Gee, It's Good To Be Back Home Again

I just got back from a week in Portland, with a 12 hour layover in Seattle.

The Seattle part was lots of fun - I took the light rail into downtown Seattle from the airport (so easy and quick!) and was in (window) shopping heaven for several hours.

I bought new walking shoes, a new wallet and a tank top, but mostly just walked around.  It was hotter than the hinges of hell (at least to me), so I spent more time inside than outside.  I stopped into allrecipes.com to surprise my friend Anne, who is an editor there.  It was a nice, although short, visit.

Then back to SEATAC and on to Portland.

I had a fun visit with my family, and spent some quality time with my brothers and sisters, especially my brother Marc, who was celebrating his 60th birthday.  Marc being 60 means that I only have three short years before I too become a 60 year old.

We went to his family's cabin by Mt. Hood.  The weather was perfect - hot and sunny.  I went for a two hour hike with my sister in law and some of her friends, and I did great until the last part, which was steep.  I was puffing like a steam engine and sweating like a pig at the end.  Back to the cabin for a nice party for 50 of Marc's friends.  Marc introduced me to a nice cocktail that is called a "Dark and Stormy" although he has renamed it a "Cabin 10" after their mountain house.  You put a jigger of dark rum in a tall glass with ice, squeeze a half a lime into the glass, and then put the lime half in, and fill the glass with good ginger ale (the strong and gingery kind).  Stir and enjoy.  YUM!

The menu was enchiladas, grilled flank steak, pasta salad, green salad, grilled sweet peppers, cakes made by their friend Emily (a professional chef), and pies (apple, peach and cherry) made by my sister Rita, who is a tremendous pie expert.

After the weekend, it was back to Portland, where we all crashed for a nap and then a light supper of leftovers from the party.

Miguel and I went shopping downtown and at Lloyd Center, which is really close to Marc's house.  We got some necessary items and a couple of fun things, one of which is a beautiful short sleeve cashmere sweater in a lovely blue shade for me (a bargain at fifteen bucks at Buffalo Exchange)!

I came home on Tuesday, and Miguel set off on his road trip adventure (meeting a friend in Prince Rupert. B.C. and driving to Montana).

I came home to blue skies, and cooler temperatures, thank God!

I am glad to be home, and later I will be posting the few pictures I took, along with pictures of my new goodies.

I have some catching up to do, blog reading-wise, but I also have a LOT of housekeeping to catch up on, bread to make, restocking of kitchen staples, etc.

Charles was in New Hampshire the same week I was in Oregon, and Phoebe was holding down the fort with the two dogs.   Right before I came home, Frida and Beans got into a little fight, and Beans (who I think Just. Couldn't. Take. It. Any. More.), bit Frida on the ear.   Frida's ear bled like a fountain, and so Phoebe had to clean up the mess, tend to the wound (not bad) and scold Beans, who was sulking.  Beans is the most patient dog in the universe, so if she snapped, I think Frida must have
 deserved it.  It was just the usual pandemonium at Fortress Rohrbacher.

It is good to be home in the peaceful, quiet, and tidy (HA!) bosom of my family!

Banana Rhubarb Upside Down Skillet Cake

This is a recipe I adapted from The Pioneer Woman's Apple Skillet Cake recipe.

I substituted sliced rhubarb (from our garden!) for the sliced apple.  Instead of the diced apple in the batter, I put in one very ripe banana, and since I only had one egg, so I added another very ripe banana (did you know you can substitute banana for egg in a recipe?  I didn't, before I Googled it!).

I cooked the butter, sugar and rhubarb a bit too long and the rhubarb got a bit too carmelized, but it didn't taste burned, it just looked too dark.

And the proof of the pudding (or the cake) was in the tasting!

It was delicious!

I love it when an experiment turns out right!

The Loudmouth

I had a very busy day yesterday, and today is shaping up to be just like it!

Yesterday, I had to run a whole bunch of errands, including stopping by the bank to pay the mortgage (yes, I know I can do this online, I just don't want to).

Anyway, I stopped by the bank, where there was a loooong line and only two tellers.  The teller at the far end was dealing with a man who was having some sort of difficulty ("That can't be right - I have plenty of money in that account..can you look again?").  The teller closest to me was a trainee with a supervisor helping her.

The Trainee was conducting simple transactions, and the Supervisor was happily chatting up every customer that came to the window "Hi!  How are you doing?  What's new with Ginny?  I haven't seen her in ages!   Did you and Joe go on that trip?  Hawai'i?  Oh my God!  Was it nice there?" [OF COURSE IT WAS NICE, YOU IDIOT!  IT WAS HAWAI'I!!].  

The Supervisor obviously wasn't needed by the trainee, since the Trainee was handling things just fine.  So, why in the name of all that is holy didn't the Supervisor go to another window to assist the other customers, which were now snaking out the door and into the foyer?

Then, the Supervisor began to visit with people waiting in line: "Hey - George!  What are you up to?" [HE'S AT THE BANK, DIM BULB!].


But the worst was when the man in front of me answered his phone and began talking in a VERY LOUD VOICE.   He was all: "God damn it!  I told them not to put in that @*&^%$ing water heater.  I know - I know!  I'm at the bank!  I'll be there in a minute!  I'm at the bank!  The bank!  G-D it!"

He then started to tell the man standing behind me the saga of the water heater: "It's a propane heater - I don't trust those G-D things - it's gonna blow us all to kingdom come.  I told them to get electric - the least they can do is electrocute you - HA HA HA HA HA!"  Then to the young trainee: "Hey sweetie?  How about getting your little ass in gear so I can get out of here?"

The young Trainee started to get nervous, and the Supervisor started bantering with the Loudmouth: "Now c'mon Pete!  We are going just as fast as we can!"

"Well if this is fast, I must be running a marathon!  Hey!  Have you been watching the Olympics?  Those G-D gymnasts must be made of rubber!"  And then he and the Supervisor were off - the poor Trainee was getting more and more nervous, the people in line were more and more restive, and I was getting more and more annoyed.

After 20 minutes standing in line, the difficult customer at the far end finished his transaction and I finally was able to pay my mortgage and get out of there.

I wanted to say something to the Loudmouth about the swearing, the shouting, and the distracting of the tellers, but I was afraid to get him rolling on another rant.

It made an already stressful day even more so.

Do you have a Loudmouth story?

I Feel Like I've Lost A Friend: RIP, Maeve Binchy

Portrait by Maeve McCarthy, National Gallery, Dublin

Maeve Binchy, one of my favorite authors, died yesterday in Dublin at the age of 72.   She was a gifted writer, and depicted Ireland, rural and urban, past and present, in such a way that it came alive for me.  Her main characters were strong women faced with difficult situations and decisions, but who always prevailed in the end.

I was introduced to Ms. Binchy's writing by my Mom (an avid reader herself), who gave me her copy of Firefly Summer after she finished reading it.  She wrote in the front cover: "Good book!", and I agreed!

I read every book that Maeve Binchy wrote, along with her some of her short stories, essays and non-fiction books.  When we went to Ireland, I found a couple of books that were published there that I wasn't able to find in the United States (Aches and Pains and Maeve Binchy's Writer's Club).  I was lucky enough to see her portrait (above) in the National Gallery in Dublin.

Her best writing happened after 2000, when she announced that Scarlet Feather was going to be her last book, which prompted a huge protest by her readers.  She went on to write several more novels, which featured new characters, but also brought back some of the most beloved characters from Scarlet Feather and her subsequent books.  Scarlet Feather is my favorite of her novels, featuring, again, a strong woman, Cathy Scarlet, and her colorful family and friends.

I loved reading Maeve Binchy's books, and I was happy to hear that her last novel A Week In Winter, will be published later this year.  I will miss her writing so much!  It has meant a great deal to me over the years.

Rest in peace, Maeve, and I hope you are in heaven, drinking a cup of coffee with Mom, discussing your books!

The Mary Garden

The Mary Garden bloomed in its full glory a couple of weeks ago when a picture would have been amazing:  daffodils and tulips in full riotous color, so bright it almost hurt our eyes.  Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture (sorry).

But, for the past few weeks, Charles has been painting an icon to put in a shrine in the corner of the Mary Garden, and he unveiled it recently.  The garden was full of dead daffodils and tulips, and some almost blooming lilies and just emerging Forget-Me-Nots.

The icon he painted features Mary sitting with the Christ Child on her lap, surrounded by flowers, including the aforementioned Forget-Me-Nots.






He wrote about it in his blog: Loaves and Fishes and I am happy to share it with you, finally!

You Asked What My House Is Made Of

You Asked What My House Is Made Of

My house is made of dust and dog hair

Of freshly washed clothes, unfolded

Of dishes in the sink from a good meal

Of things strewn about with reckless abandon

My house is made of quiet and noise

Of a guitar strummed at midnight

Of a dog barking upstairs

Of a dog barking in our bedroom

My house is made of fun house colors

Of dishes stacked on a FreeCycle find

Of doors painted the green of a Granny Smith apple

Of icons hanging on the wall

My house is made of laughter

Of the same old jokes told again

Of descriptions of people and things

Of conversations and confrontations

My house is made of love

Of a husband and wife

Of a daughter and son

Of two dogs

Of dust and dog hair

Of quiet and noise

Of fun house colors

Of laughter

Of love

(With thanks to Mary Lauren at My 3 Little Birds for the inspiration)

From Death To Life

After the harrowing news of yesterday's tragedy in Colorado (and with the people of Aurora in our prayers), it was like a cooling balm to my soul to read this beautiful post by my friend Katy about how God brings us to new life.  She is a wonderful writer, and one of the best mothers I have ever met.  Please read it and see if you agree with me!

Blessed, Broken and Shared