St. Rita Square Remembers

 May 30, 2023

We gathered in the Cannoli Room to remember the thirteen residents that died the past year.

Tyler Palzkill welcomed us followed by Abby Syverson reading a poem.  We sang "Amazing Grace" accompanied by Jim Szantor on his clarinet.  Chaplain Jeremy Bryan talked about our perception of death and resurrection.  Another member of the staff read an excerpt from Ecclesiastes (3:1-8).  We observed silence after the names of the thirteen deceased were read.

Some of us remembered something special about any of these people; I mentioned Donald Wescher's outgoing nature.  Teffiny talked about Jason, our cook who died suddenly, and how much she missed him.  I told the group about the great website I discovered, findagravesite.com that helped me find my brother.  

As we concluded I approached a woman and a young lady asking who they were.  The woman said she was Jason's mother and the young lady was Jason's daughter.  I told them that I made the shawl that they received.  I was very happy to learn how much they appreciated and loved the shawl, especially Jason's favorite color, purple.

We helped ourselves to sandwiches, salad, pastries and soft beverages that we took into the trattoria. 

Memorial Day, 2023

 May 29, 2023

We declined Anita Kuchler's invitation for a Memorial Day get-together, and we could not attend the SRS cook-out, because we accepted an invitation from Peter's cousin, Wally Stefan and his wife Elaine.  My GPS was acting out-of-sorts trying to find the address; I thought Peter had it wrong.  We headed towards Mequon, but to make certain we would get there, I called Wally who said a GPS has difficulty finding his house because it is set back from the road.  Once we got to Pioneer Road we turned west, but that didn't seem right.  Another call got us going east instead, and Wally was waiting for us by the side of the road.  It was a long drive to his home on a dirt road.

Wally and Elaine have a beautiful home on a very large tract of land where we sat with beers while enjoying a gentle breeze.  Wally grilled hamburgers and pork chops that we put together indoors with other additions.  The watermelon was refreshing.  Elaine and I had a chance to talk, mostly about family, while Peter had an opportunity to examine all of Wally's equipment.  Peter was impressed with all the equipment kept in the garage and a very huge outbuilding.

It was still early enough to do something else, and Peter suggested Estbrook Park.  As we drove, I changed our direction to von Rothenburg.  We could have gotten there much quicker from Wally's house, but we had a pleasant drive.

Peter put down a tablecloth and got our cold steins filled with beer.  There was no live music or food service, but we enjoyed just sitting and enjoying the day.  Our tablecloth was an invitation for Dave to join us as we shared travel, beer and people stories.  I am amazed how complete strangers can have so much in common.

As we were driving home Peter complained about a pain in his toe.  Google seemed to think it was gout.  I hope he gets relief soon.

Vagabond Picnic

Sunday, May 28, 2023    

I planned to get subs from Gold Coast subs, but they were closed.  I got the subs from Subway on 60th Street south of Oklahoma.

We had a perfect day for our picnic at Whitnall Park.  Peter brought Helen Hankwitz, and then he joined the hikers.  It was great seeing people that we haven't seen for quite a while.

By the time the hikers returned we were ready for our lunches and the dishes that were contributed.  Our numbers increased considerably with the hikers and others that joined later.  My rhubarb crisp got polished off with two pieces for me to take home.

Rhubarb

 Saturday, May 27, 2023

I hoped to find fresh rhubarb at the Walmart on Capitol Drive, but there was none. I got my other groceries, then drove to the Fondy Farmers Market, thinking I'd have better luck.  It was a far cry from a farmers market - mostly gaudy merchandise.

My next bet was the West Allis Farmers Market, but I was pretty early for the 1:00 p.m. opening.  A cup of coffee would kill some time, but the Beecher Street Cheese Market was packed.  I was surprised to see the upgrade with a beautiful pergola and outdoor seating.  I will definitely keep that in mind for a less busy time.  Back to the WA market, but it still wasn't open.  

As a last resort I went back to my own neighborhood to Fresh Thyme, which I should have gone in the first place, with my gift card besides.  All the rhubarb I wanted!

I made a large rhubarb crisp for the Vagabond picnic tomorrow.

Meet and Greet

Friday, May 26, 2023 

We had a very nice turnout to get to know each other when we gathered at 1:00 p.m. on the Piazza.  It was sunny, but jackets and sweaters added to our comfort.

Abby served snacks of cheese and crackers, taco dip, cookies and cupcakes, plus juice and water.

We mingled and found out more about our fellow residents.  Most I already knew from interacting in other activities.

Peter and I went to Estebrook Beer Garden and found a table in the shade, which was uncomfortably chilly.  Once we moved to a sunny table, it made a big difference.  A duo played at about 5:00 p.m. and we enjoyed cold steins of beer with a hot dog for me and a lanjaeger for Peter, plus chips.  Peter was disappointed because the lanjaeger was just a cold link of sausage.  To stretch out our evening we had another beer with a large pretzel.  The clarinetist joined us during his break and we had a pleasant conversation.

We left when the music stopped at 8:00 p.m.

Origami and Grandmothers of Uganda

Monday, May 22, 2023 

Today Cookie Anderson led a group of us fold origami butterflies that Bruce and Terry Wiggins want to use when they celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on June 10.  Terry used colorful calendar pages which were more difficult to fold but put paper to another use.  I used a glue gun to attach a tiny flap that held it together.

The Garden Club met at 1:30 p.m. to finalize plans for modifying the planters, which Dwight Morgan will be in charge of; Eleanor Harris and I will buy plants for the planters, and others will be in charge of the planter boxes and tower.

A few people organized a fundraiser to support Grandmothers in Uganda. 

https://immysafricancuisine.com/  We pre-ordered meals that Jon Bales, Marilyn Minor and Eleanor Harris picked up which we ate in the Trattoria.  We do not have meal service on Mondays, so this worked out very well.  Leon Todd, Brunetta Soward, Marilyn Minor and Brunetta's daughter dressed in African attire.

There was a choice of vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals, each bundled in separate bags.  My non-vegetarian bag contained an egg roll, plantains, potato puffs, containers of curry rice, beef, and chicken.  There were many flavorful comments from both the vegetarian and non-vegetarian selections, with plenty of food to take to our apartments for another meal.  

I hope that the lady who delivered our meals can come back to give a presentation on the history of the Grandmothers of Uganda.

St. Rita Feast Day, Duck Dinner at J & L's

Sunday, May 21 2023

Today is the feast day of St. Rita of Cascia, the patron saint of St. Rita Parish.  After the 10:30 mass yesterday, we gathered in the church hall for a buffet of ham, rolls, potato salad, fruit cup, cookies, chips and beverage.  Many of the usual after-mass group did not come down and didn't know what they missed.

I was invited to Jay and Laura's for a duck dinner that Jay was preparing.  Laura and I watched "Vera" while Jay worked in the kitchen.  I was expecting roast duck and could not imagine a duck would roast in the 10 minutes Jay had allowed.  But it was not a roast duck, but duck breast medallions on a honey butter sauce with roasted carrots and a sauce for dipping.  The crusty bread did not need butter but could soak up that delicious honey butter.  We had wonderful conversation about Jay's recent trip with Brad to Eli, MN, to work on a National Forest building, plus other topics of interest.

 

Lunch With Janice/Maifest

 Friday, May 19, 2023

It was fun tracking Janice's driving progress as she was coming to SRS.  She arrived at noon with her bag of lunch.  It was a very pleasant day, so we set our places on the balcony and enjoyed a very tasty chili with saltine crackers (butter with mine), chocolate pudding and refreshing cranberry juice.

Janice had so much to say about the special beans she uses, plus other ingredients, especially the chocolate that was not included in the recipe.

For Mother's Day Brad and Janice gave me some on-line meals that she ordered and we will share.

Charles Vinson is moving from the first floor to the room across from me.  He said he would like more privacy.

Peter picked me up at 4:00 p.m. for a drive to Maifest in Germantown.  We were very early and got the pick of any table in the gigantic tent.  Peter wanted to go on Friday because he wanted to meet up with his relative Wally.  The Wunder-Bars were playing and I had a hot (warm) dog and potato salad, Peter a bratwurst.  Peter had our steins and we went to get them filled with German beer. I was charged $30 for the two steins.  Peter was outraged and continued to complain when he sat down.  While he was getting his brat a man told me that the bartender wanted to see me.  The bartender said he made a mistake and my "husband" and I could each have another refill of our steins.

Wally came at 6:00 p.m. and he and Peter had a very nice visit.  Then Bella Cain, the featured band, came on with very loud music.  I could understand why there was a $10 cover charge for anyone coming in after 6:30.  This band drew a large crowd, but the music was not for us.

Planting in the Piazza

Thursday,  May 18, 2023.

Eleanor and I drove to Bayside Gardens to pick up plants for the Piazza.  We took the route on Lake Drive to avoid road closures and got directly into Bayside.  Our calculations were for nine planters that Dwight Morgan lined with landscape fabric, eliminating the double boxes.  We bought nine Mexican feather grasses, two flats+ of zinnias, and veggies for the tower and boxes. We had tomato towers on our list, but thought we could get them cheaper at Home Depot.  We got back past noon and decided to plant at about 4:00 p.m. instead of  the announced 2:00.

I distributed the plants among the boxes and discovered that we had one Mexican feather grass left over.  We miscounted the planter boxes!  I really would have liked a feather grass for my balcony.  After the planting was done, Eleanor said that I should take the extra one.

Once I planted it, I decided that I could really use one more to even out the center.  Dwight wanted to know more about the grasses and said that he was going to Bayside to pick some up.  He picked one more for me, and now my planting is complete (I hope!)

Planting in the Piazza

Monday, May 15, 2022

Eleanor Harris and I ordered marigolds and salvia from Capri Plants that were delivered on Saturday.  Eleanor bought Bacopa plants at Bayside gardens today.  We announced that anyone wanting to help plant could gather at 4:00 p.m. to assist us planting.  Eleanor and I met beforehand to determine the placement of the plants.  We were joined by Jacob Smith, Lenore Lee, Marilyn Minor and Barbara Todd.  We filled the planter boxes, then planted a flat of salvia among the shrubbery in the raised bed on the street side next to the piazza.

Finances, Head Start With Planting

 Monday, May 15, 2023

I started the day at Educators Credit Union to transfer my money from High Yield to Super Yield for a better rate.

Next, I drove to Wayne's Daughters Nursery for plants.  It was a perfect day: not too warm, after Mother's Day and before Memorial Day, so there was a very nice selection.  I did not find Mexican Feather Grass, but I'll use snapdragons for height.  When I got home I filled the planters with the soil that I saved from last year and made quite a mess on the balcony.  I planted two Sunsugar tomatoes, two dragon wing begonias and a mint plant before sweeping up the mess.  I'll save the rest for the next couple of days.  I was pretty tired.

But I managed to get to Happy Hour with a lot of people.

Mother's Day 2023

 Sunday, May 14, 2023

Today Donald would have been 86 years old.

Laura hosted Mother's Day without Jay and Brad who were working on some National Parks housing project in Eli, MN.  Anton was a very capable co-host.  Annika was missing also because she was working at Char'd, which is very understandable.

Janice provided plenty of appetizers to tide us over until Laura's dinner of lasagna, salad and garlic toast.  Sorbet with assorted cookies was a refreshing dessert.

Laura and Jay gave me a certificate for a dinner at Buttermint and an orchid.  Claude gave me an Asiatic lily that I'll pot on my balcony, also an Amazon gift card; Brad and Janice gave me a food selection like they did previously. 

MARTA Scholarship Luncheon

Monday, May 8, 2023

Not as nice weather as yesterday's summery day; rainy and chilly.

Peter and I sat with Chuck and Bonnie at the luncheon with Leon and Debra, plus another gentleman next to Peter.  Peter's pork chop was very small and dry; my chicken breast was dry also.

Five seniors received $3000 each to further their pursuit of degrees in education.  One of them named Annika (center) will be going to  Lawrence.  I told her that she will love Lawrence and wished her good luck.

Austrian Club Meeting, vonRothenburg with Steve and Karen

 Sunday, May 7, 2023

Austrian Club meetings have been permanently changed to the first Sundays of the month and we met on a beautiful sunny, warm day, almost too nice to be indoors.  Unfortunately, attendance wasn't that good.  Peter was happy to announce that he recovered a number of the club's items from Doug Scott's garage: Christmas song books, a large plaque with each region's coat of arms and flag pole stands.

Peter picked up an item from Karl's Meat Market before heading to the Von Rotthenburg Bier Stube.  As we sat down to order, our waitress informed us that our beers were being paid for by some gentleman who is a police officer.  Peter did not know him, but probably Peter's Tyrol hat caught the man's attention.  We enjoyed our beers in the cooled steins Peter carried and made plans for our next German celebration.  I mentioned the fest we attended where we met a nice couple, but Peter said that was in West Bend.  Not too much time elapsed when Steve and Karen joined us!  We enjoyed our reunion and I was able to read the blog that I wrote from our previous meeting.

https://mzientek.blogspot.com/2022/08/west-bend-germanfest.html

Peter really had the day planned to include fajitas at Su Casa, with margaritas.  The filling for the fajitas was not as large as we remembered, but enough to fill a double order minus one of tortillas.

When we got to Peter's house he put back my floor mats from the trunk after my car detailing.