Suzy Says

Megan and I were not in a hurry to get home that sunny Saturday afternoon.

We had often driven past The Madrones, but never stopped in. We decided this was the day.

The Madrones, named for the tree, includes lodging, a spa, a charming shop or two, and a delightful restaurant, all located around a lovely courtyard:

In fact, it looks quite a lot like Italy:

The restaurant is in fact the same one that provided the sleepover pizza with its gossamer thin crust baked in a wood-fired oven. And because it’s the smallest of small towns, its owner and chef is the father of a friend’s child, which I learned afterwards. I’d love to have that pizza again.

Up next in our “always wanted to go there” tour was The Bewildered Pig. My epicurean friend and world traveler Richard recommended a gift certificate from there for Dr. Sue when she retired from the clinic, and we thought we could stop and have a look at the menu.

It turned out that the menu was not posted, but we were stunned by the beauty of the courtyard that welcomed us:

It just kept getting more beautiful as we looked around:

When I reached the wine barrel fountain:

I found Megan deep in conversation with a man in overalls, who turned out to be one of the owners and the creator of the fountains and the entire garden. He invited us into his office/workshop area, governed by two brother cats named Smith and Wesson and presided over by a bottle tree:

There was a gate made from vintage chains:

And an outdoor shower for when the day’s art and sculpture were done:

He let us into the restaurant and showed us a menu, telling us that the kitchen staff was all women. They use as much local food and wine as possible. In the evenings, the fire ring in the courtyard blazes with aromatic woods like cedar and Applewood, the perfect place for a glass of wine or two under the twinkling lights.

Before going on his way in a vintage truck, he snipped a Lady Emma Hamilton rose, removed its thorns, and handed it to me, asking us to return soon. I can’t wait. And it made my house smell divine for over a week!

A YEAR AGO: A look around another lovely garden a little closer to home.

FIVE YEARS AGO: Multi-tasking at the jobette: talking a walk and working at the same time!

TEN YEARS AGO: A surprising wake-up call.

Beautiful Downtown Boonville

When I woke up the next day, it gladdened my Grinchy heart to peek over the driftwood railings at Jessica, sleeping peacefully on the couch in her fuzzy skeleton PJs. I sneakily fed the cats and made coffee, following my usual weekend routine of drinking coffee in bed with the cats while reading and answering my fan mail.

Jessica awoke in due course, packed up her things and slipped into a little black dress:

She got it at a thrift shop – I think it’s a Calvin Klein. She is accessorized by a little black cat. Clyde goes with everything.

Megan, Erica, and I conferred by text and decided to meet up at Julie and Darius’ lovely emporium in the heart of Boonville for lunch. In my case, it was a BLT made with local bacon, greens, and heirloom tomatoes along with spicy sweet potato fries:

It was nice to sit in the shade at the wooden picnic table while enjoying the view:

After lunch, we poked around the shops. I was charmed by these shoes in an antique shop:

Unfortunately, they were too small to fit my wicked stepsister sized feet, and as usual, my head was too giant for the charming hats, once again making me wonder how my head can be so big when it only has to house two underemployed brain cells.

It was nice to meander around town together, and I have to admit it made me sad when we parted ways, knowing that the final parting is looming next month. I can feel the beating of its black wings.

A YEAR AGO: Storing the potatoes we grew. The storage did not turn out exactly as expected, due to the buckets of sand strongly resembling litterboxes in a house full of cats. Lesson learned.

FIVE YEARS AGO: Back home after a lovely trip to LA.

TEN YEARS AGO: Watching the catspat.

The first thing when planning a successful sleepover is to get the right assortment of snacks:

Salt and vinegar chips, Pringles, Starburst, Almond Roca thins (did you know those existed? If not, go and get some. You can thank me later) and Jessica’s favorite Whoppers pretty much covered all the bases as far as I was concerned.

I was planning to leave work a little early to pick up a pizza in the Village, but Erica said she would bring it from Stone & Embers in the Valley. She also brought some salad greens and a pear, so we had a lovely salad along with our delicious pizza:

Erica headed off after dinner, blasting K-pop in the Hagmobile since Jessica was staying overnight at Stately Suzy Manor. Jessica has a limited tolerance for really loud K-pop. Sometimes it seems like their roles are reversed, with Erica being the rebellious teenager and Jessica the tolerant mom. This usually happens much later in life, but Jessica has always been precocious.

I asked Jessica which movie she would like to watch from my vast library, and she asked for “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, saying, “I’ve never seen it, but I have a feeling it’s so you!” And so it is. We were enchanted with the legendary Audrey’s hair and wardrobe, as well as the vintage New York scenes. I would love a sleep mask and tasseled earplugs like Holly’s! During the party scene in Holly’s apartment, Jessica observed, “It looks like your place at Christmas or Thanksgiving!” She added that she would have preferred it if Holly did not have a romance with her neighbor, and I told her that was not in the book. She said, “I’ll have to read the book.” I am looking forward to introducing her to the inimitable Truman Capote and his remarkable way with words.

After that, we watched “Legally Blonde”. I have to admit that it’s one of my favorite movies and I consider it to be perfection of its kind. I never get tired of watching it, and like “Auntie Mame”, it always cheers me up.

Megan headed home after the second of our double features. It’s still weird that she no longer walks to her house through the secret path through the woods, but drives down the Ridge instead.

Jessica and I watched a couple of episodes of “Daria” after Megan left. I love Daria and her hilarious cynicism. I agree with Jessica that her mom is just like Jane Lane. And we both have a crush on Trent.

Eventually I made up a bed for Jessica on the couch, where she was joined by Clyde as she drew that day’s Inktober drawing before drifting off to sleep under the ancient quilt her mother had restored for me. Clyde is an excellent muse and sleeping companion. Those are hard to come by.

A YEAR AGO: Fires and quakes. All right here in our County.

FIVE YEARS AGO: Lots of travel. Those were the days.

TEN YEARS AGO: A close brush with jury duty.

One day as I stepped out of the shower*, my pearls slipped from around my neck to the bathroom floor.

After nearly 30 years of dedicated service, the string of pearls John gave me for my 30th birthday** had broken. It was time to get them restrung, but it’s times like this when you realize some of the drawbacks in living somewhere quite as Hootervillian as Hooterville.

I tried a couple of places and they couldn’t do it. I was beginning to consider Fed Exing the pearls to John in Civilization to see if he could get them restrung when I suddenly remembered our old family friend Chris, who has a jewelry shop in the Village. I texted him and he said that he and/or his wife could restring the pearls and add a new clasp.

So after work one day, I stopped by with my broken pearls. The shop is right above the bookstore, so the view is quite lovely:

and The Great Catsby occasionally deigns to pay a visit, bask in the sun, and allow himself to be admired.

It was great to see Chris again and catch up with each other’s news. We reminisced about the long ago days when my brother had croquet parties at his house and Jed the Wonder Dog was still with us. I realize we have known each other quite a long time.

So I left the pearls in good hands and headed home to the kitties, who were waiting for their treats and pets. Sadly for them, I am as bad a cat maid as I would have been a mother, because I fed them and then heartlessly vanished again.

Our favorite seaside bar was about to close for a month, so Megan and I decided that we should squeeze in another drink or two there while we could. We were warmly greeted by the wonderful bartender, and it was a beautiful sunset:

made all the more beautiful by the addition of a lavender lemon drop:

We are so lucky to have such a wonderful place right in our backyard.

*Pearls enjoy being worn in the shower. It’s good for their luster.

**And to think I thought I was old then! Also, John had good taste in jewelry. I still wear a lot of the pieces he gave me over the 15 years of our marriage. Like the fabulous Zsa Zsa, I lost the guy but kept the bling.

A YEAR AGO: The terrible wildfires were blazing. It was a terrifying time.

FIVE YEARS AGO: An adventurous trip to the vet with the Imperious Audrey. Is there any other kind?

TEN YEARS AGO: Back to reality after the glamorous joys of staying at a grand hotel in Pasadena.

Other than the Case of the Missing Landlord* and the plumbing mutiny, here’s what’s been happening in and around Stately Suzy Manor.

The Epic Dental Safari: I went to see my dentist after the hell of the root canal. It was supposed to be for a minor surface filling and to get the night guard**, but he decided to permanently seal the root canaled tooth first. As I now know, it’s never good when they talk about opening up the tooth and get that fascinated look on their faces. Also there is not enough nitrous oxide in the world to make it less unpleasant. Basically it was a mini root canal, as he took out the temporary filling and posts (who knew?) and replaced them with permanent versions while complimenting his colleague’s work. I will still have to get a crown in the new year when I get a whole new batch of dental benefits.

Speaking of which, the HR person was able to reduce my root canal bill by $200, which was a delightful surprise. Also, I learned that the pharmacy had been charging me incorrectly for the past few years, apparently not realizing that I have insurance. So I got a refund for the difference in cost for the antibiotics this month and will only have to pay $15 a pop going forward. So things are looking up in the dental and medical departments.

Dodge City: Little Dodge is flourishing. He now has a complete covering of fur all over his body, including his no longer rat-like but still very long tail. He is significantly less skeletal as well. He is enjoying his new lifestyle of constantly available food and water, daily treats, and lounging on the bed, which is his favorite place. He is both handsome and happy, which gladdens my Grinchy little heart. Here he is, hanging out on top of the armoire (aka Audrey’s throne):

I’m still keeping him inside. He doesn’t seem to have much interest in the Wide World. Perhaps, like Henry Etta, he knows that no good comes of it and being inside is safer, warmer, and an all-around better place to be. Clyde continues his lack of interest in playing outside, and even the imperious Audrey hasn’t bothered with her early morning constitutional lately. Maybe Dodge will just stay an inside cat. I can revisit it when the weather warms up next year. By then, he will definitely know where he lives.

Dodge and Clyde have started playing together. I have seen them touch noses and even give each other little baths:

so they are on the road to friendship. Naturally, Audrey regards them both with the same disdain she applies to everyone. The empress is egalitarian that way.

*Where’s Nancy Drew and her blue convertible when you need her? As Marilyn approvingly observed in “:Northern Exposure”, “She’s competent.” Unlike me.

**He did have time to do those things, too. So far I have not been able to get used to the night guard, which makes me nauseous in addition to its general lack of comfort.

A YEAR AGO: A peek at the eccentric local message boards.

FIVE YEARS AGO: Heading home from San Francisco.

TEN YEARS AGO: Hanging out in Pasadena.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always broken up with (or been broken up with) in person. Maybe it’s old school, but there’s never been a Post-It or ghosting involved.

Until now.

One day, I discovered that my landlord Mark and his wife Citlali had suddenly decamped to Southern California somewhere. They took everything in their greenhouses, but left their dogs behind with Citlali’s sister, Catrin, and her husband, Zac, who live in my brother’s former abode at the very end of the property. The dogs and I have greeted this somewhat shocking development with equal enthusiasm, though there was less barking in my case. At least on the outside.

Of course, pretty much the minute there was no landlord on the premises, things started Going Wrong.

I came home one day to find that the toilet had gone on strike in the sudden and definitive manner of French civil servants. I gazed at the errant fixture with dismay and trepidation before calling my long-suffering brother-in-law Rob, who has undoubtedly begun to feel that he and Megan did not move far enough away.

Rob turned up almost immediately and coaxed the commode into working order once more. But this wasn’t the end of the plumbing adventures.

Last weekend, no water came out of the taps. This was surprising, since our well has never run out of water, no matter how droughty the drought got. The guy who has moved into Megan and Rob’s house investigated all day to no avail, leaving the pump turned off overnight and notifying me that the 2,000 gallon water tank was unaccountably empty.

There’s nothing like not having water to peel off the thin veneer of civilization in a hurry. Dishes piled up in the sink, grooming was a challenge (OK, it was non-existent), and I was thankful that I had buckets of water to flush the non-operational facilities.

The next day, there was no further news or information, so once again I resorted to Dial-A-Rob, with its excellent service. It didn’t take him long to discover that the problem was that whoever was working on the front house renovation left the hose going and that had drained the tank. While stupid, it was also the easiest possible fix. Rob turned it off and before long, both water and my slightly shopworn veneer of ersatz civilization were restored. I really don’t know what I’d do without Rob, though I bet he’d like to know.

We have been getting some early season rain over the past few days, and I was sorry to see that it was not staying outside. I seem to have new leaks this year, including one over the couch. I wonder if I can get someone other than Rob to fix it?

A YEAR AGO: Mark was still around and working on the property. Those were the days.

FIVE YEARS AGO: My divorce became final. Also the legendary Tom Petty died a year ago today. Such a festive time of year.

TEN YEARS AGO: I had plumbing problems then, too.