Banjo Man declared they were the best pancakes of his life.
Here’s his kitchen:
Are we all filled with envy?
I personally covet the beach-towel counter top.
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Fourth of July
Banjo Man
Glen the Banjo Man
cabin joy
Yesterday afternoon three generations of fearless mountain men headed up to the cabin for a night of mayhem…well, cards and snacks and stories.
It was the Funny Grandson’s first camping experience.
He was not impressed with his grandfather’s idea of a temporary toilet, though.
I hesitated to show this to you, but hey, we’re all friends here.
Will shared some photos with me.
So the first overnight adventure in the newly-remodeled cabin was a great success. Banjo Man can’t stop smiling about it.
A dream come true!
Posted in family, lake
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parade morning 2022
And then the thunderstorm hit. We made it home while watching the lightning, then waited out the weather so the guys could return to watch the sawing contests.
And later? It was 56 degrees, but we were ready for the fireworks and on the beach a couple of hours before the show began.
There are the ingredients for s’mores in that basket.
Time for some quiet reflection before the marshmallows.
It was definitely a quieter 4th than 2021, but still…a good time was had by all.
Posted in family, grandmother stuff, lake
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seen on the library’s bulletin board
This looks like a pretty good time, don’t you think?
And then there’s this event at the Community Center, which look likes great fun. I’m afraid the Funny Grandson is too old, though.
How about a place to live? I’m sure I qualify.
And here’s poor Fifel.
Poor little guy could be anywhere. I hope Nate has found hiim and Fifel is safe at home once again. Or maybe we’ll see him trotting around the playground at the BBQ.
It’s time to get ready for the Fourth of July around here. Time to hang the flags and get out the decorations and find my red, white and blue shirt to wear to the parade.
We love the parade.
We are all feeling better after Omicron. My daughter-in-law and I might even attempt a water aerobics class on Friday. That would be epic!
The sunsets continue to amaze…
Posted in just for fun, lake
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traditions
When the Funny Grandson arrives at the lake there are certain traditions that are upheld no matter what the weather.
First of all, he scrambles into his bathing suit, runs down the hill to the dock and jumps in the lake. Before he could swim he would run into the lake.
This year, with Idaho having had the coldest and wettest May on record, many adults tried to persuade the FG to wait until the water warmed up. This grandmother wasn’t one of them. Tradition is tradition, after all.
The traditional Welcome Back dinner consists of shepherd’s pie. And the first breakfast? Well, you can guess:
When I think of childhood summers I remember my grandmother’s blueberry pancakes, catching turtles, learning to swim in the dark murky waters of Hundred Acre Pond, riding my bike, eating chocolate chip ice cream, roller skating in the driveway, and on and on…
Scraped knees and dirty feet. Mosquito bites. Crickets and whipporwills. Rowing a boat. Dusty stacks of Reader’s Digests.
Do you worry, as I do, that today’s children don’t have those kinds of summers? You know what I mean, the play-outside-until-it’s-dark summers when you go to bed with a sticky combo of dirt and marshmallow still on your chin?
What is your favorite childhood memory? Do you worry that today’s children aren’t outside having adventures, getting dirty, playing innocently with a horde of neighborhood kids?
Last month while Face timing, the FG warned me, “Grandma, you’re not gonna see much of me this summer. I’m gonna be fishing, hunting arrowheads, swimming and in my kayak.”
Sounds perfect, I replied. Will you come up for dinner?
Oh, yes, he assured me. He would always show up for dinner.
Posted in family, food, lake
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we are here
You can see by the grocery lists that I have been busy. I have filled the Idaho freezers and refrigerators with enough food for the apocalypse.
I managed to make two shepherd’s pies and four lasagnas before the dreaded Covid Omicron virus struck.
Yes, you read that right. Banjo Man must have picked up the bug on the plane, because two days later he was suffering from “allergies”. A week later brother George and I started with sore throats and head colds. His was minor. Mine came with a fever that would last for a week.
A Covid test was positive, so we assumed we all had it in some form or another.
My daughter-in-law has it now. I talked to an ER nurse via phone and her advice was to drink lots of liquids, rest and ride it out. I would never have thought it was anything but a cold. I’m still shocked it was actually Covid.
I feel pretty good, but it is going to take a while to get up to full speed.
By the way, those home tests are not exactly easy. If you are feeling light-headed and fuzzy, those High School Chemistry Project directions are a challenge. And whoever the government employee was who decided to print the directions in the tiniest font known to mankind deserves to be fired. I had to use the flashlight on my phone to even attempt to read it.
And here is a bit of more cheerful news:
Banjo Man made it up to his beloved cabin and enjoyed a peanut butter and jam sandwich last week!
Oh, the joy!!!
Posted in family, lake
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long live the queen
Every morning I check a website to see if the Queen of England is still alive.
I can’t help myself. My love of British history makes me do it.
I saw her once, in person, and I have the lousy photos to prove it. A friend and I were making our first trip to London and we made our way to Westminster Abbey only to find out that it was closed.
Closed?? Yes, we were told. It was “Commonwealth Day” and the royals would be appearing for the service. The paparazzi near the door took pity on us and invited us to stand with them and wait for photo ops.
Yes, that was fun.
Here she comes!
Close up of the car interior:
The Queen is in green.
Leaving the Abbey (sorry for the blurry picture–this was taken in the early 90’s).
I have a really good photo of the Queen in her car, but I can’t find it. I guess I put it in a safe place. Sigh.
It was very, very exciting to see so many of the royal family members entering and exiting the Abbey.
I’m enjoying the coverage of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee this morning. I can’t see the monarchy lasting for another seventy years, but who knows? According to Forbes, they bring in about $2.7 billion annually, mostly through tourism.
They’ve certainly taken some of my dollars! I’ve been to London five times and would love to go again. But I fear we’re seeing more than simply an end of an era. The world is changing, for better or worse depending on your outlook.
But the history remains, hopefully.
By the way, I’m on episode 114 of The British Podcast and I am still slogging through the Dark Ages.
I may have to skip ahead to the Beatles.
Posted in just for fun, travel
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let us remember
This flag hung in the Philippines during the time my father was there as a medic in WWII.
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go van gogh
Last Wednesday Banjo Man, Nancy and I drove up to Providence to experience the “Van Gogh Immersion” experience.
Oh, my.
This was my bright idea so, with tickets purchased six weeks ago, we headed to the Big City without knowing what we were getting into.
I didn’t know what to expect. None of us did. The advertisement said that 300 works of Van Gogh would surround us, that we would be “drenched” in his art.
Banjo Man enjoying the introductory information.
Nancy is loving it!
Here’s a link:
I am attempting to upload my video to Youtube. Let’s see if this works:
We absolutely loved the show. It lasts about 45 minutes, but you can stay as long as you want and watch it as many times as you want.
The portraits blinked their eyes. The “starry, starry nights” stars twinkled. Flowers bloomed, colors exploded. Music flowed around us.
And then we headed to Andino’s to celebrate an early Father’s Day with an Italian lunch.
We know how to party.
Posted in books & music, family, food, just for fun, rhode island
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paranoia or a good idea?
Sometimes it’s hard to tell.
Yesterday morning I drove the rust bucket twenty minutes south of here to Walmart. FYI I’m in denial over the rust and plan to carefully drive the car through next Tuesday, when the inspection sticker runs out.
I didn’t need anything, so why make the effort to shop? Well, I was thinking ahead. To the fall. To the possibility of a worldwide wheat shortage. To whatever fresh hell is coming next.
In the fall we’ll be dealing with Banjo Man’s cancer treatments (whatever that will be) and shopping for a “new” car (again, whatever that will be). I refuse to add grocery-shopping-amidst-empty-shelves to the list of things to stagger through in October.
Walmart was packed with shoppers! I’d forgotten about Memorial Day weekend and the end-of-the-month welfare shopping. I filled my cart with the basics: flour, yeast, sugar, dried beans, rice, canned tomatoes, toilet paper, napkins, paper towels. The pasta shelves were decimated and there were few bags of dried beans.
And then I got in a very long line at register #6. I had plenty of time to chat a bit with the man in front of me and see his photos of last summer’s bus trip from the Grand Canyon to Yellowstone.
It looked awesome.
A very old lady in a wheelchair went past and screamed about “these damn New Yorkers” getting in her way. I hope I never get like that.
At first Banjo Man thought I was a bit nuts and didn’t dare say anything as I hauled the bags of supplies inside the house. I could tell by the looks he kept shooting me. But once he realized I was simply being prepared and had not turned into an insane hoarder, he actually acknowledged that my shopping trip had been a good idea.
The world is insane right now. I’m just trying to cope.
epicurious.com
Posted in a more pie opinion, food, rhode island, shopping
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is there any more pie? 