Pausing at the Madonna Inn

Completing the final leg of her Grand Canyon tour, our Traveler Jen has settled for the moment with friends in coastal Arroyo Grande, California, where we join her for a splash of pink at a nearby swing dance club in the famed Madonna Inn Resort & Spa. She's with her friend's mother, Inn-employee Lucy, above, enjoying the off-duty antics of a favorite performance dance couple.

Disaster averted, planting continues

Not sure if this photo was taken before or after THE BIG EVENT.

The soil is rock hard at Randy's LA address, where landscapers Nicole and David are making over Randy's front yard. They rented an auger to penetrate the stubborn ground and everything was going great, until, but we'll let Randy tell it. He writes:

I'll be brief because I'm exhausted.

Things started off swimmingly this morning...the work moving at a quick pace...UNTIL...the power auger nicked a hole in the main water line!

Can you say Old Faithful? Gazillion gallons of precious L.A. water gushing down the neighbor's driveway, transforming Rowena into the Mississippi!

Horrors.

Dave finally got the water turned off...the valve being really rusted over for 85 friggin' years...then ran to the local hardware store for a new piece of pipe...and then he, the master welder, repaired the damage...using the old trick of stuffing a bread bun into the pipe so no water would get on the weld, etc...

Anyway, THREE HOURS LATER...the planting commenced again (no water, remember?)...and toilets were flushed of kiddie dookey...

By sundown, Nicole was still going strong, but David calmly says, "That's enough for today."

And so we repaired into the dining room for a lovely dinner prepared by Chef Randini.

The planting should be finished by tomorrow...and soon, the coup de grace -- the grass! -- will be installed betwixt and between.

Find enclosed some progress shots...along with Nicole working the power auger -- "no sweat!" says she -- with her husband. What a brilliant team they are.

Onward, Randy

Trees are in. Grass is coming. Water main repaired.

". . . on gossamer wings, just one of those things."

Click to examine the exquisite details of this exotic creature. (Photos by Stan Rolfsrud)

A monster dragonfly almost escaped notice this morning, as it enjoyed its healthy breakfast of dewy-fresh lilac leaves.
A beautiful day, humidity low, high of 75. A week's worth of perfection forecast.
Ahhhh. At last. Despite all the turmoil, it's still a wonderful world.

Stiffed by Stan's sister, amends made tonight

When Stan's sister Sosie heard that you could get a prime rib dinner for $9.95 at the nearby Little Six casino, she didn't hesitate. She was All In.
"Let's Go! I'm buying," she said.
That was a couple Thursdays ago when she was in town to go see her mother, her country school reunion and generally raise hell.
Little Six came through for us. Prime rib, au jus, vegetables, salad, rolls, potatoes, all promptly delivered by sweet Belinda, our usual Chinese/Vietnamese/English-speaking waitress with the ready smile and Asian accent.
When the bill came, it was, indeed, inexpensive. But for Sosie, the dinner for three was downright cheap:
She stiffed sweet Belinda.

Er, I just remembered something. . .

Yes. This stunning oversight sifted down to be processed by her frontal cortex approximately one hour after the bill had been paid and we had long departed the scene of the crime.
"I am horrified," she moaned. "I just can't believe it."
Get used to it, we elder seniors counseled.
She gave us some cash and we promised we'd make it right. Wasn't hard to promise. Sosie's in California. We'd like to sit at Belinda's table again.
Tonight we went out for the Little Six $10 walleye special and ceremoniously presented Belinda with her tardy tip from Sosie. She graciously accepted. Kathleen took this cellphone photo for Sosie's peace of mind.


Personal to Sosie. We're good to go. Next time, $10 T-bone Tuesday.
Uh, we'll get the check.

No joy

Despite what appears to be unanimous fan support (above) for the Pride of St. Paul, our hometown boys failed to make good, as the ChiSox swept a weekend series at Target Field, winning 7-0 in today's finale. Joyless Twins fans observed a quartet of Chicago homers scattered amidst a dozen hits, while the Twins settled for lackluster pitching and the occasional hit, produced at the dismal rate of one per hour. Jim Thome, who could have provided a bright spot by obliging us with No. 599 and No. 600, didn't. Oh well. At least the weather was better than usual.

Cheesy scalloped potatoes, ala Jeni

We're making (actually, Kathleen's making, but you knew that) dinner this afternoon for a very special birthday girl, Laurie Hartmann, who's coming to celebrate. Naturally, we're using a very special recipe tonight.

Birthday girl with the cook.

The cherished "Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes" note card, in protective clear wrap, just came out of Kathleen's wooden box, where it had been filed next to the Rolled Date Cookies and Florence's heirloom Macaroni.
Handwritten, with detailed instructions like "Blend in flour; add milk all at once...," it was carefully written down by the late Jeni Reed Rolfsrud, diligently passing on just the way that her mother, Joan, had taught her to make scalloped potatoes with cheese.

Happy Birthday to Laurie. Raise a glass of bold red zin. Here's to many more years of an enduring friendship.

You're gonna just love the potatoes.

The waiter's bow tie matched his gym shorts.

The plants are here! LA front yard update.

Hand-made ironwork. Stools for the courtyard? Randy hasn't found any yet that
would work. Ironman Dave could weld them as well? We'll see.

New pictures arrived this morning from Randy in LA, in the midst of his front yard makeover. The new ironwork looks out on the project. If you look closely in the bottom photo, you'll see Randy consulting with Nicole, wife of contractor Dave, and mother of two. 

Randy continues:

. . . In case you're wondering, the two saplings flanking the walkway up to the house are dwarf peppermint trees (agonis flexuosoa / "Jervis Bay After Dark")...they're only available in that size container, and are hard to find; we got lucky.  While small and skinny now, they'll have a growth burst next spring, and ultimately get 15-20 feet high, forming a canopy over the flagstone walk-up.  The dwarf version is basically grown from a shrub -- then trimmed and pruned to grow as a tree.

Gracia [Randy's sister] and I researched the hell out of this particular tree (after gonging scores of trees that were either too big or too invasive).The bigger tree you see here is a crape myrtle, this particular type called a "Catwaba."  The flowers are a dusty pink.  That tree will probably double in size over the years.

We're still searching for the right-size, right-style birdbath for the circular, raised planting "pod" that will be visible from the big living room window.  (Those few stones you see off the main artery of the walk-up lead to that planting pod.)

Late this afternoon, sipping cocktails on the "veranda" during a design session, we had at least 12 people stop and chat us up.  One elderly lady in a straw hat said she wanted to paint the house (no, not the trim and such, a real oil painting) after we're done.  And a neighbor came by with a bottle of champagne, as a gift for the curb-appeal beauty being supplied by moi.

Great beginnings. Always hard to see at this stage what it will look like
when mature. . . but in LA climate, you'll find out fast.

We make the Garden Tour, and the paper. . . at last

Carol and Duane Cox bought our house, and garden, in 2000. Here she is on the
back deck with the hot tub and plantings. The once-full pond is now
a "natural area" in the background. (Photos: Eden Prairie News)

Stan's brother Virg, who gets a copy of the Eden Prairie News, told us this week that the garden we built at our old Eden Prairie house was featured in the newspaper a few weeks back. He assumed we already knew, but of course we didn't. We're retired now and out of the loop.

Sure enough, a check of the archives revealed that the garden we'd slaved over decades ago is now included in the official Eden Prairie Lioness Garden Tour.
Homeowner Carol Cox, who helped host the fundraiser, was quick to credit the former owners for their work. Here's a link to the story on the EP News website. Click here.

Plates from that Grand Old Ford

1952 and 1954 plates found in shed

Back in the early 1950s, when Stan spent summers with Ruby and Al Korkowski on their Brandon farm, Al would boast constantly that a Ford is better than a Chevy. Those were the days when you could tell the difference between makes and models... a Studebaker looked a lot different from a Buick. . . so there was a lot of identification with your car, much like people identify with pro sports teams today.
Al and Ruby's Ford would take us to the movies on a Saturday night and we could see and readily identify all the different kinds of cars parked on Broadway.

www.fiftiesweb.com
1950 Ford

Dad drove a '49 Dodge with fluid drive back then. Al diplomatically avoided any comments on its virtue. But Fords? Always much better than a Chevy, Al said, and Stan quickly joined his hero in that astute assessment.
Stan and his sister, Solveig, visited the old farmstead last weekend. The new owner showed us around the spread, including a shed where Stan recalls the Ford was parked. Inside was an assortment of license plates. We found these (above), from 1952 and 1954, and Solveig snapped a picture of the plates that must have been bolted to Ruby and Al's memorable Ford.

Al and Ruby's barn today.