Family Dinner Thursday

Today was the day we planned to do an evening meal with all of the Michigan family and our guests from the west.  OSLO's significant other called in sick, so there were seven of us at the table.  Pork tenderloin with cranberrry/balsamic sauce, green beans, corn and wild rice.  Ms. K made blueberry buckle for dessert, from an old family recipe -- her significant other's family -- to raves from her audience.  OSLO had to return home around sunset, but the college kids have no classes tomorrow and are spending the evening and the night with us.  Currently the movie "Wonder Woman" is playing on the college girl's Apple TV.

A successful evening.

Summer Isn't Over Just Yet

I did say that I'd be back here blogging again if anything interesting happened.  Guests from the west clearly qualify as something interesting, I believe.    Also, it turned out that it was PP's fiance's birthday today and a celebration of some sort seemed appropriate.  A small Danish Butter Cake with blueberries and whipped cream held a few candles -- and the College boy and the English girl drove in from campus to join us for a spaghetti supper.

The dreaded Eliot blueberries have turned out to be the sweetest ever, according to Bowerman's, a nice surprise, so even the blueberry season isn't quite over yet.  Supper was followed by the traditional walk to Tunnel Park by the four who still have the legs for that trek.  I met them for a photo opportunity on their return trip.

The Prairie Princess practiced her headstand in front of the setting sun, another tradition.

The Grands headed back to their campus just before sunset, promising to return on Thursday when they will have more time to spend with our visitors.  It is good to have them here.

OSLO had a birthday yesterday

It's another one of those "where did all the time go" moments in life -- my daughter had a birthday yesterday.  This past week we moved both of her children into college dormitories, so she is now an empty nester.  She and the English girl moved the College boy into his dorm, and since she stores most of her dorm stuff here over the summer, I helped the English girl move into her dorm.  Quite efficient.  Classes start tomorrow for them, so that's another significant sign that summer is pretty much over.

Oslo and her offspring spent the day here today before we headed off to Wild Chef for her birthday dinner.  It was too cool for swimming, and there was grass to be mowed, but we got to spend some time just hanging out together.  I missed the party her children threw for her last night, due to a fall taken by JB on Friday.  He seems fine now, other than a few scrapes and bruises, but I was still in hovering mode yesterday.  OSLO understood of course, and even brought plenty of left over cake with her today -- something her Dad quite enjoys.  My usual walking companions have left the country for a few weeks, so I may take a few more bike rides than is typical -- or maybe not.  If anything interesting crops up, I'll try to post it here.

She's Back!

It was a long haul across the pond, leaving her flat at 5:30 this morning London time -- about 12:30 am here.   She arrived at GRR about 5:00 this evening, having successfully navigated Heathrow and
Detroit, passport control and customs, luggage and security, and all the rest.  She used our old family retainer -- the same taxi driver that we used for our trips back and forth to the Nell Gwynn apartments when we were in London.  (He said to say hello to her Mom and Dad for him -- we're pretty sure he meant Mr. and Mrs. Smith.)

OSLO is quite happy to have her little family all in one country again.  The girl's grandfather arranged for there to be pizza on the kitchen counter when she arrived.  We took a walk after supper and she saw a Michigan sunset before her energy levels began to run low.  It's good to have her home, and it's so good to hear her tell her stories of the great times she had in Jolly Old England.

Caffeinated Red Pop

Following my nose.

Back to basics.  I wanted to take a bike ride today, there was rain mid lake, and my original plan to bike to my hair appointment and back looked less attractive than it did yesterday.  So I stowed my bike in the back of my truck and drove to my appointment, hoping that the rain would hold off and I could get a ride in afterwards.  The salon is close to the bridge into town, and the smell of pickling brine was strong in the air as I got out of my car at La Personna.

 
The last time I was here I was with Jim, Sharon and Adam.  So it's obviously been a while.

The boardwalk behind the Heinz factory has been extended a ways and no longer dumps out in the middle of a busy street at the end of it.

Benches for Jimi.

I wound my way south a while, choosing a lollipop shaped route in order to pass by Velo City Cycles on my return leg.  They were having a sidewalk tent sale, and I wanted to look at their stuff.  It wasn't a long ride, but it was an interesting one, and I got home in time to do the things I needed to do here.

This last photo relates to my blog post from a couple of days ago.  Last year I bought some domestic cardinal flower plants and planted them near my mailbox.  It's interesting to note that they bloom at about the same time as the wild cardinal flowers that grow in ditches north of here.  Not surprising, but interesting.

Blogging from a new device.

This seems to happen a lot, we'll see how it goes.  Here is a photo taken this morning at the top of the stairs with this device.

Cardinal Flowers

I feared that the cardinal flowers that grow wild in the ditches north of here were beyond the reach of my currently quite limited bicycling fitness.  The forces that rule the universe were kind today, and the flowers showed up a full mile south of where I usually find them.  This bunch was south of Van Buren instead of north of Port Sheldon.

There was another day brightener today  --  I got to Face Time with the British Intern this afternoon, on my recently acquired Apple device.  The learning curve is fairly steep, coming as I do from a Windows/Android experience set, but Face Time alone makes it worth the effort.  It was a good day.