuit cake

I learned many things during my numerous trips to England.  I was shopping for antiques at, I think, the Chelsea Antiques Fair.  I had been several places before arriving at the show and after a quick pass through stopped for a cup of tea.  There on a cake stand stood a cake I had never seen before.  I had to try it.  I am not fond of chocolate, but I was drawn to this sublime cake.  It looked like a brownie cake texture except each slice had what I thought was like a Kit Kat bar.  (That was NOT it.  I tried a cake with that bar and it was not a success.) Okay, picture a one-tier cake, chocolate, with a long (English) cookie sandwiched between two layers of brownie mix placed so that each slice had a full biscuit (cookie) the length of the slice.  Topped then with powdered sugar for adornment. It was so delicious but I could not get the woman to part with the name of the cake or the recipe. That was years and years ago and I have not forgotten that cake.  Just this week I learned it is the favorite of the Queen of England and that she has a slice at tea time nearly every day , and, that it is called a biscuit cake! So I Googled it and there were pictures and recipes, some that were not even baked, but none having a cookie running the length of a slice. Instead, all the biscuits had been broken up and cascaded throughout the cake so that when it was sliced all the pieces had a chance to show off. I am still not satisfied, however, because I do not see the exact cake and I failed the one time I dared to try making it.

It looked a bit like this, which was Prince Williams groom's cake. (The one I saw had no icing.)

GLORIOUS DAY

What a beautiful day.  The dark cloud has passed and today has promise. I think this is Many Branches prettiest spring. I am going to like today.

This ends my week of solitude that I always have after a fury of activities which has gone on since March. I am not planning anything until Labor Day week end except for a visit from Glenda and Joe once his doctor's appointments are finished. Even then it will be a slow quiet card-playing time with good food and chats.

After yesterday's beginning, I stayed out of the kitchen until my mojo returned. I am thinking salads today so Andy has gone to the store for produce.  We had bought quite a lot of it at Sam's, but it is gone now, so I have been producing healthy meals for the last few days.  Salads are like soups, you can do anything to them and still the results are tasty.  I think we have come a long way from the iceberg lettuce standard salad even introducing the wedge variety of this poor cousin to the leaf department. Mike and Beth are fans of this wedge concoction, but to me, there is no taste when it comes to iceberg lettuce. We have now added, grains, pasta, and even mixed fruit into a lettuce base with odd combinations of dressings that many are not accustomed to, but it works. I think today I am going to make two or three salads that keep well in the refrigerator and that can be pulled out whenever the urge hits to be enjoyed without fuss. Chicken salad with grapes and pecans appeals to me today and it can be enjoyed straight from the chill.  Also that broccoli, cauliflower, and dried cherry salad that I made a few days ago keeps beautifully and even improves with age.  It disappeared very quickly, however, so I am making a big batch this time.

Andy is also bringing me coffee from Tim Hortons.  After yesterday I am still not allowed to touch the coffee maker.

Have a beautiful day.

Waaa, bad day so far

Have you ever had one of these days when you think you should hide in the closet until things improve?  Started off with a fraud voicemail from Washington DC offering to do bad things to me if I didn't do as they asked. (At least I hope it was a fraud.) It wasn't clear what they wanted or if the call was meant for me since the accent was not English.  Since I rarely answer the phone and can hardly ever find it, good luck with the threats.  Next, I came downstairs to make the coffee and was so distracted I forgot to put the filter in and I made the most noxious brew ever.  So I spent the next half an hour carrying the coffee maker outside to dump the mess and discovered there is another safe guard in there in case you have a senior moment, so all that time and effort was wasted.  Then I decided to give the coffee maker a good cleaning and by that time Andy had gotten in the car to buy me Tim Hortons before I burned down the house. The dogs were stunned at all this unnecessary activity.  They wanted fed. I have no idea what I put in their dishes, but dog food was not one of them.

Now I am sitting at the computer which should be a safe spot until Andy delivers the coffee ready made.  I will be afraid of the kitchen for the rest of the day. I hope your day started off better than mine. And, it is only 8:30, so what is the next batch of fresh hell?

posts of the past

I've written over 500 posts on this blog and have begun to read some that are archived.  To the right of each post is a long list of dates, tap a date and you can read what was going on on that day and what would be going on within the month.  I had a lot more to say and to write about through the years and maybe I am just getting lazy.  I find it fun to see the pictures of us then and now.  It covers several years and it seemed easier to get pictures on and placed where I want them and there were fewer rules for blogs.  Things tighten up through the years and people are a bit stingy about their pictures and ideas that they put out there for everyone to see but not, exactly, to share via a different blog.  I believe if you put it out there it is meant to be seen by as many people as possible and after all, they are recipes and ideas, so what is the harm of sharing.

So look back and enjoy.  I know many of the pictures will not show up because of the above reasons...even my own from my Facebook seems limited or just plain not there now.  But there is plenty to keep you busy and interested, you can't have read them all. lol (Let me know if you have.)

Many Branches looking good

It's a beautiful day at Many Branches.  Perfect.

Sundays with the Lechlers

What a weekend!  First we had the surprise party for Danny and Nancy at a country club in Zanesville.  Then we had Brooks and his girlfriend, Carly, as guests for a few days and to top that off everyone who could come enjoyed Sunday at Many Branches.  Mike got Madeleine's new kiddy pool up and running so she spent the day serving tea out of her pool and watering the flowers.  She's an outdoor girl. Steaks were grilled beautifully by Brooks and the food was plentiful, as usual.  Heather, our friend, joined us and she is always welcome.  She keeps our hair in place and looking good because she is an expert in her hairdressing field. However, she was there as a friend of the family, no hairdos today.  The weather is perfect these days and so welcome after the winter we have had although I do miss curling up with a good book and having nothing to do.  I'll try that starting Tuesday for the rest of the week.  I need a break. I always say that life is good and much better than the alternative.

Brooks and Carly hitting the road...Madeleine at work--everyone is put to work at Many Branches.

It was a surprise party!

Last night Andy, Mike, Beth and I drove to Zanesville and celebrated my niece, Nancy, and her husband, Danny's 50th wedding anniversary.  It was a big reception with over sixty people there to please them.  They were married at 19 and as she says, they grew up together in marriage. They had never had a reception and she said that no one had ever done anything like this for them in their lives.  So they were gobsmacked.  Her daughter and her partner, Carol, planned and executed the entire event at a country club in Zanesville.

We had so much fun seeing relatives and even Sarah, my high school classmate.  Our jaws were tired from laughing and reminiscing. When I was in high school I had many parties and sleep overs and Sarah was part of many of them.

Today here at Many Branches, Brooks and his girlfriend, Carley will be the center of attention as the family gathers for a cookout.  We will send them on their way in the morning but will enjoy their company for the day. Summers are so exciting, there is always something going on.  However, next week is free and we are looking forward to a bit of by-the-pool relax time. I keep looking out the windows at how good everything is looking outside.  We have this new group of guys taking care of the place and it looks spiffy.

Life is good...and certainly better than the alternative!

Endless summer and endless plans

What a wonderful start to summer.  We have broken heat records all month and now it is June.

One thing about this family, they plan ahead big time.  So far there are two weddings next year, one a year and a half away and it is a destination wedding, so we will be going to Italy.

This week end we have Brooks and his girl coming today for a few days and an event Saturday. Summers are busy for everyone and this one is no different.

I have cooked ahead because Brooks always comes hungry.  When they arrive there will be a frittata, salad, and brownies. I have chicken pot pies with puff pastry spears for sometime during the day with two different salads.  Then Sunday we have some company coming and we will grill steaks. I also have a batch of so-called 'crack' ready for the company.  (That is my form of granola from Barefoot Contessa's recipe with a twist from me.)  After trying a recipe, I can rarely leave it as is.  I start fooling with it and sometimes it gets even better.) The family named it because once tried they can't leave it alone.

 Madeleine is coming Sunday and we have a new kiddie pool with a sprinkler attached for her to enjoy.  The big pool is a bit much for her at this stage. However, the water in the big pool is just right at the moment.  I think the cottonwood and oak spores are done for the season and they were bad this year!

I hope your summer is going well.
Cheese straws for the lunch.

-1:15


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