Another Perfect Day

Light blanket needed last night, and today warm in the sun and cool in the shade. Gentle onshore wind.

Photo by Sue

Photo by Sue

Short pier poles replaced with longer ones and the inshore half of the pier elevated. In the photo above, post fenders are being installed.

And, this afternoon, four of the 10 new neighbor kids came over, introduced themselves, and asked if we might have something to inflate a huge inflatable water toy. Very pleasant, super polite young folks. Good neighbors.

A Boat In The Water…

…and even a water skier. Summer at last. And a gloriously perfect day it was.

Dinner and Debate watching at Ellen’s.

Dinner at Pinebox

An experimental dinner at that. A new recipe is being developed for the upcoming Great Lakes Island Alliance (Manitoulin Team) lunch meeting on August 8. Tested: an Asian chicken lettuce wrap with green onions and peanuts. Seven highly critical taste testers concluded unanimously the the recipe is a go. Those attending the Aug. 8 meeting are in for a treat.

Watermelon for dessert.

And all this after a day with a nice, heavy, nap time thunderstorm.

Pier At Last

Mark and Lysanne (and Ava and Emma) came to help, and while the girls had a tea party and then did some fancy sandbox cooking, the rest of us worked as a team, and the pier went in in record time.

The whole structure is about one full section closer to shore than in years past (due to high water), but the depth at the end is still as great as always. Perfect swimming spot, once a few boulders are relocated. Frustratingly, we set the height at about 6 inches above the water, but an hour or two after installation the water had risen 4 inches. We are hoping for a bit of a drop, and no big rollers coming in from the north.

Variety Day

Much needed rain, then off and on little thunderstorms, with plenty of time in between for all the projects anyone felt like doing. And even now the occasional rattle of drops on steel shingles.

Pier work postponed.

The Joy of Chores…

…and some even requiring tools. Cobwebs and drifts of former caterpillars cleared away. Choreopsis trimmed and deadheaded. Stuff put away. New lamp assembled. Even an easygoing bike ride down to Ellen’s, where Pax took a good long swim.

Tomorrow, the pier, which with the extreme high water, though pulled up as high as the bank allows, is mostly inundated.

And Kagawong, unlike Brigadoon, Still Exists…

…and looks pretty good, too.

And delicious Italian dinner at Pinebox.

Hello, Petoskey!

Been looking forward to this day for a while.

Dinner at the beach with nurse (and now friend) Karen, Then a long climb up a steep dune (kind of as a mistake), but beautiful nonetheless.

Flambeau Fun

Day far too short to get everything in.

On The Road…

…headed north. With a vacation stop at Lac du Flambeau.

Getting Ready…

…to resume the interrupted journey north.

Kholrabi (not from our garden)

Packing and loading. On the road tomorrow.

Breakfast at Amalia’s…

…at the big table.

And, by late afternoon the long desired front went through, dropping the temperature and quite a bit of rain.

Excessive Heat Advisory

But in spite of that. , a new bike for Maddie (in advance of her birthday).

Lots of Moisture

First as a lovely thunderstorm—lots of flashing, lots of rumbling, and steady, moderate rain from 5 am until 10 am, with lawns and fields and woodlands giving a sigh of relief and soaking it all up—and thus drought averted. Then, this afternoon, as moisture in the form of humidity, thick as honey, thick as molasses.

When corn gets water stressed it rolls its leaves into tubes which point straight up, like lances aiming skyward. Yesterday most fields looked like that. Today the leaves are flat and spreading. The beets and squash in the garden here are full and lush, and far beyond any threat from weeds.

Mid-summer Prairie

Nice cumulus in every direction, and scattered showers, but the only moisture here oppressive humidity.

Echinacea, liatris, mondara, helianthus, indigo, among others, and the grasses.

Cloud Nine?

Really just morning clouds, which made walking pleasant.

Under the spreading walnut tree

By afternoon hot, sunny, still, and dry, which is pretty much the only weather I don’t like.

Cracked Earth

The heat and drought continue.

Which makes it pleasant to see water, even if it is in an artificial setting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
In a garden, food arises from partnership. If I don’t pick rocks and pull weeds, I’m not fulfilling my end of the bargain. I can do these things with my handy opposable thumb and capacity to use tools, to shovel manure. But I can do no more to create a tomato or embroider a trellis in beans than I can turn lead into gold. That is the plants’ responsibility and their gift: animating the inanimate. Now there is a gift.

People often ask me what one thing I would recommend to restore relationship between land and people. My answer is almost always, “Plant a garden.” It’s good for the health of the earth and it’s good for the health of people. A garden is a nursery for nurturing connection, the soil for cultivation of practical reverence. And Its power goes far beyond the garden gate—once you develop a relationship with a little patch of earth, it becomes a seed itself.

Something essential happens in a vegetable garden. It’s a place where if you can’t say “I love you” out loud, you can say it in seeds. And the land will reciprocate, in beans.

—Braiding Sweetgrass

Irrigation Required

Sunny, hot, and dry.

And, below, souvlaki, which as far as I can tell, is pretty much shish kabob by another name.

Shade, Please

Ninety, or above, in the shade. Intense sun. Dry.

And for dinner, Mujaddara. A lot of work, but interesting and nutritious. Lentils, rice, crispy onions, lots of spices.

From Wet To Dry…

……in the blink of an eye. Garden, new apple tree, rosemary will be watered tomorrow morning, before full sun.

A day of many errands, including tracking down and eliminating the stink of dead mice in the Prius.

Bruschetta and pesto pasta on the menu tonight; that’s pretty Mediterranean.