An Anniversary Celebration

Today (Saturday, June 7th) the First Wife and Grumpy were hosted by our long-time friend, Margaret, to a delightful lunch at "The Secret Garden". Admittedly, this is a few (ten, to be exact) days early, but when opportunity knocks, you answer the door! With opportunities slipping by rapidly these days, this was one time when we were glad she knocked.

This first photo shows the two ladies sipping their tea -- this is a "tea house" after all!! The reason Grumpy is not in this picture is that, when we arrived, Grumpy noted that the place was loaded with women -- old women, young women, beautiful women (at least when we got there!) -- women of all sorts and descriptions. But not a single man!! Now Grumpy, being the naturally shy and retiring person that he is, decided that he had best not have his picture taken in such a house. I mean, it could get him in more trouble than any two of his Grandsons!!

(Oops! I think I just lost another Lemon Meringue Pie with that last sentence. Oh well, Father's day is coming up in a week or ten days -- First Wife just can't resist the chance to being good to me on that one day!)

Can she??

Anyway, back to my story of this Anniversary Celebration luncheon: Pictured here are all three of the parties after finishing our lunches -- (NOTE: Grumpy is in the photo now that he noticed two (2) other men enter and be seated without too much ruckus) As you can see, both ladies are smiling as if everything has gone relatively well -- to this point. Apparently Grumpy has been behaving himself up to this point (restraining himself from wiping his face on the white linen table cloth, or burping so loudly as to attract the attention of other guests seating within 10 or 15 feet of our table). Ones who had been seated more closely had already left.

The Secret Garden tea house is in a turn-of-the century mansion on the northern edge of the old town of Sumner. The former living room, "sitting" room, and "parlor" have each been turned into cozy dining (and tea-sipping) rooms. It is a delightful place for those desiring a nostalgic and romantic dining experience. Reservations are a "must".

As we arrived, Grumpy was pleased as punch upon spotting an elevator by which First Wife could bypass the ten-step access to the porch entrance. However, he was quickly dismayed to find that it didn't work! After going inside to find the manager, she assured us that "it had been working about ten minutes ago!" However, after several attempts, she gave up and conceded that she would have to call the maintenance man to come and fix it.

Grumpy helped First Wife up the stairs to the entrance, meanwhile noting that the elevator was manufactured by the same company that had manufactured the chair-lift at St. Elizabeth's -- the chair-lift on which Grumpy did repairs almost weekly until he finally gave up and removed a part of the mechanism that kept breaking and instructed the regular members how to use the lift without the automatic folding feature. (Subsequently, all or most of the disabled members who needed the lift either died or stopped going to St. Elizabeth's.)

When we came out after lunch, the lift was operating and First Wife enjoyed a smooth ride to the bottom! Oh joy!!