Chapter 294 – Over the Weekend

Saturday Jack and the guys were up and out of the house by six thirty. They got the horses taken care and turned so they could ride after breakfast. They had let the twins sleep in and were upstairs when the guys had returned from the stable. Once they were washed up, the group toasted waffles and heated some bacon to have for breakfast with some fruit. Frank offered to go into town to get more stuff at the farmer's market. Father Mark offered to go with. Gran and Trish made a list for them.

While the twins worked with Marco in the sand ring, the guys including Lee went on a trail ride. While Lee had ridden a few other times that summer it was the first time he had rode one of the current jumpers. Jack had asked him to take Wex to get him use to other riders. Jack was still hoping that Wex would be a great jumper for Opal, he was worried about how green his was. Jack also knew that Lee could handle the horse and they were only going on a trail ride. The guys had a nice ride and they were able to joke and talk about a few things.

The girls ended with a great lesson from Marco. Bubble and Squeak were behaving and Marco was happy to see that Squeak wasn't anymore problems. He still made a note to keep an eye the horses for awhile. He didn't want anything to happen to Missy, but she seemed to be handling him quite well. After the girls had gone through the exercises that Marco wanted, they brushed out their horses, gave them a treat and stalled them so they were out of the heat for the afternoon. They would be turned out to graze in the evening with the others. Once the girls were done, they headed to the house to get a workout in before the guys got back.

The guys got back and headed to the house about forty-five minutes after the girls. They got a workout in and then went up to see about lunch. About the time that they got back upstairs, Frank and Father Mark returned from their trip to town. Jack and Doug went out to help carry things in as they knew that the duo had taken several coolers. Jack also noticed that Frank had picked up a few more spirits that he wanted. Jack didn't mind as he knew that Frank was an adult and knew his limits. Jack saw the Frank had picked up Cooperstown Select American Blended Whiskey from Cooperstown Distillery. The other bottle Yankee Distillers and was a bottle of Colonial Amber Rum.

Which was made from a blend of Caribbean and domestic molasses. Aged in used Yankee Rye Whiskey Barrels. Vanilla and butterscotch on the nose. Vanilla, caramel, and peppery spice dance on the palette. Creamy vanilla and spicy oak in the finish. Jack was looking forward to trying both. He wasn't well versed in hard liquors but from conversations with Frank, he knew that Frank knew what he was getting. So he was excited to try the new things that Frank had picked up.

Jack also noticed that Father Mark picked up some non-alcoholic ciders from a variety of different farms. The two that caught Jack's eye were the blackberry blend and the cinnamon sour apple. He saw that Father Mark had picked up over a case of different ciders from at least five different farms.

"If you wanted ciders." Jack said. "We could have ordered some."

"Consider it research." Father Mark said. "I saw a few farms had decided to try some non-alcoholic ciders so I asked for their most popular at six different stands. I wants to see what was out there and while I know that you are a few years away, Frank saw the wisdom in what I was doing."

"He is right." Frank said. "If you plan on doing something like this, you need to know what is out there and what has been popular. I figured we could try them and if we like them we can create our own blends."

"Very well." Jack said.

The trio finished carrying the stuff in and started to get ready for lunch. The stuff that Father Mark and Frank picked up were put in the back fridge to be dealt with after lunch. They sat down as a large group, minus James and John who were at the track. The talk centered about what was going on in town. They relayed that there was a lot of press but they were left alone. It helped that Father Mark had worn his Roman collar. Most people had enough decorum to not hassle a priest when he is out with others. After lunch, Jack, Doug and Lee headed to check out the races. Frank, Father Mark and Elizabeth helped clean up the dishes and then chop up the new fruits and veggies that had been brought back. Gran and Trish sat at the table going over some things as the other worked. The girls were in the library working on homework.

Despite basically being stuck on the ranch, everyone had a nice Saturday. Work got done and by the time that James and John returned after the races, the house had been cleaned and all the laundry had been done including changing sheets on beds. The fridge had also been restocked and Gran had five loaves of bread rising and supper in the large crock pots. Salads for the next few days had been made and it was looking like an easy week. Gran and Trish had plans to do some baking just because they could so they could keep up. Gran had plans to order another upright freezer since they needed the space. There was plenty of room to put it in the garage. The vehicles didn't need to be in the garage and even then there was plenty of room in the three stall garage.

Nathan had headed out to the garage after lunch and when he was done Frank joined him. James had arranged for a few employees to bring up some of his woodworking and leather tools. They had been set up in the garage. Nathan was working on a couple of projects and Frank was working on fixing a few leather pieces. They had also picked up some raw leather for him to make something. They had been told where the workshop was and that they were free to go down and grab anything they wanted. James had told Nathan that his security code would open the door. Frank was working on some gifts for his new friends and Nathan was doing the same. At one point, Frank had gone and poured each of them a drink and brought them back. The two sat and talked a little while they worked. There was a part of Frank that wished that Nathan would also be staying up in Saratoga, but he knew that he would be back when Jack and the gang came back. He also understood that Jack needed Nathan in the city and at college.

Father Mark had spent some time downstairs with the others watching the races and then went to the garage to see what Frank and Nathan were making. He picked up a leather bridle that needed some work and pulled it apart as he spoke to the duo. He knew that between the other pieces of bridle and the other hardware, he could fix the bridle. The three men had a great time talking and working on various different pieces. Frank and Father Mark worked on some leather pieces and Nathan finished the plaque that he was making and started carving some more horses for Cody, Opal and Allie. The three had a good time and by the time they were called for supper, they had all completed a number of various projects.

Saturday night at the ranch was quiet. After supper, Jack and his friends set up the portable fire pit and had a nice time playing some music and talking. The other adults joined and also enjoyed the evening. No one pushed to talk about some of the heavy topics that had come up over the week, but just took the opportunity to have a nice evening. Different spirits and ciders were tried and passed around. Everyone agreed that the blackberry cider was good and probably would be better mixed with a cherry or strawberry. John and James enjoyed the Amber Rum that Frank had picked up. They had each taken a single of it and sipped it while they spoke. Gran and Trish had put out some snacks so people weren't drinking on empty stomachs, even through they had eaten. They ended up sitting out on the porch for several hours. After the grandparents, Trish and the twins had turned in the others had stayed for a bit and then prayed together before putting the fire out and storing the guitars.

Sunday morning the group was up early to deal with the horses before they headed to church. Again the horses were feed, brush and stalled. The plan was if it wasn't too hot that afternoon to ride outside or possible even down that the arena if needed. Breakfast was waffles, muffins, fruit and yogurt. They talked about if they wanted to go to the track after church and eat at Prime which was actually at the golf course near the track and then sit in their owners box. James and John had plans to head to the track after Mass. The rest talked about what they wanted to do. They called and found out that there was a huge event at the golf course and there were a lot of press so they ruled that out. James, John, Trish and Margaret all called around and found that they were able to get a table at the Olde Bryan Inn. John hadn't eaten there in a long time so was excited. They knew that they might get some people who wanted to talk to them, but John also knew that the owner would shut it down quickly and none of them had a problem calling the police.

They all drove to church together in the four vehicles that they normally took. Gran had rode with James and John to church and knew that she could ride back to the ranch with with her grandson or Trish if they chose to head back without going to the track. They were able to get to the church without being hassled. They knew that there was security seen and unseen around them. While Father Mark could have celebrated the Mass with Father Tom, he chose to sit with his family which was completely fine as well. They ended up sitting off to the side from where they normally sat since there were people in one of the two pews that they normally occupied.

Conrad and Heidi joined James, Margaret and family. They planned head to the track after Mass, even though they had been invited to join them for lunch. Conrad said they would grab something at the track. He wanted to check on the horses that were running that day. They had nine horses running out of twelve races that day. They knew that they could enter more then one horse in a race, but they had chosen not to do that at this point since they had a limited number of horses in Saratoga to begin the season. They had more coming, but still wanted to run horses at Aqueduct in the city as well as few other tracks across the country. It was rare they they moved horses across the country during the spring or summer racing season. Over the winter was a different matter. The only reason that they had horses coming was because they had very few in Saratoga at the moment.

Mass was nice and Father Tom gave a thought provoking homily on the readings from Jeremiah (23:1-6) and the Gospel of Mark (6:30-34).

"In the first reading" Father Tom said. "Jeremiah promises that God will send a new king, a new 'shepherd,' to his people. In the Gospel, Mark signals the fulfillment of this promise by telling us that the people around Jesus were like 'sheep without a shepherd.' By acting as their shepherd, Jesus showed he is the promised king. … … … But it can't have looked that way at the time. Jesus was traveling along the lakeshore where his disciples lived and fished, and huge crowds were following him because of his power to heal. It was chaos. Jesus and the disciples couldn't even sit down for a meal. At one point, he was in danger of being crushed to death. His disciples — and undoubtedly Jesus himself — were driven to exhaustion. How could anyone who saw this mob scene have known that here the divinely appointed king had come? So I leave you with this question – What messy situation in your life is an opportunity to share in the coming of God's kingdom to someone in need? We all have something that looks messy but can be used for the glory of God if we look for the opportunities that we are given."

After Father Tom sat down, many sitting in the pews were reflecting on what he said. Elizabeth had looked around and saw many downcast eyes and wondered if some people weren't feeling a bit guilty about how they might have been acting and created a messy situation in their life. She could see that Jack and Nathan were also thinking about what was said. She had wanted to ask their thoughts, but knew that it wasn't the time or place to ask that.

After Mass, the Sims and Thornton crew talked to a few people, including Father Tom before they left for their lunch reservation. It has been decided that Father Tom would come out on Tuesday evening for supper of brick oven pizzas with everyone. He was looking forward to spending some time with everyone that pretty much were the talk of the town. While Father Tom had meet James, Margaret and John before, he had only heard things about the young people and was looking forward to spending some time with them. While he wasn't as young as Father Mark, he wasn't old either. He was in his mid-forties and the thought of a place that he could potentially have a trail ride and not worry about being bothered appealed to him.

When the group got to the Olde Bryan, they were quickly seated. They definitely got some looks as they made their way to a huge table. With Peter and Andrew, they were fifteen people. They started with some fired mozzarella cheese and beef bruschetta. The homemade cheese stick were served with raspberry or marinara sauce. They got both since they had two orders. Everyone was excited to try the raspberry sauce. The beef bruschetta was Filet Mignon tips broiled with roasted peppers and balsamic vinaigrette and topped with shredded parmesan cheese and served over grilled garlic toast. They fun sharing the appetizers among all of them. John had ordered two of oysters and four of the mozzarella cheese. As they enjoyed their starters and some of the adults a drink, the conversation turned to people's thoughts on Father Tom's homily and then it turned to the horses that were running that day.

John and James each chose the season strip steak done in medium and a baked potato. They also got a side of seasonal vegetables. Margaret and Trish agreed that cran-apple turkey panini sounded good so they each had that. It was thinly sliced, roasted turkey breast layered with locally-grown apple slices, fire-roasted peppers, fresh spinach, cheddar cheese & a cranberry mayonnaise; panini pressed on sunflower wheat bread, served with a side of our deli salad of the day. The deli salad of the day end up being garden rotini salad. Jack had a burger which was a half pound burger seasoned and grilled to your liking over an open flame. Jack had his burger medium well. He added sautéed mushrooms and onions, American cheese and bacon. It was served with lettuce, tomato and fries. Doug and Lee both thought that sound good, so got the same except that Doug got provolone cheese and Lee got Colby Jack. Frank and Nathan both went with the fish and chips. They were deep-fried haddock and was served with fried, coleslaw and a lemon dill tarter sauce.

Elizabeth decided to be adventurous and tried the maple BBQ balsamic glazed pork chop. It came with seasonal vegetables and a baked potato which she was able to sub for fries. Father Mark went with the Gochujang vegetable stir-fry. It was a blend of fresh mushrooms, bell peppers, broccoli florets, onions and spinach sautéed in toasted sesame oil with fresh garlic. It was finished with a spicy Korean chili sauce and garnished with crispy wontons and served on a bed of wild rice, Father Mark also added sautéed chicken breast strips. The each got girls got butter pasta with parmesan cheese and served with garlic bread. Peter and Andrew thought that the Kentucky bourbon salmon sounded good. It was fresh salmon fillets oven baked with Longfellows' classic marinade featuring bourbon, brown sugar, soy sauce, cracked black pepper & citrus. It was served with wild rice and seasoned vegetables.

Everyone enjoyed their food and as they ate, the conversations turned to different things that people wanted to do that afternoon. John and James were heading to the track as soon as they were done. The rest decided to head back to the ranch. The girls wanted to get a ride in and Frank and Nathan both wanted to work on the projects they had started. The group was encouraged to stay and enjoy some time off the ranch as John, James, Peter and Andrew left to head to the track. John asked Jack to pick up the tab and to use his black card. Jack nodded and said he would take care of things. After John and James left, the group sat and talked for a while longer. They were talking about desserts and it was decided that Trish would stop and pick up some Stewards ice cream for later. Once Jack had taken care of the bill, the group broke up. Nathan took Jack, Elizabeth, Doug and Lee and headed back to the ranch. Father Mark and Frank went with them in Father Mark's truck. Gran went with Trish and the girls in Frank's SUV so they could stop and get some ice cream. They had grabbed the cooler that was in the back of the truck that Nathan had.

Gran, Trish and the girls ended picking up nine different kinds of ice cream in either pints or half gallons. They bought two or three of the pints so there would be plenty for everyone to have some. They bought a half gallon where they could but a few of the flavors were only in pints or on the cone. They also picked up a package of cones so they could have those if people wanted. The flavors that they got were Adirondack Bear Paw – sweet praline cashews surrounded by gooey caramel swirls on a panorama of vanilla perfection. Caramel Cone Crunch – creamy vanilla ice cream with a sweet crunch from the chocolate covered sugar cone pieces and a salty crunch from the peanuts, tied together with a caramel swirl. Mint Cookie Crumble – chocolate cookie crumble fudge swirl dances into our smooth cool mint ice cream. Philly Vanilla – gets its rich flavor from the highest quality vanilla beans sourced from Madagascar and it's speckled with crushed vanilla beans to enrich the vanilla flavor. Salted Caramel Cheesecake – caramel cheesecake flavored ice cream with a salted caramel swirl and baked cheesecake pieces and then they also got Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Butter Pecan, Chocolate Chip, French Vanilla. The ice cream would be shared by everyone after supper of leftovers.

… … … …

The afternoon at the ranch was spent working on various projects. Nathan and Frank were working in the garage on their wood and leather projects. Doug and Father Mark were supervising the girls riding in the sand ring. Lee was working on something on his laptop. Jack and Elizabeth were watching the races and just spending time together. Gran got her tablet and was checking her email and working on things for the ladies guild meeting. Trish decided to play the piano as she was working on a piece and wanted to play through it. She had a performance coming up in September and it was music that she was unfamiliar with prior to seeing it when her husband brought it up for her.

Overall it was a great afternoon and Jack was happy when one of his horses won. Both of his grandfathers were in the winners circle and while there was part of him that wished he could have been there, Jack knew that it would have been a media circus if he would have gone to the track. From watching the broadcast, he could see that there was more press then normal even for the first weekend of racing in Saratoga. Jack knew that he had made the right decision to no go and to be safe at the ranch. Elizabeth was happy for Jack and she also understood his desire to be there, but also to stay on the ranch to be safe. Of the nine horses that raced that day they had one win and a third place finish, but many of the other horses had a good trip amid tough competition. He felt that their horses had done quite well and knew that his grandfathers would be happy with the results.

That evening was another lively conversation about the horses and the win that they had gotten. The food was leftovers and there was plenty for everyone. After they ate and while they talked about what the plan for the week was, they all enjoyed some of the ice cream. John had plans to stay since he wanted to be back for the races again. He had everything that he needed and could work from the office in the house. He had clean laundry since the kids had done his along with theirs the day before. John didn't mind working from the office at the ranch house because he seemed to get more done. He knew that he would have to go back to the office for a few days the following week, but at the moment he was fine staying another week.

… … … …