Farewell March and Hello Monday

Good Monday morning friends. Joining  Holly and Sarah on this last day of March, for their weekend recap blog hop. 

We had a nice weekend with sunny skies and pleasant temps. You know I always need to report the weather before diving in to any other topics. 

Friday kicked off with a trip to the donut shop. Until recently this particular donut baker operated out of a food truck, but they were so popular they opened an actual store. We hadn't been since they set up shop so Daughter1 and all her little chicks, plus the hubs and I gave it a try Friday morning. 

Their donuts are ginormous and so good. They're also known for their soft pretzels, but we didn't try those on Friday. 

We made a stop at a little shop I like that sells miscellaneous goodies like Adirondack chairs, lake signs, candles, soaps, etc. but didn't buy anything. Then it was off to a nearby park to burn some energy. The kids, not us. I can't afford to burn any energy these days. I need every drop. 

A pretty place to swing and play. 

The calendar is getting ready to turn so after lunch I started right in on baking the Southern Living cake of the month for March.  Hubs and daughter1 had to run out to the potential new house to meet a painter for an estimate which means there are no photos of the cake baking process. Making a three layer cake with homemade lemon curd, three little people underfoot,  and a meringue icing requires every ounce of concentration I can muster. 

The March cake is a lemon meringue cake which we declared a winner. The cake itself is delicious and filled with a homemade lemon curd, then topped with a meringue icing. In true to me fashion, I didn't realize I needed three 8-inch round pans (I only had two) so I went ahead and used my three 9-inch pans. It turned out fine, but next time I'll make more meringue so I end up with better height. Pretty and tasty nonetheless. 

It took me the rest of the afternoon to clean the kitchen. Hi hubs! He's not a fan of my kitchen messes, but does love the finished product. 

The cake baking episode wore me out so we opted to go to a local Mexican place for dinner. No more cooking. Plus it was Friday and I try not to cook dinner on Friday nights. My son-in-law had a late surgery so he settled for the to-go box we brought home. 

Saturday I drove an hour and a half to have lunch with a friend. She's in Georgia and I'm in SC so we met in the middle, in the town of Gainesville (GA). Neither of us were too familiar with the town so I read some reviews online and reserved a table at a restaurant called The Stag. The food was good and the restaurant was quiet which made it easy to talk. They also had appropriate decor-

I arrived back at the lake late afternoon and started packing for our Sunday morning road trip. Hubs grilled steaks for dinner and I made baked potatoes and salad and then we all had cake, much to the grands delight. The adults had sampled it the night before, but this was their first taste and they gave it two thumbs up. 

Sunday morning hubs and I loaded both cars for our trek to Daughter2's house in Tennessee. Eons ago we told her we'd stay with her littles while she and her hubs have a vacay so yes, we are leaving three grands and their parents in our house while we go to our other daughter's house to watch her two. 

Hubs and I agree we should be the ones going on vacation. 

They'll be home on Friday, but hubs has an event to attend starting very early Saturday morning and the parents won't be home until late Friday, thus the need for two cars. 

We're supposed to finally have some rain at home this week and for that we're grateful.  We are very very near the fires burning in SC and rain is most definitely needed. Authorities have arrested four teenagers for starting the fires which have burned more than 12,000 acres of beautiful forest, threatened homes and businesses, and forced people to evacuate to stay safe. The firefighters have done an amazing job and were not helped by the fact that there are still so many dead trees on the ground, remnants of Helene which the surrounding area is still recovering from. 

Finally, if you didn't see my Saturday post...I've signed up to participate in the April A-Z blog challenge this year. Bloggers post every day but Sunday in the month of April, using the alphabet as their guide. You can read more about the challenge in my Saturday post (The ABC's of April). The challenge starts tomorrow with the letter A so stay tuned. 

Happy Monday everyone!  

Oh The Grand Old Duke Of York...

 'He had ten thousand men, he marched them up to the top of the hill and marched them down again...' 

Who remembers this nursery rhyme? We used to sing it as a song at summer camp way back when, and as you sang the word up you had to jump up from your seat, and when you sang down everyone sat back down. 

We might not have marched to the top of the hill but we definitely climbed some serious steps on our recent visit to the city of York. We spent two nights in York so rather than my usual way of blogging I will resist jamming all the doings into a single post, and make this a two-parter. 

Hubs and I knew we wanted a little mid-trip getaway while visiting our daughter. We had gobs of visitors when we lived in the UK, and it was always nice when those staying more than a few days took a little side trip somewhere in the middle and allowed us to regroup at home. 

Also, we viewed this trip as an anniversary celebration even though our anniversary was in the middle of June. 40 years needs more than a passing mention and we knew we wanted to do something a little bit special. We decided to go to York for a couple of days because a) it's a reasonable drive from Cambridge (less than three hours), b) it's a city we never got to when we lived here, and c) it's dubbed the most romantic city in England so happy anniversary to us. 

We left Cambridge in the pouring rain Monday morning and made it to York around noon. We were unfamiliar with the city geography and it took a minute to figure out which car park made sense, how to get to that car park, and then how to pay at that car park. 

Once parking was sorted we headed straight for York Minster, one of the world's most beautiful cathedrals. 

If you read the cathedral's own website it tells you this place was 'built for the glory of God'. That every aspect of this ancient building 'from the handcrafted stone to the collection of medieval stained glass tells the story of Jesus Christ'. 

Do we build for that reason anymore? 

Not on the scale of York Minster, that's for certain. 

One thought that lodges in your mind when you wander in and out of so many ancient castles and cathedrals is the care and sheer effort that went into the design and construction. Most times these cathedrals took decades to complete, centuries even, so the original architect, stone masons, glass glaziers, etc. were long gone by the time the church was actually finished. Still they took that care because they knew what they were building was for the glory of God. 

I will never get over the beautiful architecture in this country. 

You can climb the central tower in the cathedral here, once you sign off on the medical waiver and take a few deep breaths and look around and think to yourself if that man with a bit of a beer belly can do it so can you, and then you're off. 

Up. And slowly because it's 275 steps on a medieval stone spiral staircase that is 24 inches wide most of the way up. 

Deep breaths. 

You climb something like 150 steps to start and then you come out into the glorious daylight to walk across a narrow path that feels a lot like scaffolding, and then on into the second staircase for the remaining 125 steps to the top. 

Freedom! 

Deep breaths. 

Hubs enjoyed the climb but wasn't crazy about the sensation up top. It was really windy and it felt like you could topple right over the edge. I was just happy to be breathing fresh air. 

The views from up top are amazing and it was worth the climb. 

You repeat the journey back down and then you go find yourselves a pub for a pint and a shared plate of Yorkshire sausages.

We wandered around the quaint cobbled streets and peeked in some shops before making our way back to the carpark and on to our hotel. 

Our hotel-

Swoon! 

We stayed in Middlethorpe Hall and Spa, a William the III country house set on 20 gorgeous acres about three miles outside the York city centre. 

It was built in 1699 and is one of only three Historic House Hotels of the National Trust. 

We rested for a while then headed to the dining room. First though, a cocktail in the lounge...

I'm a fan of all the little touches like silver spoons and cocktail picks, fine china, a garden view, old paintings, and old English houses in general. 

We were escorted in to dinner and enjoyed a three course meal. The food was so beautiful and we savored every bite. I very discreetly snapped some pictures. 

We were first served an 'amuse-bouche'...a zucchini arancini and a crab spread. Next we had the halibut with a coconut lemongrass bisque that was so delicious I wanted to pick up the bowl and drink every last drop.

 I didn't but I wanted to. 

For the main I had salmon with watercress, horseradish, and yuzu which was super scrumptious, and hubs had the Yorkshire duck with plum, pistachio, honey and daikon. 

Dessert was Annabel's strawberries with champagne, elderflower, and verbena. 

This was served chilled and it was wonderful. Annabel's is a Yorkshire strawberry farm so a true farm to table dish. 

After dinner we walked back to our room and called it a night. Come back tomorrow so I can tell you all about breakfast lol. Other stuff too, but breakfast deserves a mention. 

And yes, this was me not jamming everything in to a single post. 

The Art Of The Hodgepodge

Welcome to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge, our last in October of 2023. Next week November is upon us and the holidays are coming up quick.  If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for your neighbor there. Trick or treating, hodgepodge style. Here we go-

1. October 25th is International Artists Day...do you have a favorite artist? If so tell us who and why. 

I'm not sure I have a favorite. I love the ballet paintings of Degas, the gardens of Monet, and the birds of John James Audubon.  Why? I love ballet and the great outdoors. 

2. Would you describe yourself as artistic? Elaborate. 

No not in the sense of having skill in drawing or as a painter or sculptor. I'm creative with words but I'm not artistic. 

3. What's a skill, task, hobby, or job you've done so often you now have it 'down to a fine art'? 

Loading the dishwasher lol. 

4. How often do you dine out? Fast food, fine dining, or somewhere in between? Tell us about a less than stellar restaurant experience you've had recently (or not so recently if that's easier).  

We don't dine out a lot because choices here in tiny town are pretty limited. We mostly cook at home or dine with friends in their homes. We don't eat fast food (maybe the occasional Chick fil-A when traveling). We love fine dining (our favorite) but again, it's a drive to get to so not something we do often anymore. We belong to a couple of wine clubs that pair wines with food and we enjoy that a lot. Hubs and I get lunch out maybe once a week? Dinner maybe once a week, probably less...depends on the week. 

A less than stellar experience? We met friends for pizza before a concert a couple of weeks ago. The show started at 7:30 and we met at the restaurant (one block from the concert venue) at 5:45. At 7 PM we went to check on the food (or lack thereof) and were told they hadn't even put the order in yet. Bother. 

The bar for restaurant service post-'you know what' is pretty low, but communication is key. If the server had given us an update on the situation (understaffed and overwhelmed) we would have had options. 

5. Do you celebrate Halloween? To what extent? Are there trick or treaters where you live? 

Some years we have something going on, and other years it's quiet. This year we're going to a party and will be dressing up. I do love a costume. I don't decorate my house for Halloween, but do put a few fall pieces out, mums and pumpkins on the porch, that sort of thing. Our neighborhood is hosting a trunk or treat if they get enough of a response. There aren't a lot of young children in our neighborhood. The kayak group is doing a 'dock or treat' and we're hosting a stop at our dock. You give the kayakers a sip of something and a small bite of something before they paddle away. Should be fun. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

This has nothing to do with anything which I suppose is the definition of random but...

I follow a site on insta called SBMowing. He has a landscape business and I think it's once a week he drives around, finds a yard that is overgrown, out-of-control, a community eyesore, and he takes care of it for free. There is something so satisfying about these videos and what he's doing. A little pick me up in a world that needs picking up. 

Here's the link-SBMowing

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Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 524

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here tomorrow to share answers with the rest of the world wide webbers. See you there!

1. October 25th is International Artists Day...do you have a favorite artist? If so tell us who and why. 

2. Would you describe yourself as artistic? Elaborate. 

3. What's a skill, task, hobby, or job you've done so often you now have it 'down to a fine art'? 

4. How often do you dine out? Fast food, fine dining, or somewhere in between? Tell us about a less than stellar restaurant experience you've had recently (or not so recently if that's easier).  

5. Do you celebrate Halloween? To what extent? Are there trick or treaters where you live? 

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

About Last Week

Just doing my usual here aka playing catch up. We've actually had a few things on our calendar which feels strange and fun and not quite normal, but let's say almost normal. 

My mother-in-law celebrated a birthday last week and we were able to surprise her by showing up for lunch on the actual day. We drove over to Tennessee the night before and had a great time catching up in person with hubs brother and sister-in-law. They live on a lake and we like to compare notes and landscaping plans and projects amongst other things. 

There's a restaurant in their nearby town we've been wanting to try and we finally had a chance to do just that. The Walnut Kitchen was started by a chef who came from Blackberry Farm, and let me state for the record Blackberry Farm is high on my list of places to someday spend a night or two. Anyway the original owner of the Walnut Kitchen has I think moved on, but the restaurant has retained his vision. We had a wonderful meal and it felt so good to be dining out. 

My mother-in-law was not expecting to see any of her family on her actual birthday and we'd all made excuses as a cover story. Her best friends told her they wanted to take her to lunch and she was so surprised to walk back to the table and find her oldest and youngest sons there to greet her. 

We were missing two of the sibs, but since Covid continues to wreak havoc on people's ability to move about if they have kids in school or in-person jobs they weren't able to join us. 

Still a real day brightener to at least have half of her crew sitting beside her. After lunch we went back to my brother-in-laws lake house and my mother-in-law came too for an enjoyable and relaxing afternoon of porch sitting and face to face conversation. We headed home Friday morning because we had company of our own coming for dinner on Saturday evening. 

No pictures of the people but I did make a key lime pie for dessert and snapped a picture of that. I served the pie on these pretty plates, a recent addition to my dish collection courtesy of my grandmother via my mother. Question-can a person have too many pretty dishes? Asking for a friend who is hoping the answer is no. 

And now here we are rolling in to a brand new week. I see the dentist first thing in the morning which feels like a very Monday thing to do. Tell me what fun thing you have planned that can top that? 

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

I know it's Thursday (it is Thursday, right?) and a new weekend is just around the corner, but I still need to talk about last weekend because I missed the blog window on Monday. Then there was the Hodgepodge to deal with, so here it is Thursday and I'm talking about last Friday. If you think about it you'll see it all makes perfect sense.  

Hubs took the day off on Friday (whoohoo!), and we made our way down to Maryland to spend the weekend with his sister (sil), brother-in-law (bil), and their two boys. Hubs always enjoys a weekend with the boys-

Gotta love a fun uncle!

Anyway back to Friday...we stopped at Cabela's en route because there's not one in our tinytown, and holy moly was it ever busy in there! The store was absolutely mobbed and many of the shelves were wiped clean. In fact there were so many people shopping that if you were there to purchase a firearm you had to take a number, kinda like you do at the deli counter. 

A snapshot of America in 2013.  

I love Cabelas for the gear and for the people watching. They have a little bit of everything, and I told hubs we should consider this-

We do have more than a few varmints in these parts, but maybe what's out there in the dark of night needs to stay out there in the dark of night.  

We got to Maryland around dinner time, and my sil grilled chicken while we caught up on life. Hubs needed to refresh his trumpeting skills while we were in town, and my nephew critiqued the performance.  

Now, about the weather...it was cold. I mean actually cold.When we got out of the car at Cabelas we nearly blew away, and the thermometer read 44 degrees. Huh? Memorial Day weekend, right?  It remained chilly and a little breezy on Saturday, but we didn't let that stop us from getting out and about.  The boys wanted to take us to a nearby nature center where they volunteer so we did that Saturday morning.

Come to find out nature center is code for 'place where snakes live', which made hubs supremely happy.

Me, not so much.

I recovered though, mostly by swiftly handing off the slimy slithering creepy crawly to someone who actually enjoys handling snakes. A lot of anti bacterial soap, followed by lunch at Chipoltle made everything all right again.

Crawfish-

Now that's my kind of critter, especially seasoned, boiled, and ready for picking.  

My sil and bil had friends hosting a crawfish boil on Saturday night and we were invited to join the party. So delicious! Yes, I'm wearing jeans and a fleece. It was still cool and breezy, but lots of fun.

Sunday the sun shone and the wind died down and the air warmed up enough for this-

Pretty much how we spent the entire day.

Hubs took a break from sitting to play some keep away, and catch, and 'let's see who can throw the ball highest' kind of activity, but mostly we soaked up the sun and gabbed. It was a good day.

We went downtown Sunday evening and had a fun family dinner at a restaurant called Family Meal.  The restaurant is owned by Bryan Voltaggio, the runner up in Top Chef back in 2009. He came in second to his brother Michael, and wouldn't a holiday dinner at their house be fun?  Anyway, it's family meal kind of food, and really good. We had chicken pot pie fritters as a starter, and I need to figure out how to recreate that dish because they were scrumptious.

It seems like most of the time we spend with our extended family centers around an event or a holiday occasion, so it was really nice to have a weekend to sit in the backyard, catch up, and see the world through the eyes of boys.  

Boys who, by the way, are somehow not so little anymore.