and now there are none…

Posted on July 12, 2011 by is there any more pie?

The last sister (the one who wore the newspaper hat) left today, so the house is empty.  There are odd bits of leftovers stuffed in the refrigerator and I will be feasting for the rest of the week with what is stored in mysterious plastic containers.

We had a great time and there is lots to tell you, including our afternoon in a local bar, “Fiddlin’ Fred” and another ice cream confession.

I’ve been too tired to blog these past nights.  I fully intended to  tell you about our Christmas celebration on Saturday and brag about winning at dominoes, but before I went into my office last night Glen told me the car was still making a strange clunking sound when he put it into gear and would be going into a repair shop on Thursday.

FYI, “strange clunking” sounds always equal “big repair” bills.  But you knew that.

And the car has 149,000 miles on it.  Glen is heartbroken because he expected at least 200,000 miles out of his Mazda.  What can I say–he’s a dreamer.

He was also disappointed when he learned in May that his car was only worth about $2000.  Which is less than a new transmission costs.

Hmmm….what to do, what to do.  I know!  Find “the google”  (by the way, Mom, how are you doing with the internet????) and stay up late researching new and used cars.

Did you know that used car prices are up 30-40%???  Because there is a shortage.  Prices are so high that you might as well buy new.

(Buy new????  We don’t know nothin’ ’bout buyin’ new.)

There are few bargains out there, folks.  At least none that I’ve found online.

I’m almost nostalgic for the used car lots in Texas that stretch for miles and miles along the interstate.  Not pretty, but definitely convenient when you need a set of wheels quickly.

Anyway, I did test-drive a new Ford Escape this afternoon.  It was gold.  It smelled good.  Its seats folded flat.  You could talk on your cell phone using buttons on the steering wheel, something the 19-year old car salesman (a sweet kid) assumed would be irresistible technology.   I interrupted when he started describing “Ford’s version of blue-tooth” and suggested we hit the road.

It actually was a fun car to drive.

It was also an insane amount of money.

Let me repeat that:  insane amount of money.

On the way home from town, I consoled myself with an ice cream cone from the Cenex station (they even have a drive up window) and decided that those strange clunking sounds might be something minor.  Something a student in shop class could fix.  For a couple of bucks.

We’ll find out on Thursday.

And I’ll be back here in the morning, after exercise class, to tell you the story of the smelly dog car.  I’m still glad we didn’t buy it.  I think.

Posted in family, lake | 3 Comments

and then there were three

Posted on July 11, 2011 by is there any more pie?

The baby of the family, “sister Nancy”, arrived this afternoon. We all hugged each other and then unloaded more groceries. We always need a lot of food, especially since the nearest grocery store is 17 miles away.

But before that, I went “up the hill” to band practice with three other band members.  We admired our parade trophies, which were displayed on the mantel.

We listened to some new song ideas, then played a few of our old favorites. “I’ll Fly Away” was suggested by the mandolin teacher, so we sang that. And we fooled around a bit with my favorite melancholy waltz, “Niel Gow’s Lament”. Our own Neil, the recorder player, is going to own that song by the end of the summer!

Then it was down the hill again, to take the sisters and brothers-in-law to the local farmer’s market.

There was music…

  Flowers.
Jams and jellies.

The sisters shopped.And shopped.

There was a lengthy discussion between these two about what kind of jam to buy.  You can see that they thought this was extremely important.  Should I go with the huckleberry or would the apple cinnamon be a better choice?

I went inside the community center and picked up some books from the free take-one-or-leave-one shelves.  And after all the excitement, the eight of us returned to the house and partied hardy on the dock. See the hummus? Glen cut his finger on the blade of his new food processor, which may have serious banjo-twanging repercussions. So much for the music career, sweetheart.  You should have stuck with the potato chips.

We drank another bottle of wine and took this picture.  I think we’ll try to stay up late tonight and play dominoes.

It’s good to be back on the dock again.

(By the way, the temperature was really about 85 degrees. My in-laws are always cold.  I don’t know why, except they grew up in Nebraska and have a very close attachment to their outerwear.  Even in July.)

Posted in family | 2 Comments

two out of three

Posted on July 11, 2011 by is there any more pie?

Another sister arrived Thursday, so things are starting to get busy.  But first it’s time to catch up on the news.

And then set the table.

Dinner was turkey patties, white bean salad and asparagus. Quite elegant and healthy (I hid the hot dogs and potato chips before they arrived so they wouldn’t think less of me).

And then we played Mexican Train Dominoes. And went to bed too late.

We have to pace ourselves.  More tomorrow…

 

Posted in family | Leave a comment

president of the fan club

Posted on July 8, 2011 by is there any more pie?

Eileen absolutely loves our music.  Our songs make her want to take off her pants and wear big, bright shirts.

We like that about her.

There are some who will tell you that she was in a bar fight at the Playhouse Bar in the mid-seventies.  Ah, those were the days…

And she once out-chugged the loggers at Murphy’s.  She was the last woman standing, an empty glass of beer in her hand, but I’ll bet you could tell that from her picture.

Eileen herself admits to dancing on a table while on a cruise, prompting her dance partner to exclaim, “Why, honey, you have more moves than a monkey on a stick!”

We’re all (maybe not her daughter, our keyboard player, who is rather well-behaved most of the time) hoping that she will show off some of those monkey moves at our next gig.  Until then, I’ll keep her picture in my fiddle case.

Come back soon, Eileen.

Posted in the band | 4 Comments

how high is the water, mama?

Posted on July 8, 2011 by is there any more pie?

The lake hit flood stage this year.   Cooler, wetter weather and a late snow melt caused a lot of docks to be under water.

Like this one, last week.

This dock belongs to my friend Janou.  Some of you have met her and some of you have heard me talk about her.   She speaks French.  She cooks French.  She decorates French.

Guess where she was born?

Unfortunately, as wonderful a friend as she is, she is not perfect.  And all because of her very strange Mexican Train dominoes rules.   Knocking on the table?  Double-blank counts 60 points?  The Mexican train starts at the other end of the table?  Really?  Huh?  You read it on the internet?

She took this photo while we were standing on her deck last week looking down at the water.  And she let me post it here, though I can’t figure out how to enlarge it.  I’ll try again tomorrow, because I really want you to see this picture with its reflections of the sky.

Fortunately, her dock is now above water.  I checked it this morning while Janou was relaxing.

She doesn’t relax very often. None of my friends here are very good at it. They garden. Cook jam. Pick berries. Grow enormous amounts of happy flowers. Make wine. Freeze everything that pops out of the ground or drops off the trees or creeps into their yards or gets stuck on their fish hooks.

Since I don’t do any of those things, I make it my mission in life to force my friends to take a break from their earthy pursuits and do something else.

Or do nothing.

Doing nothing is an art and should be respected. I don’t do nothing (pardon my grammar) in the fall, winter or spring. But I do do nothing–and am very good at it, she said modestly–in the summer.

Son #2 was with me here two years ago and he was shocked–shocked, I tell you!–to observe that his mother could do nothing so well.

It’s a gift I want to share with the world.

Especially with these guys, who appear to be very fast learners.
Bless their hearts, I think they want more bean dip.

Posted in friends, lake | 1 Comment

the sisters are coming!

Posted on July 6, 2011 by is there any more pie?

Meet my husband’s oldest sister. The eldest sibling. Does that sound better than “oldest”?
As you can see, she likes to party on the dock.

She arrives this afternoon, so I have to hurry up and get the beer on ice.

We offered to buy her a hat, but she prefers to make her own.
She’s creative like that.

Posted in family | 1 Comment

don’t faint

Posted on July 6, 2011 by is there any more pie?

I have just returned from my exercise class.

Those of you who know me, know that this is out of character.

Very.

As in, NO WAY SHE WENT TO A GYM!

But this is what band girls do.  Band women.  Female musicians.  We have to stay in shape.  We need stamina to perform.  Our fans don’t like it when we pant like puppies and then fall off the stage.

No way did I take any pictures, either.  So don’t even think you’re going to see my butt in spandex.  I cannot be bribed.

But because I’m feeling rather chipper after torturing my body for one solid hour, I will confess to driving to Clark Fork (the town of the centennial gig), stopping at the library for some bloodthirsty thrillers to read on the exercise bike, and then buying a softserve ice cream cone (140 calories) from the Pantry.  I tried to find the Methodist Church’s new gift and thrift shop, which had its grand opening today, but its location remains a mystery.

Maybe next Wednesday.

 

 

Posted in lake | 3 Comments

4th of July

Posted on July 6, 2011 by is there any more pie?

This is leftover pie.  I’m showing you this last, lonely piece of peach pie (with a soggy crust) tonight, which I am eating while I type, because I took no pictures on the 4th.  Not one.

I’d intended to march in the parade this year (instead of riding on the float) so I could take pictures and maybe free up a spot on the truck for someone else. And last year they needed more people to throw candy. I figured I could take pictures and throw candy at the same time. While wearing my special blue Scotchman Peaks Wilderness t-shirt.

But the band girls protested.

Here are some of the band girls. Band women. Fellow musicians.

They make life fun.  And you don’t want to mess with them.

And here’s the brass section.

They make us sound like a real band. The kind of band that has won a trophy three years in a row.

Here are pictures from a past parade so you can see what we look like:

I have to admit the view from the float was spectacular. It was great fun to watch the crowd’s reaction to the music and hear the cheers. And it was the perfect morning for a parade, with sunshine and blue skies.

After we admired our trophy, we stripped the decorations from the truck and went back to the high school’s front lawn to watch the foot races and eat ice cream.

And I still didn’t take any pictures, which was really dumb.

But it gets worse, because later that evening there were fireworks on the water. And pie. And homemade huckleberry ice cream. And an absolutely gorgeous guest, three-month old Delaney.

I was so busy watching fireworks, eating pie and ice cream and waiting for my turn to hold Delaney I completely forgot to take pictures. I even forgot I owned a camera.

But it looked like this…

(photo by Will)

(Will–I’m sorry we missed your phone call, but I told everyone you wished us a happy 4th.  We missed you on the dock!)

Posted in friends, lake, the band | 1 Comment

the day before the parade

Posted on July 6, 2011 by is there any more pie?

There was a cake.

And champagne. And a great big truck to decorate.
But there were a lot of people helping.

Instructions were given.

We all happily do what the keyboardist says.
Even her little sister, who blows a mean trumpet. See?

We had a surprising number of Nebraskans at the pre-parade party and practice this July. They’re a cheerful group. Go Big Red!

This cute little future musician was thirsty. And then he wasn’t.
So he poured the rest of the can onto his shoes.
I’m still wondering why.

You’ll be meeting all of the band members in the coming weeks’ blog posts, but for now here’s the truck:

 

Posted in the band | 2 Comments

the centennial gig

Posted on July 6, 2011 by is there any more pie?

July 2 was a hometown celebration, in front of the high school in the center of town. And the band played from 12-1 in the music tent. Glen and I tried to keep up as best we could, but I was so tickled at how great everyone sounded I forgot to be nervous about not knowing some of the songs.

Road manager:

Getting ready for a sound check:

The dancing mandolin player’s boyfriend filmed the show, so when we put it on youtube I’ll put a link in here.

Afterwards, the band members wiped their brows, packed up their instruments and returned to their gardens, houseguests, family reunions, grandchildren and partying. Oh, and there’s a float to decorate tomorrow.

Posted in friends, the band | Leave a comment