The pots are out of the kiln, been mailed to new homes, and Janice can officially lay back for the rest of the year; all two weeks of it. She will now retire to the kitchen, and we'll see what happens. It'll be good. She loves to get all her cooking stuff out and play for a week. We like it, too.

We're staying here for Christmas. Mama is hosting this year. At 93, she still wants to bake the turkey. she has her "ways". Virginia will depend on Janice, sister Sally and "other brother "Lee Epting. Lee is known as other brother caused he lived at our house more than he did his own.

He's also the "caterer from hell" to hear some of the folks who have worked for him over the years. Lee can feed the multitudes on just one little fishy and do it with pomp and circumstance reserved only for royalty. He's pretty amazing.

Epting Event is a modern day three ring circus, on speed. Imagine planning/catering seven weddings in one weekend all over the Southeast, running food service for the Civic Center, operating a family BBQ restaurant, having his own truck fleet, tables, service, a flower operation and whatever else it takes to do a thousand small to large events a year. Lee makes it work.

Lee showed up at our door like a stray cat looking for breakfast in the early 50's. His grand parents lived on "The Hill" behind us. We were little country kids picking wild plums down in the field one Sunday afternoon in May, when this little guy about 7 year old showed up in the plum thicket, in Sunday best. He announced he was Lee, and his Daddy sent him down to play with the "country kids". We managed to trash the Sunday clothes, and Lee found a new home...he never left.

Lee took over the hill, and it became "The Hill". He moved wonderful old derelict houses from all over the area to  a 70 some acre cow pasture, called it "The Hill", restored the houses, and created a dirt street Southern "village". Each house's address is the year it was built...I think Lee's is 1800...an old log house "rescued" from South Carolina.

Some very interesting people live on "The Hill". I don't have the time, or the inclination, to try to explain everything Lee and his boys are into, but the trio are up to something everyday.

Ashley has made a genuine Hollywood feature film. Daniel has been dedicated to the Darius Goes West project to raise awareness of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

There are a myriad of antiques, including some of my favorites, old cars. There are  A and T-Model Ford, a '48 Chevrolet I sold lee- 20 years ago, a WWII German Motorcycle, with sidecar, and old Jag Saloon.

Everything Lee does has a story. To hear him tell about some of the catering highlights, good and bad, is a great way to have a glass of wine and a meal on Sunday evening. He invites people to finish off the "fancy food" left over from some wedding or another when he feels like it. Why anyone,who had just caterered all weekend all over the state, would want to wine and dine 8 to 15 people on Sunday night is beyond me. I do like to be invited.

Last Sunday, Lee hosted a "house concert". Some twenty people were introduced to the Uillean Pipes, and Irish instrument, and a fine guitar player/singer for the Sunday feast. Great fun had by all.

Much of what Lee does is encapsulated in his web site, Epting Events.com. It's pretty amazing what he's put together in the last 40 years. These days, Lee plays in his gardens, rattles around in an old Bob Cat, moving gravel, building stone walls, moving dirt. I call it "covert landscaping".

Nothing in Lee's life is done in a small way. He's flambouyant, hard to work for, creative, and can damn sho' plan an event. He still has time for Virginia's Christmas Turkey, and  help when he feels help is needed, invited. or no. Drives Mama crazy, sometimes, but they understand each other.