Monday, February 9, 2009

Church and Bridge

It was an interesting day, yesterday. I picked up my fellow inmate and we drove to the church. When we got there the church was locked. A few minutes later Jim arrived and we decided we were going to stand on the sunny side of the street while we were waiting for the woman with the key. I had tried to take my friend, let's call her Connie, by the arm, or let her hold on to my arm for I had seen her around our living area walking with a walker. every one who arrived tried to take care of her. She would accept no assistance from anyone and seemed almost put out by so many people offering her help. She is tiny and she seems old. But you should see her play bridge. She could play in our international competitions. We were three tables competing, and she and Jim certainly were the best bridge players. There were quite a few beginners in the group. But eleven very nice human beings and I enjoyed the afternoon. Jim had made a peach cobbler for the coffee hour, but it turned out to be a blackberry cobbler. On our way home I asked Connie how old she is (we old people can do that) and she said 96. I hope I am as smart as she is when I get to 96.

It would be difficult to come home to an empty house, but I am lucky enough to have a dog and a cat to welcome me home. Cap, (short for Capitola) is a 13 year old Brittany, and the cat is Edgar, found at an outdoor market two days after Sam died, 11 years ago. When Edgar met Cap his hair stood up in a scary Halloween way, so I named him for Edgar, after Edgar Allen Poe. He has been the dearest cat and Cap and I would have been sorry, had he not come into our life. When we lived on the beach, Edgar had a wonderful life, what with the dog door and the seagulls and all the other food he found. Here he goes out for a few hours and then begs to be let in again. My next door neighbor here loves Edgar and if I am out, she will let him back in the house. Edgar has had a few run-ins with wild animals here at the turf club, and has the scars to prove it.

5 comments:

Haphazardkat said...

Was the blackberry cobbler as good as the erroneously planned peach one? :)
96...I toured part of mexico while visiting my mother who has retired there some years ago with a 96 year old lady from Canada.
She was sharp as a tack and I fell in love with her over the 10 days I stayed there.
She has since passed but the memory of her and her incredible spirit remains with me.

Alison said...

Could you talk about the kind of games you played as a child? Of course we had Monopoly, Clue, Uncle Wiggly, Candyland, Mousetrap etc... my mother grew up with Parcheesi, Chineese Checkers, Backgammon, Dominoes and many kinds of card games. I was curious to know what games you might have played in Sweden?

Stella said...

I must tell you that I also had a dog named Capitola. A lovely golden retriver and we called her Cappie. Its an old name that I found in a family genealogy book and fell in love with it.(It dated back to the 1880s). I seldom see it so I was happy you found it too.

Jo in Minnesota (not Stella)

Jodie said...

Mrs. S, just had to write that I had a fantastic pre-interview at a job fair with the city gov't of Dallas looking for computer people with my skills. They will call me tomorrow for an interview. So I did something right for a change. It's been a long hard 2 weeks since getting laid off by TI here in Dallas TX.

Anonymous said...

When I had babies, I took a parenting class from a woman who had 3 children while working through grad school. She was completely dependant on her slow cooker, and her kids described her skills in the kitchen as "chicken and a cup'a something."

I use mine a couple of times a month, mostly with pork or chicken. I can't digest onion, garlic, and most of the broccoli/cauliflower/cabbage vegetables, so most slow cook recipes ate too bland if I avoid my digestive enemies. I've found that using fruits works very well. The Robertson's marmalade company also makes a lovely thick Ginger preserve. Sometimes I use both, sometimes I use one or the other, for example pork roast with 2T. each of Ginger and orange marmalade and 2 cups thin-sliced butternut squash. The squash gives the moisture for the first few hours, then I add chunks of carrot and parsnip (get good fresh parsnips, not rubbery or fiberous.). Brown (crimini) mushrooms, maybe a tart apple sliced. Try pork tenderloin with tart Montmorency dried cherries (a great Trader Joe's find). Chicken with apricots and Ginger marmalade. Happy cooking!

Carol, on the SF peninsula