AN OSCAR'S WEEKEND

You may remember that this week was supposed to be the “good” one.  The body, ridding itself of chemo poisons and rebuilding blood cells, should be getting to feeling almost near normal.  It was not.  Fortunately, by weekend the “good” arrived, and Saturday and Sunday turned out to be far better than the week. 

The blood transfusion given to the Laird on Monday did not seem to help and he had some minor side effects, but no contraindications.  While not sick, the Laird was not feeling well most of the week.  Finally by Friday the Laird was feeling better.  On Saturday the Laird drove himself, “sans” FOG, to play golf during the day and to play cards with friends in the evening.  On Sunday, there was an Oscars’ party at Vinings Mountain Castle.  

The Duke and Duchess of St. Simons arrived on Sunday loaded down with wedding presents that had been stored at the St. Simon’s Island home.  For Nurse Sherry and the Laird it was like Christmas in February.  Nurse Sherry decided to put the wedding gifts to good use now, rather than leaving them in boxes.  The wedding gifts were enjoyed when first received, re-discovered as boxes are now again opened, and being enjoyed for many years to come as they are used.   The Duchess of St. Simons helped her daughter with the unpacking.  Mr. FOG also thanks you for the wedding gifts.  He especially likes the Calaphon cookware that he has been using.

The Laird ordered that there should be a great feast was to celebrate the Oscars and instructed servants to prepare favorite family foods, and new dishes to link the festivities to the movies being considered.  The Duke and Duchess of St. Simons brought three great crowd pleasers, a black-eye pea salsa with chips, chocolate chip cookies and the famous Tina’s pizzas. 

Nurse Sherry researched movie history and linked foods to recognize the movies being considered.   We had Black and White cookies to recognize the Artist, quiches to honor Midnight in Paris, ect.   It was a clever idea. Mr. FOG decided that a hearty dish was needed and made a nice beef stew, without peas, since the Laird does not like peas.  He added celery instead, to have some green in the dish.

The new wedding gifts arrived just in time. When cooking rice, one should have a lid on the pot  to help keep in the steam in. Mr. FOG has had to use a plate as lid when cooking in  the Vinings Mountain Castle kitchen and neededing medium sized pots.  The lids apparently were lost. 

The Laird outdid himself in the decorations of the great hall of Vinings Mountain Castle.  An escutcheon commemorating 84 years of movie history was hung on the great door to greet guests, silver and gold streamers were hung from the rafters, and fine paper napkins with movie decals were given to the guests.    Sir Phillip of Country Place, Earl Tom the Younger, Dan the Dragon Slayer and his betrothed Lady Anna the Almost a Duffy joined those already at Vinings Mountain Castle.

Nurse Sherry had an Oscars’ evening game to test the guests’ skill and luck in predicting the winning films for each category.   A bottle of fine wine was to be the grand prize.    A near tragedy occurred when the blank bollots could not be found; and apparently Mr. FOG was the culprit.  Mr. FOG had been working and had co-mingled the ballots with his papers which were in his briefcase.  A clever Nurse Sherry thouhgt of where the ballots might be.  She dutifully scored the ballots to assure fairness. 

 Surprisingly, the men took the top three spots, and perhaps more surprisingly Mr. FOG won.  Under Nurse Sherry’s tutelage, he has been watching television shows he would not otherwise watch, such as the Bachelor and the Apprentice.  On last week’s episode he outguessed Nursed Sherry on which bachelorette would stay.    His luck held for the Oscars and he won.    Most of the guests expected Nurse Sherry, who follows the movies and the lives of the rich and famous though her magazine subscriptions to win.    She likely held back so that a guest could have the coveted bottle of wine.  A good time was had by all.

The Duke and Duchess of St. Simons had their St. William church bulletin and he Laird was on the payer list.  The Laird and Nurse Sherry wish to thank all who have them in their prayers.  Judi and Tom, friends of Mr. Fog who are also battling cancer had good news.  The chemo treatments have apparently helped her with her lung cancer.  Please think them in your payer intentions.

Mr. FOG is back in Asheville.  His bottle of wine is hopefully safe at Vinings Mountain Castle. 

Maid of the Mist will keep you up to date on any important cancer news.  Mario goes for chemo treatement #3 tomorrow.