Tag Archive | easter

Beautifying Mom’s Property

Apr9

 I had to do all the things on Mom’s property that I hire people to do on my own. Nearly killed me. I was there for four days over Easter, painting, cleaning, planting, pruning, decorating, all in an effort to get the place looking as lovely as it can be. I feel quite satisfied with the interior, and I have Trent, a friend of Luke’s doing paint touch-ups on the exterior.

What I’ve found tremendous fun is gathering the adorable things I want to put on the lake piece. I’m getting Trent to paint the deck and I’m going to put some hanging pansies on the giant wooden wall our neighbour has erected between properties. I’ve also bought a giant colourful umbrella, matching pillow, and tin signs for the bar Luke and Calvin constructed.

I told the realtor I need at least a day’s notice prior to the drone, video and photographs because I want to fix everything up. I plan to put two glasses and a bottle of wine on the bar, and I have a cute blue and white tablecloth to give it that totally French country look. The goal is to build the fantasy in the buyer’s mind, right?

Sadly, the worst of it all is the perimeter of Luke’s house as well as the garage. Both give the opposite effect of the lake piece, one of oops, you’ve accidentally crossed over into a garbage dump. It’s not what I want at all, and neither does the realtor.

I made everyone’s favourite breakfast casserole, the one made from toasted croissants as a base, and then you add bacon, cheese, and an egg and milk custard. Leave it overnight in the fridge and bake the next morning. Everyone weeps a bit as they’re eating it. I also made those naughty chocolate, peanut butter and fruity marshmallow squares. Again, much blubbering from joy.

I went into the Osoyoos Museum with a few copies of Okay, I’ll Bite along with Nuttier than a Fruitcake as they had invited me to do so. I was thrilled as I’d forgotten all about marketing and that reminded me, oh yeah, you have to market these books if you expect them to sell.

That then got me back into seeing where else I might flog them and happened across the Okanagan Regional Library which allegedly stocks local authors. In any case I applied, so maybe? Even if they don’t, I can use the Osoyoos Museum and the 15 five-star reviews on Amazon as I drive around trying to sell my wares.

I’m reverting to my childhood as I now have several Barbies all nicely dressed and held up in special holders so that I can sit and admire them. You probably don’t know that in the 1950’s and 60’s Barbie’s clothes were influenced by couturier designers like Balenciaga, Dior and Chanel. They were hand-sewn in Japan and used real zippers, finished linings, and real leather and suede accessories.

I’m fortunate to have a few of these beautiful clothes and I also inherited several from my friend Bobbi. I have her Barbie dressed in a black strapless gown called Solo in the Spotlight, made in 1960. I know you probably think I’ve finally lost my marbles, but no. It’s more a trip down memory lane but with lovely vintage things.

Or perhaps an escape from the next big hurdle since I conquered probate: sell mom’s house!

I’m Back

May1

I followed the Canadian election as best I could while visiting my dear relatives in Germany and was of course overjoyed with the result. Three seats short of a majority is annoying, but compared to what was predicted in December it was practically an Easter miracle – the resurrection and all.

First stop after the airport was a store as I said to Heilke I’ll need a drink the minute we hit Hannelore’s house. So we bought vodka and juice, and I arrived half dead on a Thursday afternoon, yet by 10:00 PM I had to force myself to sleep, but then joyfully slept for nearly 12 hours!

Good Friday it’s a tradition to eat Maultaschen, which are basically German ravioli minus the tomato sauce. They’re hamburger-filled dough pockets and then covered in beef or chicken broth. We ate these with a delicious potato salad Heilke’s son Andre had made. This was followed by a variety of ice-cream flavours, however I knew if I wanted to remain normal sized for the two weeks I’d have to say no thanks.

And speaking of food, every morning at Hannelore’s I’d eat delicious bread slathered with the freshest butter you’ve ever eaten, and coated in homemade berry jam. This was accompanied by vats of premium quality coffee.  At around 8:00 PM we’d end the day with the same bread and butter, but with ham and cheese, accompanied by sugary sweet cherry tomatoes and various salads.

One salad I’d never eaten is called Ackersalat which means farm salad, but it’s a very soft small leaf that grows throughout the winter and is ready in spring, after which the season is over. I experienced the joy of this kind of seasonal food when we went to a” Spargelbesen” on Easter Sunday.

A “Besen” is a kind of food or drink event held at a farm for a limited amount of time. So there are asparagus, beef, wine, and goose events held at only certain times of the year, which I love. I told them we sadly get asparagus all year long, but they said, no, here we get it only in spring. At this event the main thing was the thick white asparagus which was served slathered in Hollandaise sauce.

I had wonderful homemade Spaetzle at my cousin Ruth’s in Meckenbeuren served with gravy, and also chicken and mushrooms in a creamy sauce. All so good, and one of the main reasons for visiting Germany other than the family.

We toured the beautiful town of Calw on the edge of the Black Forest. Hiked to a waterfall near Bad Urbach and then visited the cute town itself, sitting outside to have a German lunch of Bratwurst and fries near the town’s fountain.

Every Saturday Hannelore’s daughter-in-law goes to the bakery at the crack of dawn and gets freshly baked pretzels for breakfast and hangs them on her door at 7:15 AM. Isn’t that just so adorable, I mean both the idea of doing that plus the precision of the hour for delivery? We would cut them in half and coat their soft interior with unsalted butter which contrasts so beautifully with their crust of salt. Other than eat, we did drive around and see sights such as the cloister at Bebenhausen which was founded around 1184. Southern Germany really is a pretty amazing place, then throw in great relatives and it was a fabulous holiday.