La Quinta, California: When I last wrote, we had suffered a terrible wind storm. There was so much damage in the Coachella Valley. Trees down. Limbs snapped off trees. Power outages. We had little damage to our property - lost one limb from a deciduous tree - but 22 palms lost their tops in our development. After getting out to see the damage, it was easy to see a gust must have come down in the low gully behind our house and continued on its path towards the clubhouse and left out the back gate. Whoosh. Every fallen tree was on this path.
Our groundskeepers were on top of the mess, putting the palm frond tops through the chipper, then falling the topless trunks, slicing them up - and putting everything through the grinder. The trees will not be replaced.
It was a noisy few days, and the noise continues as this is the time of year palm trees are trimmed (using cherry picker lifts). Wish they would have been trimmed early this year and this whole mess would have been avoided... but Mother Nature doesn't have a calendar.
Dave and I joined a six-person team for a golf tournament last week. It was a fundraiser for a college fund our club has for employees and their children. The match was a scramble with the staff. We had two other club members and two groundskeepers - one who had NEVER played golf. This was puzzling to me, as he is in charge of placing the holes on the greens each morning. The lucky teams who drew our golf pros on their squads! Rigged! Who cares, it was so much fun, we met new people, and the club brought in a taco truck and a sandwich truck for luncheon after our round.
The clubhouse had been advertising FRIED CHICKEN NIGHT, and Dave thought this would be a good reason to dine out. We were smart enough to split the meal though:
really good gravy, green beans and two biscuits
We still couldn't finish it all - and didn't touch the biscuits - but dang if this wasn't a delicious treat. Dave and I have such good memories of our Moms frying up a chicken on Sundays - tub of Crisco on the counter.
While on the subject of food:
Salted brownies with chocolate chips and walnuts, peanut butter cookies, buttermilk rolls, and whole wheat & honey sandwich bread. The sandwich bread went in the freezer for Lisa to take home after the weekend's festivities, but everything else was for the weekend. We had every meal at home, but went to a fabulous Mother's Day brunch at the club.
Dave grilled a butterflied chicken Friday night, served with Patatas Bravas and a chopped salad. Brownie Sundaes for dessert. Lisa carved the bird and the whipped cream for the sundaes came out of a squirt can.
Our fisherman went to work first thing Saturday morning.
We finally asked Leo to stop bringing the poor traumatized things all the way up to the house! (Leo must have caught a dozen fish over the weekend.) Then he thought maybe he could put them in our pool? Convinced they were fresh water fish and our salt water pool could kill them, the idea dropped. Whew.
Lucile took her Mom on an errand (to fetch my Mother's Day gift) and I made a one-layer butter cake and hid it in the laundry room. Lucy was going to decorate this cake as a Mother's Day surprise for her Mom. I can hide a cake, but it's a whole-nuther thing to hide the aroma of freshly baked butter cake. To cover-up my abetting, I started the lasagna for dinner, and it smelled like an Italian restaurant instead of a bakery when the girls returned. When Lisa said she was off to take a nap, Lucile and I sprang into action! The softened butter and sifted powdered sugar for the icing were brought out hiding. Within minutes the cake was sliced in half, filled with raspberry jam and was being frosted in white butter cream. Then Lucy piped a decorative border and formed a raspberry heart!
Though it is hard to hide a cake in a refrigerator, luckily Lisa did not open the fridge the rest of the day. The lasagna (made with short ribs) was delicious and Lisa was so surprised and pleased at her clever girl.
The dining staff really put some thought into the Mother's Day brunch. They had antique tea cups and tea pots filled with flowers on every table. So cute. Mothers were given a treat bag filled with French macarons at check-in. Different "stations" were set up around the clubhouse - carving board, omelet station, hot foods, seafood platters, pastries, fruits. Mimosas were flowing - and no prosecco for Mom today - champagne only.
There was also bicycling and golfing this weekend - even though the temperatures climbed well over 100 degrees every day the kids were here. A whirlwind weekend - with Lisa and I being spoiled with lovely gifts. It is so wonderful when we are all together.
Mother Nature sent us more trouble this weekend. A series of earthquakes on the border - about 70 miles from us. Though we did not feel any of the lighter quakes, one of the 5.5'ers put a long crack in the travertine right down the middle of our closet. Rat farts.
Now I am stuck close to home. Jury Duty. Again. I'm on day two of waiting. Why do they summons me EVERY year? At least I am a needlepointer, so my time is never wasted.
I hope you all had lovely Mother's Day as well. (Why do we only get one day, ladies?)
Until my next update, I remain, your Motherly correspondent.
What a fun Mother’s Day weekend! Always enjoy a nice brunch.
Lucile is definitely following her grandmother’s talent in the kitchen.
Sorry for the large crack in your closet….just a hassle for you.
Maybe other’s in the neighborhood had earth quake problems too….?