Tag Archive | eldorado-hotel

Livin’ the Dishwasher Life

Sep29

The other day Calvin came upstairs and saw the kitchen was all clean and tidy and the dishwasher was running and said, “livin’ the dishwasher life, eh?” And I said, “oh yeah.” I had a dishwasher that didn’t actually clean anything, so was skeptical that a machine could do it. But this magical implement comes with a channel whereby you can add softening salt, so the well’s minerals are finally defeated.

I had a marvelous time at the Ya Ya reunion at Maryjoy’s little house on Osoyoos Lake. Five of six remaining women attended, and all slept there except me. I wanted to sleep at Mom’s as I had the dogs with me, but I also got a last-minute call from Carol the realtor saying she was holding an Open House and asked if I could clean up the joint. I gave it seven hours and then decided that was all I could do in between social events.

The weather was very hot and sunny, so on Friday afternoon we hopped into kayaks and paddled to Haynes Point and back. Penny, Alison and Mary swam, but Phyllis and I wisely decided against submerging ourselves into cold water. They insisted it wasn’t. As a reward Alison made Ina Garten’s Panko-crusted salmon for dinner and I made a burned prune tart for dessert.

I blamed the oven for that. I also made us a breakfast casserole that I thought was overdone and again, pointed at the appliance. On Saturday night we had Greek food at the Diamond Pizza and Steak house. My earliest memory of that place is eating there with my boyfriend Tom Schmidt, so that would’ve been in 1972. The place is a legend to locals.

Because the weather was so great we took a couple of nice long walks. One around Haynes Point and the other along Lakeshore Drive. The town has amazing paths for walking and biking. On Sunday we had brunch at an adorable place called the Best Cellar Bistro, Books and Tours. They make delicious stuffed waffles, and its walls are lined with used books. Very cute.

Alison had bought a music book, so we hung around Mary’s piano and sang old songs from the 1930’s and ‘40’s. Not sure why that endures but Alison and I learned them from our mothers and can’t let go. Since the other three women were sitting there going, “um, what’s maresy dotes and dosey dotes mean?” I said to her we really do have to move to at least the 1960’s and get some Beatles music.

Next reunion, for sure. Everyone enjoyed themselves so I’m sure we’ll have another quite soon. Penny proposed walking a part of the Camino Trail and we all said sure! Watch us require ambulances after two days of it. But at least we think big.

Donna, Sharon and I went to the Eldorado for High Tea. They have the tables set with mismatched cups and saucers and a variety of tea pot styles so it looks very eclectic and cute. You do have to want an awful lot of sweets, which I’m fine with, but if you want mostly savoury, you’ll be disappointed.

I finally stopped asking Luke when he was going to make a website for Mom’s property. He was the one who had offered to do it, as I never even thought of the idea. But after a month of asking I went to Calvin who said sure and made this for me. Please check it out and let me know what you think. https://osoyoosbohemian.com

Back to the Old Routine

May16

Holidaying in April may seem like a good idea, however if one gardens like a lunatic, it’s not an ideal time to be away. Nonetheless I’ve managed to get myself out into the yard most days, weeding and planting like there’s no tomorrow. It’s a tad on the cold side so I’m leaving the tomatoes and cucumber plants in the greenhouse for now, but I want to get my sainted dahlias into the ground.

Elsa and I went to thrift to hunt for treasures and amazed ourselves with the volume we managed to haul home. I also visited mom in Osoyoos and brought her chocolate from Germany, which she appreciated, given her penchant for it. She’s still getting half a litre of wine and a couple of chocolate bars down a day.

Then there’s the work on my memoir of the fruitcake biz, which I’d hoped to have ready for the public by this month, but alas, it wasn’t to be. I felt discouraged about it all, then out of the blue got a lovely e mail from Sharon Thesen, a published writer for God’s sake, who wrote about my little book Okay, I’ll Bite, “I love the book, what a service you have done to mankind by writing it.  Maybe especially womankind.  It’s so encouraging and witty, and life-loving and smart.”

Can you imagine what that does to a person? Now I have the motivation to return to my memoir and get it polished and ready for a late fall release. Why? Because a friend of mine who’s also a writer pointed out that a book about fruitcake would do well coming out at Christmas. Brilliant, right? Plus, now I can relax about it and enjoy the final editing process, as if that could be possible.

Then there’s the usual baking and cooking that I do both for the purpose of it being eaten, but also for therapy. If nervous, I start to bake. It was Gilles the garden handyman’s birthday, so I made my famous chocolate chunk torte for him, and he loved it. I made crème brulee for Marie and me for our Mother’s Day lunch and gave the leftovers to Calvin and Visini who wolfed it down with cries of joy.

I like to spend Mother’s Day with Marie, as she also experiences a challenging relationship with her daughter, as I do with my younger child, and so we give each other joke gifts. Last year I gave her a mug that said World’s Best Mom and this year she gave me a hilarious T shirt which says Rocking the Mom Thing. We both adore sardonic wit.

In keeping with usual routines, yesterday the Crones and I met at the Eldorado for Happy Hour which was pleasant as it was warm enough to sit outside. Not satisfied with the amount of liquor I’d imbibed there, when I got home, I made myself a nice guava juice and vodka cocktail. After that I thought what a great idea to do some laundry.

I’d already done the wash, and so it just needed to be thrown into the dryer. Sadly, my arm caught the large bottle of liquid Tide, which splashed onto the open dryer door, getting everywhere. For a moment I wondered what it all meant, do you start again and wash? Or ignore it and dry? I went upstairs and decided this was a problem best solved in the morning.

This morning it was solved with a lot of paper and regular towels, and as it turned out the stuff inside the dryer wasn’t soaked in Tide so I was able to just dry it. It all reminded me of growing up and hearing “you’re a bull in a China shop” from my mom, which then of course exacerbated the bullishness.

Now Louie’s Sick

Oct15

I suppose you think I went right ahead and applied what I had been taught regarding my WordPress site. Wrong. I was so frightened by it I haven’t been near it since. Beekeeping, owning chickens, adopting dogs and cats, growing dahlias all seem so simple compared to whatever occurs on this new-fangled typing device known as a laptop.

More technology hiccups awaited in Osoyoos when I arrived for the Thanksgiving weekend. I’d had someone come to repair mom’s roof, and in the process, he had to move the satellite, which meant no CNN or MSNBC which is the same as saying a diabetic has run out of insulin. It’s an emergency.

Luke had cleverly provided mom with the old Netflix remote and so she was back to hours and hours of Virgin River as she waited for her TV channels to come back. I phoned Shaw but they don’t have anyone available to come until October 29, but the nice person said call a local technician and see if they can do it. Turns out our friend Jim and Luke were able to figure it out all by themselves.

It was sunny and very warm in Osoyoos, so we sat out, and mom made her way out to sit on the deck with us. She managed to eat a nice plate of turkey dinner on Saturday night, and we all had a good laugh over my attempt to make pastry. Suffice to say the dessert was pumpkin custard with whipped cream.

On Sunday Jan noticed Louie was suddenly walking backwards a few steps, which was very odd, and he did it again yesterday back home in Kelowna. Then today he’s been completely disinterested in everything, lethargic, and not himself at all. I called the vet, and she said it could be kidney failure so I should take him to the hospital, but I said no, let’s wait until she examines him tomorrow and then decide.

Around here there’s always someone in medical distress. From the hen that died in the coop in the spring, to my mom weakening by the day, to the cat with his massive abscess and now Louie with whatever it is he has. And then people wonder why I drink. How else to cope?

The Crones got a surprise last week as we headed into Maestro for Happy Hour only to find the door locked. We then had to go to a Plan B which was fine as the Eldorado is right next door, so we went over there. Donna’s going to be 90 in December and weighs as much as my dog but can eat twice the amount of food in one sitting that I can. It’s kind of amazing.

We sat in the lounge and shared yam waffle fries and wings, and I slugged back at least two cocktails. That would be all the food I’d like to eat, but no, Donna said let’s go over to the dining room for dinner. So we went over there and it was lovely and quiet and I looked at the menu and said I think the most I can do is a bowl of clam chowder.

Donna had salad followed by the ravioli and ate every bit of it. It’s like watching those people who win eating contests. Some are tiny yet they can eat their own weight in hot dogs. Fortunately, this was a grade above, but still, the volume of it all. I can probably eat more than Donna does in a whole day, but I can’t do it in a single sitting.