Remember this bird photo–I should have know better! We have an abundance of cactus wren, I wasn’t paying attention and labeled this bird as a cactus wren. Gay, Mike and Jodee set me straight–thanks so much guys for helping! Our bird lady, fellow blogger Judy who is no longer with us would have been appalled!
Last Sunday we had the dinner party for six other people–and we had such a good time but before that dinner party started I had a bad day! Pie crust failure, made another curst and pie overflowed in oven making smoke alarm scream, dinner rolls didn’t rise (milk too hot I think) and I had to make another batch of rolls, wind was blowing so hard the grill would not stay at temperature to cook the prime rib. I put the prime rib in a disposable pan and in the guest house oven, guest house filled with smoke–disposable pan had a hole and all the juice was dripping into the bottom of the oven–now I had two ovens to clean!!
What a day–I was exhausted–but we had such a great evening with good friends!
Monday the Cowboy helped Clint and Larry. Clint had purchased a hot tub from Costco and it was delivered. The problem–the hot tub was sitting outside their walled back yard where the pool is located. There is no gate into the pool area large enough for a backhoe–SO the Cowboy lifted the hot tub OVER the wall. And once the hot tub cleared the wall the Cowboy couldn’t see it and was directed by Larry. Christi was in the house–she couldn’t watch!! And I’m glad I wasn’t there to watch!! 
Tuesday bright and early Louanne and I were on our way to Tucson for a couple days of shopping and dining. We stayed in an AirBnB that was quite nice–an older home that had been remodeled. I was taking a tour, pulled back the shower curtain in Louanne’s bathroom and screamed–there was one gigantic cockroach in her tub!! She dispatched him with her flip flop!!! Cockroaches in a desert climate seems unusual–I had my share of those creepy things when living in humid Houston.
One of the best meals on this trip–Breakfast at the Cup Cafe in the historic Hotel Congress which opened in 1919 in downtown Tucson. We also enjoyed breakfast at the Blue Willow.
We shopped Tuesday until we could shop/walk no longer and headed to the AirBnB. Our lunch which we shared at the Yard House was really good. We had some good meals and one awful meal. The awful meal was really awful and when the waitress asked if we needed boxes and we both said “no,” she encouraged us to tell her what was wrong. She deducted 50% from the cost of the meals–that helped!!
Thursday saw us heading home after three days of shopping–tired but happy! The guys were glad to see us as was Emmi.
Dan and Louanne hosted an Easter gathering Sunday afternoon–such a wonderful afternoon spent with special friends. Great food and awesome conversation.
Such a great gathering of good friends–life is good!
Our great grands had to hunt Easter eggs in the Montana snow! Laci and Lora flew in from Nebraska for the long weekend.
And Christy gave us this Easter card–I loved it! It’s a reproduction of a German Easter card printed in 1910.
And lastly, this was my contribution to the party food today–a fresh strawberry cake that was absolutely one of the best cakes I’ve ever eaten! I could have scooped up the icing with a spoon and eaten just that!
Restoration Cowboy Style 
Oh Janna, do you have self cleaning ovens? It’s
still a hassle, I take my racks out and clean them myself
so they don’t get dull. I feel for you. In the middle of a company meal too!
Your shopping trip sounds like so much fun.
Good for you!
Sounds like you will miss all these good friends when
you head back to Montana. Aww, but that’s home probably.
Enjoyed the post, thanks for sharing.😘
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Yes, our ovens are self cleaning and the one in the guest house has been cleaned. I too take out the racks and here is a cleaning tip for those racks. Spray them with oven cleaner and place the racks in a black garbage bag in the sun. Several hours later pull the racks out and rinse–I used the water hose outside. Try the cake, it is delicious!
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Oh, forgot to say, that cake looks delicious!!!
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I’ll definitely do my oven racks like you said!
Thank you💛
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What a wonderful, fun, beautiful Easter Sunday gathering! That cake looked yummy for sure. I laughed out loud when I read about your bad day and had to read it again out loud to Mo and she laughed too. Not sure I have had a day quite as bad as that one, or if I have, I don’t remember it. Take care, Janna. Such a great community of fun friends you have created there in Arizona. But I am pretty sure you do that just about everywhere you go.
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It was a wonderful gathering Sue–we had so much fun! I can laugh now but geez when all that was happening I was wondering why I had such a black cloud hanging over my head! Try that cake recipe and follow all her directions in the blog post–the cake was perfect and the Cowboy gave it high praise, “almost as good as chocolate!”
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Too bad no one has last names down there! Same as here, we must all be in the witness protection program!!
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Too funny Geri!
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So sorry to read about your bad day. I would have crumbled in tears from the stress. Glad all came together and you had a good dinner party. All the smiles tell us just what a great Easter gathering you all had. Sorry the great grands had to hunt for eggs in the snow. But it is Montana. Michael was so brave to be willing to lift that new hot tub over the wall. Glad all worked out. Happy Easter!
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I was ready to sit down and cry but I had six people coming for dinner!! And a prime rib thawed–can’t let that go to waste! I don’t remember very many Easters in Montana with good weather–it seldom happens. I’m glad I wasn’t around to watch the hot tub go over the wall!
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What a wonderful gathering of friends and your strawberry cake looks delicious. Guys and their toys sure come in handy! I think we have all had days like your terrible, horrible, no-good rotten day. I read that book often when teaching Kindergarten! I bet hunting for Easter eggs in the snow is fun! Breakfast is my favorite meal to eat out…I made notes! Thanks for sharing Janna!
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That backhoe has been a life saver for us and friends! The weather is always nasty in Montana on Easter so our kiddos are pros at hunting eggs in the snow! The Hotel Congress has a beautiful courtyard for dining outside.
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Bad days in the kitchen, like the one you had, make one wonder if our skills are slipping…..I’m glad you found out that you’re still a wonderful cook by producing that beautiful Strawberry Cake!. Great laughing photos, I love them!
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I was cooking for people again tonight–put my brisket in the guest house oven at 1pm. Went over to check on it about 4:30 when the guests arrived–the oven had never preheated, it was stuck at 270!!! Briskets take a LONG time to cook! I bumped up the temp and we had another margarita while we waited for the meat to cook. I too loved those photos from Easter.
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I had to laugh at your terrible, bad, awful cooking day…you are such a great cook, and to have all of that go wrong must have made you want to walk away and order pizza, LOL!!! What a fun gir’ls trip you had (I love girl’s trips!) and your Easter looks like it was wonderful, too. The kids are so cute hunting for Easter eggs in the snow. I loved hunting eggs when I was a kid! Actually, I still love a good Easter egg hunt. 🙂
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I too love Easter–decorated cookies, family and friends and sometimes it’s spring. If ordering pizza was an option I just might have done it!
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You’ve really collected a great group of new friends – looks like you all had a wonderful time! Glad your horrible day didn’t move into the rest of the week. I guess if you don’t color the eggs the hunt could be challenging in the snow 🙂
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We have gathered a great group of friends. I had another horrible cooking day Friday–oven failed, brisket didn’t cook, etc.! We just had another margarita while I moved the brisket to a different oven.
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