flustered

Posted on May 21, 2012 by is there any more pie?

I don’t know how to decorate a fence for an outdoor wedding ceremony.

I actually don’t know how to decorate *anything* for an outdoor wedding.

It’s not my thang.  While I own 8 (maybe 11) tiered plate holders, 5 sets of china, three punch bowls and a gazillion other little glass/china/silverplate thingies, plus dozens of vintage tablecloths in every color you can imagine, gussying up the yard is out of my comfort zone.

The bride, my lovely daughter, is freaking out right now as she reads this on her smartphone.  [I’m sorry, honey.  Nobody’s perfect.  We’ll get it figured out and it will be beautiful.]

If anyone out there has any ideas, websites to pass along, suggestions, inspiration, etc. for my fence and my stairs, please please please share!!!!

Yes, I know I need to paint the back deck.  I have ordered a power washer from amazon.com.

Do I buy 1000 yards of white tulle?  Pots of pink flowers that look like Gerbera daisies (I can’t remember the name, but I saw them at the garden center last year)?  The bride likes butterflies.  And salmon pink.  And hot pink.  And white.  And sparkly things.

Where the ceremony will take place:

Where the bride will enter with her father:

Where the guests will enter:

The ceremony will be small, about 20 people.  And then we will go to a local restaurant for lunch and photographs and cake.

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted in wedding | 6 Comments

the road to bacon

Posted on May 19, 2012 by is there any more pie?

“What do you want to do for Mother’s Day?”

Well, Banjo Man, I want to eat bacon.  I want to go out to breakfast and eat bacon.

“Okay.”  Banjo Man resisted telling me the evil damage that fried pork products could do to my health, but it was on the tip of his tongue, it really was.  “Okay,” he repeated.  “Any place in mind?”

I really want to go to the Pack River Store.  I really want to go to breakfast at the Pack River Store and eat bacon.  And I want to go out to breakfast at the Pack River Store at 8 AM so we can get a table and won’t have to wait outside while other people eat bacon.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to town for brunch?  Or lunch?  Or to the Floater for the Mother’s Day Brunch?”  I knew what he was thinking:  fruit.  Fancier places would have fruit and oatmeal and yogurt and egg-white omelets.

ARE YOU LISTENING??????!!!!!!  (I didn’t really yell at him, honest, but in my head it was a great big roar).  I really want to go to the Pack River Store.  I really want to go to breakfast at the Pack River Store and eat bacon.  And I want to go out to breakfast at the Pack River Store at 8 AM so we can get a table and won’t have to wait outside and smell other people’s bacon.

“Got it.”

Thank you, Banjo Man, for the bacon and the orange pancakes.

Posted in food, lake | 2 Comments

spring fling gig

Posted on May 18, 2012 by is there any more pie?

Beautiful day.  Perfect view.  And pretty damn good music, too!

Joe, Mark, Neil, Linda, Julie

Joe, Mark, Linda, Neil, Ellie, Bruce, Ann, Connie

Blues Horn Section!

Neil (Alabama Red Recorder Man), Julie and always patient Bruce

Ann (flexing her muscles), Dancing Mandolin Player (preparing to sing her solo) and Linda (telling our littlest fan the name of our booking agent).

Some days you have to wear your boots and sing.

Posted in the band | 2 Comments

no, it’s not a planter

Posted on May 17, 2012 by is there any more pie?

My French Friend Janou and I went out to breakfast.  We needed to indulge in protein and coffee before hitting every consignment and thrift shop in town.  Last year we ate in a lovely restaurant overlooking a golf course.

Very civilized.

But this time we decided to shake things up a bit.  After all , we were two babes on the prowl for bargains.

And we were hungry.  Very hungry.  I wanted bacon.  I wanted bacon more than anything, having eaten beans and vegetables and homemade protein bars for many, many months with Banjo Man.

I wanted bacon more than I wanted to find a 10″ glass pie plate for fifty cents at Goodwill.

So we stopped here, at the famous Hoot Owl.  It’s a cool place, believe me.   I will admit that the exterior is a little funky.

I had to pose with it.

The folks at the Hoot Owl have a quirky sense of humor.  Along with bacon.

Posted in food, friends, lake | 1 Comment

off to see the wizard

Posted on May 16, 2012 by is there any more pie?

Here he is.  Meet Doug Bond, our music teacher.

We love him.  He’s crazy-fun and crazy-talented and he makes us feel as if we can be musicians, too.  Here’s a picture, in focus:

We went to his show Friday night, but first we celebrated our Big Night Out by going out to dinner at Papa Byrd’s Bistro.

Nice view from the parking lot.

Then we ate dessert while waiting for Doug to come on stage.  Here is Mandolin Ann, looking ladylike as always.

Here’s  me, rarely ladylike and always hungry.

Note to self:  never eat in public again, especially when the Alabama Red Recorder Man takes my camera and decides to play with it.

Not a pretty sight.

More Doug, in motion.  Of course.

He makes us laugh.  We know we’re his favorite students, at least in the “Over 60” Division.

Posted in lake | Leave a comment

spring in you-know-where

Posted on May 15, 2012 by is there any more pie?

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Posted in lake | 1 Comment

practice makes perfect, yeah, it does

Posted on May 14, 2012 by is there any more pie?

Retired Mountain Lady, our fearless leader, is multi-tasking here. She can play the guitar and the keyboard at the same time!! Now all she needs is one of those foot drums.
We’ve been practicing.  A lot.  Once a week we take lessons from Doug, who is like our nephew and is very kind to his musical “aunties”.

Here is Ann, who can kick some butt on the mandolin.

And here is Dancing Mandolin Player, who kicks butt while singing “Tear My Stillhouse Down” and playing the mandolin.

This is the mixer, part of the new PA system and we love it very much.  We love our microphones. 

We have such a good time. We look like sweet, cookie-baking grandmothers, but in our hearts? We’re Dolly Parton, Emmy Lou Harris and Linda Rondstadt. With a little Janis Joplin sprinkled on top.

You go, girlfriend!!!!!!

Posted in the band | 6 Comments

the answer

Posted on May 13, 2012 by is there any more pie?

No more messy ovens.

Here’s one on  ebay.

Posted in food, secondhand stuff | Leave a comment

are you old enough…

Posted on May 11, 2012 by is there any more pie?

…to know what this is???

Hint: it cost $1.00 at the thrift shop.

Want to see it again?

I used to have one, but I lost it somewhere along the way.  I’m going to use this tonight, when I make dinner (that’s another hint, but not a very good one).

Go ahead.  Guess.

Posted in secondhand stuff | 5 Comments

feet first

Posted on May 10, 2012 by is there any more pie?

Dancing Mandolin Player gave me a special gift last week:  an appointment with a reflexologist.

re·flex·ol·o·gy noun \ˌrē-ˌflek-ˈsä-lə-jē\

Definition of REFLEXOLOGY

1
: the study and interpretation of behavior in terms of simple and complex reflexes
2
: massage of the hands or feet based on the belief that pressure applied to specific points on these extremities benefits other parts of the body
— re·flex·ol·o·gist \-ˈsä-lə-jist\noun

 

I was to have a diagnostic and relaxing and therapeutic foot rub at Your Relaxation Destination.

Be still my heart.

My feet were so excited.  And my toes.  My toes were especially thrilled.  Especially the toe that was broken while dancing with a mime at the circus (true story—pour me a glass of wine someday and I’ll tell you all about my humiliating Big Top debut).

My feet were wrapped in warm towels.  And then Penny (read all about her on the link above) worked gently on every square inch of my happy feet.  I think I dozed off once or twice.  And I learned a lot about how feet can tell a lot about what is going on inside one’s body.

It was heaven.  HEAVEN.  H-E-A-V-E-N.

Posted in friends, lake | 3 Comments