My last post about losing Margaret Perkins will be used at her funeral service this Friday at 1 pm Australia time in Victoria. I was honored to be asked permission. The service can be viewed live but that makes it 11 pm here in my time zone but I will get something sent to me so I can view it. Such a wonderful woman and due to Covid restrictions there can only be ten allowed to attend. https://vimeo.com/613508018 will be the live stream site for those wishing to be virtually present.
Above was the scotch I shared with her the day I was told Margaret had died.
With the arrival of Amy and Ben came a new oversized television…now all hooked up in the den and ready for me to get used to before it goes with me to the new house in the spring.
Plus new drinks from Ben:
Lemon Grass Whisky Sour
2 shots bourbon
1 shot lemon grass syrup (simple syrup of sugar/water equal parts and lemon grass blades brought to a simmer to dissolve sugar, then bottled and kept in fridge)
1/4 lime squeezed
dash or two angostura bitters
And
Lemon Grass Old Fashioned
2 shots bourbon
1 shot lemon grass syrup
dash of angostura bitters
Both of them were good but not the flavor hit you get from rosemary or turmeric syrup.
Now we found an old recipe Lee had for making your own Drambuie
3 cups scotch
1 cup honey
We seasoned our scotch overnight with one tsp chopped fresh rosemary, zest of half a lemon and 1/4 tsp fennel seeds…these were just some of the options in Lee’s recipe.
Scotch and seasonings sit overnight, then strained before adding honey, bottled for two to three weeks before sampling. I will let you know how it compares to store bought Drambuie.
In addition to the drinks recipes, Ben has fixed the first squirrel I ever ate. He got a license to shoot them in Tennessee while here and some ended up in Squirrel Tacos.
Tonight there will be more, some in a cream sauce over risotto, with a course of brined duck. It was delicious so far. Squirrel tastes somewhat like chicken and somewhat like pork. He gets them very tender in his fancy pressure cooking pot.
They have unloaded the top shelves in the kitchen and are taking several foodstuffs home with them. Also Amy has helped me tackle the office/gym.
Three bags of trash out.
Shelves of just piled up papers are clearing off into boxes, some to move, some to go to the shredders.
They are still game to go on the early morning walks.
Riverwalk:
The dam:
Very foggy mornings. I have to wait until it is light enough to feed the deer and birds before we can start off. I will be glad to see us set the clocks back so the early mornings have more light.
Two loads of wash also done today with a bit of ironing. A meeting with a realtor at a friends house that may be coming up for sale. I think I will use this realtor myself when the time comes.
The worst of the cleaning out has been done. Now there are some spaces in the studio that need some attention and garbage bags and more trips to a professional shredder. Artwork to pack up, papers to put into flat storage boxes for under beds, the pantry shelves to sort through. Really how many jars of beef broth, tomato paste, etc. does one person need! And those Dutch ovens, roasting pans, plastic storage containers!!!
Amy and Ben will be taking home as much as I can pawn off on them. A whole carton of papers and supplies has been packed up for them to take to teacher friends up north.
No drawing this week…I will try in a few days. Tomorrow we take a break and go to a winery!
Til later……