Wow, what a beautiful morning. I am on the deck, again. I came out to supervise Ivy. You would think one would not need to supervise a dog, but, they are like children: curious and they can get themselves in a jam when you are not watching. A couple of weeks ago, she had an encounter with a raccoon and won. Last week Beth found a dead chipmunk. And, a notice came from the wildlife center that the raccoon had distemper a seriously nasty canine virus. Continue reading Another beautiful Fall day
Today is the first day of school – WITH KIDS! I am excited. I have spent the summer resting, relaxing, and re-setting for this day. The best part of teaching is every year you get to start all over and begin again. Today is the day. I remember my mom telling me, “You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.” I am ready. Continue reading First days of school
It has been crazy busy the past two weeks. Seriously busy and all of it self-imposed. I have been in South Texas since Tuesday morning and it has been hot. I grew up here so I should have know what I was in for when I scheduled the trip, but I haven’t lived here for over twenty years and you forget how hot it really gets until you visit. It is so hot it literally melts you or at least it melts me. Continue reading Where have I been?
It is late morning, not a particularly good time to start a post, but this will be brief at least that’s the plan. Sometimes plans change as they did earlier this week and I drove back to the cottage Thursday afternoon instead of early morning arriving just as the kids were coming in from skiing. Continue reading Canoe Race Weekend
It is getting down to the nitty gritty. I have had 48 days for fun (rest, relaxation, rejuvenation) and I know have 22 days to wrap up all of the things that I wanted to do, needed to do, and absolutely had to do before another school year begins, again. Somehow, I think I have failed, again but in hindsight, I have made progress.
I woke Sunday morning without the benefit of an alarm I just got up and started the day. Evidently, I had set my alarm for 6:00 PM, not AM, and the alarm did not go off for obvious reasons. This is really the best part of the day, I know I sound selfish and I am. I think we all are, to a certain extent. I started to write Sunday morning and did not finish. Continue reading Reality is overrated!
Yesterday morning, I roused the kids for a run. A group of kids had organized a ‘cottage running club’ and they wanted to go along. Up here, at the cottage, they probably don’t need it with all of the activity packed into their day; swimming, skiing, boating, and just being outside playing. They are far more active here than at home. Nevertheless, I got them up and thirty or so minutes after they left, they tracked back in from their run. They had plenty of time and physical activity ahead in their day. Continue reading Running
Short of sounding like a crank, it has been busy! Even being at the lake can be tiring and regular household chores can quickly fall by the wayside piling up until such a point where I have to stop and catch up. Today is that day. It is a perfect day to catch up, or at least make a valiant attempt. It was windy and cloudy this morning as I watched clouds forming in South Bay come across the lake and sprinkle the lawn. Rain is in the forecast off and on all day and it is just the right weather for a day of catching up. Continue reading Queen of the Bluegill
I am really blessed. Growing up, summer vacation meant staying at home and maybe a trip, but mostly it was time spent at home swimming in the lake, boating with the neighborhood kids, or at the swimming at the country club my parents belonged. Thirty-six years later, I have a place to go for the summer – the cottage in Michigan. It’s not mine, but it belongs to Beth’s family and has been in her family since the fifties. Continue reading Summer foods
I stayed up late last night and crawled in to bed, much too late. It was cool and in the fifties and windy; I could hear the wind whipping through the trees and the sound soothed me as I tried to get warm snuggling inside my sleeping bag. I attempted to read before I fell asleep, but I couldn’t. I was just too tired. That’s what it is like here. I am just like the scouts – working hard at having fun, but it doesn’t seem like work at all and it is very tiring. Continue reading Tuesday and chili
We left home early Friday morning with a full car and travelled across north Indiana, through western Ohio to Versailles to visit Grandma and Grandpa Weaver and experience Poultry Days. We had left just as there was a thunderstorm blowing through our area, but once we got on the highway it had moved through and the drive was mostly rain-free. It is always an interesting drive regardless of the time of the year; in early summer, it is budding crops with baby cornstalks poking through the soil and old, established with names like Valparaiso, Plymouth, Warsaw, Columbia City, Fort Wayne, Van Wert, and Celina until we arrived in Versailles, Ohio. Continue reading Versailles and Poultry Days