Tag Archive | wine

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!

Mom Finally Landed in Hospital

Nov27

November 27, 2025

Imagine being 100 and finally needing to be admitted to hospital for the first time in 35 years. Mom’s definitely one tough bird. I visited her today and she was able to use the walker and with help from a nurse made her way into the bathroom and back to her bed. The doc thinks she’ll be discharged on Monday, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she is.

Of course then the real trauma begins as after ten days in hospital she’ll be even weaker than she was so will need more care. She refuses to go into a home so I guess I can block off the next few months of my life. Kidding. Margaret and I are definitely going to Mexico and Belize in February.

I was heartbroken not to be a finalist in the memoir category for the Canadian Book Club awards. It’s amazing to think I would even enter something like that! But then those of us with poor self-awareness are everywhere. I’m thinking of the very heavy young woman in short shorts and a turtleneck sweater in Walmart the other day.

I’ve stopped fighting with the bots at Amazon. They removed me from my ideal category, Western Canadian Provinces Biographies and Memoirs, then when I inquired said oopsies, we’ll reinstate you, please wait up to 48 hours. I’ve been fighting with them for ten days now, no sign of it.  The latest bit of gaslighting said “Your book’s detail page will display the top three category rankings only.” Yet only two categories are displayed so I guess bots are blind.

I tried out a new recipe on Sylvie the other day as I’d invited her over for Happy Hour. I made mini beef Wellington bites, and they’re super easy to make and I think with more practice will be a very nice appetizer. Then the other day for fun I tried making mango curd, and with all the leftover egg whites made meringue shells and so made mango pavlovas. Calvin and Visini loved them.

I’m waiting for Steve MacNaull’s article to appear in Kelowna Now. I’ll use that as bait and drop it plus my book and a fruitcake off to the CBC station and see if they want to talk about my book. I’ve been posting photos from the old fruitcake days on Instagram and my Nuttier than a Fruitcake Facebook page and so people are inquiring as to where and how to attain the fruitcakes, to which I reply buy Okay I’ll Bite, the recipe is in there.

It really was adorable when a nurse phoned me when mom was admitted so that I could answer a bunch of questions as mom was in a delirium so couldn’t. She asked if mom used drugs or drank and I said she drinks wine every day. The nurse laughed nervously and said, “you mean like a glass with dinner?” And I said, “oh no, at least half a litre a day. Probably more. She drinks that to go along with the three Ritter Sport chocolate bars.”

The nurse then said,” Do you think she’s in withdrawal?” I said, “oh god no it takes an awful lot more liquor than that every day for our family to go into withdrawal.” I still remember being a few weeks pregnant with Nick and feeling sick as I had a cold and my dad’s advice was to take a shot of vodka. Mom screamed saying “She’s pregnant.” To which my dad looked at both of us with a look that clearly said “So?”

But today I didn’t smuggle any wine into mom’s room, though I did take some chocolate. As she’s enjoying the food at the hospital, she might not even want that which is clearly a new sign.

Mom’s Quite the Handful

May29

One thing I do not do is run into the house when I hear the phone ringing and I’m out working in the garden. I don’t like talking on the phone as it is, but when I’m interrupted by something like “Did you just phone me?” asked by a 100-year-old, it gets maddening. As you may recall, Luke installed a Tapo camera in Mom’s living area, so I can see the phone ringing when I call her. Her phone then says, “M. Schiller” a few times as it’s ringing. So then I ask mom, did the phone say it was me? No? Then no, I didn’t call you.

And if it was just useless questions being asked constantly, it’d be fine, but Mom’s crabby streak has caused her nighttime caregiver to give notice, so now Jan’s going to take over sleeping there. Poor Jan. She’s the least favourite person on mom’s list. I guess everyone has a burden to bear when caring for a centenarian.

Margaret came for the long weekend, and we went down to Osoyoos to party around with Luke and Jan, and of course Mom. Though cranky, she easily drinks her .5 litre of wine and eats her two Ritter Sport chocolate bars a night. Margaret’s not used to our lifestyle and was hungover the first day but then got with the program and managed to hold her own and still feel okay the second day.

I was raised to loathe and fear teetotallers, so drinking is just what Schillers do. Growing up, people who didn’t drink were spoken of as the world’s stupidest bores, so who wouldn’t want to drink for God’s sake? I believe the secret to it is keeping it to a dull roar to avoid damage.

Sunny and Julie and their families came for brunch, as did Denis so there were 14 of us. At the last minute Mom decided she was too sick and went to bed for a couple of hours. Then came out and seemed fine. I made a particularly delicious breakfast casserole, made with croissants instead of bread. Everyone seemed to like all of it, plus fruit salad, ambrosia salad, pound cake and marshmallow and chocolate squares.

It was nice to get back home, and Margaret and I had time for a couple of hours of thrift store shopping on Tuesday before she flew home. Then two days later Elsa and I returned for more treasure hunting, and I felt fab finding a Fossil handbag for $10. So much better than the several hundred the original owner paid.

And on Sunday, June 1, I will have lived in this lovely house for 35 years! Isn’t that great? And due to the awful thrift store hobby, I can’t move, so this is it until I’m hauled out feet first. Watching Mom age is certainly scary, and I can see it takes a lot of courage to get that old, but I’ll just have to cross that bridge when I get to it. If I do, right?  Putin could take us out with a nuclear bomb tomorrow.

Hence my philosophy of not worrying, which I try to employ even though it can be difficult. When I was in Germany, I learned so much by staying with dear Hannelore, mom’s cousin who is 92. We spent every morning and evening talking about all manner of things, and one thing she stressed was not trying to predict the future and to just let it all come upon you.

And when you think of it, there’s nothing we can do except try our best to remind ourselves how fortunate we are. My problems are small: broody hens, a centenarian, clutter, an insatiable appetite for trashy YouTube videos and incurable evening snacking.  Okay, add vodka and there you have it.