dinner on the lower deck

*Homegrown strawberries and rhubarb are prepped for the cobbler. Oatmeal, brown sugar, and butter go on top.*

*Lettuce from my garden, asparagus and radishes from the Farmer’s Market.*

*Me and Booie, no makeup, Bill’s shirt, Kaboda in the background.*

*It was just the three of us. Three bottles of wine, pretty standard, Bill likes to taste and make sure he has the right profile. 🙂*

*Booie has been making great sourdough. I added the Maldon Sea Salt flakes and of course lots of Kerrygold butter for serving.*

A week ago Saturday, without much pre-planning, I prepped and served dinner for three on the lower deck of our country house. The lower deck is one of my favorite places to share a meal as it sits alone, surrounded by two ponds, one of which is encircled with rows of evergreens my husband planted two and a half decades ago. It takes a bit of effort to set up, as you have to bring everything you might need; essentially, it’s a dinner party on the go.

*Three cobblers to go topped with Rory’s favorite strawberry ice cream. I bought the chintzware a few years ago at local consignment shop.*

*The single peony is from my garden. The peony show is over way too fast.*

Like most things, though, it gets easier after you do it a few times. That day, I wasn’t feeling all the extra energy, as we had been digging and gardening around the property proper. It’s crazy; we’ve been working on opening the summer house since late May, and I still look around and see so many things to do. By dinner time, I need to let go and know that a good day’s work was put in, and let it be.

I roasted salmon and trout, picked lettuce leaves from my pots on the upper deck, and put together a strawberry rhubarb cobbler. Then, with the help of my daughter, Sarah, and our Kaboda, I hustled everything down there. It was just the three of us, Sarah, Bill, and I, yet we sat and enjoyed each other’s company until the sun went down. It was an absolutely worthwhile effort.

Last Sunday, I had to unexpectedly fly to Baltimore to meet my sister, who had taken a red-eye flight from San Francisco to see my Dad. It was a hard day, as those things often are. My two youngest daughters had just gotten in from London, and here I was hopping on a plane to scoot out of town and away from them. It was one of those necessary parts of life that you can’t get your arms around or plan, yet go I did.

Connor went to the local market and picked up chicken to grill and tomatoes for a caprese salad. He called Booie’s phone to see if I was growing basil in my garden. Booie was out walking the loop, and Bill answered her phone. Bill wasn’t sure about the basil, *but told Connor that there’s probably basil in the garden. 🙂*

I love that they take the initiative and make good things happen on their own. Meanwhile, I was sitting in the airport with a delayed flight home, eating a $9 fruit cup from a plastic cup, grateful that they had this day.

In my absence, my girls did what I would have done: they prepped and served dinner on the lower deck, with the help of one of our new members of the intimate circle, Connor. Thank you, Connor.