sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Gads almighty Kathy it's a surprise you are as sane as you are with all that going on. While we wait for another one of your wonderful chapters we talk to ourselves and each other lol.
Story Starting Over ... and Over and Over
- Thread starter Kathy in FL
- Start date
Sportsman
Veteran Member
Thanks, Kathy. A nice chapter.
An aside, if you don't mind answering... I seem to recall that a few years ago that you mentioned that you rarely had an eviction. I wonder if the economy has changed there, you've expanded to include a more diverse group of renters, or just the clients' situations and circumstances? Do you see it as a trend?
Take your time getting to the next chapter, we'll be here to read the stories when they are ready.
And for me, I'm starting to re-read Gurl again during our authors' pauses. Any one that hasn't read that one really should start it during lulls on current stories. Just getting the recipes refreshed is worth reading it again even if it's a great story! There's a link at the end of every KathyinFl post.
An aside, if you don't mind answering... I seem to recall that a few years ago that you mentioned that you rarely had an eviction. I wonder if the economy has changed there, you've expanded to include a more diverse group of renters, or just the clients' situations and circumstances? Do you see it as a trend?
Take your time getting to the next chapter, we'll be here to read the stories when they are ready.
And for me, I'm starting to re-read Gurl again during our authors' pauses. Any one that hasn't read that one really should start it during lulls on current stories. Just getting the recipes refreshed is worth reading it again even if it's a great story! There's a link at the end of every KathyinFl post.
It is a combination of things including just a business cycle. The economy is growing and there are plenty of jobs out there for people to work … at least at the level most of our tenants are. We primarily rent to middle and low middle income. We have some higher end houses but honestly they cause us more trouble in the long haul. My husband is responsible with tenants … try and always provide same day service on maintenance even if the tenant, or their kids or guests, that cause the maintenance call. All we ask in return is that the tenants are in turn responsible by reporting things timely as well as paying their rent. We have no problem making arrangements for a month … or even two … so long as the arrangements are kept to. But there are some people out there in the world that just like to take advantage and more than a few of them we are done with. Given we have 150 or so units to deal with, 6 to 8 evictions is a low ball figure. These are the first ones of the year and they are hitting all at once. Usually we get a cluster about March or April … last year because people that expected big tax pay outs didn't get them due to not understanding "free" insurance wasn't free because it counts as income … and this year because who knows why because it isn't about job availability. One is simply a hot mess even though she is in her 50s and should know better by now.
People get used to surviving and getting by on bennies of one kind or another but when the economy is up a lot of those people no longer qualify or services are less likely to pay out as usual. Also, the renters market is pretty tight in Tampa which is causing property taxes to increase year over year. We can only absorb those kinds of uncontrollable increases for so long before they have to show up in the fair market value of the rent amount. Rents are higher but no one is getting rich off of the increases except the local municipalities and utilities. That's the point that is missed by the MSM who don't get that the libs are very much a part of the problem in the higher tax issues. It is going to get passed along because the property owners don't have a choice unless they want to go out of business.
And since we've been through this cycle before I can tell you from experience, the better the economy the greater is some people's irresponsibility. They need to lay in their savings during the good years because inevitably the bad years are going to come back around. That's life. Too many people that should understand that concept just don't and then we who are responsible get called on to clean up the mess. Just life, but I'm getting too old to find it funny.
Good Lord, isn't that the truth.
Dosadi
Brown Coat
Thank you! Kathy.
Been a busy month for me and I was letting it get me wound up, so this was a nice surprise and relax for me.
Sorry about having to deal with judges. I would rather spend a day throwing hay or shingling (my to least favorite homestead jobs) than ever have to deal with anything to do with lawyers or the just us system.
I've learned to handle things just like ya eat a elephant, one mouthful at a time.
Eventually things sort themselves out.
Dosadi
Oh, obligatory thank you mam, May I please have some MOAR. :-)
Been a busy month for me and I was letting it get me wound up, so this was a nice surprise and relax for me.
Sorry about having to deal with judges. I would rather spend a day throwing hay or shingling (my to least favorite homestead jobs) than ever have to deal with anything to do with lawyers or the just us system.
I've learned to handle things just like ya eat a elephant, one mouthful at a time.
Eventually things sort themselves out.
Dosadi
Oh, obligatory thank you mam, May I please have some MOAR. :-)
Sportsman
Veteran Member
Thanks for the insight, I was hoping it was due to you expanding your business and it's good to hear that the percentage is still relatively small. I agree that the better times sometime bring out the worse in some people. Also, fewer and fewer people I know are saving during the good times for the bad times. That vacation or new toy is just too important to them.
Obligatory: f5 is the language of love. We'll take that next chapter whenever you have time to build it!
Thank you Kathy, it's always nice to find a new chapter. I just hope it never gets to the point where it drags on you like that niggling ugh one more thing I have to do.
Your stories are certainly fun for us and they wouldn't be if any of us thought it put an extra burden on you.
I've learned so much from your stories. The other day I was watching a food show on TV and the guy was up in the N. Carolina mountain sharing native foods and he remarked on the lemony flavor of the sumac. I started laughing, "I knew that, thank you Kathy in Fl."
Your stories are certainly fun for us and they wouldn't be if any of us thought it put an extra burden on you.
I've learned so much from your stories. The other day I was watching a food show on TV and the guy was up in the N. Carolina mountain sharing native foods and he remarked on the lemony flavor of the sumac. I started laughing, "I knew that, thank you Kathy in Fl."
Surprise! Took a break and was able to edit the next chapter. At the very least it should be in the English language rather than gobbledy-gook. LOL.
What a day this has been. Or as my great aunt would have said, "Oh my stars and garters." We finally got the Sheriff to execute one of the Writs of Possession (final piece of an open case of eviction). Oh my Lord. The house looks like it was inhabited by a pack of hoarders. The smell is indescribable even with a thesaurus handy. The clean out alone is going to take three days and a couple of 20 yard dumpsters plus our dump trailer coming and going with the furniture that was left behind. It I one of our higher end homes and is a six bedroom house and the amount of damage we can't even calculate yet because we can't see all of the surfaces. Worse, we'll never see reparations for the amount of work and damage simply because you can't get water from a rock. This is the part of the business that sometimes makes me want to cry … or scream. You work with people and work with people and work with people and then they turn around and do something so nasty to you and blame you for their troubles in this life. "I'm so poor and you're persecuting me." The amount of severely out of date food sitting around rotting in the various rooms in the house alone is a small fortune that's been wasted. The furniture they've bought and destroyed. Clothes and belongings simply walked away from. Mattresses that weren't taken care of. I gotta stop the description and put it to the side. It is getting to me just trying to explain it.
I'm going to go work on a couple of other stories tonight if I can pull my head together. Hartford Ridge, Zombies Aren't Real, and Gurl. Yulee is almost finished. I don't know which one I will work on but probably bits of all of them. I've also got a couple of new ones that no one has seen yet … Trash to Treasure is one of those that might see the light of day sooner rather than later. Well, I'm off to zone out in front of my files to de-stress from a nasty work day. Sorry for dumping on you guys but just wanted to explain why sometimes I seem to disappear. They say the world changes when you change your perspective. That's only partially true. Reality is what it is and people can really suck, but humans are the top of the pointy food chain so there are some responsibilities we can't foist onto others.
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Chapter 74
I decided to vacate the house while “the men” moved furniture and set up the tree. Maybe that was a cowardly thing to do but I just didn’t trust my nerves to be able to handle what was likely to occur. I did get up an hour early to move the most fragile of the knick-knacks in the area but then Clint caught me and said he’d been doing this part since he was a boy and to stop worrying so much. I casually asked him how many things had been broken over those same years and he just harrumph’d and changed the subject. Oh me oh my. But they’re his “things” and with great effort stopped after moving the last of the crystal glasses from around the bar.
I decided for my own mental health that while I would deal with the mess, it would be after it happened and not during. Clint even encouraged me to get out of the house the night before and to consider it a “day off” which made me even more suspicious than I already was. Coincidence or not Sylvia, Stacey, and Julie all called asking me to make up a fourth on a trip to town as all of them had shopping they needed to do. Julie was contributing her minivan but all three wanted to talk to me about what they could do for the kids this year since everyone was tightening their belts whether they absolutely had to or not. This definitely reflected that the family as a whole had been shocked by the near financial disaster they experienced.
Before bed Clint caught me crunching numbers in the budget to see what I had to work with. I had already spent more than I had originally intended by ordering more pectin and some bulk herbs and spices online. I had Grandy’s files out looking over all of the recipes for desserts and candies and trying to find a way to have a “spectacle” without breaking the bank.
“Watcha doing?” After I explained he gave me a kiss and then said, “Go ahead and get what you need. I just deposited the tree money. We are also picking up a little bit of money where a construction company is renting space to park their equipment.”
“Construction company?” I asked as it was the first I’d heard of it.
“Yeah. They won the bid for an extension of the state highway but turns out there isn’t enough flat space to leave their equipment at the work site. The engineer is a friend of a friend of a friend to Cody who put them in contact with me. It isn’t a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, but every little bit helps.”
“That’s to replace what you had to ‘donate to the cause’,” I told him, the euphemism referring to the mess with the investment group.
Rather than take affront he asked, “And if that hadn’t occurred would you be worrying over the grocery bill the way you are now?”
He wasn’t grumpy but I could see he honestly wanted to know. I gave a half-shrug and answered, “Maybe. Maybe not. I can’t say for sure, but I wouldn’t be spending your money like it was water either way.” I then went on to explain Julie’s and Sylvia’s calls and ask him if he’d heard any particulars.
“So that’s what this is about.” He said sitting down and propping his feet up on an ottoman we’d brought up for the sitting area/work space/quiet space that Clint had turned his grandfather’s old bedroom into. It let us work upstairs using the double-sided fireplace (one fireplace heating both rooms) while keeping the bedroom for sleeping and not working. The arrangement helped us to both be more relaxed rather than staring at stacks of unfinished work while we were trying to fall to sleep. “In years passed they tried to give each kid a gift from ‘The Estate’ and make them all as equal as possible … usually a keepsake kind of thing. But there are so many kids now that frankly the expense would be onerous. They still want to do something for the kids to keep to tradition, but every idea that has come up has pretty much still been too expensive for some families no matter how trimmed back it is.”
“Are any in the family hurting?”
“A couple, but it is of their own doing. Everyone got a little help but no one is getting bailed out anymore. Two of those families will likely leave the Estate after the beginning of the year but that is their choice. I’m done enabling people and the Aunts are finally coming on board. Why? You concerned?”
It took a moment for me to phrase my answer. “Uh … not really my business. And I don’t mean I don’t care when I say that but I’m not in the position to really have an opinion that matters. I was kinda just wondering because there are some in the family and Staff that I know well enough to really care even if it isn’t my business per se. I know Sylvia mentioned that depending on how things go Stacy might have to take a semester … or two … off college. She may even switch to something technical or get her CNA. She hasn’t decided yet, but my understanding is that it is due to finances and not an ability to make the grade.”
Clint sighed, like he was concerned but unable to do anything about it. “She’s not the only one. A couple of the Aunts’ grandkids are in the same boat. College ain’t what it used to be. I suppose I need to start talking to Carra about what she wants to do but it feels like an argument in the making. But that’s a battle for another day.”
Agreeing with him silently, my brain was still preoccupied with what I had been doing when he sat down and decided to talk. “How about a theme party?” I asked absent-mindedly as I started pulling out some recipe cards to look at more closely.
“Huh?” he said with a small grin. Lucky for me Clint was used to my habit of going more than one direction at a time … sometimes to the detriment of a conversation in progress.
“For the kids at the Christmas party. How about a themed party? If you stick with the homemade theme what about something like an old-fashioned Christmas or traditions or a Colonial or Victorian era kind of thing? I could make the decorations match and there could be games and themed foods. We could look up some appropriate drink recipes for the adult beverages. People could even come in costume if they wanted to, or if the adults don’t want to do that we could have a box of dress up clothes for those that do and set up a back drop for pictures and maybe Carra or someone else could take photos.”
“You’re hired,” he said, adding another kiss, this one on the back of my neck making me shiver. “Just talk it over tomorrow. You just about ready for bed?,” he asked with another kiss, this one closer to my ear.
Well if I wasn’t Clint certainly was, and I wasn’t averse to receiving the kind of attention he apparently wanted to pay me.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In the car the next morning on our way to Sylva, the other three women looked at me when I mentioned the “theme” idea.
Stacy jabbed her mom in the ribs with her elbow and smiled before saying, “Told ya.”
Sylvia rolled her eyes and grinned while she looked at Julie. Julie just chuckled and said, “Girl I am glad you are on our side. Seriously, that is a perfect idea. Clint’s grandmother and my grandmother both passed before I was born but Mom and the others have mentioned some of the parties they would throw for the family; they used to throw costume parties on occasion. Not everyone will be thrilled if that is all the party is, but I like the idea of at least the kids being able to dress up and get their picture taken. We could do it like one of those places with the old-fashioned saloon photos over in Gatlinburg. Or at least a photo booth like the kids had at the Estate school at their last dance.”
We all knew what she was referring to so just nodded.
Sylvia tempered the idea by saying, “I don’t know if some of the older ladies would be too thrilled with the ‘saloon’ theme but if they are looking for a spectacle ....”
Hesitantly I made a suggestion that had come to me during one of my nightly stress-induced dreams. “What … what about a 1930s inspired-theme? I can put away all of the crystal gee-gaws and bring out the depression-era and carnival type glass which will add a lot of color. We could have several of what my grandmothers used to call ‘make do’ recipes … like milk-less, egg-less, butter-less cake. All of the games and such could be really vintage … there are some of that type upstairs like an old Monopoly set and a really old set of Sorry from that era. There’s still clothes galore up in the attic. For the teens and adults we could have themed trivia games or a themed scavenger hunt. For the younger kids we could have a couple of really small tv sets playing, or even project onto a screen, the Wizard of Oz that came out in ’39 and the original Disney Snow White that came out in ’37 or even some really old silent black and white cartoons.”
Stacy laughed and said, “Do we want to know how you were able to pull that off the top of your head?”
“The dates of the movies?” I asked and she nodded. “I went to a performing arts high school. My history courses included bits and pieces from the entertainment industry. Plus, I played a lollipop munchkin in one of our school’s musical theater productions my freshman year when I was still in ballet.”
“You didn’t play the lead?” Stacy asked.
“Nope. That wasn’t my thing. Not to mention while I can carry a tune, I can’t carry it very far. It’s muuuch better for everyone concerned that I follow the music with my feet or my fingers.”
My grin and the twinkle in my eye caused the others to laugh in understanding.
When we arrived in Sylva I asked if they minded dropping me off at ye ol’ wallyworld while they did some Christmas shopping in other places. They agreed. It’s not that they had any prejudice against the big box store, they were simply locals that had their own preferred shopping establishments plus I had a ship-to-store order than I hoped was in.
While they drove off I heard them discussing what to give their significant others for the holiday. Clint and I had had a long discussion about what, if anything, we would give each other for Christmas. Rather than give each other a traditional present we decided to do something a little on the crazy side. Okay, not crazy exactly but certainly not what most people would consider “normal.” We’re buying a freeze dryer. Clint is picking up half and I was adamant about using my savings to pick up the other half. That particular “discussion” wasn’t going well until I accidentally dumped the spaghetti on his head.
Okay, let me back up. There was a clog in the pipes where the dishwasher drained. That pipe was under the sink I use to rinse vegetables and other things like that. My mother had always advised me to not try and carry on a conversation with a man in the middle of a plumbing job and I was following her advice … or would have if Clint would have only cooperated. He, apparently, is one of the few men on the planet that thinks it is a good idea to use power tools and converse at the same time. I won’t go into the entire farce, but it involved the fact that he couldn’t hear very well under where he was and I couldn’t stand the smell wafting from the drain so neither one of us were at our most focused or best. Needless to say I was getting frustrated at his refusal to see my side – that it wasn’t a Christmas present to each other if only he was paying for it – and we were both getting snappish. Well to make a long and idiotic story short, he sat up about the same time I turned too fast. The pasta took fright and jumped out of the colander and Clint’s head was in the middle of its flight plan. I was embarrassed. He was stunned. And in the door at that moment walks Aunt Daffy and Aunt Florence … the youngest and oldest of the Aunts and on opposite ends of the personality spectrum. However, it was fifteen minutes before either one of them could stop laughing long enough to tell Clint what they’d come over about.
I could have died … literally just sunk through the floor and planted daisies over the spot. Clint, after pulling off a long string of pasta and tasting it says, “Mmmm. Al dente.” It was that night that I had the bad nightmare and I suppose he thought he had reason to think I was upset with him. I wasn’t and am still not. I’m more upset with me that I came so close to losing control over something so relatively silly. It is still a struggle not to let my mouth slip its leash, but some days are harder than others.
Shopping in wallyworld was one of those “harder” days and I was glad to at least not be under the eye of anyone in the family while I waded through the Christmas shopping crowds and waited in line to see if my order was there as the automated noticed claimed it was. It took almost forty-five minutes but I was rewarded with my package. I put it on the very bottom of the shopping cart while I used the basket to get the remainder of my shopping accomplished. I was able to take my time because Sylvia had texted me to say they would be longer than anticipated due to some kind of snafu on their end. Julie texted me a few minutes later and said the 1930s party idea was a hit with the Hen Club and to go with it and they’d start coming up with easy-to-implement additions on their end.
I was glad that the theme idea had been welcome. I pulled out my list of recipes … Tomato Soup Cake , Sugar Milk Pie , Crazy Cake with is a no-milk no-egg and no butter recipe, Poor Man’s Cookies which is another eggless and milk-less recipe, Navy Bean Pie which sounds disgusting but it isn’t, Pinto Bean Fudge that can also be made with black beans , and then Grandy’s favorite 1930’s Cheese Cake recipe that I’d use some of my foraged fruit fillings as toppers and glazes that people could choose from. Two from the other side of my family are Crispy Fried Saltines and Potato Candy . A couple of other recipes that I’d found was Depression Era Chocolate Cake that has coffee and cider vinegar as two of the ingredients, Depression Era Raisin Cake , Depression Era Oatmeal Cookies that use bacon drippings rather than oil, Angel Food Pie (that’s pie, not cake), Chocolate Mayo Cake , and Depression Era Fudge .
Some recipes that I’d thought about that weren’t necessarily from the Depression Era were Divinity , French Danties , homemade caramels , homemade butterscotch , pulled taffy , date rolls , popcorn balls, meringues, flavored fondants , rock candy that you can add flavors and colors to, homemade peppermints , old fashioned seafoam , buckeyes , and Turkish Delight . Then there is one my personal favorites … brittles you make in the microwave that I use all sorts of nut varieties in including mixed nuts.
I was quickly filling the basket with everything that I needed and occasionally caught someone doing a double-take because of the odd combinations I was making. I wished at that moment that Carra were there because while she is ten years my junior she already seems to know how to either purposely ignore people with class or give them her version of the Aunts’ stare down, both being talents I wish I had. I got corralled by another woman who literally picked my brain when she saw what I was doing. Of course, I got a few ideas from her as well as she told me that a lot of the ribbons and other crafty items were on sale since Black Friday hadn’t been the money-maker everyone had expected. I had done what shopping I needed to on Cyber Monday, and in fact that is what I had been picking up when I first got into the store.
The other idea she’d given me was No-Bake Truffles. You basically take sandwich cookies such as Oreos, mangle them to pieces in a food processor, add enough cream cheese that you can roll the mess into balls and then once those balls have set up you dunk them in melted candy bark that you can color and flavor to match the balls. No-Bake anything is always high on my list of want-to-tries, so when the woman saw my interest she also gave me a recipe for No Bake Cookie Dough Truffles , No Bake Cake Batter Truffles , and told me to go to Pinterest for some more really creative options. I was all over that so had to add different flavors of sandwich cookies (the inexpensive kind) and all of the other ingredients mentioned. I nearly bought a case of vanilla and chocolate bark and a case of various cookie chips (chocolate, mint, vanilla, butterscotch and the other specialty flavors).
After going to the Christmas decoration area and succumbing to too many sales items, including a “First Christmas Together” bauble, I got in line and then started singing 100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall to keep myself from blowing my stack and saying something unfortunate about the ineptitude of some of the girls on the cash registers. Now I’m not just making snarky comments because I had money that wanted to jump out of my wallet post haste. No, my opinion stems from the fact that I’ve been there. I spent a few years running a register at a grocery store. I understand that people ignore “cash-only” and “less than 20 items” signs and foul up the logistics of efficiency. I understand that people put their items on the belt all willy-nilly and then complain when it takes longer to run their items over the scanner. I understand that sometimes you have to call for a price check, or change register tape, or wait for change. But honest to Pete you need to do the job to the best of your ability despite the general snafus that come with the job, including the ridiculousness of certain customers.
Deep breath. Calm Shanna … find your happy place. Oh, forget it. I went tearing out of a line that hadn’t moved in ten minutes and got in line for the self-service registers and grabbed an empty cart as I waited my turn. I had already arranged the items in my grocery cart to try and help the process move faster and had done a little tweaking to make it easier on myself while I waited. I also did my best to ignore the grumbling complaints of other customers that were snarling that I had too many items for self-service. Once it was my turn I quickly turned the empty buggy opposite of the filled one, moved the bags into a more convenient position, and started running things as fast as possible over the scanner.
I was half-way through the cart and still flying when I heard someone say, “Take it you’ve done this before.”
I turned and saw a store manager. I quickly figured out that he was likely called either by a complaint or to make sure that I wasn’t going to cause a problem or wasn’t scamming.
Since manners don’t cost a dime I gave him a vague smile, continued scanning my items, and said, “Yes Sir. Florida. Big grocery store chain. I wanted to keep my job and we had a minimum speed we were expected to operate.”
I just kept going and he said, “You really are fast.”
“Five years of loss leaders, coupons, price-matching, and first of the month check cashing will do it every time.”
“It sure will,” the girl that had been guarding the gates of self-service said with utter conviction.
The machine seemed to shudder in ecstasy when I didn’t have any age-check items, paid in cash, and took both my receipt and change in a timely manner without having to be reminded twice. The only hiccup came when I tried to change my ship-to-store box from the now empty cart to the newly filled cart. The manager gave me a hand and checked my receipt surreptitiously and then shrugged and grin when he realized I knew what he was doing. I shrugged it off and told him, “Everyone has a job to do.”
He seemed relieved that I wasn’t going to make a fuss and then waved off the security guy that was about to come check my receipts again.
As I was leaving he said, “Didn’t I see you with Clint Haines at the July 4th Parade?”
Carefully I turned and nodded.
“You were the one of the people that got hit … tried to take care of the girls.”
Not recognizing the man I responded, “I’m sorry. I was pretty out of it but yes, that was me.”
“Well … one of those girls was my baby sister. She always wondered who you were and then … I kinda put two and two together but … thanks. My Mom was a wreck. We lost my father to a drunk right after Greta was born and she just finished physical therapy and while she’ll have some scars even those are going to fade if she takes care of them. Anyway … thanks.”
I felt like my face was on fire but I nodded and said, “I … I know what it’s like to lose someone … in a car wreck. My parents … anyway … tell your sister it’s … a learning experience. She can either let it make her stronger … or she can take a different path. Tell her … tell her to pick the path to stronger. Tell her that bit of advice is from … from someone who didn’t and who has had to take the long way around to get back to the right path. It’s just better if she tries the right one first.”
He was surprised for a moment then a study in seriousness. “I’m going to do that.” After a moment he said, “Maybe we’ll see you in town again.”
“Probably.”
“And tell Clint that Tal Alton said hello. He’ll remember me.”
I nodded and then turned and hurried out to avoid becoming a buggy-traffic fatality in the middle of wallyworld.
I had just pulled out my phone to text Sylvia when a “beep-beep” made me glance over and I saw the others pulling through the fire lane. I hurried over and Stacy jumped out to help me load and then ran the buggy back to the boy who was collecting them so that I could get in. As soon as I sat down Sylvia handed me a cup that turned out to be cocoa.
“Mmmm. Thanks,” I said gratefully.
“Get all of your shopping finished?”
“And more besides,” I answered before telling them about the No Bake Truffle idea.
Stacy laughed as she was putting her seat belt on and said, “That explains all of the packages of cookies. I thought you were going to give up on baking.”
“No,” I said with a laugh right back. “But I don’t mind doing the other stuff while I’m waiting for timers to go off. How did everyone else do?”
“Fair to middlin’,” Julia admitted on a sigh. “Could have done better but it is what it is. The stores really aren’t stocking like they used to. I thought I would be able to go without doing any online shopping this year … but dang it looks like my card is going to get a work out whether I wanted it to or not. My hubs and Kaylor are out of the way at least. Sylvia managed to find George and Georgie’s presents at the same place … Sassy Frass. And I’m gonna just tell you, Mom found out what you and Clint are doing and she can’t stop laughing.”
I sighed. “I seem to make your mother and the other Aunts laugh an inordinate amount.”
Julie herself laughed and said, “Be glad. You don’t want the Hen Club cranky. But seriously, a freeze drier? Not what I would call romantic.”
Well Sylvia hadn’t heard and once it was explained to her she thought about it and said, “May not be romantic in the traditional sense but it is a very Clint thing to do.”
That’s when Julie buts in and blabs the story of me accidentally tossing the spaghetti on Clint’s head. Well the three of them are laughing so much we miss our turn and have to backtrack only by having to come back around we found out that Jackson’s General Store had been run out of the building they’d operated in for twenty years by the new property owners.
“That’s awful. They’ve been there my whole life,” Stacy opined.
Julie said, “That’s the way of the world. But I suspect the new owners are going to find out quick that the tourists might not know but a wide area of locals do, and we are the ones that keep things running in the off season. I know Aunt Florence has said that she isn’t going looking to do business with them.”
Sylvia added, “And with property prices being what they are around here it is going to take some time for the Jackson’s to find a new permanent location. I used to get all of Georgie’s pants there … he’s so picky about them … and now I’m not sure what to do.”
I said, “Get Stacy to look the brand and style online and see if there is an online distributor. Or see if the store is still operating online … maybe on eBay or etsy or someplace like that.”
Stacy looked at her mom and said, “Can’t hurt and it’s better than listening to Georgie bellyache about it.”
Getting a look from Sylvia Stacy just shrugged and sat back and wrote herself a note to do a search. I also saw her scribble something about “Bud” and “box of truffles for his folks” before quickly tucking it into her pocket. Julie broke the silence by asking again if Clint and I were serious about the freeze drier.
“Yes. We want to experiment and if it turns out that the freeze drier is unrealistic there is a great after-market for used and refurbished ones. We almost bought one of those, but Clint preferred the warranty on a new one.”
They all nodded like they understood but I suspect they were simply humoring me. There were a few more stops … the Dollar Tree one of the longer ones for stocking stuffers. Another place we stopped is called Pursenality because one of the Aunts is allergic to most cosmetics but can use the goats milk hand creams that the store sells. We stopped at Bryson City Outdoor because Uncle Vern had ordered a collection of their ciders and a few other craft beers.
Julie said, “I’m told that he’s looking to really expand our specialty beverage division. Not everyone is a wine drinker. He hopes that craft beers will catch a segment that we aren’t reaching.”
“Has he thought about craft sodas for those of us who don’t or can’t drink much at all?”
Stacy immediately wanted to know what I was talking about, so I explained that I intended to make some sodas for Carra, so she didn’t feel so left out when Clint and I had a carafe of wine at the dinner table. “She doesn’t say anything, but I still feel bad.”
“Don’t,” July said on a snort. “Feel bad I mean. If she says anything just explain all of us Haines kids have had to go through it. It’s like a right of passage or something.”
They glossed over it like it was no big deal but I’m still going to make some sodas, if for no other reason than I can and because I’m not a big alcohol drinker despite the Still Room making me look like I’m trying to run a Speak Easy.
The drive back to the Estate was a quiet one but more because we were relaxed than anything else. They dropped me off first because I had the most to get out of the back end. Clint was waiting and when I saw his face I nearly flipped.
“What … on … Earth?!”
“The tree fell and I tried to catch it.”
“It looked like it caught you … with a right hook!” Then what he said sunk in and I looked at the house and my face made him grimace.
“Not inside. When we were loading the tree out in the field. The rest of the process went the way it was supposed to. Tree is all set up and it is falling out … but not falling down.”
“Uh … huh,” I said turning back to him, trying to show my relief. Feeling a little chagrined I started to make a fuss over him and he let me which told me the black eye and scratches were smarting.
We got everything in with Stacy’s help while Julie and Sylvia went to go see the tree only to come back and declare it perfect before leaving. I insisted Clint sit down so I could put something on his face.
“Don’t you want to see the tree?”
“I will but not until after I’ve seen to you.”
“Doc already ran me over. He always comes along just in case ‘cause usually either a person or animal needs his attention.”
“Uh … huh,” I said again trying not to imagine why that would be.
“C’mon. Just tell me what you think.”
I followed him and then came to a shocked stop when I got into the Great Room. “That has to be the biggest Christmas tree outside of Washington DC that I’ve ever seen.”
Grinning like a school boy Clint says, “That’s an exaggeration but it is pretty big this year. It’s fuller than in year’s passed too. It might actually hold all of the ornaments for once.”
That made me laugh as good memories swamped me for a moment of my mother each year giddily picking which ornaments made it to the tree and which ones would wind up decorating other surfaces.
“Let me get dinner started and I’ll …”
“It’ll be tomorrow before we can decorate it. That okay? We can save the sloppy joes and tots for then. I pulled one of those Impossible Pies out of the freezer to thaw to save you some time so you could start going through the decorations.”
“Thank you,” I said with pleasure that he’d remembered about my tradition plus had been thoughtful enough to help with dinner … all despite the killer Christmas tree trying to take a chunk out of him. He added when he caught me looking at my watch and then out the window, “Carra is already home and upstairs with a dose of Tussin in her. You weren’t wrong about what the result of not wearing the extra socks was going to be. I’m told half the Estate School has the sniffles and they are thinking of closing for Winter Break a week early so the kids can get through this before Christmas.”
“What? School administrators with empathy and commonsense? What next?”
Clint laughed and said, “Yeah and the earth rotates around the sun and not the other way around. Let’s get your packages put away and then I need to do some end of the year prep for Reaves.”
“How is Reaves?” I asked, trying not to have a bad attitude about the man. He’d only been doing his job, but I still hadn’t been able to get comfortable with seeing him face to face now knowing that he knew all of those intimate details of my life.
Clint gave an odd bark of laughter and I looked at him. “What?”
“Aunt Cordie hooked him up.”
“I … beg your pardon?”
Clint chuckled. “Aunt Cordie set him up on a blind date and he’s surprised that he’s enjoying himself.”
“Er …”
“She’s a widow with a son in college. Kid is going to law school and apparently they’ve already conference called.”
“Moving a little fast aren’t they?”
The level of sarcasm in my voice was such that Clint’s chuckle turned into actual laughter. “For Reave that’s greased lightning fast. I can’t even tell you the last time he dated … and when I asked he couldn’t either. So yeah … should be interesting to see where this goes, if anyplace.”
We finished putting my purchases away in the pantry and the Housekeeper’s Office until I could better organize things then Clint went off to his office while I slowly trod up the stairs with the attic keys in one had and a meat cleaver in the other. Bernie had laid a lot of traps and baits and said to his professional way of thinking there could be no more mice that the couple that were found down in the basement during cleaning. But I was taking no chances.
What a day this has been. Or as my great aunt would have said, "Oh my stars and garters." We finally got the Sheriff to execute one of the Writs of Possession (final piece of an open case of eviction). Oh my Lord. The house looks like it was inhabited by a pack of hoarders. The smell is indescribable even with a thesaurus handy. The clean out alone is going to take three days and a couple of 20 yard dumpsters plus our dump trailer coming and going with the furniture that was left behind. It I one of our higher end homes and is a six bedroom house and the amount of damage we can't even calculate yet because we can't see all of the surfaces. Worse, we'll never see reparations for the amount of work and damage simply because you can't get water from a rock. This is the part of the business that sometimes makes me want to cry … or scream. You work with people and work with people and work with people and then they turn around and do something so nasty to you and blame you for their troubles in this life. "I'm so poor and you're persecuting me." The amount of severely out of date food sitting around rotting in the various rooms in the house alone is a small fortune that's been wasted. The furniture they've bought and destroyed. Clothes and belongings simply walked away from. Mattresses that weren't taken care of. I gotta stop the description and put it to the side. It is getting to me just trying to explain it.
I'm going to go work on a couple of other stories tonight if I can pull my head together. Hartford Ridge, Zombies Aren't Real, and Gurl. Yulee is almost finished. I don't know which one I will work on but probably bits of all of them. I've also got a couple of new ones that no one has seen yet … Trash to Treasure is one of those that might see the light of day sooner rather than later. Well, I'm off to zone out in front of my files to de-stress from a nasty work day. Sorry for dumping on you guys but just wanted to explain why sometimes I seem to disappear. They say the world changes when you change your perspective. That's only partially true. Reality is what it is and people can really suck, but humans are the top of the pointy food chain so there are some responsibilities we can't foist onto others.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 74
I decided to vacate the house while “the men” moved furniture and set up the tree. Maybe that was a cowardly thing to do but I just didn’t trust my nerves to be able to handle what was likely to occur. I did get up an hour early to move the most fragile of the knick-knacks in the area but then Clint caught me and said he’d been doing this part since he was a boy and to stop worrying so much. I casually asked him how many things had been broken over those same years and he just harrumph’d and changed the subject. Oh me oh my. But they’re his “things” and with great effort stopped after moving the last of the crystal glasses from around the bar.
I decided for my own mental health that while I would deal with the mess, it would be after it happened and not during. Clint even encouraged me to get out of the house the night before and to consider it a “day off” which made me even more suspicious than I already was. Coincidence or not Sylvia, Stacey, and Julie all called asking me to make up a fourth on a trip to town as all of them had shopping they needed to do. Julie was contributing her minivan but all three wanted to talk to me about what they could do for the kids this year since everyone was tightening their belts whether they absolutely had to or not. This definitely reflected that the family as a whole had been shocked by the near financial disaster they experienced.
Before bed Clint caught me crunching numbers in the budget to see what I had to work with. I had already spent more than I had originally intended by ordering more pectin and some bulk herbs and spices online. I had Grandy’s files out looking over all of the recipes for desserts and candies and trying to find a way to have a “spectacle” without breaking the bank.
“Watcha doing?” After I explained he gave me a kiss and then said, “Go ahead and get what you need. I just deposited the tree money. We are also picking up a little bit of money where a construction company is renting space to park their equipment.”
“Construction company?” I asked as it was the first I’d heard of it.
“Yeah. They won the bid for an extension of the state highway but turns out there isn’t enough flat space to leave their equipment at the work site. The engineer is a friend of a friend of a friend to Cody who put them in contact with me. It isn’t a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, but every little bit helps.”
“That’s to replace what you had to ‘donate to the cause’,” I told him, the euphemism referring to the mess with the investment group.
Rather than take affront he asked, “And if that hadn’t occurred would you be worrying over the grocery bill the way you are now?”
He wasn’t grumpy but I could see he honestly wanted to know. I gave a half-shrug and answered, “Maybe. Maybe not. I can’t say for sure, but I wouldn’t be spending your money like it was water either way.” I then went on to explain Julie’s and Sylvia’s calls and ask him if he’d heard any particulars.
“So that’s what this is about.” He said sitting down and propping his feet up on an ottoman we’d brought up for the sitting area/work space/quiet space that Clint had turned his grandfather’s old bedroom into. It let us work upstairs using the double-sided fireplace (one fireplace heating both rooms) while keeping the bedroom for sleeping and not working. The arrangement helped us to both be more relaxed rather than staring at stacks of unfinished work while we were trying to fall to sleep. “In years passed they tried to give each kid a gift from ‘The Estate’ and make them all as equal as possible … usually a keepsake kind of thing. But there are so many kids now that frankly the expense would be onerous. They still want to do something for the kids to keep to tradition, but every idea that has come up has pretty much still been too expensive for some families no matter how trimmed back it is.”
“Are any in the family hurting?”
“A couple, but it is of their own doing. Everyone got a little help but no one is getting bailed out anymore. Two of those families will likely leave the Estate after the beginning of the year but that is their choice. I’m done enabling people and the Aunts are finally coming on board. Why? You concerned?”
It took a moment for me to phrase my answer. “Uh … not really my business. And I don’t mean I don’t care when I say that but I’m not in the position to really have an opinion that matters. I was kinda just wondering because there are some in the family and Staff that I know well enough to really care even if it isn’t my business per se. I know Sylvia mentioned that depending on how things go Stacy might have to take a semester … or two … off college. She may even switch to something technical or get her CNA. She hasn’t decided yet, but my understanding is that it is due to finances and not an ability to make the grade.”
Clint sighed, like he was concerned but unable to do anything about it. “She’s not the only one. A couple of the Aunts’ grandkids are in the same boat. College ain’t what it used to be. I suppose I need to start talking to Carra about what she wants to do but it feels like an argument in the making. But that’s a battle for another day.”
Agreeing with him silently, my brain was still preoccupied with what I had been doing when he sat down and decided to talk. “How about a theme party?” I asked absent-mindedly as I started pulling out some recipe cards to look at more closely.
“Huh?” he said with a small grin. Lucky for me Clint was used to my habit of going more than one direction at a time … sometimes to the detriment of a conversation in progress.
“For the kids at the Christmas party. How about a themed party? If you stick with the homemade theme what about something like an old-fashioned Christmas or traditions or a Colonial or Victorian era kind of thing? I could make the decorations match and there could be games and themed foods. We could look up some appropriate drink recipes for the adult beverages. People could even come in costume if they wanted to, or if the adults don’t want to do that we could have a box of dress up clothes for those that do and set up a back drop for pictures and maybe Carra or someone else could take photos.”
“You’re hired,” he said, adding another kiss, this one on the back of my neck making me shiver. “Just talk it over tomorrow. You just about ready for bed?,” he asked with another kiss, this one closer to my ear.
Well if I wasn’t Clint certainly was, and I wasn’t averse to receiving the kind of attention he apparently wanted to pay me.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In the car the next morning on our way to Sylva, the other three women looked at me when I mentioned the “theme” idea.
Stacy jabbed her mom in the ribs with her elbow and smiled before saying, “Told ya.”
Sylvia rolled her eyes and grinned while she looked at Julie. Julie just chuckled and said, “Girl I am glad you are on our side. Seriously, that is a perfect idea. Clint’s grandmother and my grandmother both passed before I was born but Mom and the others have mentioned some of the parties they would throw for the family; they used to throw costume parties on occasion. Not everyone will be thrilled if that is all the party is, but I like the idea of at least the kids being able to dress up and get their picture taken. We could do it like one of those places with the old-fashioned saloon photos over in Gatlinburg. Or at least a photo booth like the kids had at the Estate school at their last dance.”
We all knew what she was referring to so just nodded.
Sylvia tempered the idea by saying, “I don’t know if some of the older ladies would be too thrilled with the ‘saloon’ theme but if they are looking for a spectacle ....”
Hesitantly I made a suggestion that had come to me during one of my nightly stress-induced dreams. “What … what about a 1930s inspired-theme? I can put away all of the crystal gee-gaws and bring out the depression-era and carnival type glass which will add a lot of color. We could have several of what my grandmothers used to call ‘make do’ recipes … like milk-less, egg-less, butter-less cake. All of the games and such could be really vintage … there are some of that type upstairs like an old Monopoly set and a really old set of Sorry from that era. There’s still clothes galore up in the attic. For the teens and adults we could have themed trivia games or a themed scavenger hunt. For the younger kids we could have a couple of really small tv sets playing, or even project onto a screen, the Wizard of Oz that came out in ’39 and the original Disney Snow White that came out in ’37 or even some really old silent black and white cartoons.”
Stacy laughed and said, “Do we want to know how you were able to pull that off the top of your head?”
“The dates of the movies?” I asked and she nodded. “I went to a performing arts high school. My history courses included bits and pieces from the entertainment industry. Plus, I played a lollipop munchkin in one of our school’s musical theater productions my freshman year when I was still in ballet.”
“You didn’t play the lead?” Stacy asked.
“Nope. That wasn’t my thing. Not to mention while I can carry a tune, I can’t carry it very far. It’s muuuch better for everyone concerned that I follow the music with my feet or my fingers.”
My grin and the twinkle in my eye caused the others to laugh in understanding.
When we arrived in Sylva I asked if they minded dropping me off at ye ol’ wallyworld while they did some Christmas shopping in other places. They agreed. It’s not that they had any prejudice against the big box store, they were simply locals that had their own preferred shopping establishments plus I had a ship-to-store order than I hoped was in.
While they drove off I heard them discussing what to give their significant others for the holiday. Clint and I had had a long discussion about what, if anything, we would give each other for Christmas. Rather than give each other a traditional present we decided to do something a little on the crazy side. Okay, not crazy exactly but certainly not what most people would consider “normal.” We’re buying a freeze dryer. Clint is picking up half and I was adamant about using my savings to pick up the other half. That particular “discussion” wasn’t going well until I accidentally dumped the spaghetti on his head.
Okay, let me back up. There was a clog in the pipes where the dishwasher drained. That pipe was under the sink I use to rinse vegetables and other things like that. My mother had always advised me to not try and carry on a conversation with a man in the middle of a plumbing job and I was following her advice … or would have if Clint would have only cooperated. He, apparently, is one of the few men on the planet that thinks it is a good idea to use power tools and converse at the same time. I won’t go into the entire farce, but it involved the fact that he couldn’t hear very well under where he was and I couldn’t stand the smell wafting from the drain so neither one of us were at our most focused or best. Needless to say I was getting frustrated at his refusal to see my side – that it wasn’t a Christmas present to each other if only he was paying for it – and we were both getting snappish. Well to make a long and idiotic story short, he sat up about the same time I turned too fast. The pasta took fright and jumped out of the colander and Clint’s head was in the middle of its flight plan. I was embarrassed. He was stunned. And in the door at that moment walks Aunt Daffy and Aunt Florence … the youngest and oldest of the Aunts and on opposite ends of the personality spectrum. However, it was fifteen minutes before either one of them could stop laughing long enough to tell Clint what they’d come over about.
I could have died … literally just sunk through the floor and planted daisies over the spot. Clint, after pulling off a long string of pasta and tasting it says, “Mmmm. Al dente.” It was that night that I had the bad nightmare and I suppose he thought he had reason to think I was upset with him. I wasn’t and am still not. I’m more upset with me that I came so close to losing control over something so relatively silly. It is still a struggle not to let my mouth slip its leash, but some days are harder than others.
Shopping in wallyworld was one of those “harder” days and I was glad to at least not be under the eye of anyone in the family while I waded through the Christmas shopping crowds and waited in line to see if my order was there as the automated noticed claimed it was. It took almost forty-five minutes but I was rewarded with my package. I put it on the very bottom of the shopping cart while I used the basket to get the remainder of my shopping accomplished. I was able to take my time because Sylvia had texted me to say they would be longer than anticipated due to some kind of snafu on their end. Julie texted me a few minutes later and said the 1930s party idea was a hit with the Hen Club and to go with it and they’d start coming up with easy-to-implement additions on their end.
I was glad that the theme idea had been welcome. I pulled out my list of recipes … Tomato Soup Cake , Sugar Milk Pie , Crazy Cake with is a no-milk no-egg and no butter recipe, Poor Man’s Cookies which is another eggless and milk-less recipe, Navy Bean Pie which sounds disgusting but it isn’t, Pinto Bean Fudge that can also be made with black beans , and then Grandy’s favorite 1930’s Cheese Cake recipe that I’d use some of my foraged fruit fillings as toppers and glazes that people could choose from. Two from the other side of my family are Crispy Fried Saltines and Potato Candy . A couple of other recipes that I’d found was Depression Era Chocolate Cake that has coffee and cider vinegar as two of the ingredients, Depression Era Raisin Cake , Depression Era Oatmeal Cookies that use bacon drippings rather than oil, Angel Food Pie (that’s pie, not cake), Chocolate Mayo Cake , and Depression Era Fudge .
Some recipes that I’d thought about that weren’t necessarily from the Depression Era were Divinity , French Danties , homemade caramels , homemade butterscotch , pulled taffy , date rolls , popcorn balls, meringues, flavored fondants , rock candy that you can add flavors and colors to, homemade peppermints , old fashioned seafoam , buckeyes , and Turkish Delight . Then there is one my personal favorites … brittles you make in the microwave that I use all sorts of nut varieties in including mixed nuts.
I was quickly filling the basket with everything that I needed and occasionally caught someone doing a double-take because of the odd combinations I was making. I wished at that moment that Carra were there because while she is ten years my junior she already seems to know how to either purposely ignore people with class or give them her version of the Aunts’ stare down, both being talents I wish I had. I got corralled by another woman who literally picked my brain when she saw what I was doing. Of course, I got a few ideas from her as well as she told me that a lot of the ribbons and other crafty items were on sale since Black Friday hadn’t been the money-maker everyone had expected. I had done what shopping I needed to on Cyber Monday, and in fact that is what I had been picking up when I first got into the store.
The other idea she’d given me was No-Bake Truffles. You basically take sandwich cookies such as Oreos, mangle them to pieces in a food processor, add enough cream cheese that you can roll the mess into balls and then once those balls have set up you dunk them in melted candy bark that you can color and flavor to match the balls. No-Bake anything is always high on my list of want-to-tries, so when the woman saw my interest she also gave me a recipe for No Bake Cookie Dough Truffles , No Bake Cake Batter Truffles , and told me to go to Pinterest for some more really creative options. I was all over that so had to add different flavors of sandwich cookies (the inexpensive kind) and all of the other ingredients mentioned. I nearly bought a case of vanilla and chocolate bark and a case of various cookie chips (chocolate, mint, vanilla, butterscotch and the other specialty flavors).
After going to the Christmas decoration area and succumbing to too many sales items, including a “First Christmas Together” bauble, I got in line and then started singing 100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall to keep myself from blowing my stack and saying something unfortunate about the ineptitude of some of the girls on the cash registers. Now I’m not just making snarky comments because I had money that wanted to jump out of my wallet post haste. No, my opinion stems from the fact that I’ve been there. I spent a few years running a register at a grocery store. I understand that people ignore “cash-only” and “less than 20 items” signs and foul up the logistics of efficiency. I understand that people put their items on the belt all willy-nilly and then complain when it takes longer to run their items over the scanner. I understand that sometimes you have to call for a price check, or change register tape, or wait for change. But honest to Pete you need to do the job to the best of your ability despite the general snafus that come with the job, including the ridiculousness of certain customers.
Deep breath. Calm Shanna … find your happy place. Oh, forget it. I went tearing out of a line that hadn’t moved in ten minutes and got in line for the self-service registers and grabbed an empty cart as I waited my turn. I had already arranged the items in my grocery cart to try and help the process move faster and had done a little tweaking to make it easier on myself while I waited. I also did my best to ignore the grumbling complaints of other customers that were snarling that I had too many items for self-service. Once it was my turn I quickly turned the empty buggy opposite of the filled one, moved the bags into a more convenient position, and started running things as fast as possible over the scanner.
I was half-way through the cart and still flying when I heard someone say, “Take it you’ve done this before.”
I turned and saw a store manager. I quickly figured out that he was likely called either by a complaint or to make sure that I wasn’t going to cause a problem or wasn’t scamming.
Since manners don’t cost a dime I gave him a vague smile, continued scanning my items, and said, “Yes Sir. Florida. Big grocery store chain. I wanted to keep my job and we had a minimum speed we were expected to operate.”
I just kept going and he said, “You really are fast.”
“Five years of loss leaders, coupons, price-matching, and first of the month check cashing will do it every time.”
“It sure will,” the girl that had been guarding the gates of self-service said with utter conviction.
The machine seemed to shudder in ecstasy when I didn’t have any age-check items, paid in cash, and took both my receipt and change in a timely manner without having to be reminded twice. The only hiccup came when I tried to change my ship-to-store box from the now empty cart to the newly filled cart. The manager gave me a hand and checked my receipt surreptitiously and then shrugged and grin when he realized I knew what he was doing. I shrugged it off and told him, “Everyone has a job to do.”
He seemed relieved that I wasn’t going to make a fuss and then waved off the security guy that was about to come check my receipts again.
As I was leaving he said, “Didn’t I see you with Clint Haines at the July 4th Parade?”
Carefully I turned and nodded.
“You were the one of the people that got hit … tried to take care of the girls.”
Not recognizing the man I responded, “I’m sorry. I was pretty out of it but yes, that was me.”
“Well … one of those girls was my baby sister. She always wondered who you were and then … I kinda put two and two together but … thanks. My Mom was a wreck. We lost my father to a drunk right after Greta was born and she just finished physical therapy and while she’ll have some scars even those are going to fade if she takes care of them. Anyway … thanks.”
I felt like my face was on fire but I nodded and said, “I … I know what it’s like to lose someone … in a car wreck. My parents … anyway … tell your sister it’s … a learning experience. She can either let it make her stronger … or she can take a different path. Tell her … tell her to pick the path to stronger. Tell her that bit of advice is from … from someone who didn’t and who has had to take the long way around to get back to the right path. It’s just better if she tries the right one first.”
He was surprised for a moment then a study in seriousness. “I’m going to do that.” After a moment he said, “Maybe we’ll see you in town again.”
“Probably.”
“And tell Clint that Tal Alton said hello. He’ll remember me.”
I nodded and then turned and hurried out to avoid becoming a buggy-traffic fatality in the middle of wallyworld.
I had just pulled out my phone to text Sylvia when a “beep-beep” made me glance over and I saw the others pulling through the fire lane. I hurried over and Stacy jumped out to help me load and then ran the buggy back to the boy who was collecting them so that I could get in. As soon as I sat down Sylvia handed me a cup that turned out to be cocoa.
“Mmmm. Thanks,” I said gratefully.
“Get all of your shopping finished?”
“And more besides,” I answered before telling them about the No Bake Truffle idea.
Stacy laughed as she was putting her seat belt on and said, “That explains all of the packages of cookies. I thought you were going to give up on baking.”
“No,” I said with a laugh right back. “But I don’t mind doing the other stuff while I’m waiting for timers to go off. How did everyone else do?”
“Fair to middlin’,” Julia admitted on a sigh. “Could have done better but it is what it is. The stores really aren’t stocking like they used to. I thought I would be able to go without doing any online shopping this year … but dang it looks like my card is going to get a work out whether I wanted it to or not. My hubs and Kaylor are out of the way at least. Sylvia managed to find George and Georgie’s presents at the same place … Sassy Frass. And I’m gonna just tell you, Mom found out what you and Clint are doing and she can’t stop laughing.”
I sighed. “I seem to make your mother and the other Aunts laugh an inordinate amount.”
Julie herself laughed and said, “Be glad. You don’t want the Hen Club cranky. But seriously, a freeze drier? Not what I would call romantic.”
Well Sylvia hadn’t heard and once it was explained to her she thought about it and said, “May not be romantic in the traditional sense but it is a very Clint thing to do.”
That’s when Julie buts in and blabs the story of me accidentally tossing the spaghetti on Clint’s head. Well the three of them are laughing so much we miss our turn and have to backtrack only by having to come back around we found out that Jackson’s General Store had been run out of the building they’d operated in for twenty years by the new property owners.
“That’s awful. They’ve been there my whole life,” Stacy opined.
Julie said, “That’s the way of the world. But I suspect the new owners are going to find out quick that the tourists might not know but a wide area of locals do, and we are the ones that keep things running in the off season. I know Aunt Florence has said that she isn’t going looking to do business with them.”
Sylvia added, “And with property prices being what they are around here it is going to take some time for the Jackson’s to find a new permanent location. I used to get all of Georgie’s pants there … he’s so picky about them … and now I’m not sure what to do.”
I said, “Get Stacy to look the brand and style online and see if there is an online distributor. Or see if the store is still operating online … maybe on eBay or etsy or someplace like that.”
Stacy looked at her mom and said, “Can’t hurt and it’s better than listening to Georgie bellyache about it.”
Getting a look from Sylvia Stacy just shrugged and sat back and wrote herself a note to do a search. I also saw her scribble something about “Bud” and “box of truffles for his folks” before quickly tucking it into her pocket. Julie broke the silence by asking again if Clint and I were serious about the freeze drier.
“Yes. We want to experiment and if it turns out that the freeze drier is unrealistic there is a great after-market for used and refurbished ones. We almost bought one of those, but Clint preferred the warranty on a new one.”
They all nodded like they understood but I suspect they were simply humoring me. There were a few more stops … the Dollar Tree one of the longer ones for stocking stuffers. Another place we stopped is called Pursenality because one of the Aunts is allergic to most cosmetics but can use the goats milk hand creams that the store sells. We stopped at Bryson City Outdoor because Uncle Vern had ordered a collection of their ciders and a few other craft beers.
Julie said, “I’m told that he’s looking to really expand our specialty beverage division. Not everyone is a wine drinker. He hopes that craft beers will catch a segment that we aren’t reaching.”
“Has he thought about craft sodas for those of us who don’t or can’t drink much at all?”
Stacy immediately wanted to know what I was talking about, so I explained that I intended to make some sodas for Carra, so she didn’t feel so left out when Clint and I had a carafe of wine at the dinner table. “She doesn’t say anything, but I still feel bad.”
“Don’t,” July said on a snort. “Feel bad I mean. If she says anything just explain all of us Haines kids have had to go through it. It’s like a right of passage or something.”
They glossed over it like it was no big deal but I’m still going to make some sodas, if for no other reason than I can and because I’m not a big alcohol drinker despite the Still Room making me look like I’m trying to run a Speak Easy.
The drive back to the Estate was a quiet one but more because we were relaxed than anything else. They dropped me off first because I had the most to get out of the back end. Clint was waiting and when I saw his face I nearly flipped.
“What … on … Earth?!”
“The tree fell and I tried to catch it.”
“It looked like it caught you … with a right hook!” Then what he said sunk in and I looked at the house and my face made him grimace.
“Not inside. When we were loading the tree out in the field. The rest of the process went the way it was supposed to. Tree is all set up and it is falling out … but not falling down.”
“Uh … huh,” I said turning back to him, trying to show my relief. Feeling a little chagrined I started to make a fuss over him and he let me which told me the black eye and scratches were smarting.
We got everything in with Stacy’s help while Julie and Sylvia went to go see the tree only to come back and declare it perfect before leaving. I insisted Clint sit down so I could put something on his face.
“Don’t you want to see the tree?”
“I will but not until after I’ve seen to you.”
“Doc already ran me over. He always comes along just in case ‘cause usually either a person or animal needs his attention.”
“Uh … huh,” I said again trying not to imagine why that would be.
“C’mon. Just tell me what you think.”
I followed him and then came to a shocked stop when I got into the Great Room. “That has to be the biggest Christmas tree outside of Washington DC that I’ve ever seen.”
Grinning like a school boy Clint says, “That’s an exaggeration but it is pretty big this year. It’s fuller than in year’s passed too. It might actually hold all of the ornaments for once.”
That made me laugh as good memories swamped me for a moment of my mother each year giddily picking which ornaments made it to the tree and which ones would wind up decorating other surfaces.
“Let me get dinner started and I’ll …”
“It’ll be tomorrow before we can decorate it. That okay? We can save the sloppy joes and tots for then. I pulled one of those Impossible Pies out of the freezer to thaw to save you some time so you could start going through the decorations.”
“Thank you,” I said with pleasure that he’d remembered about my tradition plus had been thoughtful enough to help with dinner … all despite the killer Christmas tree trying to take a chunk out of him. He added when he caught me looking at my watch and then out the window, “Carra is already home and upstairs with a dose of Tussin in her. You weren’t wrong about what the result of not wearing the extra socks was going to be. I’m told half the Estate School has the sniffles and they are thinking of closing for Winter Break a week early so the kids can get through this before Christmas.”
“What? School administrators with empathy and commonsense? What next?”
Clint laughed and said, “Yeah and the earth rotates around the sun and not the other way around. Let’s get your packages put away and then I need to do some end of the year prep for Reaves.”
“How is Reaves?” I asked, trying not to have a bad attitude about the man. He’d only been doing his job, but I still hadn’t been able to get comfortable with seeing him face to face now knowing that he knew all of those intimate details of my life.
Clint gave an odd bark of laughter and I looked at him. “What?”
“Aunt Cordie hooked him up.”
“I … beg your pardon?”
Clint chuckled. “Aunt Cordie set him up on a blind date and he’s surprised that he’s enjoying himself.”
“Er …”
“She’s a widow with a son in college. Kid is going to law school and apparently they’ve already conference called.”
“Moving a little fast aren’t they?”
The level of sarcasm in my voice was such that Clint’s chuckle turned into actual laughter. “For Reave that’s greased lightning fast. I can’t even tell you the last time he dated … and when I asked he couldn’t either. So yeah … should be interesting to see where this goes, if anyplace.”
We finished putting my purchases away in the pantry and the Housekeeper’s Office until I could better organize things then Clint went off to his office while I slowly trod up the stairs with the attic keys in one had and a meat cleaver in the other. Bernie had laid a lot of traps and baits and said to his professional way of thinking there could be no more mice that the couple that were found down in the basement during cleaning. But I was taking no chances.
Here are the links to most of the recipes I mentioned. I had them in with footnotes but it didn't transfer.
https://www.campbells.com/kitchen/recipes/tomato-soup-spice-cake/
https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/dessert/pie/milk-sugar-pie.html
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/7259/grandmas-eggless-butterless-milkless-cake/
https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/poor-man-s-cookies/
https://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/navy-bean-pie?iAWQMv4eAdRZJDok.32
https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/dessert/candy/pinto-bean-fudge.html
https://www.blendtec.com/blogs/recipes/black-bean-fudge
https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/dessert/cake/cheese-cake-1930.html
http://relish.com/recipes/crispy-fried-saltines/
http://www.christmas-cookies.com/recipes/recipe171.potato-candy.html
https://www.ourheritageofhealth.com/depression-era-chocolate-cake/
http://joandsue.blogspot.com/2014/11/depression-era-cake.html
http://www.acozykitchen.com/depression-or-recession-era-oatmeal-cookies/
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/219719/frans-angel-food-pie/
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/7416/chocolate-mayo-cake/
https://www.reddit.com/r/recipes/comments/5iwujn/depressionera_fudge/
http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/divinity-old-fashioned-christmas-candy-264891
https://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/christmas-candy-recipes.html
https://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/caramel-candy-recipe.html
https://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/butterscotch-candy-recipe.html
https://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/taffy-recipes.html
https://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/date-roll-candy-recipe.html
https://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/fondant-recipes.html
https://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/rock-candy-recipes.html
https://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/peppermint-candy-recipes.html
https://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/seafoam-candy-recipe.html
https://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/buckeye-candy-recipe.html
https://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/turkish-delight-recipes.html
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/230555/easy-microwave-peanut-brittle/
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/238371/no-bake-cookie-dough-truffles/
https://snappygourmet.com/cake-batter-truffles/
https://www.campbells.com/kitchen/recipes/tomato-soup-spice-cake/
https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/dessert/pie/milk-sugar-pie.html
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/7259/grandmas-eggless-butterless-milkless-cake/
https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/poor-man-s-cookies/
https://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/navy-bean-pie?iAWQMv4eAdRZJDok.32
https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/dessert/candy/pinto-bean-fudge.html
https://www.blendtec.com/blogs/recipes/black-bean-fudge
https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/dessert/cake/cheese-cake-1930.html
http://relish.com/recipes/crispy-fried-saltines/
http://www.christmas-cookies.com/recipes/recipe171.potato-candy.html
https://www.ourheritageofhealth.com/depression-era-chocolate-cake/
http://joandsue.blogspot.com/2014/11/depression-era-cake.html
http://www.acozykitchen.com/depression-or-recession-era-oatmeal-cookies/
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/219719/frans-angel-food-pie/
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/7416/chocolate-mayo-cake/
https://www.reddit.com/r/recipes/comments/5iwujn/depressionera_fudge/
http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/divinity-old-fashioned-christmas-candy-264891
https://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/christmas-candy-recipes.html
https://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/caramel-candy-recipe.html
https://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/butterscotch-candy-recipe.html
https://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/taffy-recipes.html
https://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/date-roll-candy-recipe.html
https://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/fondant-recipes.html
https://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/rock-candy-recipes.html
https://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/peppermint-candy-recipes.html
https://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/seafoam-candy-recipe.html
https://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/buckeye-candy-recipe.html
https://www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com/turkish-delight-recipes.html
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/230555/easy-microwave-peanut-brittle/
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/238371/no-bake-cookie-dough-truffles/
https://snappygourmet.com/cake-batter-truffles/
Thanks so much Kathy. I am really looking forward to the conclusions of Hartford Ridge, Zombies Aren't Real, and Gurl.
And, so sorry to hear about the state of your property. I've had to go in to a lot of foreclosed houses and it is so ridiculously sad to see the conditions. Many of those people take the house knowing they aren't going to live up to their obligations. It is a temporary housing scam. I cannot understand how they are able to get into the next one without throwing up red flags.
And, so sorry to hear about the state of your property. I've had to go in to a lot of foreclosed houses and it is so ridiculously sad to see the conditions. Many of those people take the house knowing they aren't going to live up to their obligations. It is a temporary housing scam. I cannot understand how they are able to get into the next one without throwing up red flags.
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Glad I checked tonight, thank you. Man what pain to clean that house. My hubby Ministers to a man that is a hoarder and the guy has promised to collect one thing every day he can get rid of and dh and the other brethren will come over when he has a pile and truck it away for him.
Thank you for the chapter. I will have to look up those recipes. One of my favorites has always been the Tomato soup cake as my mom made it my whole life and so do i
.
I don;t know how you can do more than one story at a time, I can't as I have to read all through one to get started on it again lol. Good luck.
I have four I got going so I wouldn't forget what they were to be about. Now to decide which one I am going to work on when things slow down here.
Thank you for the chapter. I will have to look up those recipes. One of my favorites has always been the Tomato soup cake as my mom made it my whole life and so do i
.I don;t know how you can do more than one story at a time, I can't as I have to read all through one to get started on it again lol. Good luck.
I have four I got going so I wouldn't forget what they were to be about. Now to decide which one I am going to work on when things slow down here.
Thank you, Kathy (ignoring recipes, ignoring recipes, ignoring recipes.....)
An easy truffle recipe for younger kids (one older one to use the stove) that we use at Christmas is one 12 oz pkg of baking chips + 1 can of Eagle Brand milk; heat the EB in the top of a double boiler, dump in the chips and stir it now and then until the chips melt and it has the consistency of fudge before you beat it. Roll in thumb size balls, then in sprinkles. We use various color sprinkles for various flavors - green and white mix for the Andes mint chips, brown sprinkles for dark chocolate, tan for peanut butter, etc...
An easy truffle recipe for younger kids (one older one to use the stove) that we use at Christmas is one 12 oz pkg of baking chips + 1 can of Eagle Brand milk; heat the EB in the top of a double boiler, dump in the chips and stir it now and then until the chips melt and it has the consistency of fudge before you beat it. Roll in thumb size balls, then in sprinkles. We use various color sprinkles for various flavors - green and white mix for the Andes mint chips, brown sprinkles for dark chocolate, tan for peanut butter, etc...
Lake Lili
Veteran Member
Oh Kathy! I'm appalled. We have been renting houses and apartments for the better part of 35-years (we owned the cottage at the lake, but owning 2 properties in Canada is a recipe for a tax nightmare) so I know how some of them have come to us and how we have left each one. We are moving out of our current house after 5-1/2 years and the bathrooms are done, the kitchen appliances all cleaned. The carpet cleaners come tomorrow... but I will say that I wish that landlords would not put carpet in bedrooms, its generally cheap and kids and pets will destroy them. Truly the only damage are two screens from my kid's bedroom. The landlord did not paint before we moved in and so we'll leave that job to him, nor did he patch up the two holes that had been punched in the wall by the prior tenants... so again he gets to fix that. But Lordie to leave such a mess!!!
Thanks you for the chapter and I look forward to Hartford Ridge! Will you be updating them on the Mother Hen site?
Lili
Thanks you for the chapter and I look forward to Hartford Ridge! Will you be updating them on the Mother Hen site?
Lili
teedee
Veteran Member
My father rented the old farm house that I was born in for a lot of years. After the last renter he just bulldosed the thing as the aggravation was not worth it. Thanks for the chapter and thank you for working on up on Hartford ridge. I think that is one of your best and can not wait to see where you take Igor Baffa.
Siskiyoumom
Veteran Member
Thank you!
Sammy55
Veteran Member
Wow! Wonderful chapter with lots of ideas!! Thanks for the new chapter!!!
I'll have to try out some of the recipes for this Christmas. DD was just saying that Christmas is going to be leaner as prices have gotten so high and everyone needs to cut back. I know we are spending about the same amount per grandchild and are getting way less than just a few years ago. So we are going to make a few more presents to fill in the gap. I love watching the kids and grandkids open their presents at Christmas!
I will be watching for MOAR and now I have my DH hooked, too, so we have another MOAR watcher in the house. LOL!
I'll have to try out some of the recipes for this Christmas. DD was just saying that Christmas is going to be leaner as prices have gotten so high and everyone needs to cut back. I know we are spending about the same amount per grandchild and are getting way less than just a few years ago. So we are going to make a few more presents to fill in the gap. I love watching the kids and grandkids open their presents at Christmas!
I will be watching for MOAR and now I have my DH hooked, too, so we have another MOAR watcher in the house. LOL!
Lake Lili
Veteran Member
Once can only hope they are able to empty the house safely with no one ill or hurt in the doing. Hope they discover that the actual damage is minimal.
Lili
Amen to that.
Catshooter
Contributing Member
Kathy,
Don't forget to collect the 20 Krugerrands the irresponsible tenants left behind. My Uncle hid his inside the telephone.
Cat
Don't forget to collect the 20 Krugerrands the irresponsible tenants left behind. My Uncle hid his inside the telephone.
Cat