Reunion Redux

In our family we have two families of "Double Cousins". My dad and my aunt Muriel were siblings, married to my mom and her brother, Harold. Got it? So their three daughters and we three girls share a lot of genetic material.

Those cousins did the organizing for this weekend's family get-together and my cousin, Janet, was so enthusiastic and excited for us all to be together that it was infectious. Every time I talked to her on the phone I felt like counting the days.

One of her girls drove up from Indianapolis to surprise her. Watching that fact dawn on her was a huge treat. She ordered a cake for her sister and brother-in-law's anniversary and sneaked it into camp. Another big laugh when that was unveiled.

We had people who traveled from Alaska, Wyoming, Colorado, Indiana in addition to the Michigan and Wisconsin members of the family.

On Thursday we thought we were going to have an even ratio of dogs to people. The dogs really got a work-out as all the children wanted a dog to exercise. It wasn't exactly chaos, but close to it. I have never had a chance to meet my cousin Janet's daughters before, so this was a great chance to make some new friends. They are all a treat to know and I was so happy that we had enough days to enjoy long visits with people.

I will undoubtedly ramble on about this some more as time goes by. But I have just a small amount of online time here, so I'll wind it up for now. I need to READ your stuff too, while I have computer time. I miss you folks!

Read and Knit---and Bake

It is ironic that when you have the most to write about is the time you have the least time to write.

Our family reunion is this weekend, and I spent some time making a banner, since the print shop wanted $95 to make a six foot banner---and I'm way too cheap to drop that kind of change on them! (The F is backwards on purpose. It's not a Michigan thing.)

I also spent yesterday baking bread that we, who knew my grandmother, remember so fondly. I hope it's as good as hers!

Then, when I wasn't doing that I knit a couple more inches on the prayer shawl in the picture. And read a couple stories from a collection by Annie Proulx, the author of Shipping News, and Brokeback Mountain. These stories are about Wyoming; the Wyoming of the past. Many people had some rough going out there while it was getting settled!

In the midst of the reunion weekend we begin our week of "vacation" at the lake. Brotherbob and his family started this tradition about 10 years ago when they decided to run in the Run Your Bass Off race in Crystal Falls, which morphed into renting cabins. A few years later our sons joined us and we rented more cabins and all had a week together as a family.

This year we've dwindled down to GoodGuy, Brotherbob and us wives. We will have some vistitors at times, but mostly we'll read and talk----and probably eat, if the past is any clue. We'll be back and forth from home because there's still golf to be played, and the garden to be weeded, and meetings to attend. It's hard to take a vacation from being retired, you know.

So I may not be around much next week, but God willing, I will return refreshed and full of interesting news! (Wouldn't that be novel!)

Revel in Summertime while I'm gone.

Wordless Wednesday

Baa, Baa

Do you like games and puzzles---and competition? This morning I read about one they have devised for the Sock Summit.

This will entail, bringing sheep to the venue to be shorn.

After this the teams will have to spin the yarn and knit a pair of socks and the team that can do it in the shortest time will win.

Well that a mind-blower for me. Here's the link to the Yarn Harlot's funny description. Have a chuckle on me.

Yarn Harlot's blog entry about the sock summit contest:

Happy Tuesday!

Summer is Here!

Tomorrow it is officially summer, as I know you are aware! I'm also sure you're aware that all Spring has been a weather nightmare all over the country. Our own weather was cooler than usual except for a couple of real hot days. We were in need of rain, so the past few days have been rainy.

In so many ways, we have been extremely lucky compared to the rest of the country. No flooding, tornadoes, huge snowstorms, or wildfires. Yet. Even watching the Weather Channel is cause for gratitude.

Right now we are invoking still more blessings, so that we can enjoy good weather over the coming weekend for our three day family reunion. Some of our number will be camping in the State Park we'd really like fine weather. No bugs either, while we're praying.

So the preparations for that are afoot here this week. I spent the whole morning going through boxes of pictures to find things to bring. I found my pictures of my sons and daughters are pretty old. Not to say they are changing a lot at their age(s), but some of the hairlines are receding. They are still the handsomest guys, and the daughters still have all their hair so they are the prettiest girls. (No kidding, would I be prejudiced?)

Just a rundown on the Doctors Without Borders comment count for June. Comments through June 19th count up to 63. I should put it on the sidebar. We also got a nice thanks from Heifer, International. See the blurry image above. So thanks for your comments. I love to hear from you!

The votes for what sport needs the best all round athletes? We have a self-serving vote for triathletes, one for hockey, one for bikers, and two for tennis players. I have an idea that soccer players have to be pretty good in the stamina department. Basketball players have to have stamina and great hand/eye coordination, but they can come out of the game and sit on the bench. Gerard says that hockey players have to have stamina, great reflexes, they don't get to rest (except in the penalty box) plus they have to skate! And fight.

I'm reading a book of short stories by Annie Proulx called Fine Just the Way It Is. I started this afternoon and lapsed into a nice long nap. I loved her book The Shipping News and I enjoyed the movie, too. That doesn't happen to me very often, because I almost always enjoy the book a lot more than what they do to it in making a movie.

I'm out of news and time, but you can't comment if I never write, right? Have a wonderful beginning to your summer.

By Gum! I did it!

"By Gum"------if that wouldn't peg me as an old-timer, I can't imagine what would. I don't really say it much, really!

The thing I'm so elated about is that I successfully, (after trying, then going back to read Karen's post, and trying some more) managed to make a collage for my header.

Now there's no place I can go to escape from my cats. Today while I was coming in from the garden Tony escaped outside. When we got him from the animal shelter I nearly had to sign my name in blood that this would always be an inside cat. He and Bella are almost always inside.

Today he outsmarted himself because first he met the little dog from across the alley, and then the neighbors all started mowing their lawns. He went into sensory overload and hid under the deck. I heard the mailman telling him that he couldn't let him in, and then pitiful meowing, so I rescued him.

My garden seems to be thriving. Except for the beets which got trampled today while I was weeding. I have planted cucumbers, peas, green beans, set onions, tomatoes and peppers. I also have a rash of volunteer tomato plants from the jungle of tomatoes we had last summer. Some will stay just to satisfy my curiosity.

I finished reading two books today. The first was a Kathy Reichs tale of grisly forensic pathology called Fatal Voyage. And the second is a heartwarming account called Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent.

I have read 48 books this year so far and I have six books on my best reads list. It is hard to make my best reads list----but I really enjoyed Heaven is for Real. I'd happily recommend it to anyone. It won't take you long to read it. It still doesn't make the cut.

I have a late news flash for "calorie counters". This morning when I figured out the Weight Watcher points in a ginormous muffin it was ten points. I am allowed to eat twenty-nine points a day. (Not to mention, when would I eat a muffin without any butter?) Is it any wonder that Americans are overweight?

That reminds me of something funny written by Mary Ellen Pinkham, the tip lady. She wrote a fine book about weight losing years ago, and she said when she found out the calorie count in one tablespoon of bleu cheese dressing she was appalled. She thought she should find some way to go on the radio and warn the world. She also said that one Halloween she wore blue sweats, and went to the party as the Pacific Ocean.

Here's an informal poll question: For sports fans-----which sport demands the greatest level of athleticism? Think it over and let me know.

Hope you can rest on Sunday. I plan to. Catch up on blog reading---and leaving comments.

Fragment Day

How can it be Friday again, already!!! And it's time to dredge out the bits of trivia and casual information that don't constitute a whole post, but are too important to ditch. To someone anyway.

Our hostess for this weekly clambake is Mrs. 4444's of Halfpastkissintime. Hook up and have fun.

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The only idea I could come up with for a birthday present for GoodGuy was a reading device such as a Kindle or a Nook. When we got to researching them, he urged me to wait. He is still without a present. I feel guilty, (but rich.)

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I've been blogging for a year. I learn more when I read blogs than when I write them, and my tech abilities are still lame. I need a class.

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My family is gearing up for a family reunion next weekend and my photographer just got a paying gig and won't be there. The best laid plans of mice and men...... (KC, can you come??)

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We have baby birds learning to fly in our yard this week. There are little ones flying from the grass where they almost disappear, to the low branches of the spruce tree. And a fat baby robin was teetering on the clotheslines. He didn't get the memo that robins don't do that so much. We have one robin who hangs out in the bird bath splashing around all day. He probably thinks he's a duck.

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I didn't miss my peonies, and they are really beautiful this year. Usually we get a big rain and windstorm right after they blossom, which blows them all around and messes them up. But not so far this year.

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I am knitting-----a prayer shawl-----it's long, it's boring, but it will comfort someone, sometime, I hope. And it keeps me praying, a worthwhile past time.

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Have a nice weekend and link up with your fragments.

The Big Day

Happy First Blogging Anniversary to me! If you have been reading here for any length of time, you have realized that we are all about celebrating----most anything at all. Sometimes it's the date our cats arrived to live with us, sometimes it's a real birthday or anniversary, but the happy memories are just the thing to provide a happy day---and sometimes an excuse to eat brownies.

Of the 42 comments that have appeared since June began, comment #24 was generated. That means that Karen (and Gerard) have a copy of The Happiness Project coming their way. They already sound pretty happy to me, but this is quite appropriate because they provide me with book recommendations all the time. Plus they also were the example for the comment for charity plan. Good influences in blogland, for sure!

(All this in spite of the fact that their baseball team beat mine last night.)

Okay, all the business being out of the way, just let me thank all of you who have let me into your lives in this way. I know some people just read, never commenting and not blogging themselves----and that's okay too, but people are said to be happier when they interact. That is supposed to be true whether you are an introvert or an extrovert. So I'm happy to have made new friends, and I'm happy to have a glimpse of some old friends, too. I love to see my sisters and nieces commenting, too.

I am delighted that you hung with me through April and May and we could provide Heifer International with a goat and two flocks of poultry. That was fun.

You all have gotten me to tuck a camera in my purse, when I remember, (head shaking in dismay) so I can share stuff with you. (Sorry I don't do it more often, Dave, but it isn't a passion of mine.) It comes under the heading of Stuff I Think I Should Like to Do, But Don't Like to Do.

So, I'll end with a big hug for Keetha and Kristin, who encouraged and helped me. They still do. To Barb, a big thanks for Friday Fragments----where I've been introduced to many new people, to Linda, a fellow cat person, and to any of you who've hung in there, hoping I'd improve. LOL

You've made me laugh, you've made me think, and you've made me write. Thanks for it all.

Memory Woes

Here I am, in what is surely "the most UP North" you can get and still be in Michigan without taking the ferry to Isle Royale,------- without my camera.

I swear, I had it in my hand and headed for my suitcase. And I know I will find it sitting on my couch at home when I get there. GoodGuy has his camera, and that should be good news, right? Except that we can't seem to download the pictures anymore. Our desktop won't recognize that there is a camera connected.

We are residents of The Crow's nest at Harbor Haus in Copper Harbor, so we have a panoramic view of Lake Superior and shoreline. A lovely long dock extents nearby where flags are whipping straight toward the south. The American flag, the Michigan flag, and the German, Finnish, and Swedish flags also are flying. If you check out the website, we are in the structure at the far left in the picture. It is very comfortable and pretty inside and we are enjoying our time very much.

The food at Harbor Haus is amazing and they sell a t-shirt that proclaims "Waging War Against Culinary Mediocrity". Believe me they are winning the fight, big-time. What a time to be a new Weight Watcher!

But then, it's all about learning to live your life, and still make healthy choices, right?

My hook-up here comes and goes, and I'd better post this while I can. More to come.

Day of Rest

Fact One: Thirty comments for June so far. The comment money will go to Doctors Without Borders.

Fact two: I'm celebrating the completion of a year of blogging on June 16th at which time I'll pull a name out of the hat to give away a copy of The Happiness Project. Trust me, it's so worth a read!

A year of blogging has not made me more knowledgeable about techie matters. I tried to make a nice new header collage to no effect. Except for the fact that I wasted a good hour when I could have been doing something more productive, useful, and interesting.

This week we also celebrate the anniversary of GoodGuy's natal day. His gets a more attention than mine does, in spite of the fact that we discovered today that I shared my birthday with Frank Sinatra, whereas he shares his with Boy George. But, on the other hand, the whole country flies the flag on his birthday. That's pretty cool!!

I must confess that by now I am heartily sick of seeing public figures pretending to be abjectly sorry for their actions, by publicly apologizing. Then thinking all will be forgotten. Stop being so stupid, you men! Grow up! If you act like a brainless adolescent, get off the world stage. We need leadership, not bone-headedness!

This week I found a book that kept me reading steadily until it was done. I read Jodi Picoult's Salem Falls, and it was a jolly good read. I loved the characters, both the heroes and the villians, who were all well developed and interesting. Thanks Jodi.

Hope you are resting today, too.

Friday Fragment

Gather around, everybody, and join the gang at Half Past Kissin' Time hosted by Mrs. 4444 each Friday as we sort through the bits and pieces of the week----not enough to post-----too good to just forget. At least, we usually get together for this. At 7 AM I can't link up yet.

Imagine our surprise to have it just as hot in Milwaukee as it had been in Orlando. Plus we got to climb into our toasty warm car to drive four more hours home. Fun! The AC worked pretty quickly after the heat stroke. (I'm just messin' with you.)

As I write this on Thursday night, the Detroit Tigers are one game behind the Indians. When you hang out with a baseball fan for 23 years, something rubs off. The first summer we were together I'd have rather watched paint dry than sit through a baseball game. After which I was introduced to watching golf. Enough said.

Do you really think Major League Baseball pays much attention to "the official soft drink of MLB" or the official pick-up truck of MLB?

GoodGuy and I had some funny moments this week comparing the list of words we thought described me. He thought I was industrious and thrifty, while I thought I was lazy, practical and a bookworm. His first reaction when I asked was, "Oh, no." Two more words.

I talked with a lady this evening who has many grandchildren in town and they are scheduled (as the grandparents) to attend about eight soccer, t-ball, or softball games per week. Monday night she had three. Yowza! Grannies need stamina!

The book I finished this week: Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah. A good read and a thought provoking story. Honest person that I am, I have to confess that I was driven to listening to it since I ordered it too late. I was hoping it would reach me before I left for Florida, but it didn't so I had to download it from the library.

I am not complaining about either the heat or the cold. It is entertaining to have them switch from one to another so quickly though. Personally, I'm partial to clothes that cover me. As in jeans and hoodies.

Now it's your turn. Gather some fragments and join the party.

And have a nice weekend, too.

Chicken Talk

Several comments have mentioned the chickens on the header and the post from my stepson's house in Florida.

A little clarification is in order. The strange but handsome fowl on the header is a chicken from Hawaii, where I was amazed and entranced by all the feral chickens. I really like "outside birds", and those chickens got their pictures taken whenever I got the chance.

The chicken in the post from Marc's is one of their own. Their chickens are layers and are quite funny. While I was there, Missy came out to bring them a cob of corn for a treat and she couldn't find them anywhere. Finally they came racing out from a hole they had dug in the shade---to keep cool, maybe.

In other animal news, I have it on good authority that today is Hug Your Cat day. I hugged two out of three, and I think I could have hugged Sweetie if I'd made the treat/hug connection clear to her. Sometimes we have a failure to communicate. But, of course, the day isn't over yet.

Blessing #1--My own Bed

My grandmother used to say a Swedish phrase that sounded like this: Borta brau, men hemma best. Which, we thought, meant that it was nice to travel but best to return home. I'm all over that! I love being home.

At home we still have lilacs, peonies, and iris, And our peas, beans, onions, beets, and cucumbers are fighting it out with the weeds.

Since we are still going to have a day of record heat, I got up early to weed and water. There is still much to be done, but I was fighting with the gnats earlier. I always have an excuse.

I'll try to give you a peek at the flowers though. The lilacs are fading, but all the borders were loaded with flowers this year. I have lots of iris, but my picture does NOT do them justice. And the big peony bush still has only buds. This bush is in the warmest spot in the flower bed between a sidewalk and the house. (Sort of a microclimate.)

When the laundry gets done, I'll sit out under the lilacs with a tall iced tea, and read a book. Maybe, until it gets too hot for me. We have already begun our perennial disagreement about air conditioning. How much, when, and where. I'd like a few days a year when I'm not freezing to death. In Florida it was easy----at home----not so much.

Overnighting in Orlando

And home tomorrow, or at least as far as Milwaukee.

As far as the temperatures are concerned, ignorance in bliss. As we came through town, the time and temperature signs were reading 100 degrees, and I was reading in comfort inside my car at 74 degrees. Thankfully! Very thankfully! Believe me, I was a lot happier not knowing what the temperature was outdoors.

I always enjoy the flora of Florida, except that nasty spiky grass that pops up everywhere. But the shrubs and flowers and bushes are lovely everywhere we have gone. I'm trying not to think about the fact that lilacs are at their peak at home, and I've probably missed my peonies. Maybe not, think positively.

Whatever we have missed, this was so worth the trip for what it meant to our family that we made the effort to be here. I was so pleasantly surprised at the good organization of the graduation ceremony when there were so many kids to award diplomas to. It was broken into three groups and relieved by a short speech from the senior class president, and music performed by some very talented students. Plus it kept moving along without any hitches or embarrassing technical problems. Yay!

No more news from me until we are home safely at the other end. Hope spring is being kind to you.

Sizzlin' in the Sunshine State

Hi-ho, fellow travelers in this weather weary country. I was going to remark on a twenty-four period without a major disaster, but I just don't dare. By the time you read this we may well be reading about another.

But things are clear and sunny here and we are running from a beautiful air conditioned car to other air conditioned venues. When I go outside I get my farmer fix: The kids have two lovely hens who provide the eggs for this household, and their fruit bushes and grapevines are producing well.

The graduate is busy with rehearsals and social events with friends, and the energy here is directed toward providing food for the party the day after the ceremony. Busy times.

Chrysler corporation has not paid us for this ringing endorsement but the rental car we have is a beautiful vehicle! A Chrysler 300, quiet, powerful, gorgeous!

So all is well, and we are happy in the Florida weather, and I'm happy to be back in touch with you-all. (Or maybe all y'all.) though I never think of this area as being in the "south". North Port has so many Michiganders and Canadians that I hardly ever hear a southern accent.

Stay tuned and remember to comment if you'd like to have a chance at The Happiness Project.

April and May Tally

If you have been keeping track here, you know that we got enough comments to finance a goat for Heifer International.

In addition, by midnight last night we accumulated additional 84 comments which will add up to two flocks of poultry!

I'm delighted and would love to natter on about it for another fifteen minutes, but I'm supposed to be preparing to leave. I just wanted to put you all in the picture. Thanks, (as we say in the UP), thanks, you guys!