Soar-Dream-France

Sharing a Slider or Two

 

White Castle has never been on my list of "must" eats when I'm back in the states, but the rest of my siblings love it and always make a special point to go and have a "slider" or two when they are in St. Louis. Although I initially resisted White Castle and shopping with Jim, Joan and Kat; I had a change of heart and found myself sharing a 2 double cheese burger slider meal with Joan. Splitting it was definitely a good decision-we each got one and shared the fries.

But, it was about family and not the food. We had a good time all the way around. Jim and Joan had come in from Kansas City to see me. That means a lot to me because it's difficult for me to get very far afield from St. Louis or New Orleans when I come to visit. I particularly love this shot of Jim under the poster with the millions of tiny White Castles on the walls. Thanks to Jim, Joan and Kat for making White Castle memories with me!

Breakfast Time

Hanging out across the street with Michel and André comes with my own contingent of 4-legged nieces and nephews. "Aunt Laury" has Buster, Claude and Molly to keep me company when the guys are off to work. Our outside guy was waiting at this door when I came over this morning. Isn't that an "I'm ready for my breakfast, and you're late" look if you ever saw one. He has obviously gotten used to the work schedule when everyone is up and out early! It didn't take much...André was out with breakfast as soon as I let him know their guy was waiting. No name yet, but you never know! Happy Sunday-I'm on my way tomorrow morning so I'll be enroute...be back when I'm back in France!

Flaming Memories-Spiro's Greek Restaurant

Somewhere between college and graduate school, and then again for a short period after graduate school; I was a waitress at Spiro's Greek Restaurant on Natural Bridge in St. Louis. Two of the skills that I learned there that I'm still very proud of today are tossing and serving the best Greek Salad in the world with one hand and flaming the Saganaki at the table without burning down the place. I always try to go back and get my fix of my favorites, see old friends and hug Spiro and Barbara if they're there. So when Fran Reed-Bauer, a friend from grade school, junior high and high school came in to see me: I knew we had to go to Spiro's.  We had fun, flames, friends, salad and big hugs for Spiro and Barbara. I'm already looking forward to the next visit! Happy Friday!

My Guys-St.Louis

Whenever I'm in the states, I realize what an incredible pack of friends I have here. No matter where I go, I have friends who love me, support me, find work for me, and make living this life I lead easier at all levels. It works. Back at Michel and André's across the street from my folks, Buster is supervising again. There's a nice red, corkscrew and wine glass waiting for me on the counter...with a back up red just in case, and a note that there is St. André cheese waiting for me in the frige. Wine and weeds don't quite go together, but I sure like feeling like a Queen! And, I do! Huge Merci to Michel, André, Buster, the rest of their gang, and my wonderful pack of friends and family all over the states!

Celebrating Mom

As this trip was being planned, getting to St.Louis to spend Mother's Day with Mom was on the top of my list. It was doable, but meant a 4am Sunday morning rental car gas up and return to catch the 6am flight to Dallas and then on to St.Louis to arrive at noon. Kat, Tom, Dad and I celebrated Mom well on Sunday...BarBQ, tasty sweet treats, flowers and cards from all over. Since Mom spends most of her time taking care of my Dad, she rarely gets dressed up. Mother's Day was her day and she decided it was going to be different...she got out this beautiful yellow dress with her pearls and she was just beautiful. It brought a smile to my face, and we had fun. So one more Happy Mother's Day to Mom...we've moved on to picking grass out of the cracks in the bricks in the drive, but then she's always been a Mom for all seasons!

Lunching in the Sculpture Garden

It doesn't seem to matter one bit how much my life has changed, I continue to be a creature of habit. My friend Barbara and I began having lunch in the Sculpture Garden in City Park on my visits. I love it. We continued the tradition yesterday when she came over from work to meet me there. We've been able to squeeze in a little more time than usual, so it's been fun for me. We found someone to take our picture and ran into our friend Pam who is a Director for all Seasons. We laughed together as she came around the corner with the blower! One of the wonderful things about living in New Orleans is that you are always running into people you know. And maybe the next most wonderful thing is all the hugs and kisses that follow! It's a treat!

Lucille and Me

Every time I come back to New Orleans, I stop in at the Monteleone Hotel to see if Lucille is working. The last couple visits my timing was off, and once the whole place was closed for renovation. Running from City Hall down to the Whitney in the Quarter on Monday,  I stopped in and found her. I really couldn't stay but promised to come back on Tuesday morning and have coffee at her table like I used to do. When my friend Keith lived in New Orleans, we spent almost every Friday morning at the Monteleone at Lucille's table having coffee. It felt like we had a head start on the weekend. We love Lucille. Keith is in Lafayette now and I'm in France, but we all still try to get together when we're in town.

Lucille and I had so much fun. I sat and did what I always do on my own there, drink my coffee, write in my journal and shoot a few shots. We of course traded storm stories-everyone has them. I sat and watched Lucille do what she does...a true professional. I thought about how both of our lives had changed, but isn't it wonderful that she can still be a part of mine. I had this overwhelming sense of: such a wonderful life you had here, but then you would have a wonderful life wherever you are. I shared those feelings with Lucille and we agreed. We are moving on. We're facing the change. And, even though we may not get to see each other every week like we used to do...we'll be happy to see each other when we can and enjoy it just as much, because we are always in each other's hearts. Love to Lucille-Always

Working Around the Fest

A quick hello to say I'm back and I made it to New Orleans safe and sound. Yesterday with a neighborhood full of Jazz Festers, I made my way around to see friends in the hood, have coffee, and "make groceries"! This magnolia grabbed me as I was on my way down Grand Route St. John to do my errands. I discovered I have easy internet connectivity here on Columbus Street so that was a nice surprise. Between breakfast with Ron, and wine and cheese with Barbara and Frank tonight...it'll be a Fest day with Carol that starts with the Red Stick Ramblers and ends with the Neville Brothers. I don't think it gets much better than that. Happy Festing!

Wagon Wine Time-Ode to a Lawnmower

Some of my very best ideas seem to come when I'm cutting the grass. I was on the last leg of grass cutting today, turns out it was my lawnmower's last leg too. This is not an easy parcel to cut under the best of circumstances, so with the high grass, tough weeds, hills, holes, stones, wet, and nettles...it just gave up. Fortunately, not before the "musts" of cutting had been finished.

You could hear everyone cutting their grass after the rain, Evelyn too. Over by the wagon, I was thinking we should have a hooray the grass is cut wine here later. It was my last night before I leave tomorrow-so at 5pm, Evelyn and Lucie, Jean, and Dali and I met at the wagon to have a little wine and cheese. Although I frequently sit out there alone with my coffee in the mornings, this was the first time to have an intimate gathering of friends. With the rushing lavoir, good friends, and a feeling of tucked in a safe place back in the corner; we agreed it was a sweet, relaxing way to spend a last evening before a departure. I'm often asked why I leave. I wouldn't if I didn't have to, but what joy in the coming home.

 

 

 

Pear Popping

I've made no secret of my "breakfasting" menu here-fromage, fruit and walnuts every morning. It's usually a slice of camembert (Rustique of course), a slice of brie, apples or pears (in various colors) and my very own walnuts! Remembering my apple corer/slicer from the good old days in New Orleans, I began searching around for something that I could use here. The cores are the problems with the apples and the pears, not the slicing.

I found this protective tube from my candy thermometer and tried it out on the apples. It worked pretty well, but wasn't easy...I had to dig the stuff out of the tube and it was just too much trouble. I expected the pears to be just as bad or worse. Imagine my excitement when the pear core popped out of the tube and went sailing off into unknown parts of the Chatette. I'm a big kid. I giggle and laugh every time. You should hear it! It reminds me of those old pop guns my brothers used to have when we were kids. I've now got a regular tool kit for my morning petit dejeuner...pear popping candy thermometer protecter, hammer to walnuts, and Babar spoon to stir coffee and scoop up all the ooey gooey cheese. I never thought that breakfast could be this fun. Wishing you lots of fun breakfast discoveries of your own!