Whoof! By about noon, I had walked to the farmer’s market and the Plum Market, washed two loads of laundry, changed the sheets, cleaned a bunch of floors and processed all of the produce in the second pic below plus had a batch of lasagne sauce underway to freeze for later in the summer when I’d rather sit on the beach than chop up veggies. Absolutely gorgeous morning at the market and here are some flowers.

Here’s my haul. Not in the pic? Lamb chops and a lifetime supply of Old Bay seasoning that the GG swears he’ll use (Sparrow Market), pasties (Uncle Peter), and kimchee (Wan Oo phonetic spelling). We got the kimchee free this time because we turned in three jars and Wan Oo seems to think she owes us for a jar. Or maybe two jars? I didn’t quite understand the math involved. No peas to shell today. Missing my fave new backyard zen activity.

I wasn’t the only person who worked their tail off today. While Rooooomba and I were wheeling and swinging around the inside of the house, a Chainsaw Massacre was happening in the back yard.

After a Plum Market Salad Lunch, I was casting about for something to do. I’ve been just a wee bit stalled on flinging lately. We’ve been in and out of town a lot for several months and it’s been hard to keep focused. I forced myself to go down into the Landfill Dungeon. I began by picking away at stuff, then I got into a major triaging mode. A couple bags of things to go to the Scrap Box. A few things to go to Kiwanis. Things to go into a Miscellaneous box. Like, 1) I dunno what this is, 2) This looks familiar but I dunno what it is, 3) I think this belongs with something else. This was unplanned work but at the end of it all, my beloved mother-in-law’s kitchen table is once more clear and washed down. This has happened a few times before but I don’t think I’m strong enough to remember (let alone report) how long ago the last time was.

The title? The Gumper (my father-in-law) would always say it was a work weekend whenever we arrived to spend the weekend at his Houghton Lake cabin with him. I often detected a bit of a wink in his eye, especially when he said it to his “little chickies” (aka his grandchildren, my girls anyway). Of course we helped with the work. If there is work to be done, that’s what we do. I miss The Gumper.

That is about all I have to say. We did our usual Friday Planet Ann Arbor routine tonight. Walked downtown to the Oscar Tango and here is what Miller Woods looks like at this time of year. Yes there were insects. But not moe-skee-toes…

The Admiral was hanging about in West Park’s recently installed Water Feature. I tiptoed carefully across the footbridge so I wouldn’t scare him but I needn’t have worried. Someone and their dog were walking along the cement path and The Admiral didn’t even get spooked by them. He must be plenty used to people and dogs and things because I took this from literally yards away from him. I had the zoom on but the pic really would’ve been better without it. Oh well. Who knew he’d be so tame. Except, look into a heron’s eyes sometime if you can get close enough to him while he’s fishing…

Mr. Detroit at the Oscar Tango with a gratuitous shot of “our” waitress’s arm serving somebody something.

We missed the Mayor’s Green Fair back in June this year. We were up at Houghton Lake, hiking and cruising on the Pontoon Bote. We didn’t miss the old car show Rolling Sculpture Car Show this year though.

Taaarrrred. Headed back up the hill watching the faaarflies (so many!). Talk tonight was of cemeteries but not the “Have I got a plot for you” sort of talk (thank you god). Our conversation defied description and I’m still scratching my head about the issues. Pine Grove was mentioned. I guess I’ll have to pay a bit of a visit there next time I’m up to see various relatives’ graves and figure out if there is a rhyme or reason to the direction they face (some of them *up* since they are just flat little rectangles (not sure what you call those, hence some [unsuccessful] googling). I have not personally put anyone into a plot at Pine Grove (actually pretty sure I don’t own any plots there). The remains of those who I have been entrusted with are in urns at the Moomincabin. Not really sure what The Comm thought about all of that (except that she agreed with cremation). But would she have preferred some sort of proper burials with gravestones? Not sure and she sure didn’t talk to me about it…

Okay, so now that I have googled gravestones et al, I suppose that gravestones and caskets and catacombs, etc., will be showing up on my facebook feed for the next few months. Jeebus!

G’night!

Only one of MMCB² was at coffee today. The other was in Flor-i-duh, one of the more mundane stops on her regular schedule of travels. Borneo? China? Australia? Boring old Europe? This week it’s Florida. That means it’s a family trip. Who (except yer fav-o-rite blahger) would want to spend time in Crazy Old Florida.

So, MMCB (the one who’s here this week) asked me an interesting question today. Was I a lights on or lights off person? It took me a split second to process the question but I replied pretty quickly with “lights off!” Yes. She was asking about my work situation. I have a huuuuuge cube that comes equipped with fluorescent light bars that I can turn on if I want to. I haven’t ever turned them on in the going on eight years I have worked there. I don’t even know if they work. There are overhead lights above my cube. Every once in a while they are not turned on when I arrive at work. I love those dark mornings but eventually someone comes in and turns on the lights and that’s okay too. Life goes on.

I love the ambient light of whatever is going on outside. I’m not sure how to describe this but I roll with the seasons here in the Great Lake State. I love when we have lots of sun in any season, although bright winter sunlight shows every last scrap of dust. I love when it’s dark (any season). I learned to love the dark by walking outside early in the morning in just about any weather. When my Mouse was a young child, carrying her outside for a dark walk helped settle her down for the night. [Love you Mouse.] When it *is* dark and I am in my house, I rely on my electronic device of choice (MacBook, iPhone, iPad) to provide light, plus a few little strings of LED lights.

Are you a lights on or lights off person? Love you either way.

P.S. There will always be a freezer ‘hattan for all of my friends and relatives who visit. Love y’all (again).

KW

It was just one of those days. I was at the absolute end of my rope and unfortunately, it boiled over onto my blahg. Thanks for the kind words. Nice rain walk this morning and coffee with MMCB². Onward! 🐸

That is pretty much all. Try my best to make the the world a better place and keep getting knocked down. Love y’all, even those who hate me. KW

So. Facebook activity in the last 24 hours. I joyfully accepted a friend request from a first cousin once removed. I had been cogitating about friending her over the weekend, uh, since she is living next door to our cabin and her youngest child spent some time at the moomincabin helping Mouse make corn chowder and looking at my facebook feed with me… (My cuzzint’s teenage triplets are way too busy to hang out with 60 or even 20-somethings and that’s okay.) Okay, you guys. College humor is out out out when you are looking at facebook with a seven-year-old so be careful about what you share. At this point in time, *I* am not all that interested in college type humor. Jeebus. This guilty dog video was a winner. I was even laughing. Seriously, click over. Poor doggie.

The thing is that I don’t actively try to friend people that are not in my generation but I will *always* accept a friend request from any member of the family. Another request came in overnight. I was puzzled about who it was but she was from the Soo and was friends with some of my other friends. So I accepted her friend request. And then, I messaged The Beautiful Mimi, “Do you know this person?” Yes. She is a few years younger than Mimi and I are. Maybe she knew my brother. Whatever.

All “long” weekends come to an end and so ours did today and man oh man do I hate leaving the moomincabin in the summer in a semi-closed-down state. Curtains drawn and three out of four of the big old fuses pulled out. It doesn’t feel right but that’s a post for another day.

I last changed my facebook profile and cover pics in April. That’s a long time for me. I last changed them on Cap’n Ed and Suz’s bote down in Sarasota Bay. Hee hee hee. KW in Fla. Ha ha. Seriously. It was a dream bote trip that I will remember forever and I have had a hard time finding photos to replace those with even though I have done some fun things and collected some cool photos since then.

But here are the Grinchie and I having some coffee in the moomincabin early yesterday morning. Lizard Breath took this pic and it is a winner!

Eventually, the Grinch moved his van out from behind our garage and headed off to work (yes it was a Sunday, he tried to work on the July 4th holiday too but that was a bust because the builder’s supply store was closed 🐗). If he hadn’t moved his van, all of our beloved relatives would’ve known where to find him 🐸 That’s kind of how it works up on the moominbeach.

My facebook cover pic? Mouse took this last night. Lens flares? Yes. There is a freighter out there in the photo. So cool.

I hitched a ride with my Mouse in Daisy today. The GG drove the Frog Hopper down and dropped the Lyme Lounge at Chloe Belle’s house in Gaylord. It was a wonderful ride. Somehow, the GG beat us down. I think that’s because we stopped for food. That was okay. I am a nervous passenger but my Mouse is a fantastic driver and there were only a few moments that my back-seat driver instincts kicked in. Thanks for the good ride, Mouse. I think you girls channel your B29 pilot grandfather.

Back on The Planet Ann Arbor, kabamm. We won’t talk about why the central A/C was on when I got home. It was only 80 degrees outside. It is off now. Thank you…

G’night, KW. Thanks for the ride, kiddo. Love.

The GG and Lizard Breath launched the Motor Bote today. We drove down to Brimley State Park and I somehow managed to drive the Frog Hopper home with an empty bote trailer behind it. It was okay. I can drive pulling a trailer in a straight line. I cannot back up. All I had to do was drive three miles home from the park and pull the Frog Hopper far enough into the moomincabin garage that the bote trailer wouldn’t stick out into the road. We wouldn’t want to block the road, although the Grinchie did totally block it earlier when he stopped by for coffee. Anyway, the first two pics are of the GG solving “technical” problems at the state park bote launch. His daughter was asking, “Dad. Are you sure you don’t need help?” And I indulged in quoting his dad aka The Gumper, “Twins have half brains.” The third pic is the GG and LB arriving at the beach.

We had a beach day. I tried to get one of my beach urchins to play hooky tomorrow in order for her to spend the entire day on the beach. She ended up driving back down anyway. Fin Fam folks do not play hooky easily. We have a work ethic that knocks us upside the head. But the next couple of pics show the beach at its best with bunches of folks hanging out.

And here’s Cap’n *Queen* Leila arriving to take the helm on the Motor Bote.

Alas, the GG fouled the fuel line or whatever. I was totally faster than them in my kayak.

Mouse and a guest from Atlanta and Manistique Lake. Love love love love.

Love y’all. Beaming back down to the Planet Ann Arbor tomorrow.

Yes, it was one of *those* 4th of July days. The kind where the fog rolls in and out and never completely goes away. A rainforest effect added to the general ambiance. It was dry on the beach but the fog was kind of getting caught in the trees so when you walked up the path into the woods, the trees rained on you. Wasn’t all that warm either although I think it was warm in Sault Ste. Siberia and Brimley and even up at Our Northern Correspondent’s garage sale up on Birch Point Loop, which is just a short walk up the hill.

The second time I walked the beach today, I encountered a sick (or injured?) cormorant just short of Doelle’s. He had just enough life in him to try to launch into flight one more time. Alas, he never cleared the ground, just flopped over. Later in the day, I learned via Our Northern Correspondent that he has been a known entity for days. I know this kind of thing is life but I still felt bad. Somebody asked me if I wanted someone to kill him and I couldn’t give that person a straight answer. bdah bdah bdah bdah.

I cooked breakfast this morning, then I threw a lasagne together and did some cleaning and stuff and then we sat down on the beach in the early afternoon until I had to actually bake the lasagne.

It’s my lasagne and I’ll do what I want to. Oh well. The question was, do we drive the lasagne over to the potluck or do we walk the beach. I got The Commander’s Lasagne Trailer outta the garage and we loaded up the lasagne in that to walk it down the beach and through The Bopper’s Path to the party. The Lasagne Trailer is usually fine on the beach but, given that the water is very high this year, it was a wee bit difficult. The GG and Mouse took matters in hand and picked it up. Notice the fog?

Another wonderful July 4th potluck at Dashie’s and my lasagne was totally decimated! Yay! No leftovers! We were all in need of a nap (or the equivalent) at about that point. The beach urchins got one while the GG and I headed over to the other side of Birch Point for a dose of porterization. My introverted personality hadn’t really quite recovered from the potluck by that time but these folks have been our friends for so many years that I knew it would be okay and it was. And the fog came in again.

With all due respect to dogs and war veterans with PTSD, I can hear (but not see, fog, you know) the faaarworks over in Bay Mills and I am loving it! And love y’all. -KW

Yes, it is our anniversary. The 33rd, to be exact. We don’t like to celebrate birthdays or anniversaries or whatever in any kind of style but some of our wonderful friends/relatives have outed us, so yes, 33 years. What did we do today? Well, the GG went down over to the Brevort Lake Silver Creek section of the North Country Trail to do some trail maintenance. I went to the grocery store. And then I went to the other grocery store. Since the GG had the Frog Hopper today, I took Daisy. She used to be my vee-hickle but she belongs to Mouse now. I’m not going to post beach photos today. Instead I will post some photooos from the behind the scenes, so to speak.

In between trips to the grocery store, Mouse and I walked up the road to Our Northern Correspondent’s garage sale. She is flinging (and so am I) and I told her via facebook that we probably wouldn’t buy anything but we would definitely stop by. As it turned out, we didn’t buy anything [although we were interested in a few things but they were sold quickly!] Anyway, we did pick a mug’s worth of the loverly yellow tomatoes. We are all trying to figure out how this dead-looking plant is managing to produce viable tomatoes.

And then our cousin Leila came over. She helped Mouse make corn chowder and here they are with Leila on a stool, next to Mouse channeling The Commander helping young children learn kitchen tasks (although I believe Leila already knows her way around a kitchen). Still, so much fun.

And then there was this, which I have few words for.

And the GG found only two ticks on his North Country Trail maintenance trip today. To be added to his Tick Collection.

One sister makes a quilt for another. Love love love.

We are home alone now but earlier, the place was filled with the fun and laughter of Fin Fam cousins and their children. The Commander would have loved her small, rustic cabin to be filled with so many Fin Fam relatives and their friends. Love.

I love my life. Last night I ate dinner down in DayTwa and actually went to a baseball game at Comerica Park. Somehow today I’m at the moominbeach. It is 4th of July weekend and that somehow has come to mean that every single Fin Fam and McNott relative on earth tries to get back to the moominbeach to celebrate together. And so I am here and after parking the Lyme Lounge and opening up the blasted curtains in the moomincabin and driving a few miles down the road to pick up orange juice and lettuce and stuff, I took a kayak out. Our purple kayak that we bought umpteen billion years ago. It still works. Here I am where it’s at.

My Mouse is traveling through whatever mayhem is happening on the I75 SUV Speedway. She texted from the West Branch rest area so I guess she has made it through the worst of it. I have breakfast dinner [including bacon] for her when she gets here 💜 My Lizard Breath is leaving early tomorrow with or without MiaPet (okay either way). The Old Cabin is filled with every RegenPerson on earth. Our Northern Correspondent is having a garage sale tomorrow (and we’ll be there). The triplets have their learner’s permits.

Friends and some beloved outlaws might make an appearance here this weekend. They are soooo welcome should they choose to be with us. Love y’all. KW.

Jeebus! Trial by faaaarrr.

Got up, took a shower, took a walk, got coffee with MMCB², drove over to Bugs & Horsey’s house (aka Chez Regen) to pick up tickets to the baseball game, got back in the Ninja, put it in neutral, released the emergency brake, put the clutch in, turned the key, aanndddd. Can you guess what happened next? Nothing, that’s what happened next. Well, except that the radio and every dashboard light on earth came on and the vee-hickle started rolling down Chez Regen’s steeeeeep driveway toward the service drive! Put the brake on (or tried to). Danger Will Robinson!

Got the Ninja stopped. Turned off the key. Tried again. Same scenario. Emailed work. Called the GG. W-a-i-t-e-d for him to wend his way through town. People were trying to leave Chez Regen. I was blocking the driveway. Then. Tried again, thinking, what the heck, if I roll into the service drive, I have Jay and Rey and Carl here. We can PUSH the dern vee-hickle outta the way. Got into the Ninja again, put it in neutral, released the emergency brake, PUT THE CLUTCH IN, turned the key, aaannnddd. Vrrrrrrooooom! Whew! Called the GG back — turn around! Operator Error!

That was just half the battle. The Ninja ran like a top but, getting to work from Chez Regen? Took f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Thank you god for giving me understanding co-workers. I had them in stitches telling them about my morning from hell, adding in little bits about some guy in a leopard fez. We have so much fun!

Evening? Well. Here we are at the Woodbridge Pub, waiting to meet Liz for dinner.

And then Comerica Park, where the Tigers lost miserably (but at least they didn’t play for 14 innings like they did last night). But how ’bout that sunset?

Reached into my backpack to pull out my jacket and found a baseball. How did it get there? I did not know at the time but I should have suspected that the Reigning Mariner Fan of the Year had played a role. There was also a bag of bobble-heads under my seat at one point.

G’night! Do y’all have any idea how hard it is to write a blahg entry on an iPhone while bumpity-clunking along the I94 18-wheel Slogway? Typos be damned🐗