: Terri Martin
: High on the Vine Featuring Yooper Entrepreneurs, Tami& Evi Maki (Cousins, Thrice Removed)
: Modern History Press
: 9781615998678
: 1
: CHF 5.20
:
: Comic, Cartoon, Humor, Satire
: English
: 160
: DRM
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB

Humor abounding, the stories ofHigh on the Vine feature thrice-removed cousins, Tami& Evi Maki, who often contemplate how their lives would be vastly different, if only they did not bear the burden of marriage to Toivo and Eino. Always shirking responsibility, the two spousal reprobates tend to work as little as humanly possible and gamble beyond their means. When Toivo and Eino do win a 'pot' they pass along a share of the booty to their wives with an all-expense paid trip to someplace 'exotic.' While this may bring a tropical paradise to mind, it turns out to be a survival wilderness weekend in the dead of winter in the middle of nowhere.
Tami& Evi punish their husbands with a hostile takeover of the boys' hunting camp. From there they explore many entrepreneurial adventures, including a 'rustic' vacation rental, an Amish-run chicken ranch, and a winery operated by a group of misogynistic monks who turn out a product known as 'Monk Juice.' While the bottom line for Tami and Evi is always murky, the various ventures they pursue are even murkier.
'Terri Martin gets to show off her propensity for puns the best when Evi gets drunk at their weekly 'teatime' which starts with boxed wine and ends with her passing out, most often. If you like a good chuckle about Yooper foibles and follies, I highly recommendHigh on the Vine by Terri Martin. -- Victor Volkman,Marquette Monthly
'Readers should rejoice that all the stories now appear in one book and follow the cousins (thrice removed) from considering raising fish in a swimming pool to vacationing on a beach with a Pina Colada in hand and the Atlantic Ocean spread before them. The book is filled with grins, giggles, and out-loud laughter.' Tom Powers,Michigan in Books

How It All Started

Tami and Evi found themselves seeking warmth from the woodstove in Tami’s living room, or as Tami called it, theparlor. Having not completely adjusted to life in Upper Michigan, Tami still clung to the notion that manners and social graces accounted for something, and to her a parlor is where one received and entertained visitors. Evi was visiting so therefore, the erstwhile living room was a parlor. Furthermore, Tami and Evi Maki, cousins thrice removed, wereat tea such as one might be invited to if in England. Interestingly, there was no tea present, but rather a fresh box of white wine, which Tami and Evi frequently pressed into service via the handy spigot located front and center. But for purposes of public information (i.e. gossip), the ladies were having tea.

“These little sandwich things are to die for,” said Evi as she popped a third one into her mouth. Tami had made some tea sandwiches with miniature squares of cocktail bread, cream cheese, smoked salmon and cucumber slices garnished with a little sprig of dill. These went down well with their emblematic tea.

“Thank you, Evi, I found it in myLiving High on Tea book, along with my scone recipe.”

“I love your scones, too,” said Tami as she eyed the plate of crust-less sandwiches, looking for her next victim. “I wonder what the boys are having for their lunch,” she said, as she used a freshly-ironed linen napkin to dab a dribble of wine from her chin.

Tami snorted and shook her head in disgust. The ladies’ spouses, Toivo and Eino, were likely engaged in their own emblematic tea somewhere in the woods at the Maki hunting camp. Instead of a tidy parlor with doilies on the armchairs, they preferred a sagging couch that likely harbored enough microbes to destroy the world. Napkins would be absent as would any other tools of civility, such as proper silverware and dishes. Toivo and Eino loathed washing dishes and preferred using their hands as eating utensils. They weren’t great about washing their hands either, for that matter. Mostly they used their Leatherman tools (unwashed) as eating utensils and wiped them “clean” on their pant legs (also unwashed except when their wives could confiscate them along with their ratty flannel shirts to throw into the laundry).

Tami took a dainty sip of wine, contemplating the bane of her