Summer vacation in California Montecito by Ann Wood part 12
January began with exams for Michelle, as it was the end of the term, and they formed their grades for the term. Michelle studied around the clock to get excellent grades.Annabelle was also busy checking tests and classwork, as well as the magazine.
Cynthia worked from home because she wasn't feeling well. Most of the time, she rested or interviewed online. And he took care of the household when the servants were not at work.
Today they would travel to the house by the lake for the weekend. Cynthia packed her bags, and when the girls returned from school, they had a quick lunch and set off. They usually traveled for the season; when they arrived, it was five in the afternoon. They were the first to arrive, unpacked the car, and settled into their rooms. They lit the fireplaces, and then Cynthia and Annabelle set about making dinner. Since it's Friday, they decided to make fish and potato salad and french fries with fish meatballs for the children. For dessert, they made milk with rice and cinnamon.
About seven and the other three families came. After unloading their luggage and catching a cold, they all sat down to dinner in the dining room. During dinner, they talked and listened to the radio. They let it snow at nine in the evening and intensify at night. A storm was even expected, and perhaps the roads would be closed. After dinner, two of the men went to the village to get provisions to have for at least a week. And Bobbie and Melanie went to collect firewood from the forest and cut it down.
The women inspected the provisions in the house and pulled out more thick blankets. They held the fireplaces with wood and put seals on the windows and doors. The children were playing by the fireplace in the living room, and Michelle was reading them stories. At half-past eight, Paul's car stopped in front of the house. He and his sister were on their way to a nearby town when their car ran out of gas just before the village. They saw Marcus and Harry and asked them if they could stay with them in the house. Marcus gave them enough gasoline to take from the farmer to get to the house. And he continued to load the car with provisions.
Cynthia quickly made them fish and had leftover salad, and they sat down to dinner. Mrs. Smith thanked them for their hospitality and that if it weren't for the approaching snow and storm, they would be out in the cold.
The men went home and unloaded the car with the provisions, and put everything in the house. After a while, Melanie and Bobbie returned home, filling the pickup with wood. Paul came out to help unload and chop the wood. Melanie came in to warm herself because her hands were frozen. They had just harvested the last of the firewood when it snowed.
They put the children to sleep and watched a movie until one at night. A storm came out, as forecasters had predicted, and the snow intensified as well.
In the morning, when they got up, it was covered with snow. They had breakfast and then went out to clear the paths in the yard. The children made a snowman and played outside with the dogs. Michelle wrote her homework and then played the piano. It was still snowing outside, and a state of emergency was raging, and the schools would be closed until the storm passed and the roads became passable. It was 0C outside, and temperatures were expected to drop to minus 2C. They went inside warm and made tea. It was going to be a very long weekend and a week. They watched TV and played monopoly. The women prepared a spaghetti bolognese lunch with garlic bread and salad. There was also homemade chicken soup and pancakes for dessert. In the afternoon, they made a French country cake with vanilla cream and walnuts. The children watched Disney movies for children, and the men played bridge. It was still snowing outside. The children enjoyed the accumulated snow. For dinner, they had made a rabbit stew with mashed potatoes. They had dinner at seven and then watched movies. They put the children to bed at nine, and they went to bed at midnight. It was still snowing when they went to bed outside, but not so hard.
On Sunday morning, the snow had subsided but had not completely stopped. The roads were closed, and they remained on the lake until the weather cleared. They had breakfast, and then the men brought more firewood and went hunting in the forest. They planned to provide games for Sunday dinner. The women and children stayed at home watching TV. For lunch, there was soup, and they made sausages with baked potatoes. For the salad, they cut sauerkraut with red pepper and oil. The men returned to one and brought a good catch. They killed ten wild ducks, ten partridges, ten quails, ten pheasants, and three rabbits. At lunch, they cleaned the game and began marinating it. For dinner, they roasted three pheasants and three wild ducks. The other meat was put in the fridge the next day, and they would make a barbecue with part of it and cook the rest in stew or casserole.
The children wanted to play outside in the snow, and Michele helped them put on their thick jackets and put on their scarves, gloves, and hats. They put on their boots and went out into the yard to play. It was freezing outside. For less than an hour, they called the children home and made them hot chocolate with cookies. They brought out various games and tried to entertain the children. The afternoon was spent playing games and having fun, and in the evening, after eating, they watched movies and went to bed early.
The week passed, the snow began to melt on Friday at noon, and they stayed until the end of the weekend on the lake. On Monday, the schools would open, and everything would return to normal.
On Sunday afternoon, after eating, they said goodbye to the others and left for the city. Paul called around eight in the evening to say that they had returned safely and would see them the next day. He wished them good night and closed the line. Annabelle then had a conference call with their parents and Cynthia's sons. They talked for almost an hour and a half and told them about the snowstorm. Then Annabelle prepared their clothes for the morning and then went to bed.
January was over, and February was expected to be cold, too. They were busy with work and school. During the weekend, they stayed in the city because they were busy with charity dinners and lunches. Annabelle began writing a new book, and her second book would be published in March. February passed quickly, and they were busy with work and activities. Michelle was preparing for the Easter celebration in April. March came. Annabelle's book was published and sold a lot. Annabelle did several interviews for her new book.
Cynthia's sons decided to visit them for a few days in March. This time they would fly to America. They would be with their girlfriends.
Annabelle had invited her friend from Australia with her boyfriend for a few days. They arrived on the same day as Cynthia's sons.
They prepared their rooms and put fresh flowers all over the house. They went to the airport to greet the guests with both cars.
Annabelle had ordered pheasants and wild ducks from the farmers' market. They would bake them in the oven with potatoes and root vegetables. They would stew a mix of peas, green beans, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and asparagus for garnish. They will make a country salad and soup from roasted red peppers and tomatoes.
The two flights landed on time and were all at the exit for overtaking passengers.
They loaded their luggage and headed home, stopping to buy some things for dinner on the way. They accommodated the guests in their rooms and then had a light lunch and tea when they returned. At lunch, they went to the inner pool, where they rested on sunbeds and later swam.
At five, they went in to change and died before dinner at seven.
At seven o'clock, everyone sat down, and dinner was served. They started with a soup of roasted peppers and tomatoes, followed by fried octopus and squid. Then oven pheasant with potatoes and root vegetables and wild duck stuffed with rice and felled almonds rustic salad and stewed vegetables. They had the right wine for each dish. For dessert, they had taken an eclair cake with vanilla ice cream and fresh fruit. After the gala dinner they made, they retired to the living room, where they drank cognac and mixed it with roasted nuts. They watched a movie and went to bed early.
They had taken a few days off to be with their guests. The next day, when they got up, they had breakfast and then prepared to go out. They went to the mall where they shopped and watched a movie at the cinema. After the film, they had lunch at the mall and then visited several art galleries. In the evening they went to the opera and had dinner at the opera restaurant. It was eleven o'clock when they returned. They watched a TV show and then went to bed.
The next day they visited the museums in the city and had lunch at Mario's pizzeria. In the afternoon they went shopping and went home. They would have guests in the evening. They had taken seafood and several species of fish, octopus, and squid, as well as large mussels. They made fish soup and put some of the seafood in it. The rest of the seafood they cooked and breaded some of them and made a salad out of the others. The octopus and squid were boiled and then breaded, and the fish was fried. And they made the tuna and salmon steaks on the grill. They made potato salad and ripe bean salad. For dessert, Cynthia made a berry pie and vanilla cream, and brandy sauce.
Paul and his sister, also Annabelle's publisher, and several newspaper colleagues had been invited. The evening went according to plan with a lot of good food and dancing, there were party games, and finally, they watched a concert of Metallica on TV. The guests left shortly after midnight, and the hosts went to bed.
The week they were passed in a lot of fun and visits to museums, galleries, and shopping. On Monday, their guests left, and they returned to work and school.
The days leading up to the end of March passed quickly, and April came. They decorated the house for Easter and prepared for their guests for the holidays.
On the 11th, their parents overtook them, as did Cynthia's sons and their girlfriends, and they would stay until April 25th. They met them at the airport, the two flights were on time, and they were waiting for them at the exit for the arriving passengers, and then they returned home. They had lunch, and then their guests went to bed to rest from the flight. Annabelle and Cynthia had been working from home these days, and Michelle was studying online. In the evening, they went out to dinner at Mario's pizzeria. And then they went to the movies in the mall. They watched Jesus, and they really liked the movie. It was midnight when they returned. They chased each other and fell asleep quickly.
The next day they kneaded Easter cakes with different fillings. They also made cookies, baklava with Turkish delight, and ground walnuts. And also a cake. In the evening, they made spaghetti bolognese with mushroom sauce. And after dinner they watched movies. They went to bed at eleven, so they were tired. The next day they went to the village by the lake and ordered two lambs for Easter. They bought some cartons of fresh eggs from the farmer and milk, yellow cheese and cheese, butter, yogurt, and cottage cheese for pie. On the 16th, they would go to get the lambs. They had lunch at the village pub, where they ordered rabbit stew and a duck casserole. When they returned, it was three in the afternoon, and they unloaded the cars and put the food in the refrigerators. They spent the rest of the day playing and having fun. They ordered Indian cuisine for dinner: Lamb biryani, lamb, and chicken tikka masala curry with rice, lamb, and chicken shish kebab. Indian nan brad and chapati. For pudding, they order Indian sweets. They went to bed early because they were going to the market the next day.
The days leading up to Easter passed quickly in preparation. On Thursday night, they painted the eggs. They had hidden chocolate eggs for an egg hunt for the children. They went to the school party on Easter occasion where the students played a play, and there was a concert by the school choir. Michelle plays the piano with the choristers. They attended the evening service on Friday night and the two services on Saturday and Sunday. On the Saturday after the first service, they went to get the lambs. They returned in time for the evening service at the church. When they got home, Cynthia put the sarma liver offal in the boil and made the stuffing for the lambs. After dinner, she put the lambs to simmer overnight. They went to bed early, Cynthia getting up several times to pour the sauce with the sauce that the lambs had released during the roasting.
When they got up on Easter morning, the lambs were still roasting. Cynthia also put the liver sarma to roast, and when it was almost ready, she made a filling.
They attended the morning service at the church, then returned, had guests for lunch, Paul and his sister, Melanie and her family, Bobbie, Lizzie, Harry and Meghan with the children, and a few other colleagues from the magazine. Everyone got involved in the search for hidden eggs and the party games they had organized. Then they went to the evening service and the church supper for all the prayers. It was midnight when they returned. They went to bed and fell asleep early.
The days leading up to the 25th passed quickly; they visited the zoo, went to the circus, went shopping, and went to the movies and picnics. They watched sports dances on television. On the 25th, they took their relatives to the airport, where they said goodbye. They would see them for Christmas and New Year, as they have every year so far. Cynthia's sons would come for Thanksgiving as well as for Halloween.
Short story by Ann Wood
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Written on 2021-10-25 at 21:58
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