we just let it go until after lunch. Larry,
the propane man, brought in the paper when
he delivered the bill. Propane is $2.10/gal
now and in the last month we've used 275 gals!
Last Sunday we, Robyn, Robert and I, met Carl,
Martha and Ariel at the Cork for more celebrations. We each
had a fantastic dinner. And we had a lovely time! One
interesting thing of note was that several of the plates came
with a potato with a breaded crust on it. The potato is
peeled underneath so is sort of a baked potato without the
skin. Carl said that when he was cooking there that Jim,
the executive chef and owner, had gone to Sante Fe and had
these potatoes and came back to serve them at the Cork. At
first they had boiled the potatoes and then breaded them,
but it turned out to be really expensive because too many of
the potatoes fell apart. One day Carl put them in the big
steamer instead of boiling them and the potatoes didn't fall
apart so that's how they have been done ever since. He also
told of trying to train a new cook on how to set up the
plates and other similar instructions. Gary was his name and
Gary, after being instructed managed to follow the
instructions, but the next day Carl had to start in all over
again. It turned out, and Carl eventually realized, that Gary
came to work stoned every day, hence the re-training. Gary
is still there and Carl visited with him briefly, which
reminded him of the story.
Robyn left on Monday. We dropped her at the bus station and
she called the next morning to say all had gone smoothly
except that she had missed Connie at DIA; her flight had
been delayed. Connie had called earlier to say that she and
Meara had been diverted through Dallas because their
original flight was so late they would not have made their
connection in Denver. Too bad, it would have been nice if
they could have spent a little time together at the airport
although Connie and Meara wouldn't have been there very
long.
While Robyn was here she took measurements of our whole
house. She measured and I recorded. She has suggested that
there is space between the kitchen and my office to put in a
bath and an elevator. I doubt there is room for both, but
with an elevator and a change in the upstairs bath by
replacing the tub with a walk-in shower we would be set.
Robert isn't enthused about the elevator, but he would be
happy to have a dormer added to the house so that
he could stand up in the furnace room. The elevator would
emerge on the second floor into what is the furnace room.
We also discussed replacing the flagstone walk in front of
the house by a concrete sidewalk. That would make cleaning
off the snow easier and getting things from the barn to the
house, like groceries, easier, too. She also suggested
railings for the steps off the computer room and also from
the porch in the front. Since she is not employed from
November 1 - May 1 she would have time to do those things
for us which would be a win/win situation. We both trust
her abilities and would probably have all things set for her
to go to work and then we'd take a trip so we wouldn't have
to be there while the house was torn up. She'll send us
some plans at some point and we'll go from there.
The rest of the week has been one or rest and relaxation and
getting over miserable colds.
