Company's coming, at last

 I had better get my skates on. I hear we are having company on April 4th which is Easter and our 62nd wedding anniversary. (I thought it was 63 years, but after labored math, we came up with 62nd.) I was not sure what day it was when I heard the news, so I had to calculate the logistics like indoors or outdoors, will the outdoors be ready...the pool is being drained and a new liner put in, all the outdoor furniture needs power washed and placed not to mention the cooking and organizing, but it is worth it.  I've done it many times and I will not be shy asking for help. 

One thing I really want is one of those Victorian jam cakes that was brought to the wedding shower for Alyssa.  It was the most glorious cake I have ever seen and that includes wedding cakes. Real old-fashioned roses covered the top of the cake and jam and whipped cream layered the inside. It was wonderful. I think it is called a Victorian sponge. I understand the maker of this wonder has a single oven in her regular kitchen and she turns out these masterpieces seemingly effortlessly, or so I am told. I have not met this person and will have to rely on Beth to track her down.

Our planted flowers are looking a bit sad this morning but this always happens to us, we buy and plant too early.  Yesterday a single honey bee ravaged our pansies near our kitchen door.  He got a fill because he was alone while plundering the blossoms.

I'm off to make soups. Talk to you later as the day progresses.

 

Fairy Tales

 Many buttocks were constricted and pearls were clutched as each member of the Royal family waited their turn to be thrown under the double-decker. Most girls now days are simply not cut out for the royal life once they have had a taste of it, with Kate being the exception; she out-waited and out studied the lay of the royal land and has been remarkable. I did not watch the backbiting debacle, but one can hardly ignore it as the press all over the world are having a slobber fest. I understand it did not take long for the bombs to start exploding and the tales to be told some more questionable and effective than others. As I read the reviews gauche came to mind for some reason. It seemed a fairy tale to me and not a good one. There is trouble ahead methinks.

Spring 2021

                    It looks like spring has arrived!

Is there anything that sports spring like primroses? They are difficult to find this year for some reason. I like to fill the kitchen with them if we can find a spot to buy them. I never had luck in planting them because I would forget what they were and pull them up as weeds. Duh!

Tonight we are having Sam's ready ribs. We just pop them under the grill to get some nice marks and to get them hot and Bob's your uncle.  If we are weather lucky we will eat them outside because they are a mess to eat. This is cleaning day and I also hate messing up the clean kitchen.  I should have thought of that before I pulled them out to cut them into pieces. Never mind.

There is absolutely nothing new to discuss unless you want to debate the royals. Waaa Waaa. Or the border crisis, which is terrifying, or who is running the government..hardly anything to discuss.

I'm off to sit in the sun.  My bones are calling the heat. Happy sun day to all.

Cheese bread

The Amish have the best cheese bread.  I can't keep it in the house.  Andy likes the croutons I make with it.  Large knuckles of it to go with soups and stews. I looked online and there are a lot of easy cobblestone cheese bread recipes, so I chose one from The Bossy Kitchen; sounds like my place. It is baking now, but I am a little concerned, it called for 4 teaspoons of baking powder. If you have ever tasted a bite of something with too much baking powder in it, you will remember it for life.

Nate is home from his travels and they start up the business again in three days.  Right now he is resting and getting in the groove.  Mike has all the trucks and equipment ready and waiting, that's what he does during the winter.  Each has a role to play and it works.

Last night I was skimming through the tv offerings and stopped at channel 51. They had two hours of Escape to the Chateau and even though I had seen the episodes many times it made my day.  It is crazy how much I enjoy that show. It is supposed to be on WOSU tonight but they have a programmer that is not reliable with his menu. They interrupt a show that I am looking forward to, having someone talking for hours about how to invest, how to stay healthy, and how to....on and on for the entire two weeks donations period. They show cartoons all day long and just get to the good stuff at night. I could scream. It does not matter how important the show is. If they need donations then they get one of those long-winded beings to chatter for two days and evenings. Check channel 51 every once in a while, I am finding some of the content interesting.

Well, wish me luck I smell the bread and hear the buzzer.  Got to go.

Note:

This was not what I was looking for, but it was better the next day.

In and out service

 What do you do when your internet goes and comes at will?  When the squirrels have eaten half of the line belonging to Spectrum which continues to charge when the service is less than reliable. Change providers? They all use existing lines that have been used since before Time Warner--I don't remember who was before that but the line stretches over Cooke Rd. and it is the line on which the squirrels come to visit, as if we don't have enough of their relatives on our side of the road, to begin with.

So what did I do? I cleaned, threw away, and arranged difficult-to-reach cupboards. I got two done before the service came back online moaning and groaning. (Me, not the line.) There were bottles opened but not used for a long time.  That filled a bag of trash. I am going to do one big drawer and then call it a day. There are plenty more to do and I will do them, but not all at once.

I am giving up on Kristin Hannah's Four Winds book, I cannot take any more sadness.  I should have read the reviews before I bought it.  All of her books have been so good, I actually looked forward to this new one.  Unless you want an extensive lesson on dust, dirt, poverty, depression, unkindness...skip this one.

I am itching to get outside to clean tables and arrange and get planters ready, but it is too cold despite the sun.  It is doing its best, but winter is stubborn and won't let go.  We will beat it yet!

Good Thursday to you

 Good morning. Snow is sliding off the roof making a display of the coming of spring. I think we all look forward to that season more this year than ever. Also, a signal of spring, Nate arrived home last night from his few months of travel, with a concentration in the USA this year. Can spring be far away? I think not!

Monica and her crew come today. I do love a clean house and fresh beds. It is a blessing.

While they are here, Andy and I are going to the Amish store in Plain City. I look forward to that too, so my day is looking good.  I will tell you about any new product that I see there.  I know I am getting their homemade cheese bread.  Andy loves the croutons that I make from those loaves.  I need a big supply of their pickled jarred products too.  Their Jake and Amos pickled products are the best I have tried so far; slightly sweet with a tiny kick, it adds to an anti-pasta salad like none other.

I wonder if we can have Easter here this year with the family.  By then most people in that age range should have had their shots.  I would like to celebrate our anniversary as well as Joe and Glenda's as we married in April and they married in May Sixty-three years ago. If we have a potluck, it should not be too hard on anyone. It's a nice thought and something to look forward to.

I am struggling through The Four Winds by Hannah Kristin, the most depressing yet compelling book I have read in some time. I don't want to read it because it brings me down, but it's like a car wreck, you can't not look.

Bella, our Yorkie is terrified of the chair lift. But, if she wants to come downstairs she had best get used to it because that's how we roll now. It's growing on me.

Sweet pickled pleasure from the Amish cheese shop--they have the jarred pickle products and I put them together with savory items from the fridge.

It is not pretty but...

 Our chair lift is in and it is the subject of many memes (I don't know what that is but it has brought great joy to the receivers of pictures of Mike riding up the staircase.) It is not the first time I have been the subject of these jokes that, I don't get, called memes. Once I sent a text to David by voice about a relative who wanted a roof.  Her name was Lynn Fox but the Fox came out f---. I went on and on about how badly Lynn Fox wanted the roof and how quickly Lynn Fox wanted the roof and it all went viral. I am glad I give my boys such joy.

Well, the lift is terrifying and useful.  We probably could have waited another few years, as MidWest said they would hold the price for me several years ago. No matter how long I waited and they kept their promise, so we got a great bargain, thanks to Jack and Martin and Martin's boy, Kyle, who put it in today. It is not pretty, but neither is going to an assisted living compound.  We plan to leave here feet first. We have had a ride up and down several times, but tomorrow morning, when I usually have to carry Bella (Yorkie) down the stairs, it will be very handy, and I will eat my words then. I know a little girl who will like the ride too.

I made soup today and a nice salad.  We are on salads with a couple of meals a day now. I like those mini bunches of artisanal lettuce from Kroger, or Whole Foods. There are four in a bunch each one different and very fresh.  And, they hold their freshness for several days. I like hardly any dressing on the salads and Andy takes about two teaspoons full. He is starting to watch his intake which has gotten out of hand with my constant cooking. If he goes on a diet, there will be no one to cook for on this property. I will lay around and eat bon-bons and watch soaps.

Talk to you later.

Time to call the nursing home?

 It's ten degrees, but the sun is out. Stay warm.

Don Lemon, the news commentator, is in the hot seat and has been fired according to some sources, I don't know. Other than that, he is involved in a product that is getting rave reviews for pain relief over the counter. It is called Rejuv Boost CBD. Has anyone tried this? Let me know because I am interested. I have asked my doctor about it and when he responds, I will let you know what he thinks. It will be exciting if it is safe. 

New note from my doctor: I looked up this product and see that it is a derivative of Hemp. There is no scientific basis for me to recommend this for clinical care. I would recommend you not use it. Neeraj H Tayal, MD.

Potato and cauliflower pearls sound like a lovely dish to make today. I am hungry just thinking about the cheese cascading over the potato slices.

The poor furnaces here at Many Branches.  They are having trouble keeping up in this weather. 

Talk to you later, hopefully. They are on their way to install the chair lift. Wish us luck. So...

There is more to it than that.  Since Monica and crew were coming today to clean, we had stripped our bed which is the size of Tom Sawyer's raft. Monica always puts fresh sheets on, which was once my job which I did in a flash.  It took Andy and me a good fifteen minutes to complete the job and even then the bedspread was upside down...we left it. Saturday Night Live could have done a skit on that fifteen minutes which resulted in a bad back for Andy. Still, we are foolishly happy and grin every time we pass the wonky-looking bed.

Sleet in the dark...scary

 Did you all survive the ice and snowstorm?  The sun is out and everything looks beautiful. Not so during the night and early this morning.  UPS was closed today because of this storm for the first time since the blizzard of '78. I think '78 was worse than this one although the ice storm in the dark of night was bizarre.

My second and last shot was yesterday and other than a sore arm, I felt great.  I slept so well last night and woke up with not one pain. Just like old times.

I didn't cook today but I made that catch-all Italian anti-pasta salad and now have to get to the Amish for supplies.  Their Jake and Amos or Amos and Jake pickled vegetables are delicious.  I enjoy putting the salad together with the pickled juice from the baby corn or cauliflower jars. I start with those two and then add whatever I can find: baby beets, okra, garbanzo beans or regular great northern beans, artichoke hearts, broccoli, squares of cheese,  sausage squares...well, you get the idea. Just put in what you like and pour the juice from either the baby corn or the cauliflower over the entire salad.  Don't drown it, but make sure each bite gets hit. Then, a shot of sriracha for a little kick and Bob's your uncle. Even Andy likes it...go figure.  You can't get him to taste a mushroom, but he likes this concoction.

Beth was fearless this morning she was on the road at a little after seven and can drive like a pro.  It is getting so Andy and I drive less and Mike and Beth picked up the slack.

Hello to my fellow Italy travelers, we are so lucky to have made the two-week trip before all hell broke loose.  I do think we are on the mend, however, and may travel again...but when? Until then, I am content to stay put.  I like it here.

Warm and safe in Columbus

 Well, I had my second shot this morning and I am still alive and well. I was there and out in twenty minutes. The Wexner OSU group is efficient and well trained. I think the weather threw some old people off and they stayed home, but it was not necessary today.

I just made a lovely pot of wild rice chicken soup.  This is so welcome on a day like this. JD says it really snowed in Austin and even his electricity is out--and he is working from his apartment. It is always something. You just feel your ducks are in order and wham, something else hits you.  My phone was dead for three days and now it "woke" by itself.  It was kind of nice not having a phone--it is not my favorite thing, but electricity is.

We have not had any more in house squirrels in the last few days.  I still mince around feeling one will jump out and demand acorns. But maybe the other squirrels heard of his demise and decided to stay out in the cold rather than risk the fate of squirrel one.

I have no real news but want to keep in touch. Stay warm and safe.

Having fun, are we?

 Long story short, the squirrel is dead and out of the house and it only cost $250.! I am trying to justify this in my head, but, we couldn't do it and it is a business, and they were kind and efficient and they got the job done.  We are simply going to have to watch what we are doing in this squirrel, coyote, deer riddled property. If they would only stay put and not try to join the family it would not be so costly, and they are pretty, and it is nature.  There, I have convinced myself.

Andy is leaving now to get his second shot. I hope it all goes as well as the first shot.  I go on Monday.

Preparing for old age, the chair lift goes in next week. They wanted to do it today, but we have so much happening right now. And, we are not in a hurry for that thing which is wonderful but not pretty. I am grateful that we can do it, but that does not make it pretty.

My shepherd's pie yesterday was not as good as the one a couple of weeks ago. But, it will have to do. I am not concocting today.

I wonder what you are doing today? Are you having as much fun as I am?