Some Hibiscus and a Musette

The recently retired professor and I exchanged emails yesterday -- she's in Arizona visiting her oldest daughter this week. She asked if I'd take a photo of a new flower that she'd planted last fall that is currently blooming in front of her house. She feared that the blossoms would be done by the time she got home. Morning light is usually pretty good for photos, so I went over there this morning and took a few photos, downloaded (uploaded?) them to my computer and attached them to an email and sent them off. She emailed "thanks" shortly thereafter. Remember when taking photos, finishing the roll, dropping them off to get developed, picking them up, sending them to a friend via snail mail and getting a thank you from them required weeks? (I do.)

The weather today was a few degrees warmer than yesterday, but with a pretty stiff breeze.  My bike log says 86 degrees, SW at 19, gusts to 27, dew point of 68.  I needed 12 bike miles to pass January's total, (not a typo), and though tomorrow might be a better biking day, I threw caution to the wind and rode.  I had a mission -- the farmers market at the fairgrounds was open today and I was hungry for sweet corn and fresh tomatoes.  Which I bought, loaded into my Tour de France musette bag (a lunch bag for the bicyclists) and carried home.  4 tomatoes and 3 ears of corn are heavier than you might think.  And it was hot.  And windy, which I may have mentioned.

It was worth the trip in many ways.  I got "nice biked" by the guy who sold me the corn, complimented on my jersey by a flower seller and the corn and tomatoes were good with supper.  I logged the desired number of miles, plus a couple, and put the month of August into 5th place for the year, ahead of January, February, March and April.  Good enough.

Walking

It's not as hot here as it is in Minnesota, which is not to say that it isn't stinking hot. High humidity makes the air too thick for comfortable breathing so we've been running the A/C more or less constantly for the last 3 or 4 days. Tuesday morning the couple who clean our house arrived at 8:30, and working in this stuff is no fun, so we cranked up the A/C and have left it on ever since.

It was good to get all of the sand removed from the couch and bathtubs, the two places that I've noticed over the years that it tends to accumulate.  They helped get all the beds made up with clean sheets too, so I don't need to enlist the grands for that.  JB and I went out for something unhealthy for supper after several weeks of extremely good and healthy eating, and later I took a walk around the neighborhood.

Morning fog has become routine here of late, with overnight lows hitting the dewpoint and then not falling any further.  Low 70's mostly.  Yesterday I took the young boy COTU shopping for school clothes, and counted that as enough exercise.  After returning him to his home, I did manage a walk out to the deck before sunset to watch the sunshine filtered through a hole in the clouds.

Today I took Ruby for a walk.  By that I mean a short, easy spin with no particular destination in mind.  I haven't ridden in almost exactly 2 weeks, and I didn't have a whole lot of bicycle fitness at that point.  So today I wasn't sure if I would remember how to ride, and the thick air (dewpoint 72, air temp of 80 ish) -- made anything more ambitious seem like a bad idea.  It was good to get out and get a few cobwebs cleared from my brain even though I was out for less than an hour.  I stuck to the shady paths as much as I could.

I had a few errands to run this afternoon, primarily a stop at WalMart, a place I really, really don't like to go.  I find the experience so negative that I have gone there to pick up a prescription and taken a shopping list with me, only to leave without getting anything but the meds.   This time I used a trick I learned from Mark and Peggy -- as I walked around the store, I (mentally) made fun of the other people there.  Much to my surprise, it worked, distracting me to the point that when I checked out, I actually had more than the 20 items allowed in the express lane.  (I had 22, and used the lane anyway.)  It looks like unsettled weather here over the weekend, then some cooler air arrives.  Text messages from the college girl around bedtime a couple of times this week pretty much sum it up -- "things are going pretty well, except for the heat."

One Last Thing

Mark and Peggy didn't stay very long.  They arrived Saturday afternoon, and were on the road again before eleven today.  They had planned to take the northern route back, but the radar showed  rain and storms covering much of the northern part of the state, so they changed their plans.  I took a few photos of them, and of course of his new wheels, before they left.

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My plan to refrigerate some Blue Crops so they'd be available after their season was over was spectacularly unsuccessful.  The berries were sour, approaching bitter, so Peggy and I made a trip to Bowerman's for some of the dreaded Eliots -- which tasted pretty good by comparison.  We only got a couple of pounds, and when these are gone, that's enough.  I declare blueberry season to be over for this year.

Sunday

OSLO chose the Wild Chef restaurant for her birthday dinner this evening.  There were 8 of us there, and there was lots of talk and laughter.  Tomorrow is the actual date of her birthday, but it's a work day for her and the first day of classes for the college girl. Happy Birthday, OSLO!

It's just JB and me with Mark and Peggy here at the beach tonight, and they're talking about heading out sometime tomorrow, so tonight was the last chance for them to sit on the deck and watch the sunset.  There have been a lot of pictures taken from that deck this summer.

Peg has as much appreciation of the views out over the big lake as anyone who's ever been here -- a quality that I like in a guest.  Though to be clear, it's a quality that all of them seemed to have.  The summer reading/baking/eating festival is all but done.  It is time to turn the page.

GOINFS

You'd think a photo with a cane and an ice pack would have a story to go with it. Not so much.

It was pizza night tonight, with a smaller group at the table than we've had for quite a while. And yes, the Tiny Wooden Hand did play its usual part in the exchange of food for lucre. North Country Woman, Peggy and I took a walk after supper, and came across these lovelies.

The Grands have been tag teaming this week in the care and feeding of their grandparents. The boy left yesterday morning to hang out with his Dad's brother up north this weekend, and the girl arrived shortly afterwards to help me get ready for the new guests. All the bedrooms are still full, but things are beginning to wind down.  TT and his group will depart tomorrow morning, for the long trek back to their regular lives.  We'll celebrate OSLO's birthday tomorrow night at a restaurant of her chosing, and the college girl seems to be ready to get started with classes on Monday.  We stashed away a 5# box of the good blues a while back, in the refrigerator at the other house, so our new guests won't have to eat the dreaded Eliots.  September is just around the corner.

Muffins

If the world gives you the dreaded Eliots, it may be a sign to make some blueberry muffins.  So I did.

Lots of baking went on today. It threatened rain and/or rained most of the day, so it seemed like a good way to pass the time. (The summer reading festival has given way to the summer computer game/baking festival, I think.) NCW made rye rolls that we ate straight out of the oven for lunch and with chili for supper. The Prairie Princess made a flaky pie crust and filled it with peaches and blueberries. So maybe what is really going on is the summer eating festival. (Sidebar: Yesterday's unique salad was a mix of carrots, cucumbers and plums. The carrots were shaved, the cukes were sliced lengthwise but very thin. Tasty.)

Too Many Changes

After all of the stress of yesterday's big move, today seemed a lot more relaxed.  A big part of that came from the fact that the college girl grew bored with the activities available on campus and arrived at the beach house in the afternoon to spend a few hours on the beach with "the family."  I packed up a half pan of brownies for her to take back with her to her dorm, and she left before supper so she could make it to a meeting with the leader of her transitions team, whom she described as "perky."  It didn't sound like a compliment, exactly.  She missed a pretty good dinner -- fresh sweet corn from the farmers market, a unique vegie and fruit salad, eggplant a la Unky Herb, brown rice and brats.  With a little sauerkraut that just happened to be in the refrigerator.  I can't say that we've exactly gotten used to her leaving us for college yet, but we're starting to make the transition.

Sunset this evening was obscured by the clouds from the leading edge of a front that should go through overnight, and leave us with another hot and muggy day tomorrow.  In other news ------

The dreaded Eliots.  Yes, about 5 days earlier than I was promised, the Blue Crop berries were gone as quickly as they came.  Fortunately, these are from Bowerman's, who have a policy of leaving this variety of berries on the bush a little longer than they do some others in order to let the sweetness develop a little longer.  They aren't too bad, as Eliots go.  Sigh.  Too many changes.

A Big Move

I was not the photographer for any of these, but Adam kindly allowed me to use them. It was move in day at the dorm for the girl in purple.

She had lots of help, so I stayed behind and sent her the occasional text message.  Her most recent response to me was "So far, so good."  In other news, our village population declined by two today  -- we will miss having their witty company here, but I am absolutely sure that they are happy to be home.

Winds of Change

When the girl arrived here after their trip to the Rosy Mound Natural Area this afternoon, she informed me that she wanted to go to Captain Sundae's for ice cream on her last night before she became an official college girl.  I reminded her that she had to ask her grandfather, since he's the grandparent that is generally in charge of trips to the ice cream shop.  He hasn't told her "No" to much of anything since she was born, so she was likely to get her wish.  And of course, she did.

We'd already had a pretty nice supper cooked by Tennis Tousan and his crew.  Feta fish, roasted potatoes and summer squash/zucchini with cheese.  They were ruthlessly efficient, and made a good team in the kitchen.  Tomorrow is a big day, in a couple of ways.  The girl moves into the dorm with the help of her Mom, her Mom's BF, her brother, and her two cousins that are sitting next to her in the photo above.  Sigh.  Our group gets smaller as well, as GZ and BDE depart for home.  We've really, really enjoyed having them here and hope they've had a good time as well.

11 for Supper

We had to pull out the extra silverware at supper, as often happens when we have all of the bedrooms filled to overflowing. Nobody went hungry, the food was good, everyone pitched in to help with food prep and clean up, and the day ended the way I like it. With all of the guests standing on the deck acting goofy and enjoying the sunset.

The summer reading festival continues.

Photo Journal

Too tired for words.

Sunset

The Summer Reading Festival continues, and today I finished what I believe is book five for me. I think that includes the one I read while Wireless was here, but that counts, right? GZ and I did some grocery shopping in anticipation of the arrival of guests from the west in a few days. The minimal clean sheet/towel/bowl of blueberry thing also seems to be progressing nicely. Tomorrow OSLO will be here for supper with her crew, and some thought needs to go into that, too. They're pretty easy, though.

This needs a title.

Yesterday's all day rain finally cleared out leaving us with some cooler, drier air. It never got much above 70 today, which feels like jacket weather to me, at least in mid August. The Grands headed for home early this afternoon after mowing my lawn for me, and the Smiths took a bike ride. The sunset looked like it might be pretty nice, but turned out to be fairly ordinary.

Fortunately the weather forecast has a warming trend in it.  It seems like it has been a while since we've had any real beach weather.  Tomorrow the young college girl will come into town so we can do some shopping for a few new things for her for school.  Changes, they are a' comin'.

Mustard Chicken

I don't have any actual photos of the mustard chicken because supper got pretty well demolished at the table. Yes, my grandson has arrived. We're happy to have him join the group here for a couple of days. Mr. and Mrs. Smith were the cooks tonight, and we had Mr. Smith's signature dish, which was quite tasty as usual. Mrs. Smith made a vegetable salad to go with it. We smashed a few potatoes, microwaved some corn and baked up a pan of brownies. Then the group below took the walk to Tunnel Park, as is traditional.

I did get permission from Mrs. Smith before I included the photo below in this post.  It has entertained all of us, including Mrs. Smith, so I thought I'd share it.

Gino and I took a fairly lengthy bike ride today, which was more than enough exercise for me, at least. I'm ready to settle into the couch for an evening of reading, myself. I'm a little knackered, but having lots of fun. As are we all, I believe.

Life's a Beach

Our group grew by one this afternoon when my granddaughter arrived in mid afternoon. Her brother is spending the weekend up north with his Uncle, and we're hoping that he'll join us later this weekend. My major activity for today was reading, which isn't especially bloggable, but I do have a few photos to share. The first is from a walk around the neighborhood, featuring Mrs. Smith running up yet another stairway, this one at the middle access point.  You might recognize the time of glistening waters --

Mrs. Smith and my granddaughter did the traditional walk to Tunnel Park this evening.

Sunset at 8:53 pm.

Another nice day in southwest Michigan.

Friday News and Views

Farmers' Markets are open here on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday this time of year. I don't go all that often, mostly because I always buy more stuff than the two of us can eat before it spoils. Our local grocery stores buy a lot of local produce as well, so there's that. Today I didn't have much to do -- the clean sheets, clean towels and blueberries in a bowl were done -- and someone said something about peaches yesterday. The Friday market is at the Fairgrounds, just a few miles from here, so I went specifically to get some peaches.  Just to kill some time.

The Red Havens aren't ready to pick yet -- and today was actually tomato day at the market, so I ended up getting peaches, tomatoes and green beans. The variety of peaches is important, but I've never taken the time to get educated on them. I know that Red Haven is the standard by which all local peaches are judged. In fact, peaches are rated by their proximity to the Red Havens in terms of ripening. +14, -5, that sort of thing. (How many days earlier or later.)  I think the ones I bought are called EarliStar. I'm thinking of grilling a couple to go with some pork tonight.

Again, too much time on my hands, just waiting for company to arrive from the tundra. I made some blueberry scones, since one of my soon to arrive guests likes blueberry scones. I had to try one (or two) and they were good, at least warm out of the oven.  It would have been better to wait until morning so she could have them fresh and warm, but I know myself well enough to know that my energy level just isn't that high first thing in the morning.  It takes a few hours for the brain fog to clear, or something.

Our guests arrived in plenty of time for supper that included, no surprises here, green beans, fresh tomatoes and grilled peaches.   A trip to Tunnel Park followed, with an official counting of the steps.  (33 to the beach, and 66 to the top of the dune at the park from both directions.)   The Summer Reading Festival has officially begun.

Blueberries and Beaches

It's been a fairly quiet day here. The beach beckoned, so I took a walk along the water's edge for a while. I need to do that more often. The dune grass is beginning to change already -- a few early signs of fall are beginning to show up in the seed heads on more than a few of them. I've always considered it to be a plant that spreads by sending out roots that sprout new shoots -- the one below is in an unusually straight line -- but the seed heads are unmistakable. Maybe it does both.

In other news, I stopped in at Bowerman's this morning to pick up a few fresh blueberries, and asked the young woman behind the counter how long the Blue Crops would still be available. I was surprised by how specific she was. Until August 24th, she said. So no need to eat the dreaded Eliots this year. I think I can manage to get my fill of berries by then.  It also appears that peaches are in season.

Winding Down

A feature of the Coast Guard Festival is a mass release of balloon like objects -- each one powered by a candle I believe, which heats the air in the balloon sac, which then rises and floats away. I've never seen this happen, mind you, though many in my family have, including my recent visitor from the northern tundra. So when I found the object in the photo below leaning against my house this morning, she had a pretty good idea of what it was. That's about a 20 mile trip. Also, there was a pink one lying in my next door neighbors' yard.

It was quiet day here -- it was too cool and windy to read on the deck, though we both tried it at different times.  Note that Wireless is wearing a jacket.

Soon enough it was time for our guest to gather her things together, dig her directions to the airport out of her bag, and leave the beach behind.

One last photo of her waving as she got ready to go seemed fitting.  The time flew by, we all had fun, and we were super glad to have her visit us.

Kicking it up a Notch

The visitor from the northern tundra knows a thing or two about power vacationing.  By this morning, there were three things that hadn't worked with either the weather or peoples' schedules that she still hoped to do.  A bike ride, a beach day, and the Coast Guard Festival in Grand Haven.  That's a lot for one day -- even a sunny, sort of warmish day.  My participation was only required for the bike ride, and I was more than happy to pump the tires on the Elite, find a pair of gloves and a helmet and choose a route.  It was a little over 70 when we left, heading north to Kouw Park.  She liked it a lot, commenting that her Mom would love those stairs.  I took out my camera and she posed for a nice photo of her and her bike next to the stairs with the lake as a backdrop.  Sadly, user error prevented me from taking that photo.  There was no memory card in my camera.  (Brain fog is real.)  Grrr.  We stretched out the ride a bit from there, including a combination of tree lined roads, some new pavement (for her)  and of course, blueberry fields.

When we arrived back at the house, my granddaughter agreed to be our photographer so we did get a photo to document the ride.  And the jersey she wore.  By now her light breakfast of a small slice of blueberry grunt had worn off, and it was definitely time for lunch.  Next up?  Beaching it.

The water temperature here today was about 65.  Not bad by Lake Michigan standards, but not exactly warm.  The air temperature, with a steady breeze from the northwest, was about the same.  I walked out to the deck after they'd been on the beach for a while, and all three of them were swimming.  Brave souls, by my standards.  The only thing left on the list was the Coast Guard Festival.  They left here with plenty of time to get to Grand Haven, grab some supper, and still be able to spend some time soaking up the atmosphere before the fireworks begin.