Teila, I'm huffin' and puffin' and trying to blow that storm way south! The coop is looking great.....I guess that much shade isn't what I expect when I think of Australia. I always picture desert type landscapes. You have George, I have Chef Mike. Chef Mike is my friend.......
Debby, how's hubby doing this morning? I still can't get your description of his progress through the house out of my head....
DMC, those are some pretty good sized Tonka Trucks. It's a shame he didn't get to stay longer and really see much of Wyoming, and that he only got to sample our local cuisine rather than some of the more exotic stuff found in fine dining restaurants. I know where he could have had a wonderful Jack-a-Lope served with a delightful sage and sand sauce. Magpie Under Glass is always another popular choice, as is Tiger Salamander Savionge. Maybe next trip, huh?
Tam's place is really coming together. She's cleaned and scrubbed and repaired and painted (she hates turquoise!) until she was almost dead from exhaustion. Now the guys (Ken, Kenny, and Kenny's friend Gary) have been hustling to get her moved in before Tuesday. Almost done too - just the entertainment center, the washer and dryer, and Tam's computer desk left to move. The desk is what they've been putting off - it's a beast! Big old desk built in the 1920s and her pride and joy. They didn't want anything else in the truck when they packed it in - it's her antique showpiece and it takes two men and a small donkey just to move it to clean under and around it.
Honestly, Tam must be one of the only women on the planet who actually pulls her refrigerator out monthly and cleans under and behind it too. If that girl had a cuckoo clock she'd put newspaper under it at night. The hardest part of this move has been timing. We've had rain, spits of snow, high winds, and brief periods of sunshine. Seems like the nice days are broken up with medical appointments too. Then her schedule - she goes to work at 6pm on Friday, Sat, and Sunday and works until 7 the next morning, then goes in at 11 and works until 7 the next morning on Wednesdays. In between she's supposed to be sleeping, but she's either over at the new house or packing in the old one. I keep reminding her that she's almost 50 years old and she's gonna kill herself but she just drinks another cup of coffee and keeps putting one foot in front of the other. I don't know how she does it plus take such good care of Evan.
We won't be much help today. We have two dinners we have to attend today and tonight. <sigh> Powell Lodge has it's annual "Ladies at the Table" dinner. It honors ladies past and present who have made a difference in their communities or in Masonry and it's a huge deal. There are a total of 7 formal toasts, a 4 course dinner, and Masonry's "honored Ladies" - the widows of Masons - are invited. They are offered toasts too, and if they don't have a ride there and back they get "chauffeur" service. Every lady there is presented with flowers as well. This usually takes place the first Saturday after Valentine's Day every year and it's a huge deal. Ken is the MC. This year there was an issue with the caterer so we had to choose a different date and time - 2:30 on March 25. What?? Are you serious? I have to get made up and into my formal and be at a dinner at 2:30 in the afternoon???? Who DOES that? And this thing usually runs about 2 hours. Good thing I got my eyelashes done yesterday!
And even with this major change in date and time, we STILL almost ran into a conflict with the caterer. Tonight a Navy Captain is being honored at the Chamber of Commerce dinner. Dave Peck, a Masonic friend of Ken's and my "boss" when I was writing my political columns for his newspaper, called us and specifically asked us to be his special guests at the event. The social hour starts at 5:30 and the dinner begins at 6:30. So we have to finish up in Powell, hit the car, drive 25 miles to Lovell and be on time for the social hour and Chamber dinner....still in our formal clothes - unless I can talk Ken into sneaking home long enough to change into a "business attire" something. Here's the kicker - Dave sent us a menu to select either the beef or the chicken. I looked at it and said, "This is the same menu as the "Ladies" dinner." He looked up and said, "Yep, same caterer is doing both." <HEAD SLAP> Now, there's a reason she's doing both - she's just plain good and her food is always consistently very well done and presented. So I figured I'd have chicken at the Lodge and beef at the Chamber, just a "sample" sized few bites at each. But all of this means no moving Tam today.
It's been a long and exhausting month. Still gotta get the brooder set up outside for the new babies (Ken ordered 15 more Silkie chicks despite my protests) and now we suddenly have a broody hen! Yayyyy!! Ken calls her "The Tick" because she's sitting so tight. So we're letting her sit on the eggs she's collected and will slip the Silkies under her and see how she does. She's a standard sized Cochin so I think she'll do fine, but there's always that little doubt so we'll have Mama Heating Pad standing by just in case. This is so not what I needed right now - he'll be no help after his surgery. Oh well. I'm a tree. I can bend.
And that's all the news from Oleo Acres. If you read all that, congratulations! I didn't.
Debby, how's hubby doing this morning? I still can't get your description of his progress through the house out of my head....
DMC, those are some pretty good sized Tonka Trucks. It's a shame he didn't get to stay longer and really see much of Wyoming, and that he only got to sample our local cuisine rather than some of the more exotic stuff found in fine dining restaurants. I know where he could have had a wonderful Jack-a-Lope served with a delightful sage and sand sauce. Magpie Under Glass is always another popular choice, as is Tiger Salamander Savionge. Maybe next trip, huh?
Tam's place is really coming together. She's cleaned and scrubbed and repaired and painted (she hates turquoise!) until she was almost dead from exhaustion. Now the guys (Ken, Kenny, and Kenny's friend Gary) have been hustling to get her moved in before Tuesday. Almost done too - just the entertainment center, the washer and dryer, and Tam's computer desk left to move. The desk is what they've been putting off - it's a beast! Big old desk built in the 1920s and her pride and joy. They didn't want anything else in the truck when they packed it in - it's her antique showpiece and it takes two men and a small donkey just to move it to clean under and around it.
Honestly, Tam must be one of the only women on the planet who actually pulls her refrigerator out monthly and cleans under and behind it too. If that girl had a cuckoo clock she'd put newspaper under it at night. The hardest part of this move has been timing. We've had rain, spits of snow, high winds, and brief periods of sunshine. Seems like the nice days are broken up with medical appointments too. Then her schedule - she goes to work at 6pm on Friday, Sat, and Sunday and works until 7 the next morning, then goes in at 11 and works until 7 the next morning on Wednesdays. In between she's supposed to be sleeping, but she's either over at the new house or packing in the old one. I keep reminding her that she's almost 50 years old and she's gonna kill herself but she just drinks another cup of coffee and keeps putting one foot in front of the other. I don't know how she does it plus take such good care of Evan.
We won't be much help today. We have two dinners we have to attend today and tonight. <sigh> Powell Lodge has it's annual "Ladies at the Table" dinner. It honors ladies past and present who have made a difference in their communities or in Masonry and it's a huge deal. There are a total of 7 formal toasts, a 4 course dinner, and Masonry's "honored Ladies" - the widows of Masons - are invited. They are offered toasts too, and if they don't have a ride there and back they get "chauffeur" service. Every lady there is presented with flowers as well. This usually takes place the first Saturday after Valentine's Day every year and it's a huge deal. Ken is the MC. This year there was an issue with the caterer so we had to choose a different date and time - 2:30 on March 25. What?? Are you serious? I have to get made up and into my formal and be at a dinner at 2:30 in the afternoon???? Who DOES that? And this thing usually runs about 2 hours. Good thing I got my eyelashes done yesterday!
And even with this major change in date and time, we STILL almost ran into a conflict with the caterer. Tonight a Navy Captain is being honored at the Chamber of Commerce dinner. Dave Peck, a Masonic friend of Ken's and my "boss" when I was writing my political columns for his newspaper, called us and specifically asked us to be his special guests at the event. The social hour starts at 5:30 and the dinner begins at 6:30. So we have to finish up in Powell, hit the car, drive 25 miles to Lovell and be on time for the social hour and Chamber dinner....still in our formal clothes - unless I can talk Ken into sneaking home long enough to change into a "business attire" something. Here's the kicker - Dave sent us a menu to select either the beef or the chicken. I looked at it and said, "This is the same menu as the "Ladies" dinner." He looked up and said, "Yep, same caterer is doing both." <HEAD SLAP> Now, there's a reason she's doing both - she's just plain good and her food is always consistently very well done and presented. So I figured I'd have chicken at the Lodge and beef at the Chamber, just a "sample" sized few bites at each. But all of this means no moving Tam today.
It's been a long and exhausting month. Still gotta get the brooder set up outside for the new babies (Ken ordered 15 more Silkie chicks despite my protests) and now we suddenly have a broody hen! Yayyyy!! Ken calls her "The Tick" because she's sitting so tight. So we're letting her sit on the eggs she's collected and will slip the Silkies under her and see how she does. She's a standard sized Cochin so I think she'll do fine, but there's always that little doubt so we'll have Mama Heating Pad standing by just in case. This is so not what I needed right now - he'll be no help after his surgery. Oh well. I'm a tree. I can bend.
And that's all the news from Oleo Acres. If you read all that, congratulations! I didn't.
