31 January 2019
Another cold, crisp morning with temperatures in the low 20’s. For some reason, I waked at 3:30 am and couldn’t get back to sleep before 4:30 am. As a consequence, I slept late until 7:30 am.
Ann made a great breakfast. It was in a casserole dish and contained eggs, flour, milk, chili’s, and cheese. You baked it in the oven for about 45 minutes until the eggs solidified. I really like the spice of the chilis to the dish. Reid cooked sausage, and with fresh fruit and banana bread, I was stuffed.
I said my goodbyes and hit the road by 9 am. I decided to head south on US 45 to Meridian, my birth city. I was born at St. Joseph’s Hospital which has since been torn down – I guess it never recovered from my birth. However, whenever I get anywhere near Meridian, I make a point of stopping in at Weidmann’s Restaurant – in business since 1870. I don’t care what I eat for entrée but I do care to make sure I always get a slice of their Black Bottom pie. It’s made with bourbon and is delicious. I actually have the recipe for the pie and make it for special occasions.
I’ve had the pie many times over the years and sometimes it is better than others. You have to get the right chef making the pie. Today’s pie was spot on.
I pulled into Brandon around 1:30 pm and Archie and Tanis were waiting for me on the back porch soaking up the sun’s rays with a balmy temperature of 56 F.
There’s a standing joke between Archie and me. He waits on projects until I get there and he me into the projects. Trust me when I say this has happened more than once. One time I ended up roofing a pier on a pond.
Tanis gave him three things to accomplish before I got there and, of course, he hadn’t done any. One project was to see what was wrong with the dryer. After a while, I gave in and said let’s see what’s wrong. I figured the belt that turns the drum had slipped off but it seemed in good shape. Archie then suggested we load it up and take it to a place he knew that repairs them.
It then struck me he had been waiting all day for this moment – me to arrive to help him load the dryer into the truck for the trip to the appliance repair. He’d done it again!
The good news is I got a barbecue rib dinner out of it. They had put ribs on the grill just before I got there and slow cooked them for about 5 hours. I didn’t really do them justice because of the meal at Weidmann’s and the BB pie.
We don’t have any plans for tomorrow (unless it is to complete the other two projects Tanis had for him). I think the next time he and Tanis visit, I’ll come up with some devious project that I rope him into.
