Red Flowers In a Ditch

Three bike rides in the month of August.  I'm not feeling much like a biker right now, even a "recreational" biker.  Today was August like in its heat and humidity (dew point of 70) and the wind was from the south.  It turned out that I didn't really care about wind direction, and the wind shifted to mostly west by my return trip anyway.  It tends to do that around here this time of year.  There were still some red flowers in the usual ditches, so it was worth the effort in the end to ride north.

August goes into my bike log as a done deal tomorrow.  Red flowers in a ditch are pretty much all I have to show for it.  Fortunately, I love red flowers in a ditch.

Eight plus two.

There were eight round trips made to the airport between August 4 and August 24th.  Carl and Pearl arrived and left early in the month -- that's two-- then the Prairie Princess arrived soon after, then the Unky Herb family followed by the North Country woman, and for a couple of days all of Jim's family were here.  The little one pictured below was the star of the show, of course, but we were happy to see them all.

PP was the first one of the second group to leave, followed two days later by NCW and then the Unky Herb family on this past Wednesday.  Most flights were close to on time, with Delta holding up its end of the bargain for the most part.

The following day was move in day at GVSU for the college girl, who has a "family wall" in her dorm room.  I delivered a truck load of her stuff to her, and was rewarded with a giant cookie.  (TV, microwave, bedding, kitchen stuff and a suitcase full of clothes.)

Yesterday (Friday) was OSLO's birthday, and I did the drive to her house in my trusty SUV to share in a Subway platter and some cake with other members of her extended family.  (Party catered by her two children, also known as the COTU.)  In the above photo she's wearing a shirt that they bought her for her birthday.  Today begins a quiet stretch, with no round trips scheduled for any distance greater than the grocery store.  I'm good with that.

Just about done.

NOTE:  Edited to include links to TT's posts.  Today was the last full day for A and Y and Baby S here on our shores.  They did some hiking at Rosy Mound, revisiting hikes that Unky Herb had done with his Tousan, here and here.  There was also some afternoon shopping in downtown Holland.  I planned to cook -- we haven't had fish yet! -- but A mentioned that they'd be all right with pizza, and it's traditional, and we hadn't had it during their stay, either.  OSLO and the COTU had busy days in their own worlds today, but came to spend supper through sunset with us, and to say good-bye to our guests.  I have a few photos -- not my best work, but good enough to help remind me of what we did these last few days.

She likes to stand on her toes, with them curled under her.  Apparently it is a family trait.

This is a photo the college girl took of the baby yesterday.  It's blog-worthy, I think.

One last sunset on the deck before the Grand Haven contingent headed home and the Unky Herb family headed back to their house to begin to pack. (Jill, of Charlie's Angels fame, lent them her house for the week.  It's worked out extremely well.)  Family time.  If this isn't fun, what is?

Sunday

Last night's very high winds calmed down somewhat over the course of today, but it was a better day for cooking than it was for beach activities.  Fortunately, that was the plan.  Y assumed the role of head cook again and fixed lunch for us all, then NCW took over the kitchen, and with the help of the College Girl, fixed a dinner fit for a Thanksgiving feast.

In the picture above the College Girl is preparing cheesy biscuits, a la Red Lobster, under the expert guidance of NCW.  She also stirred up some cornbread for us, to go with the pork tenderloin with a cranberry/balsamic sauce and roasted vegetables.  OSLO made a tasty salad, and we put a third leaf in the table to accommodate all of us.  It was really, really good, as it always is when she cooks.

For better or for worse, this was the night that we'd promised Unky Herb that we'd go to Captain Sundae's.  The timing wasn't great, since it rained while we were there.  It made the little girl so unhappy that some of us resorted to loudly singing Sloop John B on the car ride back to the beach to distract her.  (It worked.)

There were nine of us at the table tonight, with the baby as number ten playing on the floor nearby. 

 (We did have enough plates.)

Tomorrow the village numbers decline once again as NCW returns to her home in the west.  We are going to miss having her here with us.  But we're pretty glad that she could be here for a while.

A little bit of a rest day. Well, for me, anyway.

Today was the day that our little village began to shrink -- there was a trip to the airport that involved dodging thunderstorms to drop off the Prairie Princess.  Unky Herb, Mrs. Unky Herb and Baby Unky Herb returned from their overnight trip to visit their friends, a little tired, and I think glad to be here.  (You can see how awkward the naming ritual is for them, which explains why I am now referring to them as A and Y and S.)  Y offered to fix dinner for us this evening, and with some help from A who did some chopping and peeling, delivered up four excellent vegetable dishes.  Asparagus with peanut sauce, bok choy with mushrooms, asian sausage and green peppers and a marvelous eggplant dish flavored with anise stars.  A (Unky Herb) fixed some jasmine rice, and we had rotisserie chicken to provide a little bit of protein.  They had also brought some magic brownies back with them from their trip (truly, that was their description.  I didn't ask the obvious question.)  It was a unique dinner, delicious and fun.  Y is an accomplished cook.  The wind came up throughout the afternoon and evening, and is howling now.  There were 3 tornado warnings issued this afternoon, though none of them close enough to require that we take cover.  After posting so many photos yesterday, today I will post just this one.

This is a girls in pretty dresses photo, sent to me by the Prairie Princess.  I assume it was taken by Unky Herb.  The four of them spent Friday exploring Saugatuck and Douglas, two small towns south of here, known for their art galleries and boutique shops.  They look like they were having fun.

The Prairie Princess' Visit is Winding Down

Take-out Chinese for supper, another of her favorite traditions. It was a pretty quiet day, with A and Y and S away on an overnight trip to visit a friend of Y's.  One last walk down the beach to the park with the tunnel.  I took quite a few photos.

We will miss her when she goes -- quite a bit, in fact.  It has been an excellent week, and we're hoping for good weather and a smooth trip for her.  Photos and good memories.

Picking Up Speed

Permission has been granted by A and Y for me to post a couple more photos of the baby on this blog. (But not FB.)

Our little village grew by one today, and the little girl was so obviously pleased to see the face of her Grandma Sharon.

NCW took over my kitchen and prepared a chicken dinner for the five of us still remaining after the Prairie Princess and the COTU went to Grand Haven for the evening/night.  It's really good to have her here -- it just feels right.

Photo Drop

A and Y and S

 Airport waiting rooms are boring, and if body language is to be believed, the Prairie Princess agrees with me.

According to PP, the lake put on its best face today for them.  First impressions, and all that.  Our newly arrived guests made it to the beach this afternoon, and before the evening was over, all the way to Tunnel Park.

I will try to do some blogging, or at least some photo posting this week.    But now, I'm going up.

A Guest from the West

It was a cloudy day, right up until she arrived on the shore of the big lake.  You can see here how the clouds began to clear as she stepped out on the deck.  It was a nice greeting for the Prairie Princess, who hasn't been here for two years, since shortly before her brother's wedding.  We are really, really happy to have her here with us again.  The first order of business for her was a trip down to the beach with the Grands to test out the temperature of the water while we waited for the pizza to arrive.

The COTU had to head home this evening, but will return tomorrow, and hopefully will spend a few days here, hanging out -- reliving old memories and making some new ones.

Before they left the four of us took the traditional walk to Tunnel Park.  With the higher water levels it is more challenging than it's been for a while, and electronics were at risk of getting wet when the bigger waves rolled in.

The three young members of our travelling troupe did the traditional run down the dune.  As usual, I took the photos to prove we were there.  It's my preferred role.

The clouds rolled back in to obscure the horizon at sunset, and as I struggle with the unfamiliar task of blogging, our guest is playing in the waves at the base of our dune.  She posted a photo on Facebook today of our path to the beach, and described this spot as her home away from home.  Welcome home, Prairie Princess.

Leavin' on a Jet Plane ... Maybe ...

The one big activity that was still on Carl's wish list by Monday morning was a trip to the state park.  We went there last year, primarily because it has access to the water without climbing stairs.  There's even a ramp stretching from the refreshment building nearly to the water's edge.  The COTU came with us, and the plan worked -- below we are all standing barefoot in Lake Michigan.  Success.

OSLO joined us for supper, Pearl got in some beach time, the COTU did some swimming and paddle boarding, and we made one last trip to Captain Sundae before calling it a day.

Today was the scheduled departure day for our Minnesota guests, though the situation with Delta has cast some doubt on whether or not that will happen.  We are prepared, and happy, to have them stay longer if that is how it works out. It was a quiet morning as they packed up and got ready to go, and a little bit sad, but we are very glad that they made the trip here.  (At last check they were awaiting takeoff -- )

More with Carl and Pearl

Saturday was town day, with window shopping along 8th Street for entertainment. Carl and Pearl posed in front of the bicycle art -- it was a warm and sunny morning, perhaps a little bit too warm and sunny.  We were a bit knackered by the time we got back to the beach.

Bicycle art is only one of the art forms on display downtown -- it's all a little boutique-y for my tastes, but there is a thriving business district here.

More food and more walks filled what turned out to be a quiet day here in the sand dunes.  Pearl and I took a late evening walk with LH while Carl watched some Olympic events.  They are pretty easy guests to have around.

Pearl and I had already made one trip to Bowerman's since their arrival, then this morning (Sunday) Carl expressed an interest in visiting there as well.  In past years they've taken large quantities of blues home with them, but since they arrived via Delta this year, the purchases were much smaller.  In the above photo Carl is purchasing some blueberry yogurt covered pretzels.  (Shudder.)  We were expecting company for dinner, so I purchased a Church Lady frozen blueberry pie.  I followed the directions for baking it (an hour in the oven at a couple of different temperatures), but did not allow the full three to four hours of cooling in the directions.  Oslo, Carl, Pearl and I all had a little bit of pie after our supper of spaghetti and summer squash and green beans, and the fact that it was still a little warm did not detract from its juicy goodness.

Oslo headed home after supper, so she isn't in the above photo -- taken during an after dinner walk around the neighborhood.  The grands will stay here through tomorrow before heading home, giving them a little more time with this segment of the Minnesota family.

Sunday evening sunset on the deck.

Papa

Read his shirt (second photo).  Papa, The Man, The Myth, The Legend.  Carl really, really likes that shirt.  Pearl gave it to him for Father's Day, if I got the story straight.  (50/50 chance, approximately).  When I asked Carl if he had anything specific on his wish list to do during their visit here, he promptly replied "Tunnel Park."  It's a spot with a lot of associations and a lot of memories for him -- and it was a spot that he walked to when he was here last year, so it's sort of a tradition.

I posted a few photos on my Facebook page this morning -- including a novel "light at the end of the tunnel" photo, that I'm not sure if I like, but it was different enough to be interesting.  There was a wedding set up in process while we were there, adding a little extra flair to our visit.

It's still humid here, with a cool down predicted for the weekend.  I found the air a little too thick for my taste, but the two young 'uns seemed to do fine.  Blueberries were consumed along with lunch, fresh from the bushes 3.4 miles down the road from here.  Blue Crop today, though I have a new variety to try out tomorrow.

Supper, also pretty traditional, was feta fish, stir fried vegies, rice and sliced peaches with blueberries.  It is early peach season here, and we have three varieties on hand -- Flaming Fury, White Flesh and Red Haven.  Red Haven are to peaches as Blue Crop are to blueberries, or so I have been told.
Late Edit:

We took a walk after supper, and I asked Carl if there was anything else on his to-do list for today.  He immediately answered, "ice cream."  And so it went.

He treated Pearl and I to ice cream -- small Tommy's for us, and a strawberry banana malt for him.  He said it was the best one ever, and it is possible that we will return to the Captain's before they return to the big city on the river.