Monday Hawaiian dinner and farewell at Chip's

Monday night we were invited over to Chip's for a Hawaiian theme farewell dinner, and oh what a dinner it was. We all took flutes to play.

Chip showed us how to do the hula dance, and he had the table set outside with the most lovely hand printed cloth, printed and the dye outlining Hawaiian plant leaves, it was just lovely. And the table was set with coordinated colors of blues and greens, including candles. Mai Tai drinks to start, complete with spikes of pineapple, banana and cherry in them.

Chip made a huge chicken curry, Hawaiian style, with about 10 dishes of fruit and nut garnishes, and chutney, and coconut to go on top of the curry. Yum yum, it was just incredible. There was mango and papaya, banana, macadamia nuts, coconut, kiwi, pineapple and the most yummy stuff, and we were eating outside in the warmth, by his pool. OMG, it was so lovely. And Chip did a hula dance as he had accompanying Hawaiian music to go with it all.

Annie and Chip had both dressed up in Hawaiian theme clothing, Annie had pretty flowered culottes on, and Chip with an aloha shirt, as Lary had.

On Chip's granite bar was a lei but made completely out of shells. Macadamia nuts and another spicy nut mix for starters, puu puus that would be.....

Each of our plates had a banana leaf under the curry and rice, and there was a red hibiscus in the corner of each plate. It was all pretty as a picture. White wine with dinner, can't remember what we had for dessert, but then Annie left after a little while, she had gone to Santa Barbara the day before, it's a long drive both ways for her. She had been working more on the flute backing tracks with her sound recording/artist friend, and she was tired from that big day.

Chip didn't seem ready to call it a night, so the three of us played our flutes outside, with a local bird joining in, it was very amusing to listen to the bird imitating us. We did duets and trios. Such a great sendoff. Lovely warm desert night.

Tuesday Lary and I had a visit scheduled up to visit another flutemaker, John Stillwell, in Yucca Valley, about an hour away from us. We arrived at 10, and he looked at our flutes that he had made some years before, and we had bought second hand from Helaine, then he decided that both of them could be improved with a bit of work. His workshop is partially underground, so we went down nearly underground into his workshop. There are windows high up letting in light, and it's a round place, he thinks it was to be a swimming pool for the previous owner.

He worked for a while with a tuner, then decided that the holes of the flutes could be more undercut with a dremel burr, so that's what he did with each hole on each flute, then varnished the holes that he had undercut, and after about an hour and a half, we departed, thanking him profusely, as he wouldn't take any money at all.

Yucca Valley is high above the Coachella Valley, with very weird rock formations, and a lot of unpaved high desert roads. He lives off the main road, and his daughter has horses. He has been making flutes for about 10 years, and now a lot of his business is over the internet. It was much cooler up there than down on the valley floor where we live.

Lary and I did a bit of antique shop mooching, and then ate lunch at Willie Boy's Saloon on the way home, it is in Morongo Valley, and was a lot of fun. Yummy food, and it's kind of like a saloon, bordello, with the ladies rooms up above the saloon, and 2 huge bars to serve thirsty travelers. Debbie was our waitress, she was super, so friendly and helpful, she was tattooed all over her top half, and wearing a spaghetti strap top, and a very short skirt, and long black nylons and black boots. The other waitress was similarly dressed, with a long bow and tail of bright turquoise satin. It was such a kick to see the new restaurant, there is a huge size Chinese horse outside the building to mark its location.

Today Wednesday Wendy and I went over to her new place, Ivey Ranch and Country Club, and attended a luncheon and fashion show, the fashions were presented by Christal, who owns 2 quite high end clothing shops, and the fashions were very pretty, and the models lovely. Wendy and I drove by their new home, and we took a look although there are tenants in residence until nearly the end of April.

This afternoon we are heading over to Wendy and Dave's for Happy Hour, but it has been raining. Lary cleaned out our shed, tossed out lots of things that we don't need, and we have partially packed up our outdoor furniture for the season. Bit of a drag that it's raining, oh well, no doubt the desert needs it.