Glistening inside and out

Breathing in the Pace of Eden

Ham patiently wrapped around tenter asparagus, Eggs folded over gently sautéed spinach and spring greens, pasta marinated in pesto then sprinkled with feta, all of this drizzled with Hollandaise sauce. This plate of succulence, all accompanied by coffee, juice and a treat of fresh blueberries, crumbled pound cake and whipped cream, yes it is a lovely place to breath in the pace of eden.

We arrived in St. Louis last night just after dark and while it was evident that the Park Avenue B&B is lovely, it was a little hard to appreciate the beauty of the building and the grounds. After putting our things in the room we went down to the parlor last night with our lap tops, lured by brandy available to us in the decanter. There was not much brandy there, but as we are both lightweights, it was plenty. But there was lovely music playing, the room is decorated with antiques and a lovely victorian elegance. To our pleasure, Kathy brought us a glass of champagne to enjoy, since there was not much brandy. The wine was much more our style anyway and it was a lovely way to wind up our first evening in St Louis.

We are staying in the fleur-de-lys room here, complete with walk in shower and jacuzzi. There are a couple of tastefully placed fleur-de-lys around the lovely victorian room. It is cozy, lovely and just right for a quick episode of relaxation.

Jodi quickly got to work taking photos of the room, before we placed our own brand on it. She is still unnerved by the shadow she could not seem to get out of her photos, even more by the light that came on in the middle of night during a storm. She does not think it humorous that I keep telling her it is a lingering spirit. I did not wish to unnerve anyone else with talk of ghosts at breakfast so the verdict is still out on spirit inhabitants, but I really like the human ones.

Spring's Generosity

Today I went out with Lucy and perused my strawberries, there were some ripe, succulent and ready to be enjoyed! I am loving this years reawakening of the earth. Last year, after my return from Paris, I promised myself to be home in April, May and June hence forth. My pleasure in my yard had been diminished over the last several years with vacations smack in the middle of Spring. This year has been so sweet, maybe even sweater because of the dearth of enjoyment in recent years. God has watered in just the right quantities. The birds are plump with worms and singing their joy each day. My roses are all in full bloom and even ready to be pruned. The forget-me-not’s are opening their tiny periwinkle faces to me. They were my grandmothers favorite flower, between them and the lilly of the valley (just done blooming) she has been on my mind frequently this spring. My water lilies are opening their pink blossoms to the sun each morning in worship. The grass is green and velvety on my feet as I walk in my yard.

Picking the tender, fragrant crimson strawberries this morning reinforced my determination to stay home and participate in the beauty unfolding right here in my own back yard, it is not Kansas, nor Oz, but it is heavenly!

Chenonceau Mornings

It was another time and another place several years ago with another person. My first road trip in France included a visit to Chenonceau. It was a well worried trip and included a night at a hotel very near the castle. Auberge du Bon Laboureur, had been recommended by multiple people on multiple web sites. The visit, to what is still to this day my favorite castle of the Loir, was magical to me. After we dinned at the Auberge in the garden behind where we indulged in a lamb and spinach plate. I do not remember much else, other than it was a fabulous meal. Good food, good company and a lovely environment, all made it memorable. We went to bed well sated. The room was nice, a comfortable bed, toile walls and windows without screens that opened to the street. It rained during the night as we slumbered in our gastronomic high and we woke to the softest spring morning I have ever experienced. The world was right at that moment, birds singing, the soft spring air on our skin, the essence of fresh rain, resting in a comfortable bed with a person I loved. I thought life could not get any better. In the ensuing years I have experiences other ”Chenonceau mornings”, some with the other person who really gets that and many without. This morning is such a day. It rained last night, seriously rained and the earth is redolent of wet. The birds are ecstatic with the morning pickings and are proclaiming it with loud passion. Yesterday I prepared Croissant dough and this morning rolled it out, rolled them up and baked lovely golden flaky croissants. These I served with Rhubarb jam that I made last week with rhubarb from my parents garden, and cafe au lait. I don’t know how many Chenonceau mornings I have left, but I do know that I appreciate (recognize the full worth) of each one granted me.

14 vs 50 March 26, 2010

I don’t remember much about our last day in Texas, we lazed around some, finally got our act together to go to South Padre Island. This was Courtney’s favorite part of the trip! Why is water the best part for a kid, even when there are no other kids around? It was pretty nippy and I was glad I had worn a cover up, Of course the bathing beauty had to show off her loveliness, so she pranced beside me in her bikini. O, to be that young, innocent and cocky again, not! The beach was pretty littered, and sparsely dotted with people. My favorite moment is captured in the action shot I have added! Dinner time came soon and we went to a new “ little place” for shrimp, and boy were they good! Dirty Al’s served up big delicious shrimp and seasoned fried for a reasonable price, with a view of the water. It was definitely more my favorite part of the day! Interesting isn’t it that at 14 your favorite part is prancing in your bikini, and at 50 mine is the shrimp!

Texas Time - March 25, 2010

Thursday we got up, prepared ourselves for another gloriously sunny windy Texas day by going to the Las Vegas restaurant for breakfast. I had 2 eggs over easy on toast, thick bacon sizzled so crispy that I could hardly chew it, and a hash brown patty that I could not refuse! There went my vigil of counting calories from the past three weeks!

We arrived at the Texas Mexico border to a few changes. The international bridge to cross the Rio Grande is long and it breezy, and there are now blinds on where used to be windows to look out, I wondered why, to prevent us from seeing out, or others from seeing in? There are now Mexican military in great numbers on the border, more barriers between, longer lines crossing, and on the return, a showing of passports! It has been a few years since I last crossed the border at that point and in light of recent tragedies in Mexico, I was prepared for it all. What had not changed was the cacophony of “lady, lady do you want to buy...........“ People selling cactus leaves, bracelets, hats, shopping bags, candy coated peanuts, and much much more. Children hawking straw doll, shoe shines, toys, and chicle (gum) We walked down the street of Progresso looking at knock off Coach purses, “Silver” jewelry, sunglasses, and vanilla. To my delight I found vanilla beans five for 2 dollars, a steal when you compare it to the $16.00 I had recently paid for eight beans on line. We stopped for Nachos at my parents favorite breakfast place, I was wishing I had saved myself as the pastries on the shelves looked delicious, but it was lunch time, and well beyond those kinds of pleasures! The nachos were loaded with cheese, and came with pico de gallo, salsa, and the ubiquitous jalepenos. They were very good, though a little of the salsa went a LONG way! Daddy wanted his last haircut of the season, while he was being shorn Mother and I took Courtney to the local school. Our kids here take what they have so very much for granted, often complaining about what they do have. I wanted her have a correlation between what she has, and what these kids have. We walked right in the school, to a room with five little girls, all in fifth grads, giggling and smiling. Mother took a bag of pens and pencils out of her purse and I asked one of them if they would like them, the took them and put them right in the teachers desk drawer, that drawer had precious little else in it. I remembered an unopened roll of Mentos in my purse and asked if they would like them, they said yes, but did not put those in the teachers desk! I guess sharing only goes so far! I did have to wonder what kind of education these kids are getting, here we are slashing budgets, laying off teachers and going computerized to save money. DO our kids really get that much better education?

After the hair cut at Gloria’s it was time to make our way back. There is a tiny hole in the wall place my parents always stop in for drinks and I was needing a pina colada, so we stopped, it was as creamy and yummy and I remembered and well worth the alcoholic indulgence mid day! This place used to have dollar bills all over the walls, ceiling, bar etc, but the money is all gone now and when I asked the owner he said that they had spent them all! Crossing back over the border was uneventful, unless you want to include the vista of one of the most perfectly gorgeous men I have ever seen in the person of a border guard, a guard whose line my father did not lead us into!

That evening we played cards again and mother beat the pants off of all of us!

Being Mothered at 50 Wednesday March 24, 2010

What a lovely few days we have had! Family is such a precious thing and sharing time with them can be such a joy. We got here late Tuesday evening to a breezy Texas evening. It was great to see Mom and Dad looking better that I had hoped with all the health problems they have had this winter. They were thrilled to see Courtney. I believe that she is the joy of their lives. We got to the motor home and bedded down for the night, four people living in a motor home is tight. Though, as Daddy did reproach me today, there are millions of people all over the world that do it as a matter of living every day. We do take our lives and way of living so for granted. We all slept well and got up, broke our fast and went shopping at a local mall. It has changed a lot since I was here, most of the shops are geared towards teens, skinny teens at that!. Daddy wanted Courtney to see the Iwo Jima memorial there in Harlingen, it is the original prototype of the bronze that sits in Arlington National Cemetery. This one is plaster and apparently the mad who designed it gave it to the military academy there, who cares for it to this day. It is as impressive as the bronze and it was good for Courtney to see it and talk about it as we had seen the one in Washington a couple of years ago, she remembers it, and had been subjected to many lengthy talks about World War II as well. This just added some context. We had a great meal of meat loaf, stuffing, peas and apricots, prepared by mother. Sounds like a weird mix, but it was pretty darn tasty! There are few things in the world like being coddled by your mother, to be coddled in that way at 50, well, it is pretty fabulous! One may wonder why I would allow my mother to wait on me at 50, but in truth there is little room for two cooks in the kitchen of the motor home. We played a new card game that evening, that playing a game and spending time thing is more precious than Courtney can even begin to understand at this point in her life!