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The Missouri Journal continued from page 40 by Mark Chenail |
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2007 Got up early and went into town to run some errands. We stopped at the public library to check email and check-in at home. It’s really a very nice little library, created out of the closed K-Mart. No news from home. Checked out all the stores on Commercial Street and discovered a bunch of resale/charity shops. The best one is a church run place, called "The Free Store," where oddly enough, everything is free. Mostly clothes, but some household goods and furniture and a very pleasant group of people. Had a long conversation with a lady who lives out on Rte. 66. Seems it is being used as a reroute for some work on I -44 and the big trucks are tearing up the roadway. She told me how the stress so weakened a local bridge near her home that the mailman and his truck fell through into the weather and drowned. Now that’s the sort of news that catches the public’s attention on the 10 pm news. Chicken Bonne Femme for supper. Dan is a delight to cook for and the best company I’ve had in years. And he’s a great worker too. The house is really starting to shape up and I couldn’t be more delighted. Richie however is spending most of his days and nights hanging out at the Coopers and generally being a pest. I don’t think we will keep him on much longer, Ninja skills or not. And so to bed. ------------
Chicken Bonne Femme Bonne Femme means good wife in French and usually means any dish made with simple at hand ingredients. Take a chicken and cut it into the usual pieces or just use a bunch of chicken legs. In a big pan, heat some oil and brown the chicken with lots of garlic and a big chopped onion and plenty of chopped celery. Add basil, thyme rosemary. black pepper and a good splash of white wine if you like. Throw in sliced unpeeled potatoes, some chunks of carrot, turnip and mushrooms. Cover it all with some chicken broth or water. Cover and put the pan in a medium oven (350) and let it cook until the chicken is done and the veggies tender and there is a lovely nice thick brown natural sauce au jus. Serve with crusty brown bread and butter and a simple dessert. ------------ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2007 A beautiful crisp fall morning. Dan and I got the window into the gable end of the house and finished the framing in the little upstairs bedroom. We took a drive to Grovespring for a break and to buy supplies. We are using a ton of putty repairing all those old windows. Bought a nice fresh pork roast at the grocery for Sunday dinner and a supply of flypaper for the plague of flies at the house.
Later in the day we had a visit from Steve, Betty’s other son and his son, Steve, Jr. Betty rarely leaves the house now and is confined to her wheelchair and her oldest boy had a stroke last year, so the Steves came up from Texas to help out. All four of them, plus their friend Jeff, are living in Betty’s tiny one bedroom house. The two of them offered to help with the drywall and said they will lend a hand with the big fallen tree. Young Steve is 16 and learning to drive, a big kid with a curly black 'Fro (“The chicks love it dude.”) and a great disposition. Old Steve looks a bit like Willy Nelson, with all Willie’s habits as well. Seems I will be up to my ears in workers when I want them. Dan and I started to frame the French door and new sidelight on the porch. Looks really good. Dan took a late walk and had an encounter with a bow hunter. Bit of a dispute about whose land they were on and access to the grass lane, but all was resolved without bloodshed. A late night visit from Ken and jambalaya for supper.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2007 An absolutely gorgeous morning with a light breeze and we could just hear the church bells. The Claxton church is closest so perhaps it was their bell. Had a leisurely breakfast on the porch and putzed away the morning. By mid-afternoon, Dan and I had managed to finish hanging the French door from the living room to the porch and we put one of the old 6’ side lights next to it. Plenty of light in the living room and a bit more wall space as it’s a single, not a double door. We also closed in the end gable of the porch, which makes the house look somehow much more finished. Ken and Joyce came with their chainsaw, but it had spark plug problems, so the big oak is still arched over the yard and holding up the clean up. I cleared out the front bedroom and got most everything stowed away so we can start wiring. Placed the fireplace unit in the corner and it fits nicely near the window without taking up a lot of space. Dan, Ken and I took a long hard look at the fireplace in the living room and we decided I was losing a great deal of space in that huge chimney shaft. If we put in a beam, we can eliminate the bay partition and push the fireplace back into corner. I lose the utility closet but double the size of the bay and open up the living room visually. And we can floor over the upper shaft and add the space to the little bedroom upstairs. Maybe a low wardrobe closet with a big bunk on top in the upper shaft. If we put a tiny window in the side of the chimney shaft for light and air, it would be a great place. I will give it some thought. We had just finished supper (roast pork and root vegetables) when Jack and Cindy (Adrianna's tenants) came to visit. Heard all about their moving adventures. They are definitely HORSE people, big and rangy and can easily imagine Cindy jumping a six bar fence in full cry at the lead of the Quorn and Pytchley. Very very YOICKS!! About an hour after they left, young Steve arrived with Jack and Cindy’s 14 year old son, Dillon. Dillon is easily the biggest 14 year old boy I’ve ever seen. He could pass for 19, not only in size, but intelligence, manner and maturity. He’s home-schooled, very bright and a published poet. Dan and I will have to pull up our literary socks with Dillon around. He’s a bit like Tito too, full of mischief, a merry heart,and sardonic wit. The boys sat around playing cards and chatting until late as it was pouring down buckets of rain. Finally stopped about 11:30 and so to bed.
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