Florida-Here We Come

Essential Bean in Caledonia is always on of our last stops before leaving town for a trip. We think their coffee is the best we've found anywhere. It might be the cozy, friendly atmosphere and all the friends we see there. It is a tradition to take our picture showing the excitement we feel as we are 'on the road again." The new owner, Justin, cheerfully took part in our tradition.

We left a guardian to watch over the farm while we are gone. Graham, our cat, seems to be working hard watching for intruders. Of course, Jennifer and Eric are there to care for Graham.

Our first stop was in Canton, Ohio to stay with Kristen. We did lots of planning for the upcoming wedding. We went out to dinner with Kristen, Chris and his parents, Tom and Sandy Liggett. We also visited the Liggett's home. They have the most wonderful vegetable garden in the summer. It was a wonderful way to start our trip.

These next photos are from our trip in October but will show you where we are living for the next two months.

We have been planning our trip to Florida since last summer. I was able to arrange my work schedule to allow two trips to Florida. We traveled to Florida in October to bring our 5th wheel and get it set up on a lot. So we have safely arrived at 2627 Driftwood Blvd., Avon Park, FL 33825.

Our first few days have been busy getting set up and reacquainted with the friends. Tom's Uncle Wayne and Aunt Phyliss Ullery are in the same park. We are looking forward to many days of exploring Florida and enjoying the sunshine.

Is Winter Here?

I woke this morning to see the roads covered with snow. Jennifer was apprehensive about driving to work on the white stuff. Her stay in North Carolina has left her out of practice. She made it to school safely in spite of icy roads. I'm cozy in my chair with the heater going. I'm drinking coffee and I actually have time to do an update on this blog. I had to rearrange my schedule at Hopkins Middle School this week because there were special Christmas activities today. I usually work Monday, Wednesday and Friday but I worked Thursday this week so I'm enjoying a Friday off work.

Tom and I spend two weeks in Florida this fall. This picture is from our spot in Lake Bonnet Village. We left our 5th wheel there and we are returning the end of January. Lake Bonnet Village is near Avon Park and it is a 55+ park. The residents are great fun and we are looking forward to getting back there.

Last weekend Tom and I took Anna and Jack, our youngest grandchildren, up to the Soo for the annual Mitchell Christmas Dinner. This picture of Anna was taken just as we drove into Grand Rapids on our return trip. It was the only time she slept in the car the entire weekend. I guess we had finally tired her out. The Mitchell Christmas Dinner has been held for approximately 100 years. You can read my post of last year's dinner at Mitchell Family Christmas Dinner. It was a fun time reconnecting with my Mitchell 'cousins'. Cousins in the Mitchell family is anyone with a common ancestor-David and Margaret Mitchell-my great-grandparents.
We stayed with my parents who are both doing well. We brought our Christmas gifts for them and had a fun time. The grandkids taught us a new card game which lead to lots of laughter as my mom and I struggled to learn the finer points.

Over Thanksgiving we celebrated Kristen and Sherry's birthday. Kristen is now engaged and getting married next June 29. So wedding preparation really is overshadowing everything else.

Memorable Meals Mark the Summer

We are now moved back to Alto and have left the leisurely days at the Cabin behind. Actually there weren't too many leisurely days at the Cabin with all our projects but every day started out slowly and we savored our morning coffee watching the river.

I've posted some food pictures that I took because they help me remember some of our highlights this summer.

This is the meal at my dad's 65th Sault High School reunion in August. Tom and I attended with him and my mother. It is their last reunion because they have lost so many classmates especially those who did the planning of their annual get-together. There was enough money in the treasury to pay for the classmate's meals. Only guests had to pay. The reunion was at Lake Superior State University. The food service director, for some reason, decided to provide everyone with two meats-even though we had to choose between chicken and steak on our RSVP. It was a good will action. The reunion was touching, fun & a highlight for me to hear stories of my dad and see him interacting with lifelong friends.

Earlier in the summer, Tom and I hosted a dinner for my dad's cousins-several of whom he hadn't seen in years. Again I learned more about him from stories told by the cousins. My mother brought a lemonade cake-she had seen the recipe in a magazine. It took her half a day to make it and she says 'never again' so we enjoyed every bite. It was every bit as delicious as it looks.

In July, my principal and his family from Hopkins Middle School where I have been working the past two years, came to visit along with their Polish exchange student. I experimented with Babka, a Polish coffee cake. Aylssa seemed to like it. But for lunch, we took them to Clyde's Drive-in for a real American meal!

We finished our summer with a wonderful visit from our children, Kristen and her boyfriend Chris and our youngest Eric. I asked for meal suggestions and the only one I heard was cinnamon rolls from Kristen. They turned out great-the second time. The first batch was made in between going out for a run with my sister and somehow I forgot the yeast. That is one of those essential ingredients and I had to start over. But Kristen was very happy so it made it worth all the trouble of starting over.

They raise much better when they have yeast.

We had a great summer with wonderful memories. I'm glad to be home now having a quiet morning looking out over a corn field instead of the St. Marys River. There is beauty & peace here as well.

Moving a Barn

We have had a small metal barn in the middle of our property here at the cabin. Tom has had plans to move it for a long time so we would have a spot to build a garage. Well this is the week the job was completed. Here are a series of pictures and a video of the process. It was hard to watch Tom and our neighbor Paul work so hard for so many days. They did all the work from emptying the barn until it was all completed. My brother and brother-in-law came by Monday evening for the actual move. The actual move did not go smoothly because of several factors. The first few feet went smoothly. The guys were able to push the building as shown in the picture below and the video.

It took a whole day to empty the bar and another half-day to build the bracing inside to prevent a collapse when moving.

The contents of the barn were put in the trailer and in our yard.

Tim is doing the site work to make a smooth path.

The move was completed yesterday afternoon. My part was keeping the workers hydrated and fed and Tom with clean clothes and dry t-shirts. I was amazed at how much Tom and Paul could accomplish and in the manner they worked. Slowly, methodically with consultation at every step. They talked about every move and listened to each other. What a model team.

July Begins at the Cabin

July has arrived here at the cabin but are continuing to have warm day-time temperatures and cool nights. It really helps the flowers gardens. They love that kind of weather. This is my backdoor shade garden.

We had a 4th of July picnic at my sister, Susie's, house at Birch Point which is right on Lake Superior. We enjoyed the fellowship and the good food.

After eating, we sat on the deck overlooking the beautiful lake. But the cool breezes sent us all looking for sweaters even though it was afternoon.

My parents and Mary Clark stand with their granddaughter Areka and her finance Travis.

Robbie, our nephew, and Tom share birthdays on the 4th.

We went to two parades-Brimley in the afternoon and the Soo in the evening.

The Bell Family had a float for the Soo parade. There were three generations represented here.
We are having a good time here at the Cabin with lots of visiting, boatwatching and eating good food. I'll post more later.

What Do We Do at the Cabin?

The US Coast Guard icebreaker Mackinaw heading up the river on Wednesday

Visiting with my Aunt Elsie with my parents

Music in the Park is a weekly concert at the Locks Park. Almost always a great time.

You may wonder what we do while we are at the Cabin. Although I often write about boatwatching, we do have many other activities that fill our days.

Visiting with friends and loved ones seems to be the number one focus of our days. For example, yesterday we started our day with our normal coffee with our neighbor Lodie. After that, we had a visit from my sister Kathy and my brother's grandson. We decided to take them out to lunch because Kathy had never been to Lockview-one of our favorite spots for whitefish. And every trip to Lockview requires a trip to Zak's. Zak's is an ice cream place on Portage Avenue a block from Lockview.

After Kathy and Scottie left, my niece Ashley stopped by. We took her out to Bay Mills to get fireworks for the 4th. We had to make a stop at a favorite coffee shop-Dancing Crane. I got a latte to enjoy with a book while Ashley and Tom shopped. They didn't shop long enough. Great way to spend an afternoon.

In the evening we picked up my parents and took them to Music in the Park. This weekly concert has a variety of music and it lots of fun. After the concert, we returned to my parent's home for coffee and treats. We finished up taking Kathy home and stopping to pick up a pizza. In all the activity, I forgot to make supper. So at 9 PM, Tom was hungry.

All in all, it was a great day. Nothing was accomplished in our yard but that doesn't matter a bit.

Time Flies

We have been here at the cabin almost two weeks. What have we done in that time? We don't spend all our time relaxing but we enjoy every second we are here.

Boat watching is a favorite activity. Here are two 1,000 footers out front.

Graham, our cat, does spend almost all her time relaxing. She goes from window to window to keep tabs on the goings on in our yard. I have to say that we haven't had any chipmunks in our attic so far so maybe her patrols are helping.

We did get to observe a lamprey release in the St. Marys River last week up close and personal. The sterilized males are released at spawning time to try and control the population. Lampreys are a big problem in the St. Marys River.

We continue to work on the fallen trees and also weeding the flower beds. I am looking for another way to control the weeds in my sea wall flower beds. Every year by the time we get here, the weeds have a big head start and I spend many days cleaning them out. I am thinking of covering a couple of the beds with landscape fabric and putting decorative rocks on top. Any suggestions out there on how to handle the problem?

Here is the flower bed that is half weeded. The grass is so difficult to remove.

Here is the sea wall after I finished weeding. The hostas grow well in the center section but not so well in other sections. The five sections challenge all my gardening knowledge. There are metal barrels buried in each section which makes cultivation difficult.

So please feel free to give me suggestions how to handle my gardening challenges. I certainly can't duplicate the beauty that God creates with the wildflowers.