My mother had a beach bar in the Virgin Islands, the British Virgins to be exact, from the mid 70s to the mid 80s. During that time she entertained many celebrities during her time running her little beach bar.
She was known for her lobster sandwiches, her pina coladas and of course her banana bread which were part of her foods at her little beach bar.
She had a motto that she must be notified well in advance for dinner reservations, which she basically decided the menus.
This, being in the days before cells etc, reservations from yachts were made by ship to shore calls. Ok, here is the Andy story.
A yacht known as "The Eagle" wasn't large, large, but for its time, it was THE way to travel for many celebrities. So, it arrives in Cane Garden Bay, (see photo above) and the captain comes ashore to ask my mother if there could be reservations for dinner that night. He explains that they had problems with their ship to shore phone....
My mother tells him that he hasn't reserved in time and no it cannot happen tonight. He tells my mother that Andy Williams is aboard with a small party. My mother tells the captain that she doesn't care if he comes ashore singing Moon River, dinner is not going to happen.
About 15 minutes or so later, the captain again comes ashore with Andy W and he enters the bar, walks up to my mother and begins singing Moon River. My mother, with a bar full of people goes all shy and says Ok, ok, you can come to dinner.
He had a party of eight including himself, brought his own music, stayed about two hours and tipped my mother, her staff of two $800.00. The biggest tip for dinner she ever received.
RIP Andy Williams, a true gentleman.
September begins with days such as this photo on the right, calm mornings with loons sending their song over the lake.
Our lake has amazing echos. It used to be called Hollow Lake by the natives who inhabited the surrounding areas. The name denoted the echos of the area.
On autumn nights, we can here
the wolves howling across the Highlands that surround us.
We get fierce storms from our southern neighbours, which sometimes result in beautiful
rainbows. We also often get double rainbows, but they cannot be seen by my camera.
On warm morning of September we sit on our deck and enjoy the simple sounds that surround us here. It is why we love being here.
Of course September means thinking of closing up too. So here is the sweetie, bringing the kid's boat to our winter storage, which is up on a small crib on the rocks at the shore. Keep in mind that this boat is about 10
feet by five feet, so not an easy task for my big guy to drive.
But, this morning, on my birthday no less, it is warm and balmy, just a light wind and coffee on the dock was the order of the day. The mid season warmth continues, which we hope will still be here in two weeks when we have our Thanksgiving dinner. There will be neighbours and friends, along with family for a pot luck supper of turkey and fixings.
That weekend will mean that most of our neighbours will have their closing of their cottages too. Lack of water for boat docking is what really is a problem for cottagers here as the damn at the end of the lake is opened to allow fish spawning.
It will certainly be quiet.
When we were in Maine, the houses were so colourful that I decided to make these little houses from a Moda pattern that I saw.
I changed it of course because the houses are smaller due to the wonky bias squares I could not get straight. Pinning, and more pinning on the next project will be my motto.
I have made three of these little baskets. I love them. I think that they would be
be great for fruit bowls or even fitting a bowl into them to keep the food warm.
I have had inquiries about their sale...what does one pay for these I wonder?
Sometimes the work doesn't pay in the least as we would be making about a dollar an hour for such items....oh well.
Complaint of me on blogger...the "don't be a robot" continues to defy my mind! I sometimes need to try at least three times to post. I get so aggravated that I move on to another post! Why do I have such a problem I ask myself each time I see that icon...."oh no!" is my usual first thought...."not again". So I send pms to the bloggers, but that doesn't show on the blog...is it me?
Made a new cookie recipe from Michael Smith. Here in Canada his cooking show is wonderful and he has easy but so yummy recipes, however, his chocolate cookie recipe doesn't come close to my "best chocolate cookie in the world" one. So another recipe bites the dust. Mine also makes a bigger batch and can be frozen in the dough stage.
We are alone once again on the island, our neighbours are gone as of early yesterday morning. I could here the boat at dawn as it started up...such a change from activities all summer long.
Today, Bob and Mary, our best of friends are coming back for a few days to help get the cottage ready for closing. Of course I am to be a birthday girl tomorrow, so that may be one reason!
The water levels continue to drop to the point where yesterday as I walked the dog, I had a lot of beach to walk on...it is a sign.
This is the season of colds, flues, coughs etc. My sweetie is in full swing of the dreaded three. Granddaughter and her mother have it too....I am so far good. Am also taking cold fx to guard myself, so that may help.
Another short blog!
She had a motto that she must be notified well in advance for dinner reservations, which she basically decided the menus.
