Under the porch...

I happened to mention how much Under the Dome freaked me out to my dear grand girls. Well, walking through Target the other day I nearly screamed when I saw this sight!

Far away from the porch...

Phone pics of Texas trip!

Meet-aversary...

I just read a post about the day the blogger met his wife. I liked his story. So here is mine.

I was working in Bay City MI at Ritchie's Drive Inn. I met some girls from the Upper Peninsula. We became good friends. So when one of the girls got married I traveled to the wedding up north. My girl friend introduced me to a boy named Ivan. He was so funny in an arrogant " I know I am so cute" sort of way. He pursued me all night at the reception. I was quite stand offish. He was so sure he would make a conquest! At the end of the night he gave me a kiss, knocked out my contact lens and told me he was going to marry me! I did not ever expect to see him again...
He called me every day until I finally agreed to meet him in Kalamazoo for a date. The rest, as they say is history! August 30, 1968 our meet-aversary!

High tea on the porch...

My grands scooted the few blocks to the old house attached to the old front porch today. "Gran we need to bake cookies." I had all the ingredients for the secret recipe ginger snaps that we girls made five big batches of last year. They stirred and mixed until the dough was perfect. Then the two little girls made 72 balls and baked them to perfection. We burned at least a finger. Vi took a whiff of the fragrant kitchen and said Gran, this smells like last year! Haven just inhaled...We then set up tea fit for a queen. Pinkies raised!

Something witchy this way comes...

A weekend at camp for our 9 year old flower child. She picked bonfire, sleep over, camp with Gran, Papa and cousins over all other party choices! We had a Sweet Genius cooking lesson. Peanut Butter fudge with great cousin J.R. Makeup, black nails and snacks. A ho-ho cake and Slippery Jacks.
I thought I would surprise the kids by dressing witchy. I went all out. I opened the door to...hugs, hellos and smiles. They did not even notice my strange attire! So, my question must be. "Is normal to my grands a witch answering the door?"

Home again, home again...

I am just returned from a yoga retreat at Song of the Morning Ranch. Intense yoga
gong, chanting and meditation. My youngest daughter and me. I felt such a profound connection with her and her chosen path...

If you wish to see a beautiful peninsula...

Look around you. Some days the beauty of this peninsula is breathtaking. The smell on the breeze. Clean and crisp. The crunch of leaved under my feet. The view
of the Dead River falls my son-in-law took.
Breathing in the fall on my porch. Gazing into the weak sun to soak up some rays. Vitamin D will be in short supply soon.

I am listening to Hillary Mantel's Wolf Hall.  Mesmerizing. I am feeling sympathy for Thomas Cromwell! It is the kind of book that stops me in my tracks.

Birthday lunch with the Clique from work. One girl retires this year. Two people have a few years to go but the rest of us have been retired for years. I enjoy these people so much. Fun and laughter.

Falling for fall...

I spent a day on Lake Superior this week in  late September. It was warm and calm. Blue sky and sunshine. I enjoyed every minute of this calm before the winter that comes in like a lion up here in northern Michigan.

I baked an apple pie and an apple cake with my 6 year old grand. She measured carefully and has mastered the fractions of recipes. My house smells so spicy. I love the fall...

Is there a bucket on my porch?

My Bucket List:
1. Visit my sister in Idaho...I have never seen her home or Idaho.
  2. Travel Europe. Spain, Italy, France, England. I want to see the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, castles, churches.
  3. Kayak, climb a dune, horseback riding. Check!
  4. Read very good books.
  5. More camping, bon fires and walking the beaches.
  6. Time with my daughters, Grand time, and my sisters.

TTFN In the inimitable words of Pooh!
I must keep working on my list.

Fall is here on my porch...

Homecoming parade complete with floats and marching band. Harvest treats. Tiny tomatoes and fermenting lavender and dill. I love it even though it means here in the U.P. that winter is not far behind. I saw a crystal coat of frost on my lawn and flowers this morning at 5:30 a.m. Izzy just had to go out early...

Finished reading The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton. At first the slow start of the story put me off but Ms. Clayton on FB was so cool I kept reading. Glad I did. The book got so much better. I would love to have these women for friends. I found it very thought provoking when all of the friends got together at a funeral home and "tried on" a casket. It really made them think about how they would feel at the end of their lives. Did I do everything I could do? Take a chance...regrets?

Rain, rain go away...

It has been raining for days. I have to admit I don't mind  too much. I don't have to make excuses for sitting in a comfy chair reading all afternoon. There is a fairy ring in my front yard. It is so damp.
The Gabaldon Outlander books are really good reads but it is actually hard work to get through these large tomes! I have read two of the series but I need a break. I do want to keep calm and carry on, though.
The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is my current book. It is so good but so heart hurting. I cannot believe how awful people can be to other people. The story of a Chinese boy in Seattle trying to make sense of the Japanese internment camps and the racism he is subject to for being Asian is difficult to read. History books did not cover the horror of how the American Japanese were driven from their homes and businesses. Families separated and imprisoned. I need a comedy...

Oh! Joy...

My grands are so joyful. It is the unbridled joy of childhood. I sometimes, because of them, get to glimpse that uninhibited happiness. Hmmm...joy in a canning jar on my shelf of memories. One of those jars with a scrap of calico and ribbon and maybe a hand scrawled note that says For you, Gran.

A very special grand on the porch...

My soon to be nine year old granddaughter visited me today. She sported long braids and such a smile. She asked so many questions about the burial we attended for an uncle and friend she knew well. What is a funeral? I answered, A celebration of Uncle Mike's life. How did he fit in that box? Where did he go? Will he come back? Why is Aunt J crying? Another little grand said sadly, He took the music with him, (he was the family guitar man). It is hard even for us as adults to digest the facts. Days ago he sat on the porch with us all and today he has returned to dust...

Behind the Beautiful Forevers...

I read Behind the Beautiful Forever in one day. I could not put it down. I really could have used a good nights sleep but no... I read way too late. It is rare that a book takes ahold of me like this one did. It was mesmerizing. I only wish it had been fiction. The lives of the people in this true account of life in the slums of Mumbai hurt my heart. Boo's writing was beautiful.

It has been an awful week here on my porch. A good friend of the family, my husband's childhood friend, died of heart failure at only 62. He was the music man at all our family gatherings. Guitar, keyboard and the voice of the sixties. Silenced by death...
He did not say goodbye. Made no preparation for his leaving. I am determined to be prepared for a funeral and to somehow make it easy for my girls if by chance I someday die. Even though I would really like to live forever.
RIP old friend...

It was a dark and stormy night...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've always wanted to write that sentence. I just found out that it is the first sentence of a real book. Paul Clifford, written in 1830.

Last night a storm threatened but nothing happened except this colored, lighted sky.

First Paragraph...

First Chapter  First Paragraph

The Last Supper Catering Company by Michaelene Mc Elroy

                                                                    One

My Momma died on a hot August afternoon in 1950, right before I was born. My Grandma, Little G, was out picking blackberries for pie making and my momma-to-be was out hanging sheets on the line, when Little G heard a scream from across the yard. She looked up from her bucket of berries just in time to watch Momma begin a lazy fall, as if overcome by some long held tiredness. The wooden clothespins flew from Momma's hands, snapping at the air on the way down, looking for something to hold onto. Momma was dead by the time she hit the ground, her head resting on the damp pillowcase in her hand, her why questioning eyes looking up to God.


I picked this book because I loved the cover pictures but the first paragraph hooked me. I almost could not stop reading long enough to finish this post!

Dog days of summer on the porch...

It is August on my porch but it is not hot or sunny.
I have been reading a lot. I just finished Inferno by Dan Brown. I really love his attention to detail. His descriptions of the art and architecture and Florence and Venice make me want to take a guided tour of Europe! I'm working on Henry Fry. Yes, this is a book that is hard to read but I think I need to finish it. Also Shiver. Just for fluff. I will not read the rest of the trilogy, though.
I love walking by a house down the street just to see the progress a 70 year old woman is making stripping the paint off her very old porch. I always say hi and compliment her hard work. I left her a book by an English author. I hope she likes it.
Izzy, the dog, goes to the beach every day with my 74 year old neighbor and her dog. Lucky dog...

Reading in Hiawatha National Forest...

The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Shwalbe.  My impressions are of a woman who lived her life to the fullest. A son who cared so much for her that he shared her end with her and with us...She had something to teach us all. Listen carefully. It changes everything. Do anything you can to make a difference in the lives of less fortunate. Refugees and women, especially. Books. Read them. Share them. Talk to each other. I was so moved by her love for her grandchildren. Spending time with loved ones. Shwalbe's story hurt my heart but in a good way.

Two days of camping with MQT bunch. Iris (10) made gumbo to rival any I have eaten down south. Az loved us to pieces. Ivy made us laugh. Lila jumped in  cold Superior with gusto. Deve watched 42 with me. That was not easy...l hope he never feels the sting of any racism.
M bought me Liz Lemon Greek Yogurt with lavender. You know, of my favorite line, "l want to go to there." fame.
One day it was 90 went to bed this a.m. it is now 40 in da U.P.

Peaches, on the porch...

As in, "Granny, you look just like Peaches!" Spoken with all sincerety by my 6 year old grand girl...