A Woman's Prerogative

Yes, yes, I know I told you I wouldn't do this any more.  I was quite convinced it was the thing to do----sure that my life was so boring that I was doing the world at large a big favor by not blogging.  
But yesterday I looked back to see what was happening a year ago, and it was fun to read.  So, selfishly I'm doing this for myself.  Besides, sometimes it's just fun to write.

I have been using most of my creative energy on churning out a succession of baby quilts to send away to worthy causes.  I have lots to send---not all the result of my own industry, but my quilting friends gathered up their flannels and scraps and contributed a great many as well.

So I'll send a box off at the end of the month which will start the September tally for Bundles of Joy group on Ravelry.  The group sets a goal for each month and the 900 plus members knit or sew items that are sent to the OB ward at Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.  (Nobody ever has to send anything.  We call ourselves a no stress, no guilt group.  However.....it's peer pressure at its finest!)  There's lots of encouragement and affirmation at work here.

Last week Good Guy and Brotherbob spent five days watching live sports in the Quad Cities while I visited an old friend and roommate at her home/cottage at the lake.  We had a nice lazy time of reading, knitting and visiting for a couple of days.  It was so peaceful and pleasant!

She has a wonderful sign on her porch which reads, "If You're Lucky Enough to Live at the Lake, You're Lucky Enough."  So true.

She and her husband retired there, winterizing and enlarging the original cabin, but she closes it up for the winter now and lives in town.  It's too remote for her to stay alone during the snowy months, now that she's alone. Anyway, I was happy to have the time to spend with her.

After a couple days of hot weather, we were overjoyed to have thunderstorms move through and bring us some cooler air.  We are very spoiled here and can hardly imagine what others of you are going through with weeks at a time of 90 and 100+ temperatures!

Be brave, bear up.  Keep the electricity bill paid so you don't expire in the heat!

Riding off Into the Sunset

I'm sure this has been in the process of happening for a while, since I post so seldom.  But I'm signing off for good and probably folding up this tent for good.

There are places with more interaction and I don't have much to share here, so bye for now. Thanks to those of you who check in on me now and then, it's been fun.  But not quite enough to keep at it.

Say it Again so I Can Laugh

Yesterday on Facebook my niece posted a link to aid Outlanders to understand or speak Michiganese.  It was pretty funny-------or mildly amusing------depending upon how you feel about regional accents.

I have lived in a few parts of the country where I couldn't make myself understood, so I know I have an accent.  I can be understood perfectly by native Ontarians, but that's not too helpful in North Carolina.

In the 60's when we lived in Virginia, I nearly had to write down my conversations.  But my accent has mellowed and Virginians have been infiltrated by lots of foreigners who don't speak southern very well.

When in conversation about this I've noticed that nobody thinks THEY have an accent.  It's like the proud mom, viewing the parade, and saying, "They were all out of step but Jim."

Anyway, I'm submitting this link for your entertainment.  Some of it is even true.  We Yoopers do call folks from the Lower Peninsula trolls.

http://melbel.hubpages.com/hub/Michigan-Accent

Gratitude

I know, I know!  This isn't Thanksgiving, it one of those other holiday weekends.

Nevertheless, it has been such a pleasant one, I just have to gather you all around my little campfire of happiness here, and fill you in.

Yesterday we resolved to celebrate Independence Day somehow, so we packed our swimsuits, coolers, folding lawn chairs, knitting, books, etc.  and headed for the lake.

We planned our route for lunch at the Circle in Alpha, Michigan-----and with all that was going on in that tiny town we had a jolly time.  I read this morning that they also had a great firework show in the evening as well.  (We missed that part.)

Then we made a run down the Lake Emily road because I've never been down the whole road before, and then went to Fortune Lake, to Bewabic State Park where there was a crowd (for once) and we had a wonderful afternoon of people watching.  We read and I finished a knitting project before we headed for Dina Mia's for a mushroom, sausage, and onion pizza to cap off our tour.

So now you know how the elderly enjoy the holiday.   We didn't watch the fireworks live.  Instead we listened to them---all over the neighborhood and comforted our critters.  They weren't that upset, actually unless it was specially close or loud, but it wasn't as annoying as other years.  I'm probably deafer than I used to be.

I hope you are enjoying your holiday too.  We are having beautiful weather!  Temperature moderate and just breezy enough for comfort.  I am loving it!

Adios to June

We have now learned to "do something" in June.  We used to delay summer events until "later," thinking that summer would dally on endlessly.

But of course, it is over in a flash, so it behooves us all to jump right onto summer with a vengeance and ride it to the ground.

I mentioned in my earlier post that we had taken our trip to Ontario and gotten our theater fix.  It was a wonderful trip in every way.

After that Good Guy went off to Iowa with Brotherbob to watch track and field events in blistering heat.  (I passed on that junket.)  But I had a fine time at home with my sewing machine and my garden.

Speaking of which, I have analyzed that the thing I love about gardening is grubbing around in soil. I'm good with planting, but lousy at harvesting.  Therefore I spent lots of time grubbing and pulling weeds and had a jolly time.

I planted potatoes for the first time and have yet to see any results above ground.  I'm curious, but philosophical.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.  They seem to take an awful long time.

I'm afraid that baby birds are getting feeding lessons in my garden patch.  Lots of seedlings seem to be disappearing.  That's okay.  I like birds more than vegetables anyway.  I had lots of fun watching mama robin and baby robins hopping around and in the bird bath.

My hummingbirds were plentiful before our Canada trip, but had disappeared when we returned.  Can anyone shed any light on that phenomenon?  Nesting?  I see one occasionally now; about once a day.  (The nectar is fresh.)

I'm still spending online time with my reading/knitting/crocheting friends on Ravelry.  Keetha asks if I've gone over to the Dark Side, meaning Facebook or Twitter.  I don't spend much time on Facebook, though I do check it for pictures of my kids and grands.  (Children and dogs.)

But my Ravelry groups compel me to do good deeds, and that's a good thing, right?

My reading recently has been devoted to some books that have been around for years and years, but have never been on my list.  I enjoyed Anne of Green Gables  (and the visit to PEI, a beautiful place I have visited before), and I also enjoyed Around the World in Eighty Days.  Fanciful, but fun.

I may have more to say in July.  Who knows?  Happy summertime, friends!

Mid Month----June

I greet you tonight from Stratford, Ontario, home of the Stratford Festival theaters, and the Ontario Pork Congress.

We haven't been consuming massive quantities of pork, but it's early days, as they say in British crime detection novels.

Yesterday, however we enjoyed two wonderful productions at the Festival.  One was in a relatively small venue called the Studio theater, and featured music by Cynthia Dale (mostly) with a piano, bass, and guitar, and a male singer who joined her in some numbers after the intermission.

 These performances are crafted to complement the themes raised in the other plays being performed this year at the Festival.  Our own choices this year are Fiddler on the Roof, Blithe Spirit, and Waiting for Godot.

We saw Fiddler last night and it was just wonderful.  I have seen the play before in London in the last dress rehearsal before the opening of a revival with much of the early cast.  I know I enjoyed it then, but not nearly as much as I enjoyed last night's production.  It was just wonderful.  The voices, the energy, the pathos, the joy, and heartbreak.  It's all there.  Scott Wentworth plays Tevye, and he does it brilliantly.

I am always amazed when an actor here who I have seen in numerous dramatic roles turns out to be able to sing and dance as well.  Of course, I should know that in order to "make it" at this level of theater, you have to have numerous talents and amazing stamina. He is also playing Juliet's father in Romeo and Juliet.

So basically, these artists are performing and rehearsing constantly all through the season.  Few  people are in only one production, for some of the younger actors are playing extras and understudying other roles in many plays.

In case you haven't detected it from my words, I think this is such a magical place, and knowing of all the hard work that goes into it all does nothing to diminish my awe!  We have come here almost yearly for decades now, and I haven't been enthralled with everything I've seen, but when I love it, I love it wholeheartedly!

I hope your summer is proceeding nicely.  Do something  fun in June.  Summer goes by way too quickly!!!

Touch Base as You Run By

June---don't you just love spring, when the whole countryside looks like one big park?  The grass isn't long and straggly looking, the leaves are all new, and the flowers are lovely.

We walked last night and it was perfect!  Cold enough to wear a sweatshirt or maybe two, and no wind.  We could have walked forever if we had any cartilage in our right knee.  (grumble, grumble.)

The school year is over here this week, so the kids are excited.  That doesn't affect anyone here but there's a buzz in the neighborhood.

Little Sister worked her last day at her job on Friday and she was one happy lady when she called and invited me to go eat frozen custard with her at Storheim's.  We all went out for supper together too.  The night before her co-workers threw a nice party for her and it was well attended.  People were happy that she gets to retire, and sad to see her leave.  It was a happy combination of emotions.

Good Guy wants to make some plans for things to do this summer.  I'll be happy if I can just get out and plant that garden.  My efforts on Saturday were short, since I was driven indoors by mosquitoes.

If you stop by, leave me a word for summer in the comments.  Today my words are "Welcome" and "Short".  Way too short....