Wild Woody calms down, and Ell's Kitchen

The Wood Man has been doing a good job of fitting in at Lester's Flat (yes, I am always going to call it Lester's Flat). He survived a party on Saturday with about a dozen people including the 2 nieces and a 4-year-old little lady named Lauren. He is getting along better with Sophie, as you can see in this blurry photo, and he even had some face time with Dave the Cat yesterday. Out on the screen porch, Brave Dave put up with the Wood Man's antics for about 2 hours while we were practicing our new commands: Be Nice!, Gentle!, Come Here!, and Leave it!

Claire and Ella have been entertaining Woody and Sophie, and also cooking for Aunt Kathy and Uncle Timmy. Ella made us some shrimp and swiss chard (in the photo) and then last night Claire made us some garlic and lemon panko-breaded chicken with broccoli and mashed potatoes. Right this very minute Ella is serving up some vanilla mousse that she made last night, but it didn't freeze in time for dessert. We are saving some for Uncle Timmy who is at work.

Ella also got a good start on her new blog—Ell's Kitchen. At age 11, she is going to be reviewing all of the meals that she eats in restaurants. A big fan of shows like Chopped, and with a father who is a chef, she is quite the little connoisseur of fine dining. Uncle Timmy gets kudos for helping her come up with the name. Once she gets it up and running, I will give you all a link to the blog.