The Taste of Waltonwood
It was a great event: staff and especially the chef and kitchen staff went out of their way to present a smorgasbord of delicacies between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Last Thursday. The main entry hall was decorated with lovely flower bouquets, the tables in the dining room with floral centerpieces. Glasses with rum-spiked pineapple cocktails decorated with a thin slice of pineapple or a floating dendrobium awaited us on the hall table, which was decorated Hawaiian style with a giant wreath of yellow flowers stuck in twined rosemary branches, encircling a large bouquet on a higher center tier. I wish I had taken pictures; it was all so tastefully and beautifully done.
Another tiered table with a tablecloth of many loose purple dendrobiums stood at the entrance of the dining room, filled with the most colorful delicacies and martini glasses with gazpacho. We were invited to fill a large black plate with items of our choice, and find a seat. At the other end of the room was a station where the chef and assistant were producing delicious crepes with garlic tomato or chicken on top. Because I had already had enough to eat, I asked them to make a couple of sweet crepes as a dessert. They looked at each other and shrugged. Chicken or tomato is what they were making. But when I asked, “How about some caramel sauce over the top?” one of them got caramel sauce from the kitchen and made a swirl with it on my crepes. Not enough! So I indicated to keep on going and they laughed, and I had my delicious dessert. Two others on our table of seven followed my example.
Separate bedrooms
After lunch today, each of us took a nap in different quarters. Lani settled down on the hardwood floor in the sun room, Mike slept in his chair and I laid down on our bed in the master bedroom. I don’t know who fell asleep first, but we all had a good nap. It is wonderful that we don’t have to put Lani in her kennel anymore for a nap. She has the freedom to plop down anywhere in the house; only our bedroom is kapu. And she has learned that she has to stay on the threshold and should not move any further. Sometimes, she creeps forward, when she wants to see where we are – most likely in the bathroom, out of sight. But most of the time, she stays put.
Pollen and Geese!
An overnight drizzle brought down a yellow cover on all of nature. First, coming out of the front door, I noticed it on the road, then on the surface of the pond, then on all parked cars in the neighborhood. So far, neither Mike nor I have been affected with allergies; we’ll knock on wood and hope that it will stay that way.
Mother goose sits on her nest. According to their habit, it is the same couple of geese that was here last year. From my office window I had watched their courtship. Then, the goose selected a location for her nest and worked at it with feathers and sticks. A year ago, the nest was too close to the surface of the pond and when the heavy rains caused the water to rise, the nest was destroyed and we saw some eggs floating on the surface. This time she built it higher up and on the other side. Before the sun goes down, if the weather has been nice, both are eating grass on the sloping lake side near the nest, the gander always watchful. When I walk the dog these days, I really have to be on the lookout, because the gander sometimes unexpectedly shows up on the left or on the right, running towards us with wide open beak, showing a pink inside, before I have even seen him. Lani of course wants to go towards him, but I pull her hard and go the other way. According to our trainer she would rather pick up the dog and run than get attacked by an angry goose. And I can not run as fast as she, not by far, because she is thirty years younger than I. So we take heed. Hey, if I were the gander, I would feel threatened too, especially if my partner was sitting on my eggs!
It’s a Wonderful Life!
Until next time,
Ronny