Friday, July 29, 2022

Time is flying.

William got up this morning. We had a little reminder talk. 'Eat your breakfast, and eat enough to hold you until lunch time, because the there will be nothing to eat until lunch.' 

So. He ate a good breakfast, a bowl of cereal and fruit. 

A couple weeks back, I went to GoodWill and picked up a half dozen pair of shorts for him, and as many matching shirts. Middle school is a time when brand names become important. I was able to find the 'good stuff'. I brought them home, tossed them in the wash. Today, he put on a pair of And1 shorts he hadn't worn yet, and thrust his hands in the pockets. He pulled something out and made a strange yelp. Someone had left a $10 bill in the pocket. 

That started the day off quite cheerfully, to be sure. 

We wanted to get up to the retirement property early before it got hellish hot. We skipped the showers, because I was going to be working in the garden. Tim was going to be brush hogging. William was going to help me. Much to my surprise, he did so quite cheerfully. He had two jobs: helping with the weeding and dropping Japanese beetles into a cup of gasoline. He did both things with gusto.

While we worked, we talked about changes, and how sometimes, a person might feel moody and angry and not quite sure why. We talked about ways to handle that. We talked about the need to go off alone sometimes to give yourself time to settle down. I felt like it was a productive discussion. 

My garden is looking so much better, and the plan is to go back up and stay over night Saturday night, through Tuesday night. If I get up and put four hours in my garden for those three days, I will have tamed the mighty weed patch. 

We left at noon to head off home for lunch. William ate. And ate. He ate more than Tim. There were no snacks this afternoon. We walked. He went to the playground. No meltdowns today. I promised him that I was going to sing this to him every time he fell apart. We serenaded him in the truck and he laughed like crazy.. 


I made the perfect baking power biscuits today. I learned how to make them flakey. I've always used softened butter. This recipe called for cold butter. I learned some neat tricks, and was happy at my results. Tim was too. 

After supper, I made up a dish of potatoes and creamed chicken in gravy along with a couple of those biscuits still warm from the oven and took them down to Jim, our newest tenant. He seems to be adapting quite well to life in town. His deck has been a wonderful comfort to him. He has plenty of wildlife to take pictures of, and he sees the bald eagle regularly. While we were leaning on his railing, watching the river roll by, two Amish came wading up the river fishing. They waved to Jim and he waved back. He mentioned that he saw them a few days back and they visited, them from the water, and him on his deck. 

He also mentioned that he wanted stairs to go down the embankment to the river so that he could do some fishing. He was going to hire a guy. "Jim," I said. "Let me explain to you about landlords..." We'll build him a flight of stairs. 

I'm so glad to see him content. 

This is liable to be a busy week for me. I'm headed back out to my son's house on Wednesday and will stay until the baby is born. 

Such a happy time. 


25 comments:

  1. Sounds like William got some good advice there. You are good landlords - we could do with more like you. Exciting times a-coming.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He is really such a laid back kid. These stubborn meltdowns are quite a change.

      Delete
  2. Sometimes we win. Sometimes we lose. You had good things going on today.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was an awfully nice day. A day to get things done in an unhurried way. The best kind of way.

      Delete
  3. A very nice read, Debby. Wow, $10! And speaking of 10, it's 10:30pm and you've got me hungry for that chicken & biscuits... PS I laughed out loud at that Hee Haw song, I haven't heard that in ages!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That discovery started the day off in a very nice way.

      Delete
  4. Not sure what you mean by " biscuits". Over here they are usually sweet treats, not something to have with chicken and gravy! What you call " cookies" I guess.
    I am glad that schoolkids here all wear uniform at school. The thought of having to buy fashionable clothes for the boys to go to school would have been too much!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Biscuits are basically what we call a 'quick bread'. It uses baking powder for leavening instead of yeast.

      Delete
  5. I also think of biscuits as sweet things.. usually covered in chocolate in my house so a definite "no" with chicken and gravy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The video I watched to learn the 'fold, cut, stack' method compared them to your scones. I don't know how accurate this is, really. The scone I had had raisins and clotted cream.

      Delete
    2. Mostly scones are plain, no fruit, so they are more like what you call biscuits. Our biscuits are your cookies.

      Delete
  6. Good days!
    Looks like you have a good tenant there, wish our landlord cared as much as you do!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We do have good tenants. We are lucky landlords.

      Delete
  7. That is such a nice thing to do for Jim. As we say here, he is on a good wicket.
    You've also set boundaries for William and you will continue to spoil him as long as respects your boundaries. I think children really need boundaries, in fact ultimately like them. Even better if they are clearly explained and why they are needed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He really is a good kid as far as that goes, but boundaries ARE important. When I was a kid, it was 'my house, my rules' sort of boundary making. I hate that. We try to present boundaries as a way for everyone to live together with minimal chaos. Boundaries benefit us all, not just the king.

      Delete
  8. I’m a sucker for baking powder biscuits smothered in creamed chicken or dried beef gravy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love it when you try something new and it works out perfectly...and these were so perfect.

      Delete
  9. My daughter recently shared a biscuit recipe with me that turned out perfectly for her (and vegan, at that!). Hers looked like something out of a magazine. I haven't tried them yet. I've always been told the butter should be as cold as possible when cutting into the flour.

    I haven't heard that song in AGES!

    -Kelly

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess I always just used the recipe on the back of the baking power can, which calls for softened butter. That song makes William laugh every time. He starts getting grumpy and I say...."Glooooooom, despaaaaaaair...." and he's howling.

      Delete
  10. Never heard of putting Japanese beetles in gasoline. Ewww. Guess that works better than the gory baiting catch bags. My Dad made biscuits like that; must give his recipe a look. Linda in Kansas

    ReplyDelete
  11. That the way we've always done it.

    ReplyDelete
  12. William is a fortunate fellow, and your care will pay off.

    ReplyDelete
  13. From your lips to God's ears.

    ReplyDelete
  14. He is lucky to have you to discuss his feelings with. My 4 year old grandson has been having meltdowns and tantrums. My son has been working with him to help him get control of himself and not get so upset when he doesn't get his way. My grandson told me that he has learned "1,2,3 take care of me" and that helps him calm down. I said I could use that too, when I get upset!

    ReplyDelete
  15. William is a good guy about to enter a terrible time of life (early teens). To say he is lucky to have you (and Tim) to help him navigate is an understatement.

    ReplyDelete

I'm glad you're here!

A Better Day

 First of all, I want to thank every single person who recommended 'Puckoon'. Oh my gosh. It has been a long time since I laughed so...