the rhythm of the fourth

the 4th of July is such a special holiday.  Given that PLK served for 22 years, we are always grateful to those fore-parents for their work and sacrifice to see the potential in this great country.  if you haven't in a while, read our Constitution.  seriously, read it.  It's so cool.



we take a long holiday here.  we start with crazy menu planning, wood splitting and fire making, big fireworks, and quiet time on the beach. every year, our BFF joins us.

it's amazing and so wonderful and all kinds of great fun.

we had a gorgeous moon.



and abundant sunshine.



and tired dogs resting and napping.




tonight, we have ribs on the barbie and will celebrate a friend's birthday.  we hope to soak in the sun, read good books, and enjoy another day #EOTE.

cheers!

May 2015

May has been a jumbled mess of hot and cold, heat on a night and the air conditioning on during the day.  I wish Mother Nature would just make up her mind and pick one.  But we can mostly say good riddance to the snow.  At least for now.

Samson's ear is all but healed. We are grateful that it hasn't refilled with fluid, so steady and holding.  That's really good news.

And in really, really good news, our place is open for business.



we went a little crazy with the cleaning.  Now that we have a garage, the guest room doesn't have to serve as the make-shift shed.



ta da!


Samson wasted no time jumping the water.  This is why we come.




it's just gorgeous here.






Happy Memorial Day weekend.

vacation

I love this place.  I love our neighbors. I love the beach. It makes retirement look all kinds of appealing.

Here we are, practicing for retirement.




Samson will still need a job. Chasing Chuck-it is a good one.







Bella has retired.  She is a smart cookie.







A couple noteworthy sunrises.





We had days and nights and more days and more nights of fabulous food, good friends, and great laughs.  I love this place.  Cheers from EOTE.

summer's end

Every Labor Day, we host our friends East of the Equator. The weekend involves organic food from their farm, wine, stories, hilarity, Euchre, and wine.  And good wine.  I woke up sore from laughing so hard and so long. I love these people.

When we arrived, we immediately had to check in our sweet neighbor Bella. We had treats and poor Samson thought they were for him.







Don't worry, he eventually got his treat.

We woke up this AM and enjoyed coffee on the deck. We were treated to this spectacular sunrise.







I am hanging on to summer.  Football's on, leaves are changing, and I am still holding out for a beach day.  Cheers from EOTE!

180 degrees

from last weekend.  this weekend is going to anything but quiet; in fact I believe that it will be extraordinarily loud. Because ...

... the cottages north and south, as far as I can see are full.  packed to the brim.
... our wonderful tree trimmers came and took down several trees, leaving Paul wood to split for days.
... we have to take down a tree in the front of the cottage; there are several chainsaws in the house.

... our friends are here for the Harrisville Harmony Festival.  while they sell their amazing wares, we will hang at the cottage, enjoying the view and preparing for the annual feast.

have some great wines to sample as well.  and baseball to watch.  and a beach to walk.  and the stars to count.



it will be busy here and I wouldn't have it any other way.  Cheers to the weekend just East of the Equator!

love

happy Friday! 

A few weeks ago, we received a delightful surprise in the mail.  Our friend, Mary Kiddy, sent us a water color painting she did of the cottage view.  It's beautiful. 



It's remarkable how many people this view affects.  It's certainly beautiful.



and Cheers to the weekend!

Prime Rib dinner

Last night,  Paul made us a wonderful meal.  The full recipe is over on the foodies blog.  But I needed to take a few pictures for posterity.

In case you are wondering, it's a recipe adapted from How to Cook Meat.  It's a great book.



We skipped the pudding part.



We made my friend Karen's potatoes.







Of course, we had to have something elegant in the glass.



With au jus, it was simply magnificent.



As we head into the New Year, we have much for which to be thankful.  Last night, it was a wonderful meal with great friends.  Cheers to the weekend.

Football

It's been a wonderful week.  We are celebrating the Tigers heading to the World Series!

Last weekend, we spent Friday night at Central Michigan University with good friends. We watched CMU play Navy.  It was a cold, crisp evening and we had great seats.  And a suite.  With fabulous food and drink.  There was even an elevator.  We felt spoiled.

I couldn't bring the big camera but had my favorite point-n-shoot and was able to get some good pictures.  It was a gorgeous evening.

From CMU Navy

From CMU Navy

From CMU Navy

From CMU Navy

When we got cold ...

From CMU Navy

We went inside.

From CMU Navy

We had a blast. On to another weekend!

Farm, food, and fun

I am ready to sell my house and go farm.  We had a glorious time this weekend visiting our friends Paul and Marj at the world headquarters of Mirror Lake Organics.

We had a blast, despite a minor run-in with a yak. We had all kinds of good food and drink.

From Farm Fun 2012

From Farm Fun 2012

We had a glorious tour of the farm.

From Farm Fun 2012

From Farm Fun 2012

Hamlet the pig (really how cute is that name?)

From Farm Fun 2012

The sheep

From Farm Fun 2012

and yaks

From Farm Fun 2012

and llama

From Farm Fun 2012

after a wonder meal, we enjoyed a bonfire in the ring of fire

From Farm Fun 2012

and enjoyed the company of Iorek, the BWD (big white dog).

From Farm Fun 2012

now, we just need to learn to drive.

From Farm Fun 2012

Ready to make a return visit. Soon! Cheers to the weekend.