Today marks our 54th wedding anniversary. What???? We’re that old?????!!!!
I guess we are.
Our new passport photos make us look like 103-year old serial killers. And no, I’m not going to share them here on the blog.
Last night My French Friend Janou hosted a beautiful dinner party. The Wednesday Night Dinner ladies brought their significant others, so there were twelve of us enjoying a lovely, fun evening.
Our hostess and host.
So much good food. Laughter. A fun time with friends after a very busy summer for everyone. As I’ve written before, September is the social season here at the lake.
Today Banjo Man and I will be cleaning floors and bathrooms as we prepare to leave here on Saturday. We’ll take some time to sit on the dock one last time.
Somehow all six of us managed to be free on the same evening. We raised a glass to our dear friend Yvonne, who passed away in April. She never missed a Ladies Night and hosted many of them at her home.
We miss her joy.
We chose the Float House for our last gathering. We sat on the covered patio and celebrated another summer at the lake. We watched the sunset.
photo by Leslie
One of us became a grandmother for the first time. Another just completed months of chemo. One of us has recently found the second love of her life.
We’ve all survived something. Celebrated. Laughed. Confided. We passed on the special Warrior necklace to Cindy.
Today we are packing the car for next Saturday’s departure.
A week early.
The canned peaches and jams are safely tucked away in the car, as are Banjo Man’s boxes of books and papers. Fabric, tablecloth (just one, in case I need it for Thanksgiving), cd’s, cowboy boots, etc.
This is the new us. With Cabin Fest two weeks early this year we now have time to pack up our stuff, clean the house, put everything away for next year. Without exhausting ourselved to do it in two days and then get in the car.
I have yet to sort through clothes. What to wear on the road, what to pack in the never-comes-out-of-the-car-until-we-are-home suitcase. That will happen later this afternoon, after I have eaten an egg salad sandwich and fortified myself for the chore. It looms large, due to never knowing what the weather will be like from Idaho to Rhode Island and hating to pack Too Much Stuff.
Yes, layers. But presentable layers for visiting family and friends OR strictly ugly-comfy layers, fit for 400+ miles per day without showing coffee stains?
I took a break from cleaning out the pantry to photograph my new favorite thing.
It dispenses olive oil. And it’s little top folds down to close. It is light and squirty and as much as I am working to eliminate plastic from my life, this is worth compromising for.
I bought it at the local Hallmark Store in Sandpoint for $6.99. Amazon carries it in all of its colors–red, blue, black, yellow, white–for $9.99. The company is Butterie, if you’re interested. Maybe all of you reading this blog post own lovely glass oil dispensers and are questioning my sanity, but…I do love this. I am bringing a white one home, though it is not in the car yet.
But sometime this afternoon it will be.
Because we will be packed up and almost ready to go by nightfall.
George arrived a week ago last Wednesday. I was in town having lunch with the Montana ladies, so Glen presided over a dinner of ribs. The thirty pounds of boneless ribs I bought in May have now all been eaten.
The next day the Keeping It Clean crew arrived from Coeur d’Alene to power wash 17 years of mold off our very high roof.
Here’s some of it.
I’m guessing this was about one fourth of it.
The guys were great. Patrick, our neighbor, had his roof done the same morning. I spent the afternoon at “band practice”, but came home in time to make dinner. Patrick walked down that evening and we all celebrated our beautiful new roofs with spaghetti and meatballs.
The next day another crew arrived, this time to install a new water purification system. What an amazing process! Then Banjo Man, with chairs, tables and tablecloths, headed up to the cabin to get it all set for Sunday.
Saturday we headed to town with Dancing Mandolin Player to have dinner and attend a fundraiser at the Panida theater. Viggo Mortensen was showing his new movie, THE DEAD DON’T HURT, and holding a Q&A afterwards. The Q&A was really interesting. The movie? A bit long. Was I tired? Yes. Not my favorite movie, but Viggo took a lot of chances and tried new things, so there is that.
Sunday was CABIN FEST 3. About 28 of us gathered at the cabin, ate some great food, played some music, sang some songs. A beautiful day in so many ways. I don’t have pictures (yet) but Retired Mountain Lady has great photos on her blog. Check it out:
This dead tree came down. I returned from water aerobics to learn that George and Banjo Man had arranged for its removal with the guys working on a tree next door. We worried this poor tree would eventually crash onto the water line or the dock, so having it taken down was a Very Big Deal. I made myself a mug of coffee, sat on the top deck and watched the whole thing.
Better than television.
Tuesday we looked for arrowheads.
And enjoyed some dock time.
And went to town to go out to dinner with old friends.
Always a good time.
So we are set for 2025 and our return to the lake in about seven months. It’s hard to believe our time here is almost over. Another wonderful season of family, friends and fun is coming to a close.
It’s football season in Texas. “Friday Night Lights” means high school football, of course. But the Funny Grandson’s season began last Wednesday night (although it will be on Tuesday from now on). From what I understand, Mondays are for 7th grades, Tuesdays 8th, Thursdays JV.
They have a system.
The FG played several positions in offense and defense, plus special teams. He proudly informed me that he had never come off the field in the second half.
Hmmm…I remember his stamina when he was a terrifying three-year old. I’m glad it’s coming in handy now.
In his glory.
An enterprising high school student took these pictures and charged $1.00 each. What a great business!
As you may remember, September is the social season here at the lake. As grandchildren have returned to school, company has returned back to where they came from and gardens are shutting down, folks around here have more free time to party.
I just counted eleven gatherings (lunches, dinners, parties, Oktoberfest) we have committed to this month. Plus one eye appointment, which could mean having lunch in town.
‘Tis the season for emptying the upright freezer, an annual highly dreaded chore. I’ve inventoried what’s still in there, moved all the frozen fruit to the kitchen freezer and plan to use what’s left in the next 22 days. If not? It all goes to the dump despite Banjo Man having a nervous breakdown at the thought.
Tuesday I mailed a frozen blueberry cake to the Funny Grandson in Texas. The post mistress thought that was extremely daring, but I reassured her that I had done it many times before. Last year I carried it on the plane with me and decided never again. A blueberry bundt cake is heavier than you’d imagine.
We are heading back on the road on September 28, right after Nebraska plays Purdue. Hopefully the car will be packed the day before and we will be highly organized (I have already started) and will arrive in Missoula in time for dinner with friends. That’s my dream, anyway. Stay tuned for a blog post on September 29 to find out how that actually turned out.
Yesterday I baked blueberry lemon breads “for the road”. We like our 10 AM coffee breaks. They should last until we get to Nebraska, the halfway point.
Speaking of coffee breaks, I am now going to take a fresh mug of coffee down to the dock. The skies are blue, the water is calm and the ospreys are fishing.
It’s definitely the season to relax on the dock, too.
Are we excited? You betcha! Banjo Man was awake at 5 AM and couldn’t get back to sleep. That’s how it is on Game Day, people.
The traditional chili is simmering on the stove. In a red pan.
There are Doritos. Salsa. Lemon bars. Potato chips. Rolls. A party for two, right here at the lake. George left this morning and that was sad. I know he’d rather be watching football than dealing with airports and planes today.
The Texas Rolofsons are excited, too. We are all keeping busy until game time and then? It gets serious. New quarterback, home game, and hopefully a triumphant start to a season full of hope and anticipation.
This summer I’ve been making angel food cakes. I have an inspirational new pan and it’s an easy and “light” dessert served with fresh berries and fruit, of which I have many. Banjo Man and I have enjoyed having it around to snack on.
And yes, I use a cake mix. I’ve tried Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines, but only this one creates a not- overly sweet, gloriously high cake (hence the title of the blog).
Unfortunately it is very hard to find. At Yokes, one of the markets in town, it is almost always sold out. I’ve only bought three boxes there all summer. That spot on the shelf? Empty. Before I knew how scarce these Food Club boxes would be, the one time there were actually five of them on the shelf, I left two boxes behind for someone else.
No longer.
No more Mrs. Nice Angel-Food-Cake-Mix Guy.
Food Club products are not sold online, the typically easy go-to for everything in the world. Nope, only in stores. One of those stores is between the lake and Missoula, so the first stop on our road trip home was to be the baking aisle of Harvest Foods in Thompson Falls.
But…on a rainy Tuesday afternoon I needed to go to town to buy a different brand of iron pills. Doctor’s orders from that morning’s phone call. I won’t bore you with medical stuff, but let me just say anemia is no fun.
An opportunity to try the other grocery store in town that carried Food Club brands? Of course. My expectations were low, my mood a bit dreary, my energy failing, but there in the Super 1 baking aisle–bottom shelf, far left corner, almost out of sight–sat a box of Food Club Angel Food Cake Mix.
I had struck gold.
Was I going to share? Not this time! I got down on my old knees–not easy– and hauled nine boxes of cake mix from that corner. There were ten boxes, but I would have had to have stretched out flat on my stomach on the floor in order to reach it.
And even I had my limits. Nine boxes would do. Nine boxes will go back East for the winter. The weather forecast for our New England winter is warmer, wetter and wilder. But I have a dozen jars of canned peaches and nine boxes of cake mix, so we will survive.
And next summer I’ll start the Food Club hunt all over again.
In fact, it is 54 degrees this morning. Yep, 54. I am wearing long pants, socks and a sweatshirt. It is 11 degrees colder than the typical Idaho August morning and 23 degrees colder than the usual afternoon high of 77.
So…is summer over? It would seem that way. I look out the windows and think, “Uh-oh. October.”
And on the upside? This cold weather might kill the rest of the yellow jackets. Banjo Man has been diligent carrying out his murderous rampage. He even counts the dead bodies when he empties the trap. He will proudly tell you that he has eliminated almost a thousand.
Go, Banjo Man!
And what else is happening here? We are getting ready for Cabin Fest 3, which will take place in a couple of weeks. Otherwise known as the annual reunion of the Cougar Creek Band, it’s quite the afternoon. Despite having no electricity and no running water, a party at the cabin works just fine.
Last year four generations enjoyed the music. Four generations!!
Everyone is practicing their songs. The anticipation builds…
