Monday, October 7, 2024

Buckled Breezeway

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Over the winter in the high snow, we lost half the breeze way roof on the little shop.  Without walls breezeways can’t collect heat under their rafters so the snow on the shady side of the breezeway didn’t melt or slide. Eventually the weight overwhelmed the rafters and they buckled. The half-roof dangled like an apron making Grandpa anxious so he and Sonny took a few two by sixes and braced the bottom of the eves so the wind and snow wouldn't cause further damage.  The propped-up apron of tin roofing, sheets of wood, two by sixes and two by fours have been leaning precariously through the end of winter into the spring.

So, a few weeks ago Uncle Larry and Aunt Cece came to visit. He decided to get busy and rented a man-lift for the day. That morning he and Grandpa got up before I did and by the time, I showed up on the job Uncle Larry and our oldest, Kat, were already in the man-lift bucket up the side of that concave apron of tin and wood with impact wrench drills unscrewing the metal from the wood and letting it slide to the ground.

After each piece of the metal slid down, the man-lift bucket would move back, Uncle Larry would take the time to look over the disaster in front of him; he’d let us know it was safe then we’d wade in and move the tin to a waiting trailer. After all the tin was taken off, Uncle Larry and Kat took a break. We took time to ask for safety, to slow down and respect God enough to ask for guidance.

Kat started to give Uncle Larry some advice. I gave her ‘the look’ followed by a sharp negative twist of my head. Her lips closed. Uncle Larry tipped his head considering the sheets of wood, twisted two by fours and two by sixes, then he asked her, “What do you think, Kat?” She told him, he nodded his head. Then the two of them got back too busy on the Second Phase by unscrewing the sheets of wood from the two by sixes.

There was no rushing through this job. Uncle Larry studied and considered every step before it was made. There was a dangling two by four held in place by a steal post that concerned me. “Lar? You see that? I’m concerned when you cut that two by four the weight on the other side will twist wild.” I didn’t tell him how to solve the problem. I wasn’t the one in the man-lift bucket.

He nodded, “I see it,” he said and got back in the man-lift bucket. He moved the bucket into a position so that if the shelf of twisted wood moved unexpectedly, he wouldn’t be in the way, then he cut the two by four to finish dropping the last of the dangling wood to the ground with a crash. Standing tall in the man-lift bucket he grinned down at us, “Demolition,” he hollered, “got’a admit this is kind’a fun.”

We were all grinning. Phase Three (clean up) kept us all busy for a bit then Kat and Uncle Larry took the man-lift back to the rental place visiting the whole while getting home just in time for some of Aunt Cece’s Heart Attack Chicken for lunch.

Aunt Cece’s Heart Attack Chicken

1 smallish chicken cut up or some chicken wings        

¼ cup Parmesan cheese                     

4-5 slices of bread                                                     

¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper                                 

1 teaspoon garlic powde                      

¼ to ½ cup butter (or other oil)

Preheat oven to 375℉. Make breading by adding bread, Parmesan, salt, and pepper to a blender. Blend until the bread is all fine crumbs. Melt butter in a bowl large enough to accommodate one chicken piece at a time; add garlic powder; mix. Put a Tablespoon of butter I with the breadcrumbs and mix (to make it stickier) then pour bread crumbs into a second bowl for rolling chicken in. Dip chicken parts, one piece at a time, into butter then into crumbs then lay in a cake pan or jelly roll pan (cookie sheet with ½ inch sides). Bake chicken until coating is crisp and the juices run clear when pierced with a knife to the bone, 45 minutes to an hour, maybe even an hour and a half depending on how large the chicken parts are.

Choices: Add a dash of cayenne pepper. Mix parsley to the breadcrumbs. Leave out the Parmesan cheese. Dip in milk (or buttermilk) instead of butter.

In 2000 Michele Priddy left the work force to become a stay-at-home mother and wife. Being a one-income family in today’s society meant she had to learn to budget quickly. Food became a priority early because she wanted the children to have the best nutrition, she could offer them even on a budget. She also taught cooking classes on how to stretch the food dollar with simple ingredients at various churches in her community. Michelle has put her kitchen strategies and recipes in booklets, her church newsletter and also in her hometown newspaper, The Goldendale Sentinel. We hope you will enjoy her strategies, stories, and recipes. You can contact the Leavenworth Echo at Reporter@leavenworthecho.com or 509-548-5286 if you have any questions or comments for Michelle.

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