June 23-30, 2005 #347

Mid afternoon on Friday and Saturday, I drove over to White House Farm to help my brother, Terry, and his wife get the apartment ready for their first Bed & Breakfast tenants of this season. The rugs had been shampooed and the walls painted. Maureen and I worked together making beds and then Maureen disappeared onto the rear of the apartment to put on the finishing touches. I took on the task of the kitchen. All cabinets and drawers, appliances-EVERYTHING got cleaned. Before we knew it, it was 7:00pm. Terry and Jim McGrath, who had been helping to move the furniture back in place, had disappeared. Soon the Call of the Wild, "Dinner is ready" was shouted to us. We had a great dinner of Maureen's Salad and Terry's barbecued Pork and sautéed veggies. It had been a productive day, and everyone was beat. Tomorrow was another day.

Dave Barker of Hartwick, my roofer, had to postpone my roofing job because the shingles did not arrive. He and his helper came Tuesday evening to put up the scaffolding. An evening rain dampened his plans to get an early start but he came back and was there when I got home from work. It had been a long day, but he finished it all by himself and did a good job. That's why he is so busy. He went directly to Andy's to measure up for his barn roof.

Andy and Laura picked me up around 1:00pm on Sunday and we went to Laura's family's home in Edmeston for a spontaneous birthday party for Caleb Shute. His grandma Block made a Mayonnaise Chocolate Cake and Laura and her sister, Elda Clark, decorated it. It was delicious! You have to try this one! Dan Shute, Caleb's Dad, has been really working hard to turn this big old house into a home for he and his son and his Mom and step-Dad. It was a nice break for a busy day.

I made my usual rounds in the morning and found that I had had a visitor during the night! A critter had dumped over the birdbath, dug up my newly repotted perennials on my outside worktable and dug up pansies in the flowerbed. It had also tried very hard to get into the feed container. I secured all the new woodchuck entrances under my bathroom with cinderblocks and now headed for Dr Lado's office to get my "Crown" finished. It went well and I was on my way home by noon.

I had just gotten home when an unfamiliar 4X4 pulled in the driveway. It was John Stephan, Jr. I was surprised to see him. Hadn't seen him since we closed the Country Kitchen. When I asked how everyone was, he said he had bad news. "Cynthia passed away this morning at 10:30am at Bassett Hospital.

The news set me back in my tracks. Cynthia was his stepsister and the daughter of a dear friend, Ethel Galland Stephan. It was not common knowledge that Cynthia, 43, was battling breast cancer for some time. Ethel had left her position at Bassett Hospital to care for her with the help of younger daughter, Cathy Bennett, many friends and Hospice. She will be fondly remembered for her special talents and caring nature by all those who knew and loved her. Her strength during this time was an inspiration to everyone. When I got myself together, I drove to the Stephan home and, finding the family cars there, I stopped. Ethel was alone and I stayed and consoled her as she reminisced about her Cyndi. I attended the visiting hours and service on Sunday at Connell Dow & Deysenroth, as did hundreds of family and friends. My deepest sympathy to family and friends. . . And now all must pickup the pieces and move on and remember.. . .

Nature's Scene- As I sit at my table on Monday morning finishing What's Cookin?', I am watching for the first time, the two yearling deer that survived this past winter, meander across the freshly cut field.. Early this morning I was awakened by a noise. Upon investigation, I saw a large raccoon making his way around my backyard. He managed to break the birdbath this time and dumped over some more flowerpots. Now I know whom my visitor is and I will name him "Sneaky." All three nesting boxes are rented! Two have Swallows and the middle one-Bluebirds. All are busy keeping their fledglings feed. The woodchucks keep digging new entrances everywhere and I keep filling them in.

Maureen and our mutual friend, Connie Ghent, from Fort Lee, NJ, decided to go out to dinner and guess where we went? We went to Portobello's at the traffic light in Fly Creek. The last time I went was at Jim Atwell's coming book presentation. My, it was nice to see Diane and her troops. As usual the service was great, the food was wonderful and we enjoyed. Would you believe that I couldn't finish my Carrot Cake and had to take it home? It was Irwin favorite restaurants and we used to go often.

Visits to Hazel McShane and Barbara Thomas found them both trying to beat the heat. Hazel says she has someone walk with her to keep her frail old body moving. Carefree Gardens brought back her plants and set them out on her deck. She waters them herself and enjoys their fragrant presence. Barb is looking and feeling better.

She enjoys company and sitting out on the deck when it is not to hot.

Andy stopped by about 11:00am after finishing the busy hogging outback and said," We'll try to get done up the house and go to Gilbert Lake earlier so we can take a dip in the water. Laura is making salads and we'll have everything we need." That sounded great. I scurried around and finished what I had started just in time. We all were looking forward to a dip in the lake.

When we arrived at the gate, there was a sign-Beach Closed. "Is the beach Closed?" Andy asked.

"Yes, the young man said, about 1-1/2 hours ago, we had a drowning. . ." Needless to say, the news was shocking. We couldn't get much info. Everyone was at a loss for words. Police were everywhere and the picnicking area was slowly emptying out. We carried our supplies to our favorite spot where Andy and Laura put the boat in. Off he went to catch a Big One while we got the fire going.

I got a kick out of a young family near us who came from up North and were trying their hand at fishing. The lad had caught a nice Bass in the morning so they all were fishing now. Mom, equipped with her daughter's Barbie fishing pole, caught four fish, one right after the other while the lad caught nothing. All in all they had a good time. The next morning I found out that it was a five-year old lad that had drowned. So sad. . .

Thought for the Week: Music is LOVE in search of a word.

1