Heather Jenkins Luncheon - STV: 11

See the Ville is taking a short summer hiatus. While we’re away, Marc will be sharing some of our favorite episodes. We’ll be back this fall with new guests, new stories, and new conversations. Thank you for being part of the See the Ville family. Have a wonderful summer, and we’ll see you this fall!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us at See the Veil. Today we have a special treat. We're popping in to a ladies' lunch. I love always going to ladies' affairs. I love it so much. I'm the only guy in the garden club. And we have Heather Melanson, who is a fantastic contractor and designer. We have Heather Jenkins, who is beautiful. And she's the kindest person. She rescues and takes care of kitties. And I just saw some of her kitties, and they are beautiful. And then the paint lady Ellen, who is so fabulous. We're here and we're expecting two more people. And this is going to be a cold open, so to speak. We're just going to let this go and let y'all hear us having a good time. So hello, Heather Jenkins.

SPEAKER_02 0:46

Hi. I should have known you were going to sneak this in.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

Hello, Heather Melanchthon.

SPEAKER_02 0:51

Bye.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

Hey Allen.

unknown 0:53

Hi Lar.

SPEAKER_00 0:55

So act like these mics on Arnold just as visit as we do.

SPEAKER_02 0:59

Easy for you to say. I knew it. I knew he was going to sneak this in. Well, thank you all for coming, all three of you, right now. We're waiting on two more friends, and I'm so happy to finally be the hostess instead of Ellen because she's had us over so many times at her house, I figured it was my turn.

SPEAKER_04 1:18

Well, this is so beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

It really is. I wish you all could see this table.

SPEAKER_02 1:23

Just get on the Instagram. It'll be on there. Oh, right.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

Heather Jenkins Instagram.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

What is your house? Yeah, uh, well, Heather B. Jenkins.

SPEAKER_00 1:33

I think if you do have the Jenkins in colors.

SPEAKER_02 1:35

That'll pop up. Yeah. It is private, but this table is beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

We have white and purple, tulips, and green leaves. They're just gorgeous. And then this china, which is beautiful and works so lovely with it. Has a Audubon feel that birds. And then she made this beautiful salad, which she slaved over last night.

SPEAKER_02 2:00

And then it froze in the refrigerator overnight.

SPEAKER_00 2:04

And her home is so full of beautiful plants. And I mean, you would never know that we have cold trees right now. And anybody that likes cats would be freaking out because she has a household full of the most beautiful cats.

SPEAKER_04 2:18

I love a little one of that. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:21

Let me ask Heather something real quick. Heather Jay. I'm sorry, Heather Ian. How did you get into the whole? Did you always love cats?

SPEAKER_02 2:30

I always loved cats. It's, you know, just a boring story, but my parents never let me have a a pet as a kid. So I always wanted a dog or a cat. I think they got me a rabbit at one point. I mean, how fun is a rabbit? Even though I love Buddy, that was his name. Um, and the joke was actually on them because a rabbit's not supposed to live for very long, and the rabbit ended up living for nine years. Wow. So a domestic rabbit. But my dad had built him a whole that was before catatios were a thing. I had a rabbit outdoor.

SPEAKER_05 2:59

I love that.

SPEAKER_02 3:00

Um, so anyway, skipping forward, we moved from Baton Rouge. I left my job there, and um, we moved in 2015, and uh started getting bored because I didn't have anything anything to do, and then I realized that there was such a need out here in St. Francisville that I mean I would be pumping gas and I'd see stray cats, and then the next week I'd see kittens. So I thought, well, there is a definite problem. So I um called the shelter, offered to start volunteering. Um that's what I that's how I initially got into it. I don't volunteer with the shelter 100% anymore, but everything I do goes through the shelter. All my TNR, you know, we we depend on grants and uh donations.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

So let me just say this right now. Everybody who has a cat, please have it spayed or neutered because there are just too many kittens that turn into cats and then they're not treated well. And for instance, there'll be so many out this weekend with this hard freeze coming. Please, please, please have your cat spayed or neutered.

SPEAKER_02 4:00

Yeah, I sound like Bob Barker, you know. Remember Prices Wright years ago. Um, but yeah, I just wish, you know, I try to educate everybody and not sound bossy, you know, at the same time. But I just um the importance is spaying and neutering. That could put a huge dent in this overpopulation crisis that we have in such a small community.

SPEAKER_05 4:19

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 4:20

Um, so that's how I got into it. And I I do it, you know, every day I leave my house at some point and go feed three colonies, plus all of the ones you see here. Um, when I'm traveling, which we do a lot of, I um have two helpers that help me because I just can't leave town and go have a great time and leave them hungry. So um, so yeah, we're always looking for volunteers too.

SPEAKER_00 4:43

Let me ask you, um how is the cat's health? Do any of them have feline leukemia on the other?

SPEAKER_02 4:50

They do, they do, and um a lot of times when I trap them, I will, even though the shelter helps me with the TNR fee of, you know, the spay or neuter, I will take it a step further and donate a little bit so that our vet who's performing the surgery can run a test and make sure that you know they're not feline leukemia positive or um have anything else going on.

SPEAKER_00 5:12

What do you do when they are?

SPEAKER_02 5:14

Um we treat it. I treat it. Not not me personally, but I see to it that it is treated. Um the bad thing is you say good, so you are the bad part is or the hardest part, the challenge is whenever they need ongoing treatment and you can't exactly handle a feral cat. So um if it's too far, if if there's no, if it's gonna inhibit their quality of life, then we make a decision then. Um or if it's contagious, um, but most of the time is something. Luckily, I haven't run into anything, you know, more than you know, a paw injury or um an upper respiratory infection, something like that.

SPEAKER_00 5:50

And how many cats do you personally have on this property?

SPEAKER_02 5:53

Oh, why did you ask that? I hate this question. Because please tell people that my house does not smell like cats because that's always the first.

SPEAKER_00 6:01

This is a beautiful home, and I have to tell you, it's a lot of property, so it's not like the cats, and it's on a quiet little country road, so they're safe and and they do spend a lot of time outside.

SPEAKER_02 6:12

Yeah, we do have a few that come in and out. Oh, we look, one of our other friends is here.

SPEAKER_00 6:16

Kelly is here who you've heard on one of my earlier podcasts. Hi, Kelly. Hi, so glad you're here. We're doing all isn't the table beautiful. She just walked in on this, it's just gorgeous. So, wait, anybody finish home?

SPEAKER_02 6:32

Oh, um, I'm sorry. Um, I have I have 23 cats, but we also let me let it be known, we live on a lot of property, like you said, several hundred acres. So they don't all have to be on the front porch. Um, and I have a few that come in indoor, outdoor. Most of them want to be outside. I've got one cat that just wants to be inside. That's all she her best life. She's living her the VIP life back in my bedroom right now.

SPEAKER_05 6:56

I love that. Um what is her name?

SPEAKER_02 6:58

Aspen. Because we got married in Aspen. So I named her. You look, when you have this many cats plus colonies, you start running out of uh your creativity uh drains and you don't have uh great names anymore. You just start day uh the months of the year. I've got a May, I've got a Chrissy for Christmas.

SPEAKER_00 7:15

I mean she had this beautiful orange cat that came into the room and he's actually groomed, and he has a mane and he has a fluffy tail. He looks like a lion. He's a very large male cat, and he's sweet, sweet, sweet. And I said, Oh, what is his name? And she said, orange.

SPEAKER_02 7:34

I mean, they it that's just what it is now. And if my husband gets a chance to name them, then they're gonna be named after a bourbon because we have a Blanton and a Pappy after some of his favorite bourbons. So yeah, we, you know.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

And how old is your oldest cat?

SPEAKER_02 7:48

Um, we had two that came with us from Baton Reach when we left Baton Reach. So that would be 2015. Please don't make me do public math or math in public. Um, so however long that is, what is that? 11 years?

SPEAKER_05 8:02

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 8:03

Yes. Oh, look at me. That was good. Yeah. So so yeah, so that's how old the oldest are, and they are definitely the OGs, and they let it be known around here.

SPEAKER_00 8:13

So what happens when you bring a new cat into the mix?

SPEAKER_02 8:16

Do they fight or that is the first question everybody asks. I've been very lucky. I try to, if I bring someone on, um, they better like other cats, or we're they're at the wrong house. Um, but I I acclimate them the proper way, which I leave them on our outdoor kitchen for about a week. And that way they start getting used to the sights and smells of everything around them. And then we, you know, so they'll usually let me know when they're ready to have their freedom again. And um, and I'll let them out of the outdoor kitchen. And um, I mean, we Rob always chokes and says we built the outdoor kitchen for the cats. It's a cat house, a catio.

SPEAKER_05 8:52

A catio.

SPEAKER_02 8:54

Um, but that's how I do it. And uh, and I haven't, oh gosh, knock on wood, fingers crossed, I've never had a problem. We've got a few that don't like each other, but it's just, I mean, when you have this much property, you're able, they are able to give each other a wide berth. And we've got a we've got two barns on the barns on the uh properties, so they enjoy, you know, being their little a working cat.

SPEAKER_00 9:14

Do they ever bring you treats?

SPEAKER_02 9:16

Oh, they did this morning.

SPEAKER_00 9:17

What did you get?

SPEAKER_02 9:18

Well, some people aren't gonna like this because I understand all about the ecosystem, but one of them brought me a bird, which it's so upsetting because I love my birds and I love my squirrels, and uh that's why all of my bird feeders are in the wood tree line over there. Um, that and the cats don't know about them. But every now and then one will light somewhere around the house, and it's just it's an unlucky day, and I guess that's what happened.

SPEAKER_00 9:41

You know, I'm gonna make a suggestion, and you can take it for what it's worth, but especially since Ellen wrote her book, she might be able to give you pointers. I think you should write a book about cat care. Cats are so you would enjoy it.

SPEAKER_02 9:53

I'm flattered that you think that.

SPEAKER_00 9:55

No, no, and then and you would have great photographs to take because you and you have an endless array of characters.

SPEAKER_02 10:02

It's endless.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

That's characters. I really do believe you should do that. And Heather is a beautiful woman. You should see her face. It's dewy fresh. You should do that. You really should think about it because thank you. I'll consider that. People love cats. You could write, I mean, what you're doing is really you might inspire people to do what you do, and it would be very worthwhile.

SPEAKER_02 10:23

Well, thank you very much.

SPEAKER_00 10:24

I think well, thank you for letting me interrupt your cooking. I'm gonna go buy another one of your guests.

SPEAKER_02 10:29

Well, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 10:30

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 10:32

Where are they going? Are they escaping?

SPEAKER_00 10:34

They're going into the mud room. Oh, somebody's taking their shoes.

SPEAKER_02 10:38

You're looking um at Kevin's mural. Kevin did this. Oh, it's beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 10:43

This is another former guest, Kevin, who did the murals. He just did this beautiful mural. I love that we're doing this so you can only hear us rave and you can't see how pretty it is.

SPEAKER_04 10:52

Well, we're gonna post some photos on the Instagram.

SPEAKER_02 10:55

I love the little butterflies he did. He even did a cat, although the piece of furniture is in front of the cat. There's like a little cat family.

SPEAKER_01 11:04

Without telling them a picture of him going up the right driveway. Because you know, like oh yeah. Well, when you see the cat, you're in the right house. Like, oh, there's cats, I'm at the right house.

SPEAKER_00 11:14

So I'm gonna grab Callie and um Heather Malansaw and ask you what's going on at Wida.

SPEAKER_04 11:22

Oh, so much is going on at Wida. Well, let's let's move into a bigger space.

SPEAKER_03 11:27

Wida, she she got a facelift. The old gal got her a little facelift.

SPEAKER_00 11:37

So wait, tell us about it. Tell us about it. So you had the terrible accident with the flood, and what did you have to have actually torn out?

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Well, the ceiling in the dining room it tore itself out. It just kind of fell in, and so it fell on like a lot of the furniture, and then the water spread into the kitchen. And when we were we had to remove things because we weren't sure exactly where the damage was, and the cabinet just kind of fell apart, like the water got it. So we had all new cabinets.

SPEAKER_03 12:14

Sinker cypress cabinets. Oh, sinker cypress. Handpick selected, um no wonder. Yes, we selected it, sent it to her like each piece, like beautiful, like you know, cypress that had been sunken, you know, down for for years. It's how nice. Yes, yes, it's very nice.

SPEAKER_01 12:33

Which is beautiful because like Emile grew up on the bayou and his dad collected sinker cypresses whole. Oh wow, how nice very big connections.

SPEAKER_00 12:44

Emile is one of the most charming men, and that is Kelly's husband. He's delightful.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

We had a sale today. I'm hot off the heels. I had to leave. I was like, I've got to go for her.

SPEAKER_00 12:58

I thought it was Third Thursday, which this is all discombobulated. They are. I would have gone. I did not know that, because I thought about it. I've never been, and I have to go sometime.

SPEAKER_01 13:07

We're talking about two great jackets. And so she's gonna get them for you. Oh, I love Jay Peterman. Yeah, it's really good.

SPEAKER_04 13:17

Who who sent that? That's so funny.

SPEAKER_01 13:19

Well, um, Devraile's volunteering now. She shows Devilyn Walker. Yeah, she wants to volunteer and she found him. She didn't have her phone, so I texted. Well, I didn't know that you were gonna be here, or I would have surprised. Yeah, it was a surprise. What a wonderful surprise.

SPEAKER_02 13:34

I knew that it would be. Anytime Mark shows up, it's a definitely a surprise. A good day.

SPEAKER_01 13:39

It's not the same.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

So, how long have you two been working on this project?

SPEAKER_01 13:46

Well, longer. This is not a reflection on HM design, it's a reflection on my insurance company.

SPEAKER_04 13:55

Care to share the name? No.

SPEAKER_01 13:56

I mean, I can't even remember down the lines we use for insurance.

SPEAKER_03 14:02

We had some other projects going on separately. So we did a beautiful walk-in pantry.

SPEAKER_01 14:07

Where the wine, remember where they have that old wine area that, you know, and we can post pictures.

SPEAKER_03 14:13

Ellen actually has some on full spectrum because we use a color um out of our line. Manhattan blue. Manhattan blue. Um, I we kind of named that after uh Ellen's time in Manhattan. It's a beautiful blue, and again, we did a high gloss on it. Cabinets are very sleek all the way to the ceiling. Ellen and I were just talking about Heather's bathroom because that's something that I like to do whenever I'm designing cabinets in the you know the 90s, 80s, early 2000s. Cabinetry was so bulky and it would just stick out and just very bulky. So I'm gonna do it.

SPEAKER_00 14:45

Y'all this woman looks like she's 28. You couldn't imagine. She's a grandmother. She is so fresh.

SPEAKER_03 14:51

Oh, thank you. And so I love to give them like that sleek look. Like I was telling Ellen, you know, because I like clothing and design, and then you almost think of it as a woman when she's trying to elongate her legs, she wears a heel. And so, kind of the same thing with cabinetry when it goes all the way up and it's sleek and shiny, it just kind of gives the illusion of the room just being more exciting.

SPEAKER_00 15:13

It's like bringing the draperies up to the crown walls in the case. Exactly, yeah, same thing, same thing.

SPEAKER_01 15:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:20

And so the good thing is with me, all that is included, you know. Uh I saw that there was uh a lack in the industry, you know, in the unless someone did hire a designer like yourself, you know, then there was a lot of mistakes being made because the color would be wrong. And, you know, sometimes the flooring, the coloring wouldn't match what was on the walls, you know. They'd have a cool and a warm, and then the clients and customers were unhappy. And so I made it to where whenever I got my license, that all that would kind of come with it. I would help them through, kind of just make it really a turnkey. And I also work with designers as well.

SPEAKER_00 15:59

I mean, like tell everybody the name of your company.

SPEAKER_03 16:02

HM Design and Consulting.

SPEAKER_00 16:03

HM Design Consulting. Is it located here? About yes, here in St.

SPEAKER_03 16:07

Francisville. I'm a woman-owned uh commercial and residential contractor.

SPEAKER_00 16:12

Hear that, ladies.

SPEAKER_03 16:13

That's right. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_04 16:14

And actually, Heather, of course, works with her husband who is a contractor, Ray Melasson. And um I mean they've built houses from the ground up, so they don't just do cabinets.

SPEAKER_03 16:25

Thank you, Ellie. Yeah. So what happened here in St. Francisville, there's a lot of homes, you know, that uh there's actually there's not a lot of homes in the market. We know that. And the homes that are in the market tend to be, you know, their price is quite high. So there's a lot of people in their home. There's no reason to sell, they just need to update it, refresh it. And so I really found a niche in the market here to where I was going in and remodeling, and then also bringing to them the design aspect of it too, completely turnkey. They weren't having to fight the traffic, going back and forth into Baton Rouge. I was handling all of that for them. But like she said, we also build from the ground up as well, and then we do commercial. So I just have to say one thing.

SPEAKER_00 17:09

I love that you say niche, not niche.

SPEAKER_03 17:13

Oh, thank God. I passed that, Tess. Let me have a little bit more of the champagne and I can say a lot more for the biggest.

SPEAKER_02 17:20

And you did our bathroom here, so you helped me. Yeah, just oh, this home is just stunning. Thank you. You know, it was supposed to be a camp. The house was supposed to be Rob's camp. You would never know it.

SPEAKER_01 17:33

I know it would be a fair.

SPEAKER_02 17:35

Ellen knows because we had Ellen's paint throughout whenever Robert.

SPEAKER_04 17:40

Rob's mother hired me, and I met Jan and Rob at the Birdman with the plans. Yes, yeah, just mean, and so it was so manly. We're talking Edgewood Green and these real manly, you know, because it was all for Rob.

SPEAKER_02 17:58

And and and then having card games here and late drinking nights, and you know, all the guys coming. I mean, look, upstairs is designed to have bunk beds around the perimeter. That's why the rooms are huge, because I could have done so much more upstairs well with the whole house, to be honest. Well, you've done it, but we have to do that.

SPEAKER_01 18:21

This is wonderful. Yeah, we laugh all the time. It's like treasures.

SPEAKER_00 18:26

Oh, yes, everything. The garden tea, yeah, let's see. And it was just I didn't sleep for a month.

SPEAKER_03 18:36

This is one thing that I love about St. Francisville, though, is there's hidden gems everywhere in the woods. Like Ellen, your little cottage in the woods. I mean, I the first time I drove out there, and then just it's absolutely beautiful, charming, warm. Like every time we go over there, I can just, I mean, you just feel like you're cozy duck. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:56

I don't have to get dressed up. I can put my feet on the couch, get all snuggled up.

SPEAKER_03 19:00

Oh my. Same way out here, you would never know this home was out here. And then when we have the events with the garden center, and we, I mean, um, you know, with the garden club, and then we get to go out to the different homes. It's like you're driving through all these trees and then it just opens up and you're like, oh my gosh. Yeah. Yeah, people don't know. We're we are doing something out here in St.

SPEAKER_04 19:19

Francis. So many really creative places.

SPEAKER_00 19:24

I can't remember her name, but uh that was a surprise. It comes from clearing one year.

SPEAKER_03 19:30

That was fabulous. So many. And then their taste is just I think St. Francisville, we have impeccable taste.

SPEAKER_04 19:35

Like definitely. Even if their moments have a great house. It's amazing. And then Kim Morgan has the creative.

SPEAKER_02 19:43

Um I mean, I'm just wild and I leave so inspired. I come home, I'm like, okay, Rob, we gotta make some improvements.

SPEAKER_03 19:50

Because what I love noticed in St. Francisville, and I'm sure you have too, especially. I mean, you've been all around the, you know, world pretty much in design, is that I feel like here they understand a little bit more about what design is. It's a when I walk in their homes, it's a reflection of your personalities. Layered. Yeah, it just looked like you're not going to be able to do it. So many people ask me what's the new trend, what's going on. And I'm like, do what you love. When people come in your home, they should it should be a reflection of you, not so much worried about the trends and what's going on. And you can add some of that in there and incorporate it in there, but um mostly it's like when you see a piece and you love it, that's what it should be. It's to tell a story. It's a good idea.

SPEAKER_00 20:36

That's the lead-in that I excuse me, I want to just say this because since we have designers and uh I'm gonna just tell you one of my smart tricks. I wasn't schooled in design, I attended history of furniture and I attended textile classes and a couple of design classes. But what I did as a designer, which has really worked well for doing a project, is especially when I was in New York and they had so many design centers where I could just go and, you know, get samples, I would get I wouldn't even be thinking about it. I would just write down and literally wind up having five or six bags of fabric samples, wallpaper samples, pictures of furnishings that were available. And then when I met the couple, it was usually a couple, when I met the couple, we'd sit down and I would tell them, This is not for anything. This is for me to get to know you. I only want to know if you like it or not. You can't say, Well, I would like it if it was green. You can't say, Oh, I'd like it, but I'm not crazy about playing it. No, you have to both like it. And that could take, you know, an hour or so to go through all of this, but once you did, you actually knew what they liked, and more importantly, you knew what they didn't like.

SPEAKER_05 21:52

Right.

SPEAKER_00 21:52

And that was the best trick that I used to do. And I think designers should pick up that because it's a really great thing.

SPEAKER_03 21:58

I do something similar now. And it would be more with photographs. So when we start texting Heather and Kelly, I'm like, show me some things that you've seen that you love so I can kind of get an idea of what you're leaning towards. Because a lot of people they don't know what they love, you know. But something has attracted them to different things. And I think with this industry, um, and you'd probably agree, with it, it's it's getting faster now, just like they have fast fashion, fast so almost the homeowner can't keep up because everything is throwaway now. Remember, our grandparents would keep their couches for decades. So I try to tell people don't pay attention to the trends because it's it's now being programmed to you know having you constantly buy. Yes. And so it's uh uh the design world in homes has become like the same as fast fashion in the clothing industry, and so you can't get distracted with that. So look who's here.

SPEAKER_00 22:57

Yeah, we are you look fabulous.

SPEAKER_04 23:00

You do look fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 23:02

I was trying to whisper and point to the microphone.

SPEAKER_00 23:06

You look fabulous. We're doing a quick, just as it falls, little one of I know you I and I thought about you because I've been asking you to be on it, and you've been like, I don't know. One of these days. So you're well here we are doing it.

SPEAKER_04 23:19

Not today, but another day. Not today.

SPEAKER_00 23:22

Well, we're gonna be, you know, did you did you take a drink? What? Take your time and restart it?

SPEAKER_04 23:27

No, but it's I'll be in, you know, we can end it whenever.

SPEAKER_00 23:32

Well, I have a question. I want to know when the ceiling in the dining room goes up and the Sophia chandelier gets installed.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

The electrician's coming Monday. Yeah, so but I don't know exactly when that's gonna happen. Hopefully soon.

SPEAKER_00 23:47

Have you painted the uh ceiling?

SPEAKER_01 23:50

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:51

Oh, fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 23:52

Everything's had a can. But the um chandelier should be coming in hot pretty soon. I can't wait.

SPEAKER_03 24:02

I can't wait to see. Yeah, we definitely need to post everything. And again, any of the paint colors, whether it be uh my home color or Heather's or yours, the majority of them are all in the palette. Um a full spectrum with HM design. We did a little collaboration out that I did. And I'm hoping maybe we can do one for the spring. We've got some other I know we need to add to it. Yeah, we need to.

SPEAKER_04 24:26

Yeah, we need to finish that up.

SPEAKER_00 24:28

Well, let me get it out there. Anything new going on since we last spoke?

SPEAKER_04 24:33

With what? Your business, your life, anything. Oh well, you know, um I as we all know, and I've posted on Instagram, my former husband and my daughter's dad passed away. He was the owner of Shade Tree. I helped him create it years ago. It's a bed and breakfast on a four-acre hilltop in St. Francisville. Anyway, we're putting together. He, you know, was incredibly beloved and just an amazing. I mean, he was just amazing. He did everything from jump off Aspen Mountain in a hang glider, you know. And skied with a ski barefoot.

SPEAKER_00 25:14

Barefoot in the Mississippi River.

SPEAKER_04 25:16

Yeah. He was really slim in the Mississippi River. Yeah, he was he was definitely the first love of my life. I think.

SPEAKER_00 25:28

Which is this beautiful retreat. And one of the guests said to me, I came here to pick up my daughter. And she'd been spending the weekend with a bunch of kids in Kenwood. And I looked around for her and I couldn't see her, and I heard some yelling, and I looked out, and he was in a boat pulling her on a round disc of metal, and they were having the best time, and all I could think is undertoes the Mississippi River. Yeah, he was a real free street.

SPEAKER_04 25:58

Oh my gosh, I didn't even know about that. Yeah, I love that story. Yeah. Well, I mean, I even flew with him in his plane, you know. Uh that was crazy. I was in my 20s when I first dated him in the 70s, and then when I came back from New York, we got back together and, you know, got married. We had my daughter, and it was uh a fun, you know, few years, and then we remained friends and started the bed and breakfast, which now, you know, is my daughter's. And so uh it's something that I've always helped um maintain. But thankfully, our friends who own the St. Francisville Inn manage it for us, and they do an amazing job. And so um, yeah, we're looking forward to having Alex and her husband Sam spend more time in St. Francisville because now that's their property and they'll be moving, you know, to St. Francisville. And uh yeah, we're excited.

SPEAKER_00 26:53

I'm excited anyway. Yeah, she's I think the next step is grandma.

SPEAKER_04 26:58

Oh, wouldn't that be wonderful? I don't want to push it though, you know. But you it's funny, you do hear when someone passes the daughter or the you know gets pregnant shortly afterwards. So I never heard that pressure.

SPEAKER_03 27:11

You never heard that? Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 27:13

She's probably like I'm excited to have Ellen, really. Oh yeah. She's always so much fun. I don't care. I don't even talk about it to them, but I do have the cutest little Dutch beds downstairs. But if it happened to love, yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 27:29

Well, I want to thank everybody for chatting me up, and I know this is gonna be a wonderful episode. I don't know how long this is, but we're gonna play it as it is. So thank you, ladies, and uh listen to me on Spotify or Apple at See the Ville.

SPEAKER_04 27:47

Well, actually, it's wherever you can hear podcasts.

SPEAKER_00 27:51

My producer.

SPEAKER_04 27:52

Yeah, it's been so much fun, I've I have to say. I've gotten into this whole little system Mark bought, the Lark Max 2, and it's got these little miniature speakers, and it all comes in the cutest little box. Very handy and very inexpensive, too. Highly recommend it.

SPEAKER_02 28:07

It would not be good for me to walk around with a microphone on all day. I've learned that in short 30 minutes. Don't put a muzzle on me.

SPEAKER_04 28:17

Well, thanks everybody.