I made it

I have neglected this blog for over two weeks and have probably lost all of my readers.  Yet on I go writing about this glorious trip because, at 82 years old next month, it is remarkable to be able to withstand the rigors of a trip to Italy and back traveling alone.  It reminds me of the article about Senator McCain's mother who was a twin.  At 90 some years old they flew to Paris and planned on renting a car.  However, the French informed them they were too old to drive and refused them a car.  So the twins went to a BMW car dealership, bought a red BMW and drove themselves all over Europe and then shipped the car home. Inspired by this story of a woman who just died a few months ago at the age (I believe) of 106, I undertook this adventure.  And, even though there will probably be no one reading this, or finding it interesting if they did, I will print it and store it in my journal of life.

It started on October 3, 2019.  I arrived at JFK without incident and soon boarded an American Airlines plane of luxury never before experienced in all my years of travel to and from Europe. I was ushered to my personal cubical and given a glass of champagne before my butt hit the luxurious seat which easily eased into a bed later on in the flight. I was stunned.  It was business class and there was no first-class section because Business Class was actually first class.  I have my own personal television with a plethora of movie choices. I had my own personal charger for phones and Ipads etc. A fluffy pillow and a quilt for later use.  Leg room galore, everything new and special to anyone's needs on an 8 and 1/2 hour flight that actually got there an hour early.

We arrived in Rome at 7:15  and a wheelchair whisked me through to my bags (I only used the wheelchairs at the airports) and a driver was there to take me to my first tour hotel for two days in Rome. I have to be honest, Rome did not thrill me nor did the food of Rome.  It might be that hotels and tour places feed you whatever they like because they know they will never see you again.  But, I had not come to Rome for the food.  Our tour of Rome and the two days we spent there was fine and soon we were on our way to Venice. Traveling through Tuscany's olive groves and the Apennine Mountains bound for the Queen of the Adriatic, Venice. By then, friendships on the fine bus had been established and my seat mate, Stacy, who looked like my daughter-in-law who was about to have a baby, and did, while I was on the trip turned out to be most pleasant and certainly added to my pleasure on this trip. Venice was fun even though crowded.  I thought there would not be many people in October in Italy but I was wrong.  Tourists were everywhere and I was informed during the season it would be 4 times the number of visitors.

We boarded the bus for Verona home of Shakespeare's ill-fated lovers Romeo and Juliet.  It turns out that this is a farce.  Juliet's balcony never held Juliet and she never lived or stayed where the tour guides led.  It was made up a long time ago by a tour guide who wanted to promote the area and promote happened and people actually pay to go view a balcony and to rub the breast of a statue of 'Juliet' for love luck.  (I found this out when I got home from Rick Steve's TV show. Fortunately, I did not fall for that extra tour expense.) It was on to Pisa and then Florence where the Trafgar tour ended for we three: Johnna, my daughter-in-law, and her sister Angela.  It was the Villa and the wedding the real reasons we had come to Italy in the first place. So we said good-bye to our seven-day tour relationships and headed for Villa La Vedetta. NOW we are talking about luxury, good food, excellent accommodations, and a fairy tale wedding. I have never seen such a large event go on without a hitch.  It was glorious. We then had three more days to explore and enjoy Tuscany.

On October 17th I started home, back in the luxury of cubical flight and it was a perfect trip until JFK.  I won't bore you with the two wind- canceled flights at JFK and a rush to Chicago where my wheelchair driver rushed me to a faraway gate to Columbus and I boarded 10 minutes before they closed the gates. I tipped that young wheelchair driver guy so big he will never get over it and neither will I; I  was just that grateful. I saw Columbus at midnight.  Believe me, I slept for days it seemed. Never mind my three bags took some trips on their own and It was three days bfore they were delivered to my doorstep.  Not the fault of American.  I shall carry on for years to come about that great airline, as far as I am concerned.  They are the best.

List completed

Just at the right time, I completed my six major things that had to happen before my Italy trip.  I'm locked and loaded and ready to fly to some fun far away. I am supposed to have one bag and one carry-on, but when there is a three-day wedding celebration and an extensive tour of Italy a girl needs her stuff.  Since I got my travel documents a day ahead of the trip due to a very poor travel agent, I will have to feign ignorance about the one bag rule.

The dogs are aware something is up.  The minute I get the bags out they follow me every step to make sure I don't go out the door.  Andy will take good care of them.

So, I leave tomorrow and will send back many pictures of the events of which there are many.  Enjoy the summer extension; can you imagine October 2nd being 92 degrees? Long live summer.

Away a week from Thursday

The travel agent finally got on the ball and now we know pretty much what we will be doing for two weeks in Italy.  I had to order a few more things from Amazon.  Italy has stopped using plastic water bottles and good for them, so she suggested we bring a reusable travel mug which I had not thought of.  I wish we would do away with plastic water bottles too.  She says it rains, so I bought a rain jacket and also bug repellent--so: we will be dehydrated but in the rain, while the mosquitos feast on our poor tired bodies.  Sounds like fun, don't you think? I think it will be pretty there in October with the temperatures hoving in the mid to low 70 degrees but a lot cooler in the evenings. (Better for wedding dancing.)  I think Alyssa and Beth have it all arranged and settled.  All they have to do now is to cough up the money.

I have all kinds of adapters and chargers and plugs, so I hope to shoot you pictures until you are sick of the whole thing. They will be on Facebook.  I don't know about the blog.  I need to figure that out.

I am cooking from the fridge today.  I want to make Andy some things so he does not starve while I am gone.  I have stayed in Paris a month at a time before (many times) and he got along great but that was then and this is now.

I am thinking of a Bob Evans zesty sausage soup today.  I just finished a load of deviled eggs with some egg salad left over to have on toasted sandwiches.  I have to make homemade croutons, he does love those with soup and salads.

We are enjoying this lovely end of summer to no end. I love it so.

Ahhh, fennel

I discovered something today.  I had bought bulbs of fennel and sliced them thinly for salads.  I like the taste of raw fennel but I knew that cooks like Ina Garten liked it roasted.  I had only seen large slices of fennel roasted and when I pulled my tray from the oven and the thin crispy slices greated me, looking like onion strings, I was delighted.  Then, when I tasted them having sprinkled them with salt and pepper and olive oil, I was transported.  They were accidental and delicious. I quickly put four more bulbs of fennel on my grocery list.  Andy does most of the shopping, going nearly every day, so I don't have long to wait to enjoy this again.

The days are glorious, don't you think?  The doors and windows thrown open with the dogs basking in the sunlight either at the door or just outside. Posy and Bella have a favorite tree where they spend hours gazing up at it, I guess it's the squirrels, who knows?

So my to-do list of six is now whittled down to four.  I am nearly packed saving the important clothes for last so they won't wrinkle.  I am sure Beth has not even started packing and she has much more to remember than I.  She isn't leaving until the 9th and I am leaving in two weeks to the day.

I have schooled Andy as to how to feed the dogs and as far as they are concerned, he knows the rest. I am careful about their food and it comes from the vet, so I feel good about that.  I worry that human food as treats did Winston in, but I hope I am wrong and we will never know. I am taking no chances with the two I have left.

I ordered books uploaded to my Kindle for the trip and have, unfortunately, begun reading them.  I can't resist.  You know what a fan I am of Ruth Reichl's writing.  I am reading her latest Save Me the Plums which I wanted to read on the plane.  But, oh well, I still have her Paris one.  She wrote Comfort Me with Apples and many more.  She was responsible for bringing Gourmet magazine back from the brink of failure years ago and Save Me the Plums is about that time period. Her tenure there was probably her favorite time of life and having to leave was the worst.

My chili, like my meatloaf, is never the same twice.  I made an especially good batch this week and am sharing it like I would bricks of gold. Sparingly.  I serve it with Carfagna's thin, thin, slivers of corn chips, so delicate and so right with this chili.



Enjoy some fennel and these glorious warm summer-like days.

Countdown has begun

Well, it is finally close to being here:  Brooks comes home from the hell hole of the world in a few days, hopefully for good, and his sister's wedding happens in a few days.  I have six major things to get done before I leave for Italy on October 3rd and that does not include packing which also has begun.  The first of the six is the dentist this morning and that is not to be fun...none of the six will be all that giddy inducing, but all are necessary.  Beth says there are 70 people coming to the wedding in Italy.  Can you believe that many people are making the effort to go that far to celebrate with us?  Must be good friends and good family. I have a new phone and a back-up portable battery charger, so the pictures will be flying right from the start.  I am traveling alone but when I get to Rome and the baggage pick-up Johnna, my daughter-in-law, and her sister arrive supposedly fifteen minutes later from a different flight and will meet me for the pick -up of the tour guide.  I am certain they will not leave me miserably riding the luggage carousel for hours on end.  It's detailed but workable.

I have begun to really enjoy the Pioneer Woman on Food network TV. I'm sure you have all seen her programs.  Her recipes are really doable and she is easy to watch as she prepares her dishes.
  On the other hand, I am waiting with impatience for the fall line up of programs.  Why can't they get good summer shows? With all the talent available, why do we have the trash that is on during the summer?  Beth and I are going to the Downton Abbey movie right away.  We are looking forward to it.

Saturday Joe, Glenda, and Kathy will be here for the game and over night.  I think I am making chili for when they arrive because with the band show before the game and the long game, they will get hungry. Busy time at Many Branches...no time to get old, stay on foot and be active I say. 

Birthday month...and odds and ends month

Andy, Matt, and Nate all have close together birthdays in September. We will take them out to eat at some point. Sunday I think.  I, on the other hand, am counting down the list of what I have left to do before my big trip.  Six things still to go.  I got the luggage squared away thanks to the Russians at Dr. Shoe.  Those guys are not all that loveable, but they know their stuff. One is nicer than the other, but they are so busy there is not time to glad hand.

I made Chuy's (copy cat) marinade for chicken today and have some chicken strips soaking up the luscious concoction. What I am looking forward to is tomorrow night's supper.  
Baked steak, mashed potatoes, and peas.  Old fashioned and delicious. Today I put together a multi-layered tasty salad and sent Andy off to school lunch- satisfied.

Brooks will be home in less than ten days.  I know he will be glad to get out of that hell hole. He and Carly have been planning a spring wedding from afar.

A week from Saturday Joe and Glenda make another appearance along with Kathy.  Kathy, her dad, and Andy will go to the band show, Andy then comes home and Joe and Kathy go off to the game on Andy's season tickets. There will be a steady stream of Cincinnati family coming for the games this fall as they have for several years.

I am in a fall slump which happens nearly every autumn.  I do hate to see the summer fly past me. I'll get over it, but the process is not pretty. 

Week- end fun

Joe and Glenda just pulled out of the driveway for home.  We had such a good weekend visit with them.  Andy and Joe got to try out the new seats for the OSU games and they found them front and center.  Andy has had season tickets for years and years (he's that old). Glenda and I had the whole afternoon to catch up on the news of the family. We ate well... I had prepared a lot of food ahead of time which was too much as usual.  So, no cooking this week.

We are so happy Brooks will be home from Iraq in a few days. So glad that's over.  He has many decisions to make now for his up coming wedding in the spring. We think it will be in Nashville and since we have never been there, we are looking forward to enjoying that adventure.  We do love weddings.  They are so much fun.

Alyssa's wedding, due to good planning, is moving right along.  I am still waiting for my trip (Italy) plans package which is to arrive Federal Express.  I don't think we are getting the service that is necessary from AAA Florida. The agent has personal problems and it has thrown him off course and I don't like it! I am 81 and need to know what is in front of me travel-wise. Plus he has me booked on American airlines and they are in two kinds of trouble at present.  I am sure it will work out eventually, but not quick enough for my liking.

This was a beautiful week-end weather-wise as well as company wise. Fall is beautiful, but summer is way too short.  I miss it already.

I lied about the cooking.
Fried rice with Singapore noodles

Sure way to Andy's heart

Andy loves my homemade granola.  He pines for it when it is gone.  Since I use two big boxes of old fashioned oats, the job to make this item takes a lot of time. It is worth it to see the joy he displays when it is finished and ready to be sampled.

It is Labor Day but it does not seem like it.  I am used to a big crowd of family being here but the day crept up on me and I did not realize it was near until a couple of days ago. Well, another time, but not before these trips.  I got the suitcases out today to give them a going over.  I took five to Mr. Shoe who worked on the zippers and anything else that needed doing.  The trouble is the biggest one that I need has zipper pull issues.  So back over we go to get that fixed. (I am glad I am not planning this wedding.  I worry about zipper pulls and Alyssa worries about the important stuff.)

The finished product:

There will be at least six trays like this when I’m done. I’ve gone crazy. Posy is after the fallen oats.

Hash brown uses

Yesterday I made a new discovery.  I wanted the fish chowder to be a bit thicker so I added something not normally meant for soup.  You know the hash browns at McDonald's?  Well, Trader Joes sells them in the frozen food section and they are delicious and a perfect shape to be used in breakfast casseroles, frittatas, or oven bakes. As my fish soup was simmering I took out several of the frozen oval slabs and put them in the soup...hoping for the best.  I went back five or ten minutes later and they had separated and spread through out the soup themselves looking like grains of rice.  It was a delicious thickening concoction. I also added Sriracha to the fish soup giving it a nice kick along with some Worcestershire and soy sauce. That is why I like autumn cooking.  You can really let yourself go on these dishes and they are very forgiving.

Labor Day came in a rush this year.  I only realized it was nearly here a couple of days ago.  So, our holiday will be a quiet one, a relaxing one.  I hope Madeleine comes to visit to do puzzles with me. She is a hoot.  Some of the things she expresses are so funny coming out of a two-year-old's mouth. Yesterday she and her father were at Trader Joe's and Matt's car would not start.  Matt called his dad for a jump and when Mike got  there Madeleine announced for all to hear "It's broke!"

Our son, David, and his family live on the path of Dorian.  Today is his birthday, so not a nice way to spend it getting ready for a hurricane.

The Girl who lived Twice by David Lagercrantz is a really good read. You have probably read some of his work; The Girl in the Spider's Web...a Lisbeth Salander feature. Well, she's back and mad as ever.

Fall recipes

Although Cook's Corner is not such a draw  (for me) anymore, the Columbus Dispatch has started giving a nice seasonal insert in the Sunday paper. Today they out-did themselves with their Fall cookbook offering forty-six pages of well placed and well thought out recipes for the entertaining season. It's a keeper.  I have already discussed it with a fan of the paper's cooking section and we agree it is worth having in our recipe book repertoire.

Beth and I are running around this afternoon.  Andy is clearing out some container gardens and Mike is working on the ashes in the basement fireplace.  He has the worst job and Beth and I have the best.  We have never used the basement fireplace (I don't like basements, even nice ones.) So the ashes are very old, maybe 80 years old and they have popped the ash door open to my chagrin. Well, that's not a big problem, so I'll file that in the 'forget it' column for now.

Posy has reclaimed the top dog entitlement honor now that Wiston has died.  Posy is the oldest and once held the title for a year or two and then Winston decided he was a male and the name was his.  Now it is just Posy and little Bella and Bella does not care for titles, she is simply a sweet dog.

Well, I am off with Beth to buy a dust mop and Gorilla glue.  How exciting is that? I hope there is something better out there to tempt me, but who knows?

News of sorts

Andy and I are running around today.  We are heading to Sam's...which reminds me of a Cosco bit that was on the Internet.  It seems Cosco has quite a following.  People are wild to go there.  In the comments, and there were many and mostly funny were a couple that made me laugh out loud:
  "I went to Cosco today and bought the Cleveland Browns and a helicopter."
 "I went to Cosco today and the parking lot was empty.  I thought I had missed the rapture."

We had our last BLTs last night.  The tomatoes are officially done.  The squirrels are back to hurling the left overs at us from high in this one huge oak tree. Andy can be seen clearing out the yellow, very dry, vines.  It's a sad sight. Now that that's done I am going to slim down for Italy.  Although wine is not my first choice, I plan to make it my first choice on this trip. Pasta is not my first choice either, but seafood is, so I am looking forward to that treat as well.

Joe and Glenda are coming up for a few days.  The OSU games are about to begin and there will be several Saturdays of Lechlers visiting and attending the games from Cincinnati.  Andy has chosen different seats this year and is hoping they are as good as what he has had from previous years.  Now, the band show before the game is his favorite part of the Saturday game event.  He has also started his OSU classes.  This term is all about the environment.

ADT is coming today to update the security system concentrating on the outdoors.  They are hard wiring  everything so that we do not have to worry about changing batteries (which we are not good at.) It's a sad state of affairs that some people cannot keep their hands off of things that do not belong to them.  Creeping around not only at night on the property, but now days even in the daylight. Brazen!